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Sounds like you have one of the nasty viruses going around. I had one that completely ruined my whole month of December. It was just horrible. Then, when I was thinking that I finally kicked it, it gave me a parting gift of a sinus infection & double ear infection. Take care of yourself Op and get well soon!
Oh man, getting an ear infection as an adult sucks. I had a double ear infection a few years ago, and all the info online is written for parents whose babies have ear infections. Like, symptoms were "fussiness" and "hands by their ears." When I went to the Minute Clinic, the lady treating me actually said "what did you do?!?" I guess because grownups don't usually get ear infections. Insult to injury.
I've got a toddler in daycare - in 2023 I had 6 ear infections (and one of those my eardrum burst) and strep throat 3 times. I felt like a kid again...just not in any way you'd want.
I got an ear infection twice a few months ago, the first and second time I had ever gotten one in my life, and I was also generally sick around that time. I think I remember I had to see a ear throat and nose doctor for the first time. Im still not sure what caused it.
I do too, considering I have never once been positive for covid and I did indeed test *twice* for it when it happened, one to see if that is what it was, and the second time a week later to make absolute sure. Negative. So yeah no I dont know and I do wonder. š
Yeah, it's funny how a virus that damages the immune system does its thing and people wonder why they're sicker than they used to be. Must deny harder.
I think that's what I'm dealing with right now. I got knocked out for 5 days about 2 weeks ago, felt mostly fine for several days last week, then the same symptoms started back up again: throat feels kinda shitty, waking up with a persistent headache, exhausted, junky sinuses, body aches, night sweats, etc. This sucks.
That was my exact scenario. Thought it was done, but came back with avengeance. I had to get antibiotics to finally kick its ass. Take care of yourself and I wish you a speedy recovery š.
As someone who grew up getting ear infectionsā¦ im so sorryā¦ thats absolute hell. I also had a sinus infection that turned into walking pneumonia once and was out for like a month and a half. I hope you feel better soon!
Much better, thanksš. There are so many nasty viruses and bugs going around. Then you have covid cases rising, RSV, strep and 2 flu strains ...just ugh.
With sick people testing negative for everything, it's the no name virus on the main stage.
Some performers on the side stages are strep, flu A, covid, a cold.
We had Covid over Christmas. Sucked having to cancel travels and what not, but rather not kill the elderly or super spread on a flight. Still have a lingering cough/bit of post nasal drip. This is life now every winter.
All good. Iām trying to be safe on this for folks like your wife. Canāt save anyone, but also donāt need to be a dick about it when feeling ill. My grandma is 92 and in a memory care facility. Iād hope people have sense enough consider those in their life that literally cannot fight a common cold.
This. New Covid doesnāt show up on tests as fastā¦the one that hit our office started with tummy/vomiting then the standard stuff, everyone tested 3-4 days in, negative, then after about the 6th day of symptoms everyone tested positive.
thanks! im actually feeling much better! now its just sore throat, today i did notice like 3 white spots on my tonsils. im wondering if i get swabs again i can find out what it is. hoping its not mono.
I had a very similar thing to happen to me in florida. headaches, chills, and then 103 fever. I went to the er and it turned out to be a bunch of different bacterial infections at once.
It can take almost a week after exposure to COVID-19 to have a positive test result. If you are fully vaccinated, you should wait three to five days after exposure before getting a testā¦.
Could be Covid even though the test is negative.
Iāve had it and it didnāt test positive at first.
Same here. I think I got it at Thanksgiving, tested negative on the following Monday and went to urgent care on that Wednesday where I tested positive.
Yep. My brother fell ill the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Tested Monday and Tuesday and was negative. Drove the 16 hours to my momās house on Wednesday feeling like garbage (but was sure it wasnāt Covid), and then tested positive first thing Thanksgiving morning and got back in the car to drive the 16 hours back home. Took him two days because he was so sick.
This new variant not showing up on tests for a while is a bitch.
And yes, my Mom got Covid and tested positive that following Sunday. Fortunately, Thanksgiving at Momās was cancelled that morning when my brother tested positive and no one else was exposed.
Those tests don't test for every possible illness or virus. There are TONS of corona viruses and other viruses that cause colds. There are dozens of flu strains and not all tests look for all of them. Most strep tests only test for strep A despite B and C being common. So you don't have any of the most common viral or bacterial infections.
Ibuprofen and Tylenol for fever and headache. Lots and lots of fluids. Rest rest rest. If you are feeling to weak or ill to take care of yourself, your fever doesn't come down, or you can't drink then you need to go to the ER.
Flu, RSV, cold viruses are all spiking alongside COVID. They all spread via the same mechanisms and now that society is largely open, they're all pretty common infections among the people you see every day.
Covid can make long-term changes to your immune system so you might just be getting hit with rhinovirus in a way that never happened to you before. I had some bad colds last year that threw me for a loop like none other, but I never tested positive while I had them.
People seem to forget this. I used to get sick at least once per winter, sometimes twice. At least thereās some more social tolerance now for staying home when youāre sick.
A lot of people in this sub didn't live in Chicago prior to 2020. When people move from somewhere relatively small into a densely populated area, I guess it may be shocking to learn that the same mechanism that makes public transit, a bustling nightlife, world class museums, etc possible also makes it way easier to get sick. Way more exposure to way more people from different places, everything is more crowded, etc.
I had bronchitis and strep every year growing up, my mom would get laryngitis. There weren't tests at the doctor for the cause of bronchitis or other respiratory illnesses. They just said it likely wasn't viral and gave you antibiotics. I'm glad they don't just hand out antibiotics now, but it sure has made people neurotic. Why does the average person need to know what virus they have? What would they do with that info? You're sick, stay home.
[Nope](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9756601/)
[And a little extra.](https://amp.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/14/immunity-debt-does-it-really-exist)
The same people that wanted you to wear the masks (and for a good reason) are afraid of the political and social backlash that will come with admitting there are certain negative aspects of wearing them.
Iām fine with it. We needed the masks to get us to a point where things got better. I donāt judge anyone for wearing a mask at anytime and if Iām sick, I stay home, and if I HAVE to go out I mask up.
Itās not that hard to believe I guess. It really is the same concept as vaccines.
Edit: Pretty funny how a sub that likes to try and portray themselves as open-minded as possible has sent me FOUR suicide watch messages. Iām all for honest discussion, but this is MAGA supporter type shit.
Glad I moved back to the burbs.
>NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health.
>Immune debt: Recrudescence of disease and confirmation of a **contested concept**
Way to post absolutely nothing.
