Hands up if you have 'the flu'

C

Caveat

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..and you can just take your hands back down again 90% of you. :mad:

God this annoys me.

"I missed work last Friday - ah I had a touch of the flu"

For a start, you didn't have "a touch of" anything - you either had it or you didn't. But mainly, YOU DID NOT HAVE THE FLU - YOU HAD A COLD!!

If you had the flu you would know all about it.

Sneezing, coughing and a few aches would be the least of your problems: a raging fever that causes dizziness and near hospitalisation, a headache that feels like an annyeurism, every nerve ending of your body firing with electricity, confined to bed, (literally confined to bed, not just because it is comforting) for about 5 days solid, your body completely lathered with sweat, shivering uncontrollably, lapsing in and out of consciousness and unable to distinguish reality from the lucid feverish nightmares you constantly have, unable to eat, virtually unable to even stand...oh and you can probably add serious vomiting and diarrhoea to that mix too. You may well have lost a fair bit of weight by the end of it all and won't really be completely over it for a couple of weeks.

Oh yeah, and then add "the cold" to all that as well - and that's the flu.

Oh yeah, and you might actually die. Really.

Just so we're all clear.

I spoke to a guy the other day who solemnly informed me that he gets "the flu" 2 or 3 times a year. I nearly punched him in the face.

Rant over.
 
Sneezing, coughing and a few aches would be the least of your problems: a raging fever that causes dizziness and near hospitalisation, a headache that feels like an annyeurism, every nerve ending of your body firing with electricity, confined to bed, (literally confined to bed, not just because it is comforting) for about 5 days solid, your body completely lathered with sweat, shivering uncontrollably, lapsing in and out of consciousness and unable to distinguish reality from the lucid feverish nightmares you constantly have, unable to eat, virtually unable to even stand...oh and you can probably add serious vomiting and diarrhoea to that mix too. You may well have lost a fair bit of weight by the end of it all and won't really be completely over it for a couple of weeks.
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Sounds like any Saturday morning to me :)
 
Yeah, in fairness men definitely are the worst culprits for this.

I remember Jo Brand saying something about it: " No dear, relax, you don't have nose cancer - it's a cold"

I've had the flu (the real flu that is) I think twice in the last 15 years or so. Dunno if that's a normal frequency - in fact it's probably an actual impossibility to get statistics on it due to the amount of chancers/hypochondriacs around!
 
there is a terrible dose of man flu going about at the moment! Since Xmass, in my team 3 guys are out sick (bless them was chatting to one of the guys and he is bad!!) ... We women - tough as nails.... (or old boot in my case:))
 
pinky to be fair there is a lot of sickness now. One of my staff (female) has been vomitting for 2 nights and she isn't one for pulling sickies.

I had a sore throat and throbbing ear yesterday. I went to the chemist and bought panadol, lozengers and a lip gloss and that seems to have sorted it.

I got the flu when I was 15. I collasped at school, fainted when I got home and was basically unconscious for 2 days and in bed for a week. Will never forget it.
 
becky said:
I got the flu when I was 15. I collasped at school, fainted when I got home and was basically unconscious for 2 days and in bed for a week. Will never forget it.
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Maybe men are tougher than women. I get the flu ever winter and I'm usually only off for a day. And it's definately the (man) flu :eek:
 
Caveat,

Maybe your first sentence should have read.....

............."if you can put your hands up, then you don't have the 'flu" ;)

Thankfully have nothing more than a regular winter sniffle at the moment. I've never had the 'flu and would like to keep it that way!
 
I've been known to suffer from "man flu" every now and again, I think its more to do with the tlc you usually get :) I've had the real flu also and can assure people that its a totally different ball game to a more common cold.

I also get sore throats a good bit, and find that a slice of lemon in hot water with a spoon of manuka honey is great for it. I used to turn to panadol but now its the honey(manuka +10) that gets the thumbs up.
 
Firefly said:
Maybe men are tougher than women. I get the flu ever winter and I'm usually only off for a day. And it's definately the (man) flu :eek:
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I dont want to turn this into a medical topic as I know they are forbidden here on AAM but, has it always been diagnosed as the flu Firefly? Typically a person is stuck to the bed for at least 3-5 days with the flu
 
becky said:
I had a sore throat and throbbing ear yesterday. I went to the chemist and bought panadol, lozengers and a lip gloss and that seems to have sorted it.
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This is where I've been going wrong with my flu treatment all these years - lack of lip gloss!

My issue is not whether it's a cold or flu but the lack of sympathy. I mean is it really too much to ask the wife for round the clock nursing care and 24-hr room service when I'm not well.

I'm always very sympathetic and understanding when the bad moods, sulking and flaring temper all kick in at the same time every month - ie when the credit card bill drops through the letterbox!
 
RonanC said:
I dont want to turn this into a medical topic as I know they are forbidden here on AAM but, has it always been diagnosed as the flu Firefly? Typically a person is stuck to the bed for at least 3-5 days with the flu
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I was joking! I know I don't get a real flu, but if I thought I felt that bad each time I got a cold I'd feel a bit wussy!!

Anyway, with all this talk of flu's and the cold snap outside...I feel a few hot Powers are called for!
 
Yeah I think I'll do my duty tonight too - just supporting local business that's all. Don't even want to drink whiskey.

Drinking whiskey on a cold night in front of a roaring fire with your wife snuggling up beside you and watching a movie? Nah - but I'll do it to keep an irish institution in business.

Hey, I think I feel the flu coming on anyway :rolleyes:
 
I hate big girls blouses who call in sick over a little thing like a flu :) I had the flu, a chest and throat infection that lasted about a month a few years back. Talk about a struggle getting out of the bed every morning. Some of the stuff that came out of my chest, jaysus. And other places. But enough info Butt it didn't stop me going to work.
The few times I've been sick off work I had proper reasons. Once, because I actually couldn't walk due to some viral infection which drained every ounce of energy out of me and the other three times were for operations.
 
Had the flu over Christmas. Got it the day before I was due to leave for Christmas holidays. Was in bed most of Christmas with sweats, vomiting, no energy, headaches, etc. Still have a horrible hoarse voice and a cough worse than any smoker ever has.

I got this before (same time) about 7 years ago.....absolutely horrible. Though the good news is that I have lost weight from not being able to eat anything.

We have about 100 employees and most of them are sick at the moment with colds/flus of some shape way or form. One poor guy has been struck down now since start of December. Poor guy thought it was going and came back to work Tuesday only for the thing to come back with a passion. I went down to wish him happy new year on Tuesday and could not believe the state of him. He said he thought it had been coming back that morning but by lunchtime he was in bits..
 
Caveat's original post could have been written by me! An aside (another irritant for me) is this reference to 'THE flu'; as if there is one great big demented germ out there causing havoc and the person telling us they have it assumes that its running wild around the country. Why don't we say 'I have the back pain?'.
I love that ad on the telly at the moment where the two sniffling women meet adn discuss their schedules for the day, one rushing hoem to medicate a husband in bed with 'the flu'. (ah, bless him, the other says!). But can't rememebr what it is advertising!
 
Caveat's original post could have been written by me
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Me too!

My personal irritation are the people who "struggle into work" with flu and reminding you of this fact every 2 minutes. I love challenging them, either by pointing out that if they had the flu they would barely be able to walk, or asking if they think it's ok to infect work colleagues! An old boss of mine used to refuse to let people into work if they complained of flu at work, saying it was a health and safety issue!

We spent New Year with my mother in law,complaining she had Swine Flu ( entirely self diagnosed and refusing to take medication for) yet she was able to walk, eat and sit in front of the TV for 3 days complaining about what was on!
 
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