Boy, The Flu is a Big Budget Buster!!!!

[becca1125]

hmm my dd who is 10 tested positive for the flu last week. Her ped didnt give her anything, she said they dont give kids anything for it. She told me to give her motrin (for high fever) and to expect it to last 3-7 days. 6 days later she had a fever of 103, I took her to the ER and again, its the flu, we dont give kids anything, its viral.
My middle dd who is 7 has been out of school this week because of a high fever. She tested negative for the flu and so did my youngest dd 17 months who has also had a fever

Anyway Im headed to the doc this morning but I think mine is my allergies and I think I may be getting a sinus infection. Needless to say this weekend Im bleaching and lysol'ing the entire house!

Hope everyone in you family feels better. Im hoping we get all this crap out of the way before we go to Disney in April.

 

[mamalle]

most of its viral anyhow... Im letting mine runs to coarse... Unless they start complaining of a severe ear ache or throat pain than I will take them in to have them checked out. They both have that cough and day two of the fever.. Their lungs are clear and not having any croup symptoms. Really nothing I can do but give them motrin, fluids and rest. Nothing else the doctor's office can do. It has to run its coarse..

 

[janni518]

Another person here who worked at a peds office. Couple of suggestions:

Next year do not wait until January to get your flu shot/mist. You should be doing that in the fall instead of waiting until the middle of flu season when it's too late.

Another thing, you might want to do a bit of research on those meds they gave you. Tamiflu had a black box warning at one time, not sure if it still does. Our group of 4 peds refuses to use them.

 

[mamalle]

I personally would not give my kids the tamiflu. we only do flu shots in the fall at the hospital I work for also..

 

[princessmom29]

I personally would not give my kids the tamiflu. we only do flu shots in the fall at the hospital I work for also..

Why not??? My DD had Flu B last week and she felt better within 3 days on the tamiflu. Her fever was 102 when we went to the doctor, but once it broke that day it never went over 100. Her best friend had the same strian, but did not get the tamiflu and ran fever as high as 105 at times for the better part of 5 days, and that was with alternating motrin and tylenol. Is there something that I am missing that is so bad about tamiflu that it is better to take the temp of 105 over the meds??

 

[mamalle]

its my personal opinion as a mother and a nurse. Mine most likely are dealing with the flu right now- they both are home receiving fluids, rest and motrin. There are many reasons for it and for against it. Its something you should discuss with your pediatrician regarding your child and go from there. Mine are healthy kids and hardly sick. When they do get sick its viral 9 times out of 10. Now if there was a issue with immunosuppresion I might think differently but they are not. Im home today with them both going on day number 2. One is on the mend- the other most likely will be home again with us tomorrow.

 

[princessmom29]

its my personal opinion as a mother and a nurse. Mine most likely are dealing with the flu right now- they both are home receiving fluids, rest and motrin. There are many reasons for it and for against it. Its something you should discuss with your pediatrician regarding your child and go from there. Mine are healthy kids and hardly sick. When they do get sick its viral 9 times out of 10. Now if there was a issue with immunosuppresion I might think differently but they are not. Im home today with them both going on day number 2. One is on the mend- the other most likely will be home again with us tomorrow.

Mine is one of those kids that rarely gets sick too. She hardly ever runs a temp. with anything. She had a full blown double ear infection once as an infant and no temp. I am still curious what the argument agianst the medication would be. The benefits are obvious and all the research I've done only says that a small percentage of people three quarters of whom are in Japan had hullicinations wect. Is there something more to the side effects than that waring, or is it simply the same argument to be made for anitbiotics creating resistant strains?

 

[ceecee]

I have never heard of having to take a drug for the flu even as a preventative measure. Just sounds like a waste of money to me but I guess that's just me.

I agree unless there are elderly, infants or ill people in your household. I know some Dr's are no longer prescribing Tamiflu. I have tried the over the counter stuff that some people swear by and one time I think it actually worked?

