# Hands up if you have 'the flu'



## Caveat (7 Jan 2011)

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

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.


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## mf1 (7 Jan 2011)

That wouldn't be Man Flu, by any chance, would it? 

mf


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## Sue Ellen (7 Jan 2011)

mf1 said:


> That wouldn't be Man Flu, by any chance, would it?
> 
> mf



Yeah, women get colds, men get flu.


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## callybags (7 Jan 2011)

> 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.


 
Sounds like any Saturday morning to me


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## Caveat (7 Jan 2011)

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!


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## pinkyBear (7 Jan 2011)

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)


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## becky (7 Jan 2011)

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.


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## Firefly (7 Jan 2011)

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.



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


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## gipimann (7 Jan 2011)

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!


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## RonanC (7 Jan 2011)

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.


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## RonanC (7 Jan 2011)

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


 
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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## DB74 (7 Jan 2011)

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.


 
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!


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## Firefly (7 Jan 2011)

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



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!


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## Caveat (7 Jan 2011)

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


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## Locke (7 Jan 2011)

Locke doesn't get the flu.


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## Sue Ellen (7 Jan 2011)

callybags said:


> Sounds like any Saturday morning to me



Sooner the better you give up the drink so


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## PaddyW (7 Jan 2011)

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.


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## MandaC (7 Jan 2011)

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..


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## Welfarite (8 Jan 2011)

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!


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## JP1234 (8 Jan 2011)

> Caveat's original post could have been written by me



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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## Slash (8 Jan 2011)

Don't forget the crowd who say "I have a bad cold, better not go to work in case I spread my cold to others through the air conditioning system". There is no scientific evidence to suggest that germs can be spread by air con systems. Just because it's in Cosmopolitan magazine or the Sunday Worst doesn't make it scientific evidence.


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## AgathaC (8 Jan 2011)

Caveat said:


> ..and you can just take your hands back down again 90% of you.
> 
> God this annoys me.
> 
> ...


+1. That 'touch of flu' drives me mad....anyone who has ever had flu knows as OP has said 'if you had the flu you would know all about it'!


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## RonanC (8 Jan 2011)

Slash said:


> Don't forget the crowd who say "I have a bad cold, better not go to work in case I spread my cold to others through the air conditioning system". There is no scientific evidence to suggest that germs can be spread by air con systems. Just because it's in Cosmopolitan magazine or the Sunday Worst doesn't make it scientific evidence.






> we found the sick building symptoms to be present in a group of French office workers exposed to air-conditioning.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9749975



> Dr. Dan Teculescu of the European Respiratory Society led a study in  1997 of 770 office staff in both air conditioned and naturally cooled  buildings. He found that those in air-conditioned work environments were  2.5 times more likely to suffer frequent respiratory infections than  those who breathed fresh air every day.



Hardly from Cosmo or the Sunday World


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## ice (8 Jan 2011)

There are two 50 euro notes fluttering under the mat outside your door.
If you can get out of bed to get them you have a cold, if you can't you have the flu


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## Teatime (8 Jan 2011)

Yeah this annoys me too. I had the real flu once and it was a nightmare. I wanted to die. But some people at work seems to have 'flu' 2/3 times a year...


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## Black Sheep (9 Jan 2011)

Has anybody ever considered the flu injection. Never having had "the flu" I decided not to go that route and am just wondering if that was a good decision. I'm a bit anti unnecessary medication


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## becky (9 Jan 2011)

ice said:


> There are two 50 euro notes fluttering under the mat outside your door.
> If you can get out of bed to get them you have a cold, if you can't you have the flu



Good way to describe it.  25 years later and I still remember my flu.


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## Rois (14 Jan 2011)

Could have written the first post myself also, but I had the flu!  One week on it's eased a lot, but still way below par.  However, greatly cheered up by the fact that I can feel the weight dropping off yippee!!!


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## shopgirl (14 Jan 2011)

For those of you who haven't seen this - it will help with a diagnosis!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbmbMSrsZVQ


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## callybags (14 Jan 2011)

I knew it all along. But would anyone listen......

http://www.manflu.info/index.htm


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## onq (16 Jan 2011)

I don't have the flu, but sometimes I get a terrible pain in the neck listening to those who say they do...

ONQ.


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## liaconn (17 Jan 2011)

PaddyW said:


> 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.
> .


 
I hate inconsiderate people who come into work dying with chest infections etc. Not only are you spreading your germs everywhere, you're also far more likely to make mistakes or have an accident if using machinery.


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## PaddyW (17 Jan 2011)

liaconn said:


> I hate inconsiderate people who come into work dying with chest infections etc. Not only are you spreading your germs everywhere, you're also far more likely to make mistakes or have an accident if using machinery.



