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 At the end of November, I made the frustrating and painful mistake of treating a cold when really I had the flu.
After receiving my religiously scheduled annual flu shot in late September, I confidently went about my life. Then, in the middle of holiday shopping (yes, I try to get that finished early as well. Don’t I sound delightful?), my chest started hurting. I convinced myself that it was the beginning of a cold and took some over-the-counter cold medicine.
Later that evening, the chest pain worsened, but I still attributed it to congestion. It was also accompanied by intensified cold symptoms of the like which I have never before experienced: faucet-like runny nose, painful sore throat, and excessive sweating thanks to a temperature of 102.5 degrees F. Yet, instead of calling the doctor, I propped myself on the couch to watch Netflix, convincing myself that I would feel better in the morning.
I didn’t.
The pounding headache set in as soon as I opened my eyes the next morning. Surely someone had hit me, I thought (and they would have been well within their rights considering how much whining I had done the day before). Accompanying the headache was a dizziness that kept me from driving or making my way into the kitchen, which was fine, because I wasn’t hungry; a symptom that alarmed most of my family enough to insist that I call my doctor.
I detailed my “cold” symptoms to my doctor, all the while insisting I needed an antibiotic to kick this super cold. After all, I had the flu shot and I wasn’t nauseous — just not very hungry — so it couldn’t possibly be the flu.
As it turns out, one man’s lack of appetite can be another man’s nausea. I did, according to the doctor, indeed have the flu and was prescribed Tamiflu. I minimized the doctor’s warning that the symptoms would take some time to alleviate (seven to 10 days in some cases). After all, I was the kind of person who got her flu shot on time and finished her Christmas shopping with annoying speed. Surely, I would heal earlier than most….
Twenty-four hours after my first dose of Tamiflu, my symptoms seemed to worsen. I still couldn’t drive, much less navigate from room to room. Instead, the indent of my body on the couch deepened.
Treating myself with over-the-counter Tylenol, I would have brief moments of clarity where my nearing 103-degree temperature would break in a deluge of sweat; a sight that seemed to restrict my husband to a neighboring room where he would frequently call out asking if I was ok.
For the rest of that week I alternated between these brief sweaty moments of lucidity and episodes of fetal-position crying and dizziness. The pressure on my chest seemed to increase with each day, prompting me to call the doctor on day four to insist that I had been misdiagnosed and that I should instead be treated for pneumonia — a detail I am neither proud of nor can I say was received with any kind of warmth or concern.
This went on for the seven to 10 days that the doctor had suggested it would. While day 5 had me off the couch and day 6 saw the return of my typically ample appetite, my chest still hurt and my breathing was still labored. Eventually, my high temperature started to decrease only to round-house kick me back to the indented couch on day 7.
It took exactly two weeks to return to normal, although week two was markedly better, save the labored breathing, sluggishness and nagging cough. If, according to the research I’ve read about the flu after my own bout, I had recognized the symptoms and gone to the doctor sooner, much of this might have been lessened, if not prevented.
As we struggle through what will likely be one of the worst flu seasons in history (surely not just because it happened to me, wink, wink), consider the following cold/flu symptom checklist so that you don’t misdiagnose yourself…or worse still…refute your doctor’s diagnosis.
Cold
- Can last days
- Sore throat
- Nasal symptoms
- Congestion
- Runny nose
- Cough
Flu
- Can last as long as two weeks
- Sore throat
- Fever
- Headache
- Muscle aches/soreness
- Congestion
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Cough
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Re: Confusing the Flu for a Cold: A First Person Account
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