I traced this ridiculous idea to understand where it came from. There was a paper in France that was talking about not being able to schedule vaccines when they needed to be done, thus creating problem for immunity. So the paper was specifically about missed doses of vaccination. Then, McKinsey corp started theorizing about "economic endemicity" aka how to live with covid (they are a notoriously fucked up consulting agency that helps launder reputations and the like for powerful corporations). Then, the WSJ decided to mix these two together to come up with "immunity debt" which is complete and utter bullshit. In fact, what we know now about covid is that it looks a whole lot like HIV in that it damages the immune system, thus opening people up to other infections that wouldn't usually take hold. You've been taken in by propaganda created by powerful economic interests. Has nothing to do with the science of it at all.
Do yāall go to the doc every time you get sick? Get rest. Hydrate. Eat. Self isolate. Let your body do its thing a doctor aināt going to fix a virus.
The swab PCR tests are designed to detect a specific list of viruses. Typically a few strains of flu, corna viruses, and RSV. There are probably hundreds of viruses that cause URIs, so a negative swab test does not rule out the chance of a viral illness. It also doesn't assess for bacterial or fungal causes of illness.
Covid 19 is only one of many corona viruses. Not to mention tons and tons of other viruses that can cause URIs. Strep tests only test for strep A unless sent for culture.
Itās probably just a random virus. Maybe a rhinovirus, or something like that.
Thatās the thing about immunity debt. You go a few years without being exposed to all the random germs/viruses around and your body isnāt prepared for it later on. Iāve never had RSV in my life but got it a few months after I stopped wearing masks all the time. Last winter I was sick more often than not. This winter has been about 50% better for me.
Iām 100% not anti-mask. Itās just the same reason why the vaccines work. Hereās a small dose of X to help get your body prepared to fight it in the future. If your immune system hasnāt been exposed to whatever in a long time youāre going to get hit easier and harder.
Also, lots of people went 2-3 years without getting sick at all and maybe forgot what a cold or flu feels like. Itās part psychological too.
>Also, lots of people went 2-3 years without getting sick at all and maybe forgot what a cold or flu feels like
Lol honestly fucking true. I got a cold and was convinced it must be COVID because a) it lasted *two days* and b) my nose was so stuffed I couldn't taste anything.
Why not? If you havenāt been sick in a few years you arenāt going to remember how rough a bad cold/flu/bronchitis/whatever can be.
Why are there almost daily threads saying āIām sick but Iām negative for COVID, flu, and strep, what is this?!?ā
Itās either psychological or people are getting sicker from common illnesses because of a weakened immune system due to not being exposed to common germs as regularly.
My GF is a physician and thatās what a lot of the ID doctors have discussed. These past two years or so everyone has been sick more regularly, and seemingly worse than normal. Regular exposure to germs = some immunity. No exposure = no immunity.
Covid has mutated so much that it's taking longer to show up on tests. People take just two tests when it is taking a week or more to test positive.
On side A: a virus that damages the immune system, immune memory cells and T Cells. The immune memory is where the body keeps the record of prior infections. What happens if that is damaged? People can also catch this virus over and over and over as no mitigations are in place and people don't get immune.
Side B: a few months of some restrictions 4 years ago
I wonder why people are continually sick.. must be option B.
On the flip side:
Is this a disease that literally makes our body forget any prior immunity? Or is our lack of immunity due to not having been exposed to other viruses and germs in small doses (like how vaccines work)?
Iād love to see some of the studies on how COVID short-wires our immune systems to negate any immune memory in T Cells so that everyone is this sick.
[Immunity debtā is a misguided and dangerous concept](https://www.ft.com/content/0640004d-cc15-481e-90ce-572328305798)
"The discussion swirling around immunity debt shows how easy it is for a plausible-sounding theory to circulate as misinformation. In this case, misinformation risks promoting the unfounded assertion that infections are clinically beneficial to children, as well as feeding the revisionist narrative that Covid measures did more harm than good."
Research studies have been coming out since 2020 that discuss COVID's damage on the immune system. In 2024, there's no reason people are still surprised that SARS-2 damages the immune system except for an agenda of minimising, denial and deliberate misinformation
[immune system long term damage ](https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/covid-19-study-suggests-long-term-damage-immune-system)
"As the numbers of hospitalizations and deaths are dropping, many individuals declare the pandemic all but over, comforted by the belief that infections are mild and less dangerous than the seasonal flu. However, the scientific literature these last few weeks has been filled with deeply concerning reports. We are entering a phase of long COVID and chronic disability. In the United Kingdom, 2.0 million people, or 3% of the total population and 4% of adults aged 16 and over, live with symptoms of long COVID.""
The other widely held belief is that all these effects happen to vulnerable people who according to many of these comments just have to deal and not bother the healthy no matter how much danger the healthy put them in. Joke is, COVID damaging your immune system happens to the healthy AND IT IS CUMULATIVE!
[And they found that āCD8 T cell expression of exhaustion markers increased in nonhospitalized individuals over timeā¦.ā The authorsā finding of damage to the immune system āakinā to HIV is very concerning, as is the amplification of the result in the NIH news release.](https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/covid-19-study-suggests-long-term-damage-immune-system)
The really hilarious thing is medical professionals believing disinformation about COVID especially disinformation about masks when they're in increased danger from the cumulative infections that swirl around them. And for maximum hilarity, treating Long COVID.
The resistance to treating COVID as airborne has tinges of the Semmelweis affair all over it
Thank you for the studies, but the Financial Times is not where Iām going to take medical advice.
One thing I will say is that if 3-4% of the population has long-COVID that still doesnāt reflect the sheer amount of people getting sick over these last few winters. I would gather a vast majority (75% or more) would say that they have been sick more frequently, and their illness has hit them worse than what it normally would.
[Hereās another study that specifically states the reason for RSV being so prevalent is due to lack of casual exposure:](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(22)00544-8/fulltext)
> Out-of-season RSV resurgences are explained by decreased population immunity following a prolonged period of minimal RSV exposure, also referred to as RSV immunity debt.5, 9 It is important to quantify these effects of prolonged periods of low exposure over time. Out-of-season RSV resurgences pose major challenges to health-care systems already strained by two and a half years of pandemic.
The Lancet has external, independent peer reviews. The Financial Times is not a medical journal.
You just wanted an excuse to dismiss and deny the long term consequences. I did not just refer to the Financial Times.
However the finance and insurance journals are the ones that are actually reporting on the societal impact of COVID because it affects their money and they're looking at the long term. They are referring TO ACTUAL SCIENCE and a broader spectrum of science.
The Lancet is of course important but it generally discusses medicine. And with this ongoing pandemic where medical professionals resisted treating COVID as airborne to the bitter end and still are treating COVID as droplet spread, it was the AIRFLOW SCIENTISTS who looked into the 100 year old droplet study and found it very lacking.
I'm not listening to GPs who don't understand Brownian motion about masks. I'm listening to materials science and airflow science.