 

[pearlieq]

Unless there's a specific reason (elderly, infants, ill or immunosurpressed family members, etc.) why not just skip the meds and ride out the illness if you get it?

I've had the full flu a couple of times. It's not pleasant, but I'm young and healthy and I bounced back within a week.

 

[carrs52]

Well, 7 days before our 1st WDW vacation (2/7-2/14) in 5 1/2 yrs my DS9 had fever and sore throat. By Tuesday, DD6 has a sore throat, I own rapid strep test kits(ordered from Amazon.com) that way I know if we need to go to the Dr, she tests positive. DS was negative, but still sick. I take them both to the Dr, she says she thinks DS has flu based on his presentation, I say "He's not that sick!" She asks to test him, sure enough +. So, I explain that they has slept side by side the night he got sick. She puts DS9 on Reflenza (sp?) and anitbiotics (in case of secondary infection, ear, sinus, bronchitis, or strep from DD6) because at this point, we are leaving in 5 days for WDW. DD6 gets the antibiotic shot, but now I am sure she'll get the flu. I see my Dr. that afternoon, she gave me and DD11 Tamiflu to take preventively. DD6's fever does not go away. By Thursday, its up to 102. She now has the flu, we get Tamiflu for her too. DS4, is too young to take it preventively. We have $250 deductibles, so between 4 office visits, 4 doses of Tamiflu and 2 antibiotics we spent $700, before we went to Disney! We had been saving cash for fun money, this was not the fun I had planned on!Not to mention DS9 and DD6 missed a week of school before we pulled them out for a week! Luckily my kids are great students and their teachers are great too! We left Saturday morning with loads of meds and lots of make-up work. We went to AK Sun am, gave DD ibuprofen, and that was the last dose she needed! DD11, DS4, DH and I never got it! Yeah! Would we have gotten it if we didn't take it? I don't know, but I knew if I could help us prevent it I had to do it! Being sick at WDW would not have been fun for any of us! We had the most amazing vacation despite the way it started.

FYI-none of the kids had been sick enough to even see the Dr all of last year, only well-exams and the week before Disney, we get sick!

 

[needpixiedust]

wow, you are lucky with the school thing. My DD missed a week in first grade and when she didn't go back to school the following monday, the principal actually came to our door to check on her. We live in a small town but it made me really uncomfortable when I opened the door and saw her standing there unannounced. Thankfully we were home and DD was in pjs covered up on the sofa. I can only imagine what she'd have faced when she went back if we'd been out of town.

 

[mamalle]

like I said you need to check with your doctor. Mine are not even recommending Tamiflu since this strain going around is resistant. If anything its Relenza- which is a nasal spray. This Flu strain has really hit this area hard. They are seeing teenagers coming in with fevers of 104..

 

[princessmom29]

Unless there's a specific reason (elderly, infants, ill or immunosurpressed family members, etc.) why not just skip the meds and ride out the illness if you get it?

I've had the full flu a couple of times. It's not pleasant, but I'm young and healthy and I bounced back within a week.

But what if you could have bounced back within a couple days with the meds? Why be sick when you don't have to be? I frankly can't be out of school for a full week. My kids would get too far behind. And in my case I ask the question why put my kid through a week of misery when I don't have to? The flu is nothing to play with especally in kids. It can get really bad reallly fast and you can't know at the outset how sick you will get. That being said nither DH nor I took tamiflu as a preventative. We decided thqat if we got sick we would call in for it and neither of us got sick. So my take on it is if you test positive for flu take the meds if they will help lessen the severity of the illness.

 

[budbeerlady]

We all faithfully got our flu shots this fall, well everyone but Dh. (Let me expand on everyone. Myself, DD, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Uncle, pretty much everyone but Dh!)

I got the nastiest bug of it in December along with Mom. DD got it last weekend, not as bad as my case but enough to be miserable.

Here is where it starts to suck and be life threatening and expensive!

