Swine flu, are we at greater risk?.

wishing you a speedy recovery Shipper, take care.

Get well soon Shipper

Karen x

Well that was nowhere near as bad as I thought, just another Flu really.
Many thanks for all the well wishes, four days in now and all but gone.
The Tamiflu is a bit of a mind bender but apart from that I think another coulple of days and back to normal.

Shipper said:

Well that was nowhere near as bad as I thought, just another Flu really.
Many thanks for all the well wishes, four days in now and all but gone.
The Tamiflu is a bit of a mind bender but apart from that I think another coulple of days and back to normal.

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I am pleased to hear that! I have been diagnosed with it today, started on tamiflu. Feeling awful today but at least it shouldnt last long, worse for me is the thumping headache

leadingjo said:

I am pleased to hear that! I have been diagnosed with it today, started on tamiflu. Feeling awful today but at least it shouldnt last long, worse for me is the thumping headache

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I really feel for you, and yes the head thing is not good. I took two ibuprofen and one tiny codeine every four hours. Checked with the GP and this is not a problem with Tamiflu.

Go to bed for a few days, watch TV, drink at least two 1.5ltr bottles of Volvic a day and sleep as much as you can.

Good luck

Ship

Hope you have a speedy recovery leadingjo

We have never been told the full facts of pig flu have we?
so how do we get infected,
when and how long are we infectious,so that others don't get it.
how dangerous is it
as I get the flu jab every year as I suffer from other problems, do I get this one

cheers
rog

farmerfudge said:

Speaking to my wife about all this and she's a nurse at a Leicestershire hospital.

Apparently the underlying conditions for those fatalities so far have been largely relating to renal problems. Basically anyone who has compromised kidney function or on immunosuppressant [spelling] drugs.

Interestingly she's found out the emergency protocal for her NHS trust also.
One hosiptal in the area sets up a triage unit to deal solely with Swine Flu cases.
Majority of people to be sent home, not necessarily with antibiotics because it's now
widely believed by the medics that Tamiflu doesn't work too well and only reduces the flu suffering period by 24 hrs max. Not even NHS staff will be given it unless they have underlying medical conditions. Only those with serious conditions will be admited to hospital. Infected patients are to be transported around hospital with surgical masks on but otherwise not required (again becausethey dont really work).

Oh and another 3 people have come down with it at work now. Which again is only a tiny minority so far.

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can you catch it by looking at this email?

bunty said:

I'm sceptical about all this and especially after reading that piggy flu is a mild illness in most people anyway.

I know we have diabetes but surely a diabetic with no other serious health issues, such as chronic asthma and heart problems, should be fine, even if they do contract swine flu? (we call it piggy flu here at work - we're slightly mad).

Personally, i refuse to get bothered by this flu and will keep calm and carry on. If i get it, i'll feel rough for a few days then recover.

That's how i see it, for now at least!

bunty

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I used to be a horse until I contacted mad cow desease

I have recently finished my 5 day course of Tamiflu.

I very rarely get 'flu' and have been having the injections regularly for the past 8 years or so. However, this new strain of flu is not covered by that.

From what I remember from how I felt when I had 'flu' before it was no worse at all. The Tamiflu certainy did work very fast though. Having said that - you really need to start taking the tabs within 48 hours of diagnosis.

I live in Wales. I rang my surgery last monday morning when they opened and a GP rang me at home. I was classed as 'high risk' because I am a relatively new Type 2 diabetic. I am also a cancer patient in remission.

Anyway, if being a diabetic means we get 'preferential' treatment then I am all for it!!

I am much much better now. Mind you, my BS levels were up a bit during my illness.

regards,

Pete

I am so glad to hear your are recovering well Pete.

Hi Guys,

I am a type 2 , chronic asthmatic and high blood pressure and have just gone back to work after a dose of suspected Swine Flu. I caught it quickly and was on tamiflu the day I felt ill. It was like a normal dose of flu, high fever, aches in every area , horrid headache, but after a week i am firing on 80% of my normal self. Yes i am more tired, am still aching and am still taking paracetamol, but I would say so long as you eat regularly ( which was a pain as i wasnt hungry) and drink plenty of liquids, it wasnt as bad as i expected.

If you do feel ill get tamiflu straight away - am told it has no effect if not taken within 48 hrs !

Regards

Hi all

in my surgery i get a flu vaccination free each yr ,as my wife is not a diabetic she has to pay and go private to get one .

is the swine flu vaccination, so different from the flu vaccination, if it is and the government say every body has to have the swine flu vaccination will this still mean all diabetic will still have to have the flu jab as well ?????????hc

Hi.

Ok guys you have all got me really worried now. I am a type 1 diabetic along with Relapsing Polychondritis and Tracheomalacia. Any chest infection at all puts me on a ventilator in ICU.

Not only that as a result of the RP I now have a heart mumour and my heart valves are being eroded. On my last check up my kidneys weren't looking too healthy either and leaking protein.

I am on inmmunosupressents for the RP as well as Chemo and high dose steroids. What chance have i got if this virus knocks on my door?

My partner came home last night with the sniffles.

Jason

As a type 1 diabetic for more than 40 years, and a recently retired GP, I am appalled at the way the UK government and the press are treating the present flu epidemic. They have been developing a Pandemic Flu Plan for years, in order to "be prepared" for an avian flu pandemic. The present H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic seems to be a less serious illness than normal seasonal flu, and the English Health Service seems to be handing out Tamiflu, a drug of doubtful benefit and with quite significant side effects, to all and sundry on the basis of a phone call to a call-centre, staffed by people with no medical experience and working to a series of tick boxes, or by completing a series of questions on a web site. For the vast majority of people, the only benefit of the anti-viral drug is to reduce the severity of the symptoms and to shorten their duration by 1 day. I am not certain whether I would want to take the drug, given its side-effect profile.

The organisation of the flu response in England has been chaotic. Thankfully, in Scotland, the response has been more measured and Tamiflu is being offered mainly to people with underlying chronic disease and young people, who seem to be moe susceptible.

WRT possible pre-existing immunity, it appears that the disease is not affecting most over 60s, the suggestion being that they have been exposed to a similar H1N1 virus before. An H1N1 virus has been part of the seasonal flu vaccine for the past 4 or 5 years, and it seems likely that anyone who has had the annual flu vaccination for chronic disease should have a degree of protection.

That last post seems to be the most informative so many thanks smcc. I am worried but have thought from the outset that its been handled in the press badly. But lets face it, is there anything this government has done right???, lets not go there...

I certainly wont be in a hurry to take the Tamiflu. I know my partners daughters were all together at the eldest ones house or a week and one ofthem felt a bit under the weather, so because of the worry of SF at present she called the hotline. Within an hour they had them ALL on the Tamiflu tablets "just incase!" A little to flippant with it, especially as the people on end of phones have only had one hours @training@.
Lets just hope we are all lucky enough to bypass it.

This was the only reference to Diabetics I found on the site...http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Pandemic-flu/Pages/QA.aspx#Diabetes1

I accept what has been said etc. But, honestly, can we really expect doctors to be manning the phone lines.

When the doctor rang me at home she only asked the questions that the people manning the phones would've asked anyway. So what's the big deal.

How many of us have ignored the 'experts' advice on diabetes anyway.

Pete

pedro (Sorry 606!)

Would you be happy to phone people at home, assess their symptoms, and give them advice?

I have type 2 diabetes and I am also on a Chemo drug Methotrexate, would this make me more likely to catch swine flu? The meds I am on strip my immune system, I am also an asthmatic.

Yes. You are coming across like a retired grumpy old GP.