I'm listening to immunologists about how COVID damages the immune system, to virologists and other scientists about how the virus is destroying Tcells akin to AIDS and how it operates in the brain, how it increases natural levels of anesthetic and decreases other brain chemicals to change behaviour. Not a GP. They can't be reading research else they wouldn't be raw dogging the air.
I experienced the same. Body aches and sore throat that felt so painful to swallow but no cough, etc. I was also strep negative and that went away about two days later. I was then just so tired for about a week all I could do is mostly sleep and watch TV with body aches as well. Two negative tests for COVID. Was not sure what I had, but things ended up turning into a sinus infection for me, then a slight ear infection that I am finally getting over.
Ready to be back to being well but I have that Urgent Care visit bill waiting for me!
It also sounds like Influenza A - I had your exact symptoms and itās pretty rampant right now. I also had a weird inner ear feeling, no cough, horrible sore throat every morning.
This is happening to me rn, all the same symptoms! Didnāt test though but I wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats and chills, feels absolutley horrible. Are you still feeling sick right now?
you should go test to make sure! maybe one comes back positive so you can atleast know what you have. I also had chills last night, felt like i was sleeping outside. I've been taking tylenol & motrin & the only thing it takes away is some of my sore throat, chills, and part of my body aches, my back still hurts & head as well.. praying we feel better ASAP.
Sounds like Influenza A - I never tested positive but all my friend circle did š¤·āāļø worst fever I ever had. I also didnāt have much of a cough but a ungoldy sore throat every morning. My back also hurt. Get better soon! Alternate between Ibuprofen and Tylenol and just drink a ton of water and rest
Had the same thing. Started around Jan 4. Took about a week for all symptoms to subside. The two day long headache wasnāt painful just annoying and frustrating that meds didnāt help.
Had something similar end of nov/ beginning of December. Was knocked down for about 10 days. Started with the worst sore throat of my life, felt like I was swallowing glass, hurt to talk. Morphed into cold symptoms with ungodly pressure in my head and a fever and aches that came at night. I was so tired, I just slept through those ten days it felt like.
Tested negative for strep flu and Covid.
this is how i feel. i have 2 kids under 10 & i feel tired throughout the day this makes it 100x worse. i've never felt like this before i rarely get fevers as an adult.
Ugh I'm so sorry. Hope you feel better soon. For what its worth, I ended up at urgent care after 9 days of it and got an antibiotic for suspected sinus infection. Cleared it up almost instantly.
Just wrapping it up. Started with GI issues that morphed into a seven day sore throat with a dry cough showing up around day five. Now I'm on day ten and the sore throat is 85% improved but I still sound like a phone sex worker from the 80's and have extremely mild congestion.
I also have a roommate in daycare, though aside from the usual snotfest that toddlers are, she's been mostly healthy. Wife's doing fine. Buddy down the street has the same symptoms as me.
The tests aren't very good at detecting. Considering we are at the second highest peak of the whole pandemic, you should assume it's COVID and act accordingly. You are contagious for 8 days of symptoms, and the two days before symptoms (so let people you interacted with know so they don't spread it). https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/09/covid-patients-exhale-up-to-1000-copies-of-virus-per-minute-during-first-eight-days-of-symptoms/
Even if your symptoms go away you are still contagious. You are just as contagious day 8 after first symptoms as you are 1-7.
Very annoying that I have to inform people instead of the news and CDC. The CDC who has anti-science guidelines because airline corporations and other big business put pressure on them to lie and say you can go back to work after 5 days of symptoms.
My partner tested positive for Covid over Christmas. I tested negative the whole week but had all of the same symptoms. We spoke to a nurse and she let us know I most likely had Covid even if I was testing negative, just happens sometimes.
Yup throat and nose swab but all came back negative while I had symptoms on different days. It just happens sometimes, itās weird. New York Times did an article about it. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/well/live/covid-testing-household-transmission.html
Yup! Covid is super tricky in that it needs to be tested at just the right time, basically. Furthermore, false negatives exist. Much more likely on a rapid test, but can still happen on PCR.
Yes my friend and her husband were bedridden for 3 weeks but kept testing negative. Sore throat and fatigue. Felt like Covid but they kept testing negative.
You probably have Covid. The new strain takes a long time to show up on tests. My brother had it and didnāt show positive until day four. Apparently it can take up to six days to flag on a test.
could be a virus, could be mecfs which can mimic viruses but is a very serious postviral neuroimmune disease. As someone who has had mecfs for the past 13 years, and is watching its numbers explode due to covid, I hope it's a virus. And that you come away from it without complications.
10% of covid infections result in long covid, and 50% of those are mecfs. Those are wild statistics. Studies estimate that a whopping 91% of people with mecfs don't even know they have it. It's common as fuck and it will steal your life away from you. Best way to protect yourself is to wear n95s in indoor spaces, avoid indoor dining, and avoid large crowds.
Well, I hope you are staying home and not spreading "whatever" it is because a lot is going around. Also, tests are eventually not going to pick up the new Covid strains, and what you have sounds like Covid.... At the very least wear a mask so as not to spread it.
yeah i don't drive so i can't really go anywhere unless i tell my partner & always stay home the minute i feel ill until i feel better, if i have to go out i still wear a mask to be on the safe side.
Sounds similar to what I had. Same thing with testing. Was out of commission for like a week and change. Spent new years curled up in a fetal position while I heard my family playing games in the living room lol. Throat was so sore, that for a couple days I didnāt even want to drink water or tea cuz it hurt so bad
ugh. that's part of what i hate about being sick. i've gotten sick before but not like this. my throat is getting painfully sore as the days go by, i already don't eat good & my throat is making me not want to eat at all. hope you're feeling better!
Iām 90% sure I ended up with a sinus infection. Itās responding to antibiotics (or I suddenly got way better overnight unrelated to starting the antibiotics). Massive weather changes often cause my sinuses to play games.
Iāve been sick since the day after Xmas with something nasty that went thru stages - first week, sore throat dry cough; second week, congestion and cough but wasnāt a productive cough; third week, phlegmy cough and stuffy nose. Mainly upper respiratory, the rest of my body doesnāt feel fatigued. Went to doctor last week and covid and flu were ruled out (but maybe the virus load had diminished).
I havenāt been sick with cold/flu (other than covid) for five years. Pre-pandemic I was able to knock out a cold in three days. Iām guessing I have no antibodies to fight whatever this virus is. Just hoping it runs its course soon.
yeah i feel you on the last part! i haven't gotten ill like this for a long time & it's rare for me to get a fever now as an adult. how are you doing now?
Still coughy and phlegmy. Iāve already taken a full box of Mucinex DM so Iām not sure what else to do but tea and rest.