Inconsiderate? Everyone else that was working there had cried off sick, one had gone to Oz. It was highly inconsiderate of me to go into work, with no colleagues there to spread my germs to. It was highly inconsiderate of me to think that the company needed someone to run the office because all the other staff were off sick. And the bare faced cheek of me thinking that I had any right to help out the company when it really needed it. I must be a terrible person, me.


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## liaconn (17 Jan 2011)

Your post basically said you hate people staying at home with flus and colds and that you don't do this, but only take time off if you are hospitalised. It is that attitude I was criticising.


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## The_Banker (17 Jan 2011)

I was out "sick" last Thursday and Friday. I use the inverted commas because I dont know if it was flu or a cold. 

I wasnt shivering but I did have aches and pains, especially in my left eye. I had pains in my limbs, I was hot, both eyes were watering, I was sneezing, coughing up phlegm and generally feeling poorly.

I had no appetite but again I havent a clue if it was a cold or the flu.

Maybe the experts here can tell me.


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## DB74 (17 Jan 2011)

Hangover?

The pain in the left eye was from the row in the chipper afterwards.


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## RonanC (17 Jan 2011)

The_Banker said:


> I did have aches and pains.


 
Hangover !!!! 



The_Banker said:


> I had pains in my limbs.


 
Sudden exercise without properly warming up - see next sympthom 



The_Banker said:


> I was hot.


 
Standing too close to the fire, rads on full blast, you could try opening a window or taking off a layer of clothing 



The_Banker said:


> both eyes were watering.


 
Ah... chopping onions i'd say are to blame here 



The_Banker said:


> I was sneezing.


 
Possibly a slight allergy to chocolate, happens to me all the time 



The_Banker said:


> coughing up phlegm.


 
10 pints, 40 Jonny Blues and a kebab the night before ?? 




The_Banker said:


> and generally feeling poorly.


 
A nights drinking always leaves me feeling "poor"ly 




The_Banker said:


> I had no appetite but again I havent a clue if it was a cold or the flu.
> 
> Maybe the experts here can tell me.


 
Hope this helps, and if not, here's a cert for two weeks off work and a prescription for antibiotics - even though these are no good for any kind of infection caused by a virus


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## Leper (17 Jan 2011)

No Banker, it was not the flu.  I think you just watched The Front Line Monday night that the symptoms occurred two night later.  You should soon be over it.


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## The_Banker (17 Jan 2011)

Leper said:


> No Banker, it was not the flu. I think you just watched The Front Line Monday night that the symptoms occurred two night later. You should soon be over it.


 

Im over it now.. Like I said, I dont know if it was the flu or a cold and to be honest I dont really care.
I was sick, I stayed at home.


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## Firefly (17 Jan 2011)

The_Banker said:


> Im over it now.. Like I said, I dont know if it was the flu or a cold and to be honest I dont really case.
> I was sick, I stayed at home.



Course it was the flu, sure you wouldn't have stayed out with a cold!


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## Vanilla (17 Jan 2011)

I think these things genuinely affect different people in different ways. For instance both my husband and I came down with viral meningitis one christmas. He was completely debilitated, I thought I just had a bad cold until the doctor diagnosed us.  I'm fairly hardy though- I think if I had to stay in bed sick I'd go mad. But then maybe I've never really been that sick?


Although of course, I'm not a man, so...


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## PaddyW (17 Jan 2011)

liaconn said:


> Your post basically said you hate people staying at home with flus and colds and that you don't do this, but only take time off if you are hospitalised. It is that attitude I was criticising.



Did you not see the smile after the first part I wrote i.e. taking the mickey. Chill out


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## liaconn (18 Jan 2011)

You seem to be very selective about your post and what you said.

I will 'chill out' when people stop coming into work sniffing, coughing and sneezing all over people and then, when half the office ends up out sick, go around boasting about how they 'never stay off sick'.


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## Purple (18 Jan 2011)

Welfarite said:


> 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!



Yes, sexism is alive and well in advertising.

Caveat, I agree 100%; a bad cold is not the flu.


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## PaddyW (18 Jan 2011)

Wow, time to exit stage left methinks


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## pinkyBear (18 Jan 2011)

> Originally Posted by Welfarite
> 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!


 One of my favorite adds... When I was looking after 4 nieces and nephews in our house a few years ago, Mr Bear "got sick" and retired to bed for the day to watch DVD's!! Since then I speak of his "man" flu day...  He still gets upset with me
p..


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## roker (20 Jan 2011)

It amazes me how some people, when they have the flue or are sick, can still watch the TV. If I am sick I just want to go to bed and die ( I mean sleep it off)


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