H1N1 post-sick note to friends

Sure, the H1N1 rush is over and this post is a little late, being recycled out of some old emails from last September.  But it’s worthwhile content because the Fat Lady still hasn’t quite sung on the topic yet.  I won’t say “enjoy;” let me just say “go buy some Robotussin, just in case” and leave it at that.  

ps - I’m not an MD, so take this all with a mine of salt.

pps - This isn’t the most fun topic either, and it is a wall-o-text post too.  I’ll put up something short and light soon.

1:  It wasn't that bad.  Maximum fever was 101.3.  Have tylenol and ibuprofen on hand.  By day 3, reading and light housework were bearable.

2:  Minor nausea and diarrhea were there, but nothing spectacular.  I've certainly had worse with other flus.

3:  Plain, original Robitussin (or the store-brand equivalent for me, ‘cause I'm cheap) works wonders to get that heavy mucus out of the lungs, especially on days 2 & 3.  The mucus levels were never really dangerous, but one more click in the wrong direction on day 2 and it would've started to be cause for concern.  [Post restocking trip note: the same stuff (guaifenesin) is available in pill form, which seems much preferable to that nasty syrup stuff.]

4:  There was incredible sinus pressure and drip on days 4 & 5.  A good decongestant would've been much appreciated, but by then we were too sick to go get some.  Something softer than paper towels would've been nice too; my nose still looks like  W.C. Fields'.  [Post restocking trip note: guaifenesin pills with an added decongestant were a help over the following week.  Having the two in the same pill is good because you don't have to worry about the two drugs interacting badly (assuming the drug company's done its homework).]

5:  We ate through groceries at close to normal pace, and were just short of getting down to hurricane supplies when this crud let up.  It was good to know there was enough food on hand to outlast the virus, but I’m not sure I wanted to face five year old foil pouches of “Country Captain Chicken” on top of being that sick.

6:  Was it really H1N1?  Dunno, didn't get tested.  Knew it was flu, didn't see any need to go out and cough all over other people.  CDC says H1N1's about 98% of what's circulating in the area right now and the symptoms matched, so it probably (98%+) was.

On the whole, I'm glad to have this one out of the way with so little trouble.

And here’s the almost-scary part, from another letter to the Sis while I was well and truly still sick:

Mucous... felt like I was drowning in the stuff until after I got a dose [of guaifenesin] in me this morning.  You want the one without the letters "DM" or anything else, because this is a cough you *don't* want to suppress, you want that crap to come up.  Hocked up damn near a mouthful, then was breathing fine.  (Probably don't want to tell Momma that last bit.)

So yeah, apart from the whole waterboarded-by-a-virus feeling, wasn't so bad.  Go buy a couple of packs of guaifenesin tablets anyway.