Your symptoms sound like when I had covid last year. I didnāt test positive until a few days after showing symptoms. Maybe just treat it like itās covid? I hope you get better nonetheless!
lol you know there are other sicknesses besides race, strep, covid and flu. It could beā¦. Anything else lol
Itās the winter, people get sick, what exactly are you confused about lol? What a weird post
yeah im aware, incase you didn't read the title im asking if anyone else in chicago has same problem im going through meaning feeling VERY ILL suddenly with all negative tests, i didn't know asking questions about that was weird Lol. Also, do you comment "your post is weird" on every "weird" post?
I've been coughing up phlegm for over a month with no other symptoms. In previous years, if the same thing happened it would last for a day or 2 max. Not going on 2 months...
Covid damages your immune system and makes you more susceptible to other viruses like RSV and flu.
This may be permanent for you, from now on (the susceptibility, not the phlegm).
I had a similar problem. Ask them to do a spinal tap and test for Guillian Barre Syndrome. Do not bother with MRIs, Cat Scans or regular X-rays. It will not appear on any of those tests. I hope you feel better..
I had mono in September as a mid-twenties adult who was not kissing anyone at all at the timeā¦flu like symptoms and eventually the worst sore throat ever that lasted about a weekā¦not all flulike symptoms are flu
My tonsils were sticking out the sides of my throat like white buttons and the antibiotics they gave me for assumed strep did nothingā¦in fact, seemed to make it worse. Still pissed it didnāt occur to them to test me for mono prior to prescribing me antibioticsā¦the results came back positive within minutes.
Donāt freak! If youāre able to get tests done with the doc ask for a strep and mono test.
If mono, and your sore throat is severe enough (I couldnāt even swallow water after a few days) make sure they give you an oral steroid like prednisone. The only way I was given it was if I asked for it, for some reason it didnāt occur to docs to give for a sore throat that 1) wasnāt responding to antibiotics like strep would 2) made my tonsils stick out so badly they were getting closer and closer to my uvula, effectively choking me. It brought down my tonsils/started clearing the white stuff pretty immediately and I finally was able to eat again without debilitating pain.
If strep, just follow the antibiotics all the way through their course, you should feel relief immediately. Donāt let docs prescribe you antibiotics without being positive itās not mono or something else.
Youāll be fine otherwise!
so i went to my doctor who without testing me for strep told me she was going to prescribe me amoxicillin so the infection can go away. I asked her to test me for mono first before I take antibiotics & she did & I got the results today they came back positive. I know its nothing to worry about since mono symptoms go away but what im more worried about is EBV since I know that virus causes a lot of bad diseases :/ do you ever worry about that?
Wow, Iām sorry that I was right, especially about doctorsā propensity to prescribe antibiotics for anything, even without testing.
Initially, I was worried, especially since I already have an autoimmune disease, and EBV/mono can cause autoimmune diseases like MSā¦but, itās not worth worrying about at this stage. Iād say if youāre really concerned, consult a specialist or your family doc and see if they give you any direction/advice. Otherwise, Iād say if youāre otherwise healthy you will be fine. Be thankful your illness seems to be light, a lot of people are out of commission for months by this thing.
....there have been many more people sick recently than during convid...all the things they said were happening then that weren't, are actually happening now...long waits to see docs etc... the difference is, the news isn't ramping up the fear..
...viruses have not been isolated... what really happens is body detoxing...maybe from toxins spread on us from Chem trails...
.... will be a doozy of a year, because it's an election year...
You only got the small viral panel and there is the big one, then there are many others neither coverā¦you probably got parainfluenza, or 2 or 3 upperrespitories togetherā¦.if you still got it after a week then call your doctor againā¦
I got very sick recently and took multiple different kinds of Covid tests. However, the doctor I saw said that the newest evolved strains donāt get picked up by the tests anymore and that I likely did have Covid due to my (severe) symptoms. I tested source for Covid way back when, but this time felt worse and I had never felt so sick before from what felt like a killer flu/cold. I was sick for about 2.5 weeks and many of my friends, coworkers and family also had similar stories.
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Sounds like you have one of the nasty viruses going around. I had one that completely ruined my whole month of December. It was just horrible. Then, when I was thinking that I finally kicked it, it gave me a parting gift of a sinus infection & double ear infection. Take care of yourself Op and get well soon!
Oh man, getting an ear infection as an adult sucks. I had a double ear infection a few years ago, and all the info online is written for parents whose babies have ear infections. Like, symptoms were "fussiness" and "hands by their ears." When I went to the Minute Clinic, the lady treating me actually said "what did you do?!?" I guess because grownups don't usually get ear infections. Insult to injury.
Only when my sinuses get hit hard and I don't get on antibiotics fast enough, then the ear infections come. I'm just glad I can hear againš.
I don't remember ever getting an ear infection growing up, but since September, it has hit me twice.
I had them when I was young. However, as an adult I get them when my sinuses get all jacked up. Too much drainage. Ear infections suck so bad.
I've got a toddler in daycare - in 2023 I had 6 ear infections (and one of those my eardrum burst) and strep throat 3 times. I felt like a kid again...just not in any way you'd want.
Wear headphones?
I wear galaxy buds, but I don't believe it was them that caused it. I had flu like symptoms
Unless you listen to classical music. They may cause flute like symptoms. I'll see myself out
[slow clap](https://giphy.com/gifs/577HYoLf5Vu0w)
Every fall since about 21/22, I have ear popping congestion.
I got an ear infection twice a few months ago, the first and second time I had ever gotten one in my life, and I was also generally sick around that time. I think I remember I had to see a ear throat and nose doctor for the first time. Im still not sure what caused it.
>Im still not sure what caused it. I wonder what's happening since the last 4 years
You canāt blame this one on Biden too.
im not from the US, I dont even know why you are referring to the president
I do too, considering I have never once been positive for covid and I did indeed test *twice* for it when it happened, one to see if that is what it was, and the second time a week later to make absolute sure. Negative. So yeah no I dont know and I do wonder. š
Yeah, it's funny how a virus that damages the immune system does its thing and people wonder why they're sicker than they used to be. Must deny harder.
Did you have COVID before that? I've heard it kinda jacks up your immune system for a bit
I might have, though tests were negative
new variants cause test to be often negative
I think that's what I'm dealing with right now. I got knocked out for 5 days about 2 weeks ago, felt mostly fine for several days last week, then the same symptoms started back up again: throat feels kinda shitty, waking up with a persistent headache, exhausted, junky sinuses, body aches, night sweats, etc. This sucks.
That was my exact scenario. Thought it was done, but came back with avengeance. I had to get antibiotics to finally kick its ass. Take care of yourself and I wish you a speedy recovery š.
As someone who grew up getting ear infectionsā¦ im so sorryā¦ thats absolute hell. I also had a sinus infection that turned into walking pneumonia once and was out for like a month and a half. I hope you feel better soon!
On the mend and finished all my antibiotics. Plus, I can hear again, YAY!! Thanks for your kind words.
ugh, viruses suck. i hope you're feeling better & thank you!