Grandma is 91, she got the flu on Friday, hospitalized on Sunday for 3 days. Goes home but is weak. Mom moves in and gets flu, Dad gets flu, uncle helps and gets flu. Grandma falls a week later, still very weak from the flu. Mom had to admitt her to the nursing home Sunday for care. She didnt break any bones but is too weak for 1 unskilled person to help her.

She went from excellant health to admitted in the nursing home within 2 weeks from the flu. It breaks our hearts. This years flu is expensive beyond any anticipation. The only one who hasnt gotten sick yet, Dh!

You can do the shot, the mist whatever but if the strain is different that is just tough cookies.

 

[disney1990]

Yes, the flu has hit Maryland really hard. Hope everybody is feeling better soon.

Baltimore Sun
Flu kills Howard teen

By Larry Carson | larry.carson@baltsun.com
February 26, 2009

A Howard County teenager died of the flu this week, the latest of nine pediatric flu deaths nationally this year, county health officials said yesterday. "This tragic death is highly unusual," the county health officer, Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, said in a news release. Federal patient privacy laws prohibit the county from releasing the victim's identity or any details of the case, Health Department spokeswoman Lisa de Hernandez said. The teenager became ill with "flu symptoms that got progressively worse," she said, and died sometime since Sunday in a hospital that she declined to identify. Officials at Johns Hopkins Children's Center confirmed that Zachary D. Weiland, 15, of Mount Airy died there Sunday, but they would give no further information, including his illness.

 

[Mickey2903]

When I had the flu last year, I took an over the counter medicine called oscillococcinum, which is a homeopathic remedy. It can be bought at Walgreens and other places. I started feeling better almost immediately and was completely well within about 3 to 4 days. There are even coupons for it at www.oscillo.com and testimonials. I always keep a box on hand.

 

[disneynuts777]

I have never heard of having to take a drug for the flu even as a preventative measure. Just sounds like a waste of money to me but I guess that's just me.

We have been told by our doctor that getting the flu shot is up to us. Since there are so many different strains the shot does not cover all of them. Niether do the medications. You could still get the flu. The only way I would fork out the money for a preventitive measure would be if I was very young, elderly or had a compromised immune system. If you are a normal healthy human being you should be able to fight the flu and still be okay. You might feel lousy for a few days but then you will have built up a natural immunity and the chances of you getting it again are pretty slim.
It sounds like the doctors is in cohoots with the drug company

 

[Leajess99]

When I had the flu last year, I took an over the counter medicine called oscillococcinum, which is a homeopathic remedy. It can be bought at Walgreens and other places. I started feeling better almost immediately and was completely well within about 3 to 4 days. There are even coupons for it at www.oscillo.com and testimonials. I always keep a box on hand.

I saw this at our one pharmicist's office and was wondering about it. Knock on wood we have not had the flu here. I have one on antibiotics as well as asthma meds and the other one was in the doctor's today to make sure she is clear of the pneumonia. Thankfully she is and hopefully they did good at avoiding everyone else's crap.

 

[mamalle]

I heard that about the 15 year old that is just tragic.. I can remember and this is dating myself back in the late 1980's- I was in college and volunteered for a flu study at John Hopkins. They were testing out the nasal sprays for a vaccine. Its so hard to figure out what vaccine will work though. It always mutating itself, so if they work on one all year for the following season- It may or may not work..

 

[Jennifer in MI]

So, if my ds12 has a fever ranging from 103 - 104.4 (without meds - with Advil, it went down to 102; with Theraflu down to 100), sore throat, body aches, stuffed nose, and cough, should I assume the flu? I had a fever a few days ago and still have a runny nose. I assumed ds had the same thing. But, his fever has been raging for 48 hours now.

Ds 8 had a fever (lowgrade - 100 - 101) and headache yesterday. His fever broke in the middle of the night and he was fine all day today. Now, tonight, he has another fever and headache. Can the flu present this way too?

Either way, I think I'll take them in tomorrow before the weekend. If it is the flu, sounds like we should get on some of the anti-viral stuff.