Flu recovery time ?

Made it to 50 never having had proper flu but got it for first time 3 weeks ago. Week 1 was mostly in bed, fever, mental headaches. Week 2 saw gradual improvement and a return to short hours at work, but still fever, sweats and horrid cough. Now nearing end of week 3, sweats gone, headache gone, cough and catarrh still very present. No energy though, couldn’t ride a bike if I had to….

On the plus side I have lost over half a stone !

How long do these bugs generally take to clear ? Have a ride planned on Monday and would love to make it….

Name joy fella, I too he’s never had it. I must be doing something right though, as pretty much everyone I know get it on a regular basis!…..

I wouldn’t imagine there’s a timescale you can put on it, but what you don’t want to do is head out too early with yer immune system down, and set yourself back further.

About 4 weeks to be ok(ish) 5 weeks good as new.. virus is bit nasty this season…. last year is not so bad about a week or 2… year before that is the nastiest took me 3 months to shake it off fully.

Probably about 6 weeks to feel well enough to ride properly.. Depends if you get a lingering cough with it..

“Proper” influenza is a bugger, almost always leaves folk below-par for multiple weeks even if recovery is uneventful but there’s also potential for things like secondary bacterial chest infection that you get to watch out for

wolfenstein, if you’re getting genuine flu every year you ought to talk to your doc about getting annually vaccinated – you’re clearly more exposed (or susceptible, or unlucky) than most people

Thanks folks, sounds like a biggish mileage easy ride on Monday (4.5 weeks) may be a step too far…

Least alcohol consumption Festive Period I can remember 😀

Just depends. I used to get over it pretty quickly but this spring I was well below par for few weeks (also with a cough) and didn’t get back to full performance for perhaps 2-3 months. No idea whether it’s due to age or a particularly nasty variant or just bad luck. I can now understand a lot better how it kills people though.

About once per decade seems to be the going rate for me, BTW.

Attempting to chase it away with some dry white wine 😀

wolfenstein, if you’re getting genuine flu every year you ought to talk to your doc about getting annually vaccinated – you’re clearly more exposed (or susceptible, or unlucky) than most people

If he’s getting proper flu every year and hasn’t pegged out yet, we need to drain him of his blood..! 😈

Most people’s ‘flu’s is just a bad cold or virus.

My boss reckons he had ‘flu’ last week – he had a runny nose.

I would say that the colds I have caught the past 2 years seem to be taking me longer to recover from. Currently on week 2 of mine and I have felt very out of energy.

peters, I quite agree, as explained in my OP.

I hadn’t appreciated what real flu was until I got it last March. At 35 years old I was knocked flat and in bed for 2 weeks with fever, delirium and night sweats so bad I was going to bed with 4 towels to wipe down with/lie on. It was 4 weeks till I was 100% and I had a weeks holiday lying about in the sun at the end of that period which probably helped.

Sorry IainC, that wasnt meant to sound like I didnt believe you! Get well soon fella.

Peter, no worries, probably a bit oversensitive here 😀

OP sounds like proper flu, most people only have a bad cold. I’ve had flu once. There is a week of my life of which I have no recollection whatsoever; nothing, apart from very brief moments of wakefulness.
I never, ever want to have it again, I think it took a couple of months to really get over it.
It’s worth repeating, to those who get a bad cold and claim to have flu, that the flu pandemic in 1918 infected 500 million people worldwide, including Pacific islands and the Arctic, and killed 3-5% of the world population, approximately 50-100 million!
Anyone who claims to have flu, and is upright and conscious, is almost certainty not suffering from flu.
IANA virologist.

Had it a few years ago. I seriously thought I was going to die. Was mostly ok after 3 weeks, but not 100% for about 6. I thought it was the worst thing I’ve ever had, then the year after I got norovirus, which felt similar to the flu, but with added diarrhoea. At least norovirus had the benefit of losing a stone in weight.

Real flu is awful, only thing I’ve had worse is a kidney infection.
But back to flu, had it when I was 21, horrendous fever temperature ranged from, 38.5-38.9 had to have a fan on constantly. Paracetamol every four hours. Even had some urine bottles as I could hardly summon the energy to go to the toilet. Across the room.
Joint aches were horrible, spent two weeks shivering, nearly cropping myself from the diahorrea.

Recovered after three weeks. Have a flu jab now every year. Mandatory in the nhs.