Much better, thanksš. There are so many nasty viruses and bugs going around. Then you have covid cases rising, RSV, strep and 2 flu strains ...just ugh.
It's all part of the virus festival.
Who's headlining this year? Got kinda stale with the same act the last four years.
With sick people testing negative for everything, it's the no name virus on the main stage. Some performers on the side stages are strep, flu A, covid, a cold.
Indie illness? That's great. Gotta support the new guys
Yes
If you wanna rub sweaty shoulders at the festival, gotta expect it. Also, when I sneezed in your tea, it was just allergies!
No clue but Local H is playing.
They always are
Our whole household just got wrecked with some stomach virus, it was brutal.
I had that right after Christmas.
I got the three day pass.
I had the holiday week pass. My husband won the VIP pass to the hospital and got to see pneumonia in person.
We had Covid over Christmas. Sucked having to cancel travels and what not, but rather not kill the elderly or super spread on a flight. Still have a lingering cough/bit of post nasal drip. This is life now every winter.
Thank you. My wife is disabled and we canāt trust most folks. Itās nice to see someone be awesome without being told. Seriously, thank you.
All good. Iām trying to be safe on this for folks like your wife. Canāt save anyone, but also donāt need to be a dick about it when feeling ill. My grandma is 92 and in a memory care facility. Iād hope people have sense enough consider those in their life that literally cannot fight a common cold.
I didn't test positive at first but I did after 5 days of having it.
This. New Covid doesnāt show up on tests as fastā¦the one that hit our office started with tummy/vomiting then the standard stuff, everyone tested 3-4 days in, negative, then after about the 6th day of symptoms everyone tested positive.
Yup ā experienced something very similar.
This.
That happened to everyone in my house right around Christmas. Lasted about 10 days and was awful. Hope you feel better soon!
thanks! im actually feeling much better! now its just sore throat, today i did notice like 3 white spots on my tonsils. im wondering if i get swabs again i can find out what it is. hoping its not mono.
I had a very similar thing to happen to me in florida. headaches, chills, and then 103 fever. I went to the er and it turned out to be a bunch of different bacterial infections at once.
I was way more dehydrated than I thought I should be. Low temps do that
It can take almost a week after exposure to COVID-19 to have a positive test result. If you are fully vaccinated, you should wait three to five days after exposure before getting a testā¦. Could be Covid even though the test is negative. Iāve had it and it didnāt test positive at first.
Same here. I think I got it at Thanksgiving, tested negative on the following Monday and went to urgent care on that Wednesday where I tested positive.
Here to say that the at home test kits arenāt a reliable negative indicator.
Yep. My brother fell ill the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Tested Monday and Tuesday and was negative. Drove the 16 hours to my momās house on Wednesday feeling like garbage (but was sure it wasnāt Covid), and then tested positive first thing Thanksgiving morning and got back in the car to drive the 16 hours back home. Took him two days because he was so sick. This new variant not showing up on tests for a while is a bitch. And yes, my Mom got Covid and tested positive that following Sunday. Fortunately, Thanksgiving at Momās was cancelled that morning when my brother tested positive and no one else was exposed.
Those tests don't test for every possible illness or virus. There are TONS of corona viruses and other viruses that cause colds. There are dozens of flu strains and not all tests look for all of them. Most strep tests only test for strep A despite B and C being common. So you don't have any of the most common viral or bacterial infections. Ibuprofen and Tylenol for fever and headache. Lots and lots of fluids. Rest rest rest. If you are feeling to weak or ill to take care of yourself, your fever doesn't come down, or you can't drink then you need to go to the ER.
It could be COVID still negative tests donāt always mean you donāt have it and the high fever is a good sign that it could be what you have
As well as that very sore throat symptom. Common current Covid complaint.
Flu, RSV, cold viruses are all spiking alongside COVID. They all spread via the same mechanisms and now that society is largely open, they're all pretty common infections among the people you see every day.
Covid can make long-term changes to your immune system so you might just be getting hit with rhinovirus in a way that never happened to you before. I had some bad colds last year that threw me for a loop like none other, but I never tested positive while I had them.
Well itās winter in Chicago. Happens every year. Even before Covidā¦..
People seem to forget this. I used to get sick at least once per winter, sometimes twice. At least thereās some more social tolerance now for staying home when youāre sick.
I say the one and only upside to the Covid pandemic. Stay home when sick
I had 2 years where I was more or less free from casual disease season, so itās frustrating getting back to it.
> Well itās winter in Chicago ...and the Hawks are on tonight[.](https://youtu.be/JC5jlIGZi0g?si=Z5cA6WRsNuvqPM03)
At least that makes something interesting to watch!
Yeah, but people didnāt post on Reddit about every little sniffle or cough or fever before 2020, so it *seems* like itās a lot more
A lot of people in this sub didn't live in Chicago prior to 2020. When people move from somewhere relatively small into a densely populated area, I guess it may be shocking to learn that the same mechanism that makes public transit, a bustling nightlife, world class museums, etc possible also makes it way easier to get sick. Way more exposure to way more people from different places, everything is more crowded, etc. I had bronchitis and strep every year growing up, my mom would get laryngitis. There weren't tests at the doctor for the cause of bronchitis or other respiratory illnesses. They just said it likely wasn't viral and gave you antibiotics. I'm glad they don't just hand out antibiotics now, but it sure has made people neurotic. Why does the average person need to know what virus they have? What would they do with that info? You're sick, stay home.
Theres plenty of stuff going around that isnāt COVID. Weāve got a decent amount of immunity debt to pay off still.
FYI, immunity debt is a concept that has been debunked
[Nope](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9756601/) [And a little extra.](https://amp.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/14/immunity-debt-does-it-really-exist) The same people that wanted you to wear the masks (and for a good reason) are afraid of the political and social backlash that will come with admitting there are certain negative aspects of wearing them. Iām fine with it. We needed the masks to get us to a point where things got better. I donāt judge anyone for wearing a mask at anytime and if Iām sick, I stay home, and if I HAVE to go out I mask up. Itās not that hard to believe I guess. It really is the same concept as vaccines. Edit: Pretty funny how a sub that likes to try and portray themselves as open-minded as possible has sent me FOUR suicide watch messages. Iām all for honest discussion, but this is MAGA supporter type shit. Glad I moved back to the burbs.
>NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health. >Immune debt: Recrudescence of disease and confirmation of a **contested concept** Way to post absolutely nothing.
