Cold Virus or Flu

I have been out of commission for several days, low grade fever, chills, very fatigued, cough, sneezing, heaviness in chest, swollen glands, ears plugged and general malaise. Started out like a cold, but really felt more like the flu when the body aches developed. All I wanted to do was sleep - and sleep I did!

Is It a Cold or the Flu?

The cold and flu are both respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different types of viruses with different symptoms. Use this chart to learn the difference between the two.

Signs and Symptoms	Influenza	Cold
Fever	Usually present	Rare
Aches	Usual, often severe	Slight
Chills	Fairly common	Uncommon
Tiredness	Moderate to severe	Mild
Symptom onset	Symptoms can appear within 3 to 6 hours	Symptoms appear gradually
Coughing	Dry, unproductive cough	Hacking, productive cough
Sneezing	Uncommon	Common
Stuffy nose	Uncommon	Common
Sore throat	Uncommon	Common
Chest discomfort	Often severe	Mild to moderate
Headache	Common	Uncommon

http://www.flufacts.com/know/what-is.jsp -               Compliments of Genetech website! 

So I am going with the flu. It started around Wednesday last week with sneezing and coughing, but I felt fine... until Friday when the body ache and fatigue set in. The weekend was a total loss - I slept 18 hours at least both Saturday and Sunday. I am still achey today, but the cough is a lot less and my glands are no longer swollen. I think it is going away. The symptoms really came in waves - 3 - 4 hours of feeling awful followed by an hour of two of recovery.

Viruses are strange - I felt it migrating to different body sections from the top of my head gradually moving into my chest. Part of the day feeling complete fatigue and part of the day hoping that I was in recovery.

We all know there are no real treatments for a virus, it just runs its course. But to make myself more comfortable, I gave into sleep, drank lots - tea, water, juice, cocoa, anything cold or hot tasted great. My son attended a holistic chef school not long ago and this experience really gave him some valuable skills in cooking nutritious meals. He made some very therapeutic herbal teas that really helped. Vicks on the chest and a spoonful of honey for the cough. That's about it. 

Sadly I missed some work, but none of us are indispensable! They carried on bravely without me!

I am hoping that tomorrow will be a "normal" day. We shall see!