Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
Every time I turn around lately someone is talking about the swine flu (H1N1). There have been outbreaks on college campuses around the United States and with kids back to school everyone is a little nervous about what germs they may bring home. The vaccine for the H1N1 Swine flu won’t be available until October and the seasonal flu vaccine has only been available to selected clinics and doctors so far. It is entirely possible that even with the vaccine, many people will catch the flu.
Let’s face it even if you do everything right there is a chance that you can get swine flu or the seasonal flu. Hand washing seems to be the best line of defense and my kids tell me that there are hand sanitizer dispensers in every classroom. The local schools seem to be doing everything they can to prevent an outbreak, but unless you are living in a bubble there is still that chance that you or the people that surround you will become sick. It is entirely possible that many will come down with swine flu before the proper agencies are even able to get the vaccine to the people that would benefit from it most. So I thought I would talk about what to do if you actually come down with this strain or any other strain of flu.
Firstly, you are not going to know if you have H1N1 or the regular seasonal flu. The symptoms of this and any other strain of flu virus are sudden onset of cold like symptoms. Fever (over 100 degrees), chills, headache, dry cough, runny nose, lethargy, body aches are the most common symptoms but sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea have also been reported. If you or anyone that you are living with is experiencing these symptoms, get to the doctor right away.
The sooner you see a doctor the better. Anti-viral medications such as Tamiflu must be taken within 12-48 hours of the onset of symptoms to be effective. Tamiflu can help to reduce the duration of the symptoms of the flu up to 30%. Tamiflu is also prescribed for the prevention of the flu if you have been exposed to someone who has been diagnosed with the flu. This is particularly important if you have a compromised immune system.
If you are unfortunate enough to catch the swine or seasonal flu, there are many over the counter flu remedies that may ease your symptoms. Make sure to check with your doctor or pharmacist before starting any over the counter remedy because it may interact with any prescription drugs you are taking.
The most important thing you can do for yourself when sick with the flu is get plenty of rest. Having experienced the flu first-hand I can tell you that your body isn’t really going to want to do anything but rest. Make sure to get plenty of fluids when dealing with the flu because dehydration will only make you feel worse and may slow down the healing process.
If your symptoms do not improve or start to get worse, see a doctor right away. Many people with autoimmune diseases have a more difficult time fighting the flu because of the treatments for their disease often weakens their immune system. If you are experiencing shortness of breath, having difficulty breathing, experiencing chest pains as a result of coughing or are coughing up yellow, green or bloody phlegm get to a doctor right away. These may be symptoms of a much more serious condition.
Secondary infections as a result of the flu include sinus infections, bronchitis, ear infections and pneumonia. Some secondary infections may result in hospitalization. It is vitally important to listen to your body and if there is any indication that you are not improving call the doctor.
It can take up to two weeks for a healthy adult to get over the flu. If your immune system is compromised it probably will take longer. Most people with the flu recover completely within a reasonable amount of time, but there may be lingering symptoms such as a cough and general weakness. It is important that if you are unsure about any symptoms that you are experiencing that you contact your doctor and do not hesitate. It is much better to ask to see the doctor and have it be a relatively small issue than hold off and wait to see a physician and have it be much more serious and harder to treat.
Tags: autoimmune, autoimmune disease, campus, chest pain, chills, classroom, college, cough, dehydration, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, disease, doctor, dry cough, fever, flu, flu season, germs, H1N1, hand sanitizer, headache, kids, lethargy, nausea, outbreak symptoms, phlegm, remedy, runny nose, school, sinus infection, swine, swine flu, Tamiflu, United States, vomiting, vomitting
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Decisions, Health/Fitness, Lesson Learned, News, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Solutions | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
I try to look at every obstacle or challenge as an opportunity to learn something about myself. My hope is that I can somehow gain something positive from every experience good or bad. This latest challenge has been no different. What I learned this time is that I need to be grateful for every moment that I am upright and not sick in bed.
I have spent the better part of this summer in bed. I started the summer with most of my family (myself included) sick with the swine flu. By the time I was finishing up the antiviral meds for the swine flu I found out that I had lyme disease. This meant 6 weeks of antibiotics after 3 weeks of antiviral medication. Both medications require that I stop taking my RA meds to work effectively and get rid of both the flu and the lyme disease.