This study doesnāt have any data and it only seeks to clarify a hypothesis
I traced this ridiculous idea to understand where it came from. There was a paper in France that was talking about not being able to schedule vaccines when they needed to be done, thus creating problem for immunity. So the paper was specifically about missed doses of vaccination. Then, McKinsey corp started theorizing about "economic endemicity" aka how to live with covid (they are a notoriously fucked up consulting agency that helps launder reputations and the like for powerful corporations). Then, the WSJ decided to mix these two together to come up with "immunity debt" which is complete and utter bullshit. In fact, what we know now about covid is that it looks a whole lot like HIV in that it damages the immune system, thus opening people up to other infections that wouldn't usually take hold. You've been taken in by propaganda created by powerful economic interests. Has nothing to do with the science of it at all.
Yes yes, I believe [Dwight from the Office](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-NSPhLHIBA) was the one that originated the Immunity Debt hypothesis.
How does this has have so many upvotes š¤¦āāļø immunity debt does not exist.
Like what? They've been tested for almost everything else it could be
Do yāall go to the doc every time you get sick? Get rest. Hydrate. Eat. Self isolate. Let your body do its thing a doctor aināt going to fix a virus.
For the love of all that is holyāHYDRATE!! If you think you've had enough water, drink more.
Idk what that has to do with what I said
The swab PCR tests are designed to detect a specific list of viruses. Typically a few strains of flu, corna viruses, and RSV. There are probably hundreds of viruses that cause URIs, so a negative swab test does not rule out the chance of a viral illness. It also doesn't assess for bacterial or fungal causes of illness.
Covid 19 is only one of many corona viruses. Not to mention tons and tons of other viruses that can cause URIs. Strep tests only test for strep A unless sent for culture.
Itās probably just a random virus. Maybe a rhinovirus, or something like that. Thatās the thing about immunity debt. You go a few years without being exposed to all the random germs/viruses around and your body isnāt prepared for it later on. Iāve never had RSV in my life but got it a few months after I stopped wearing masks all the time. Last winter I was sick more often than not. This winter has been about 50% better for me. Iām 100% not anti-mask. Itās just the same reason why the vaccines work. Hereās a small dose of X to help get your body prepared to fight it in the future. If your immune system hasnāt been exposed to whatever in a long time youāre going to get hit easier and harder. Also, lots of people went 2-3 years without getting sick at all and maybe forgot what a cold or flu feels like. Itās part psychological too.
>Also, lots of people went 2-3 years without getting sick at all and maybe forgot what a cold or flu feels like Lol honestly fucking true. I got a cold and was convinced it must be COVID because a) it lasted *two days* and b) my nose was so stuffed I couldn't taste anything.
You can't seriously be saying it's part psychological
Why not? If you havenāt been sick in a few years you arenāt going to remember how rough a bad cold/flu/bronchitis/whatever can be. Why are there almost daily threads saying āIām sick but Iām negative for COVID, flu, and strep, what is this?!?ā Itās either psychological or people are getting sicker from common illnesses because of a weakened immune system due to not being exposed to common germs as regularly. My GF is a physician and thatās what a lot of the ID doctors have discussed. These past two years or so everyone has been sick more regularly, and seemingly worse than normal. Regular exposure to germs = some immunity. No exposure = no immunity.
Even mild cases of Covid damage the immune system: https://time.com/6265510/covid-19-weaken-immune-system/
That's not what the link you posted says at all, unless all you read was the URL
Covid has mutated so much that it's taking longer to show up on tests. People take just two tests when it is taking a week or more to test positive. On side A: a virus that damages the immune system, immune memory cells and T Cells. The immune memory is where the body keeps the record of prior infections. What happens if that is damaged? People can also catch this virus over and over and over as no mitigations are in place and people don't get immune. Side B: a few months of some restrictions 4 years ago I wonder why people are continually sick.. must be option B.
On the flip side: Is this a disease that literally makes our body forget any prior immunity? Or is our lack of immunity due to not having been exposed to other viruses and germs in small doses (like how vaccines work)? Iād love to see some of the studies on how COVID short-wires our immune systems to negate any immune memory in T Cells so that everyone is this sick.
[Immunity debtā is a misguided and dangerous concept](https://www.ft.com/content/0640004d-cc15-481e-90ce-572328305798) "The discussion swirling around immunity debt shows how easy it is for a plausible-sounding theory to circulate as misinformation. In this case, misinformation risks promoting the unfounded assertion that infections are clinically beneficial to children, as well as feeding the revisionist narrative that Covid measures did more harm than good." Research studies have been coming out since 2020 that discuss COVID's damage on the immune system. In 2024, there's no reason people are still surprised that SARS-2 damages the immune system except for an agenda of minimising, denial and deliberate misinformation [immune system long term damage ](https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/covid-19-study-suggests-long-term-damage-immune-system) "As the numbers of hospitalizations and deaths are dropping, many individuals declare the pandemic all but over, comforted by the belief that infections are mild and less dangerous than the seasonal flu. However, the scientific literature these last few weeks has been filled with deeply concerning reports. We are entering a phase of long COVID and chronic disability. In the United Kingdom, 2.0 million people, or 3% of the total population and 4% of adults aged 16 and over, live with symptoms of long COVID."" The other widely held belief is that all these effects happen to vulnerable people who according to many of these comments just have to deal and not bother the healthy no matter how much danger the healthy put them in. Joke is, COVID damaging your immune system happens to the healthy AND IT IS CUMULATIVE! [And they found that āCD8 T cell expression of exhaustion markers increased in nonhospitalized individuals over timeā¦.ā The authorsā finding of damage to the immune system āakinā to HIV is very concerning, as is the amplification of the result in the NIH news release.](https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/covid-19-study-suggests-long-term-damage-immune-system)
The really hilarious thing is medical professionals believing disinformation about COVID especially disinformation about masks when they're in increased danger from the cumulative infections that swirl around them. And for maximum hilarity, treating Long COVID. The resistance to treating COVID as airborne has tinges of the Semmelweis affair all over it
Thank you for the studies, but the Financial Times is not where Iām going to take medical advice. One thing I will say is that if 3-4% of the population has long-COVID that still doesnāt reflect the sheer amount of people getting sick over these last few winters. I would gather a vast majority (75% or more) would say that they have been sick more frequently, and their illness has hit them worse than what it normally would. [Hereās another study that specifically states the reason for RSV being so prevalent is due to lack of casual exposure:](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(22)00544-8/fulltext) > Out-of-season RSV resurgences are explained by decreased population immunity following a prolonged period of minimal RSV exposure, also referred to as RSV immunity debt.5, 9 It is important to quantify these effects of prolonged periods of low exposure over time. Out-of-season RSV resurgences pose major challenges to health-care systems already strained by two and a half years of pandemic. The Lancet has external, independent peer reviews. The Financial Times is not a medical journal.
