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*wheeze, hack*
So, it's taken me a few days to figure this out, but I'm pretty sure that I've got influenza. My symptoms are absolutely textbook flu symptoms; it just took me awhile to figure it out because I always thought it would feel a lot worse than a cold, and I haven't actually felt bad at all. I haven't had any congestion or sore throat or other typical cold symptoms, just a dry hacking cough, a high fever, and sheer, utter exhaustion. When they say fatigue is a flu symptom, man, they are NOT KIDDING. It took me two days to even be able to sit up without getting so dizzy that I had to lie down again. My sole accomplishment on Sunday was reading a book: I would read a little bit (lying flat), then have to close my eyes for a while because I was too tired to keep reading.
And yet, despite the debilitating-ness of it, what puzzles me is that most of the colds I've had were much more unpleasant than this. I do ache a lot, but that's not such a problem as long as I don't move much (which I don't really feel like doing anyway), and it's not nearly as bad as, say, overdoing it at the gym. That all-over awful feeling that I always get on the first couple days of a cold ... I never had that. I haven't really felt bad at all, aside from being achey and exhausted (the worst thing so far is actually my stomach muscles getting sore from coughing, which, OW). Mostly I just want to sleep a lot. Today some of my weirder symptoms seem to have mostly gone away (I've been very photosensitive -- bright light hurts -- and my skin has been supersensitive and sore, kind of like having a mild sunburn) and I have enough energy to move around a bit. And I have an appetite again. I wasn't really nauseous, just sort of disinterested in food. It's nice to be able to eat more than three bites at a time.
And yet? Not so bad, in the grand scheme of things. I get to lay around a lot without actually feeling awful. The worst thing about colds, for me, is that I usually feel too bad to sleep for the first couple of days, and with this, all I want to do is sleep. Though admittedly, I'm glad to feel my energy levels slowly improving. I'm guessing that chronic fatigue syndrome probably feels rather similar to what I've been experiencing the last few days, and if so? Wow. *doffs hat* You guys have my profound and heartfelt sympathy.
And yet, despite the debilitating-ness of it, what puzzles me is that most of the colds I've had were much more unpleasant than this. I do ache a lot, but that's not such a problem as long as I don't move much (which I don't really feel like doing anyway), and it's not nearly as bad as, say, overdoing it at the gym. That all-over awful feeling that I always get on the first couple days of a cold ... I never had that. I haven't really felt bad at all, aside from being achey and exhausted (the worst thing so far is actually my stomach muscles getting sore from coughing, which, OW). Mostly I just want to sleep a lot. Today some of my weirder symptoms seem to have mostly gone away (I've been very photosensitive -- bright light hurts -- and my skin has been supersensitive and sore, kind of like having a mild sunburn) and I have enough energy to move around a bit. And I have an appetite again. I wasn't really nauseous, just sort of disinterested in food. It's nice to be able to eat more than three bites at a time.
And yet? Not so bad, in the grand scheme of things. I get to lay around a lot without actually feeling awful. The worst thing about colds, for me, is that I usually feel too bad to sleep for the first couple of days, and with this, all I want to do is sleep. Though admittedly, I'm glad to feel my energy levels slowly improving. I'm guessing that chronic fatigue syndrome probably feels rather similar to what I've been experiencing the last few days, and if so? Wow. *doffs hat* You guys have my profound and heartfelt sympathy.