The lyme disease was much more difficult than I had anticipated. It left me feeling more sick than I had ever been at any point in my life ever. It felt a little like the flu on steroids. Fever, chills, body aches and severe muscle pain just to name a few of the rather nasty symptoms I was experiencing with lyme disease.
There were plenty of times during this period when I wondered which disease was causing the pain. Was it the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or was it lyme disease? It was a very difficult time. I never knew from day to day how I would feel or if it would be better or worse than the day before. Many times one disease would be better and the other worse.
Right now I am just dealing with a flare. There was a time in my life when I thought that dealing with a flare was the worst thing I could experience. Turns out that is not true. A flare is awful. A flare is exhausting and very painful. But unfortunately I have learned that some things can be worse than a flare. Being sick with another disease while in the midst of a flare is much worse. I have had only a small glimpse into what others with multiple autoimmune diseases go through and I admire each you. Dealing with one disease is hard enough.
I never thought that I would be at a point when I would say that it’s only a flare. I am not trying to minimize a flare but that is how I feel right now. It is just a flare and I can handle a flare. I know what to expect with a flare. I know what my body needs and what it can handle during a flare. I’ve been down this road before. It is familiar territory.
For now, I am drinking plenty of water, eating a great deal of anti-inflammatory foods, getting plenty of rest and grateful that the only thing I need to deal with right now is this flare. There are no other health issues, just the flare. While this means that I will be in bed more than I would like, I am still able (although rather stiff and sore) to get out of that bed. For that I am grateful.
Tags: anti-inflammatory, antibiotics, antiviral, arthritis, flare, lyme, lyme disease, RA, rheumatoid, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, sore, stiff, swine flu
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Decisions, Lesson Learned, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Spirit | 7 Comments »
Monday, July 27th, 2009
As some of you may know, the past few months it has been one thing after the other around here. We had one person after the next with the swine flu; all the while I have been dealing with the effects of lyme disease and rheumatoid arthritis with no RA meds. The doctor took me off the medication so that the Tamiflu stood a chance of helping get rid of the H1N1 virus that had overtaken my house. All that was fine and as far as I can tell worked well, but the consequence of all this is that my hands are really swollen and painful once again. On top of my hands being swollen, painful and holding on to anything is next to impossible, the effects of the lyme disease have left me with unbelievable fatigue and muscle soreness.
I have done my best to just accept that for the time being this is what my reality is and I know that it is a temporary situation. I am usually pretty good at dealing with this sort of thing because I know that it is out of my hands. There is only so much I can do right now. I am drinking water like it is going out of style. I am staying away from my known trigger foods and Lord knows I have been getting a lot of sleep. I have been meditating and exercising the joints that aren’t painful. I am doing everything I know to do to improve the quality of my life and yet it is still very hard.
Yesterday I fell apart. I am really not sure exactly what set me off. Was it my husband asking “Why are your hands so swollen?” which to me seemed like the dumbest question ever. Was it when my son innocently asked me to play a game of badminton outside with him? I would have loved to play but my hands couldn’t grip the racket. Was it when I was attempting to make breakfast and I couldn’t even crack the eggs and needed to ask for help? Maybe it was all of that and more. I suppose it really doesn’t matter what set me off, but I just started crying.
What started as a trickle streaming down my cheek turned out to be an all out torrent of tears. For the next hour I cried, I blubbered, I wept and I felt really sorry for myself. This disease is so hard, sometimes harder than I can often put into words. It takes me away from all that I want to do sometimes. It is painful and when I am in pain I am not my real self. It distracts me from what I truly want to be doing. Sometimes, and yesterday in particular, it feels like it is something separate from me that is demanding my focus, demanding my attention. Like a spoiled child that will do whatever it takes to get what it wants. And so with my mounting frustration and anger and pain, I cried. And I cried. And I cried. And then I cried some more.
And when I had gone thought the better part of a box of tissue and I felt as though I had no more tears I cried a little more. After a good long time of wallowing in my self pity, I started to feel better. I really think I just needed to get rid of some of the frustration and anger and sadness. I felt it all and had cried it all out of me. I can’t begin to express how much better I feel.