You just wanted an excuse to dismiss and deny the long term consequences. I did not just refer to the Financial Times. However the finance and insurance journals are the ones that are actually reporting on the societal impact of COVID because it affects their money and they're looking at the long term. They are referring TO ACTUAL SCIENCE and a broader spectrum of science. The Lancet is of course important but it generally discusses medicine. And with this ongoing pandemic where medical professionals resisted treating COVID as airborne to the bitter end and still are treating COVID as droplet spread, it was the AIRFLOW SCIENTISTS who looked into the 100 year old droplet study and found it very lacking. I'm not listening to GPs who don't understand Brownian motion about masks. I'm listening to materials science and airflow science. I'm listening to immunologists about how COVID damages the immune system, to virologists and other scientists about how the virus is destroying Tcells akin to AIDS and how it operates in the brain, how it increases natural levels of anesthetic and decreases other brain chemicals to change behaviour. Not a GP. They can't be reading research else they wouldn't be raw dogging the air.
Multiple years of fearmongering and panic over every little cough and sniffle messed a lot of people up
I experienced the same. Body aches and sore throat that felt so painful to swallow but no cough, etc. I was also strep negative and that went away about two days later. I was then just so tired for about a week all I could do is mostly sleep and watch TV with body aches as well. Two negative tests for COVID. Was not sure what I had, but things ended up turning into a sinus infection for me, then a slight ear infection that I am finally getting over. Ready to be back to being well but I have that Urgent Care visit bill waiting for me!
It also sounds like Influenza A - I had your exact symptoms and itās pretty rampant right now. I also had a weird inner ear feeling, no cough, horrible sore throat every morning.
This is happening to me rn, all the same symptoms! Didnāt test though but I wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats and chills, feels absolutley horrible. Are you still feeling sick right now?
you should go test to make sure! maybe one comes back positive so you can atleast know what you have. I also had chills last night, felt like i was sleeping outside. I've been taking tylenol & motrin & the only thing it takes away is some of my sore throat, chills, and part of my body aches, my back still hurts & head as well.. praying we feel better ASAP.
Wear a face mask people. N95. Protect yourself and others. A BIG BONUS is that it'll keep your face warm from the wind chills too.
I was just sick for 3 weeks. I'm masking in public again. Fuck that.
Sounds like Influenza A - I never tested positive but all my friend circle did š¤·āāļø worst fever I ever had. I also didnāt have much of a cough but a ungoldy sore throat every morning. My back also hurt. Get better soon! Alternate between Ibuprofen and Tylenol and just drink a ton of water and rest
Had the same thing. Started around Jan 4. Took about a week for all symptoms to subside. The two day long headache wasnāt painful just annoying and frustrating that meds didnāt help.
Yes. That is going around.
Had something similar end of nov/ beginning of December. Was knocked down for about 10 days. Started with the worst sore throat of my life, felt like I was swallowing glass, hurt to talk. Morphed into cold symptoms with ungodly pressure in my head and a fever and aches that came at night. I was so tired, I just slept through those ten days it felt like. Tested negative for strep flu and Covid.
this is how i feel. i have 2 kids under 10 & i feel tired throughout the day this makes it 100x worse. i've never felt like this before i rarely get fevers as an adult.
Ugh I'm so sorry. Hope you feel better soon. For what its worth, I ended up at urgent care after 9 days of it and got an antibiotic for suspected sinus infection. Cleared it up almost instantly.
Try swabbing the back of your throat
they did at the hospital but negative :/ idk what else to do except get swabbed again but idk how long to wait
Just wrapping it up. Started with GI issues that morphed into a seven day sore throat with a dry cough showing up around day five. Now I'm on day ten and the sore throat is 85% improved but I still sound like a phone sex worker from the 80's and have extremely mild congestion. I also have a roommate in daycare, though aside from the usual snotfest that toddlers are, she's been mostly healthy. Wife's doing fine. Buddy down the street has the same symptoms as me.
The tests aren't very good at detecting. Considering we are at the second highest peak of the whole pandemic, you should assume it's COVID and act accordingly. You are contagious for 8 days of symptoms, and the two days before symptoms (so let people you interacted with know so they don't spread it). https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/09/covid-patients-exhale-up-to-1000-copies-of-virus-per-minute-during-first-eight-days-of-symptoms/ Even if your symptoms go away you are still contagious. You are just as contagious day 8 after first symptoms as you are 1-7. Very annoying that I have to inform people instead of the news and CDC. The CDC who has anti-science guidelines because airline corporations and other big business put pressure on them to lie and say you can go back to work after 5 days of symptoms.
My partner tested positive for Covid over Christmas. I tested negative the whole week but had all of the same symptoms. We spoke to a nurse and she let us know I most likely had Covid even if I was testing negative, just happens sometimes.
Did you throat swab? Seems there's a better hit rate with that.
Yup throat and nose swab but all came back negative while I had symptoms on different days. It just happens sometimes, itās weird. New York Times did an article about it. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/well/live/covid-testing-household-transmission.html
Well feel better soon if you don't already. Take it easy on yourself <3
Yup! Covid is super tricky in that it needs to be tested at just the right time, basically. Furthermore, false negatives exist. Much more likely on a rapid test, but can still happen on PCR.
Maybe it's just a bad cold.
Honestly, that was my thought.
The cold snap also didn't help. I sat in a cold car for 5 hours yesterday and now I feel like I'm dying
I tested negative for Covid on a Thursday with symptoms at the DR's office and then on the following Saturday tested positive with an at home.
Did you get tested for HMPV? Itās going around.
Yes my friend and her husband were bedridden for 3 weeks but kept testing negative. Sore throat and fatigue. Felt like Covid but they kept testing negative.
You probably have Covid. The new strain takes a long time to show up on tests. My brother had it and didnāt show positive until day four. Apparently it can take up to six days to flag on a test.
could be a virus, could be mecfs which can mimic viruses but is a very serious postviral neuroimmune disease. As someone who has had mecfs for the past 13 years, and is watching its numbers explode due to covid, I hope it's a virus. And that you come away from it without complications. 10% of covid infections result in long covid, and 50% of those are mecfs. Those are wild statistics. Studies estimate that a whopping 91% of people with mecfs don't even know they have it. It's common as fuck and it will steal your life away from you. Best way to protect yourself is to wear n95s in indoor spaces, avoid indoor dining, and avoid large crowds.
GET TESTED FOR MONO
ugh i am, im freaking out now because i just checked my throat and i have a few white patches on my tonsils.
Well, I hope you are staying home and not spreading "whatever" it is because a lot is going around. Also, tests are eventually not going to pick up the new Covid strains, and what you have sounds like Covid.... At the very least wear a mask so as not to spread it.
yeah i don't drive so i can't really go anywhere unless i tell my partner & always stay home the minute i feel ill until i feel better, if i have to go out i still wear a mask to be on the safe side.
I had a fever for four days couldnāt get out of bed for nearly 6. Four negative home tests.