My hands are still swollen and I am typing this with three fingers, but I feel so much better. I had forgotten that when the disease was new and the emotions that come with it were new, every once in a while I would have a good old fashioned pity party. I wouldn’t want it to be a very long party, but every once in a while, when the disease got the better of me I would just let it all out and I always felt better. I wanted to share this so if you are feeling like I did maybe a good cry will help you feel better like I do.
Tags: anger, arthritis, ask for help, cry, disease, fatigue, flu, focus, frustration, H1N1, pain, painful, rheumatoid, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, sadness, self, soreness, swine flu, swollen, Tamiflu
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Decisions, Lesson Learned, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Solutions, Spirit, Wellness | 12 Comments »
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Many of you know that we have had a bout of the swine flu traveling throughout my household. I am happy to report that we all have survived the swine flu. There is a lingering cough for a few of us but by and large we have weathered that storm. Unfortunately I have contracted lyme disease. I have had it for a while now and it is really kicking my butt. The fatigue is one of the many challenging parts of this particular disease. So because I am too tired to think I decided to share what my surroundings look like while I recover. I hope that everyone is doing well. I am trying to focus on getting better which is requiring a great deal of rest. So I hope you enjoy the pictures and I hope to be back into the swing of things real soon.
Tags: arthritis, cough, flowers, lyme, lyme disease, photo, photographs, pictures, RA, rheumatoid, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, swine flu
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Good News!, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA | 2 Comments »
Monday, July 6th, 2009
This is an update on the status of the H1N1 ( Swine ) Flu information since my post on Swine Flu and Autoimmune Disease (click here to view previous post). One June 11, 2009 Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the World Health Organization(WHO) raised the worldwide pandemic alert to a Phase 6 ( also known as the pandemic phase). This phase is characterized by community level outbreak via human-to-human spread of the virus in multiple parts of the world.
Currently more than 70 countries have reported cases of H1N1 (swine flu) infection. This number has been steadily increasing in recent weeks. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) decision to raise the alert level to Phase 6 means that the spread of the disease is worldwide. At this time it is unclear how serious or intense this pandemic will be. It is difficult to predict how many people will become infected and how serious the complications from this disease will be.. Because this is a new strain of the influenza virus many people have little or no immunity against it. As of this post there is no vaccine to protect against the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus. However the U.S. Government is taking steps to process and manufacture a H1N1 (Swine Flu) vaccine. The CDC (Centers for Disease & Prevention) has isolated the virus and has made a candidate vaccine which will be used to create the vaccine. It generally takes several months to complete the process to make a vaccine.
Countries in the Southern Hemisphere are just beginning their influenza season. Information obtained from the Southern Hemisphere countries experiences during their flu season may provide valuable information to Northern Hemisphere countries in preparation for it’s own flu season
All 50 states in the U.S., the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have reported cases of the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus. Most people in the United States that have become ill with the H1N1 virus have recovered without medical treatment. Currently 33,902 cases of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus have been reported in the United States with 170 deaths reported. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) does anticipate that there will be more new cases of this virus reported, more hospitalizations and more deaths associate with this virus in the weeks to come. The CDC anticipates signification illness associated with the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus in the fall and winter months which is typically the U.S. influenza season.
The CDC ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has issued priority use for antiviral drugs during this outbreak to treat people that are at increased risk of severe illness and those hospitalized with the H1N1 virus. People at high risk include young children, people with chronic health conditions such as diabetes, asthma, metabolic disease, lung, heart or kidney disease or those with weakened immune systems and those with neurologic or neuromuscular disease.
The CDC has provided information on what to do if you become sick (click here for link ) and how to care for someone who is sick with the virus at home.(click here for link) The most important thing that you can do right now is to stay informed.
Tags: antiviral, arthritis, autoimmune, autoimmune disease, CDC, Center for Disease Control & Prevention, chronic, complications, Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, flu season, government, H1N1, health, immune system, infection, influenza, information, pandemic, phase 6, rheumatoid, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, swine flu, WHO, World Health Organization
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, News, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA | 5 Comments »
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