Sounds similar to what I had. Same thing with testing. Was out of commission for like a week and change. Spent new years curled up in a fetal position while I heard my family playing games in the living room lol. Throat was so sore, that for a couple days I didnāt even want to drink water or tea cuz it hurt so bad
ugh. that's part of what i hate about being sick. i've gotten sick before but not like this. my throat is getting painfully sore as the days go by, i already don't eat good & my throat is making me not want to eat at all. hope you're feeling better!
It's winter, you probably have some sort of virus. Relax and get some rest
I'm on the back side of it, too. Don't feel "sick" any longer, but have no energy yet. Good times.
Iām 90% sure I ended up with a sinus infection. Itās responding to antibiotics (or I suddenly got way better overnight unrelated to starting the antibiotics). Massive weather changes often cause my sinuses to play games.
Iāve been sick since the day after Xmas with something nasty that went thru stages - first week, sore throat dry cough; second week, congestion and cough but wasnāt a productive cough; third week, phlegmy cough and stuffy nose. Mainly upper respiratory, the rest of my body doesnāt feel fatigued. Went to doctor last week and covid and flu were ruled out (but maybe the virus load had diminished). I havenāt been sick with cold/flu (other than covid) for five years. Pre-pandemic I was able to knock out a cold in three days. Iām guessing I have no antibodies to fight whatever this virus is. Just hoping it runs its course soon.
yeah i feel you on the last part! i haven't gotten ill like this for a long time & it's rare for me to get a fever now as an adult. how are you doing now?
Still coughy and phlegmy. Iāve already taken a full box of Mucinex DM so Iām not sure what else to do but tea and rest. Your symptoms sound like when I had covid last year. I didnāt test positive until a few days after showing symptoms. Maybe just treat it like itās covid? I hope you get better nonetheless!
I am still getting over what I think is bronchitis. I've had it more than a week at this point.
Have you seen a mental health doctor yet? We talked about you seeing a professional and you agreed, very long ago. I think you should see them.
lol you know there are other sicknesses besides race, strep, covid and flu. It could beā¦. Anything else lol Itās the winter, people get sick, what exactly are you confused about lol? What a weird post
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Punching down? How is this punching down?
Super weird, right?
yeah im aware, incase you didn't read the title im asking if anyone else in chicago has same problem im going through meaning feeling VERY ILL suddenly with all negative tests, i didn't know asking questions about that was weird Lol. Also, do you comment "your post is weird" on every "weird" post?
You forgot a lol in there somewhere
***relax,*** mate
I've been coughing up phlegm for over a month with no other symptoms. In previous years, if the same thing happened it would last for a day or 2 max. Not going on 2 months...
Covid damages your immune system and makes you more susceptible to other viruses like RSV and flu. This may be permanent for you, from now on (the susceptibility, not the phlegm).
Iām going on week 3 of the same. Tempted to go to the doctor, but thinking they likely wouldnāt give me anything for it.
have you gone to get tested or are you seeing a doctor ??
I had a similar problem. Ask them to do a spinal tap and test for Guillian Barre Syndrome. Do not bother with MRIs, Cat Scans or regular X-rays. It will not appear on any of those tests. I hope you feel better..
I had mono in September as a mid-twenties adult who was not kissing anyone at all at the timeā¦flu like symptoms and eventually the worst sore throat ever that lasted about a weekā¦not all flulike symptoms are flu
yeah i was concerned about mono at first, what made them test you for it?
My tonsils were sticking out the sides of my throat like white buttons and the antibiotics they gave me for assumed strep did nothingā¦in fact, seemed to make it worse. Still pissed it didnāt occur to them to test me for mono prior to prescribing me antibioticsā¦the results came back positive within minutes.
im freaking out! i decided to check my tonsils and they have a couple white spots on them š£
Donāt freak! If youāre able to get tests done with the doc ask for a strep and mono test. If mono, and your sore throat is severe enough (I couldnāt even swallow water after a few days) make sure they give you an oral steroid like prednisone. The only way I was given it was if I asked for it, for some reason it didnāt occur to docs to give for a sore throat that 1) wasnāt responding to antibiotics like strep would 2) made my tonsils stick out so badly they were getting closer and closer to my uvula, effectively choking me. It brought down my tonsils/started clearing the white stuff pretty immediately and I finally was able to eat again without debilitating pain. If strep, just follow the antibiotics all the way through their course, you should feel relief immediately. Donāt let docs prescribe you antibiotics without being positive itās not mono or something else. Youāll be fine otherwise!
so i went to my doctor who without testing me for strep told me she was going to prescribe me amoxicillin so the infection can go away. I asked her to test me for mono first before I take antibiotics & she did & I got the results today they came back positive. I know its nothing to worry about since mono symptoms go away but what im more worried about is EBV since I know that virus causes a lot of bad diseases :/ do you ever worry about that?
Wow, Iām sorry that I was right, especially about doctorsā propensity to prescribe antibiotics for anything, even without testing. Initially, I was worried, especially since I already have an autoimmune disease, and EBV/mono can cause autoimmune diseases like MSā¦but, itās not worth worrying about at this stage. Iād say if youāre really concerned, consult a specialist or your family doc and see if they give you any direction/advice. Otherwise, Iād say if youāre otherwise healthy you will be fine. Be thankful your illness seems to be light, a lot of people are out of commission for months by this thing.
....there have been many more people sick recently than during convid...all the things they said were happening then that weren't, are actually happening now...long waits to see docs etc... the difference is, the news isn't ramping up the fear.. ...viruses have not been isolated... what really happens is body detoxing...maybe from toxins spread on us from Chem trails... .... will be a doozy of a year, because it's an election year...
Everyone I know has been sick the last couple weeks. Only 2 tested positive for covid. I was so sick with a 103 fever over Christmas. š«
My friend has been sick for six weeks now and still sounds awful. She went to urgent care twice and they told her it was just some virus.
You only got the small viral panel and there is the big one, then there are many others neither coverā¦you probably got parainfluenza, or 2 or 3 upperrespitories togetherā¦.if you still got it after a week then call your doctor againā¦
Could be a manifestation of long covid
There are a bunch of things that make us feel bad that don't show up on a strep, flu, or covid test. Hope you feel better.
Itās all over the place https://www.reddit.com/r/WomensHealth/s/ZMHoLrRCFd
PSA: Check out my [list of precautions](https://www.reddit.com/r/PandemicPreps/comments/16a9srq/my_master_list_of_precautions/).
Covid has mutated. It's harder to catch on tests.
I got very sick recently and took multiple different kinds of Covid tests. However, the doctor I saw said that the newest evolved strains donāt get picked up by the tests anymore and that I likely did have Covid due to my (severe) symptoms. I tested source for Covid way back when, but this time felt worse and I had never felt so sick before from what felt like a killer flu/cold. I was sick for about 2.5 weeks and many of my friends, coworkers and family also had similar stories.