I thought I would start this since its spreading and if your kids haven't had it..they probably will and we can exchange information and idea on how to keep the rest of the family from getting it and ideas on how to keep the kids busy..if they feel well enough that is. My son has this which I just found out yesterday when the nurse finally got back to me with his test results. He can't go back to school until Monday and is taking tamiflu now. Just got that filled last evening. I took him in to the doctor on Monday thinking he probably just had a cold, but with so much going around I wanted to check and be sure it wasn't the flu. He hasn't run a fever other then a low grade one of 99 over the weekend and that didn't last long. He hasn't had the extreme tiredness or body aches typical of the flu either. So I really didn't think he had it..I thought he just had a cold and was all set to send him to school today following their rules on no fever for 24 hours...he hasn't had a fever at all for days...

So he could have exposed alot of kids and teachers to this if I hadn't had him tested! He has actually acted fine..came down with the cough on Friday..woke up with it. He had a sore throat, coughing and running nose but now his sore throat is better. They didn't have school that day so that was a good thing. I made him stay home from church and youth group over the weekend which was a good thing too. So the poor kid has literally gone no where except to the doctors in six days and still has many days left to go!

He was full of energy until yesterday...then he started dragging. At first I thought it was the over the counter cold/flu medication I was giving him but now that I know he has the flu, its probably just that though he still isn't running a fever (he is still sleeping so I haven't checked him yet today).

Here is some information on telling the difference between a cold and the flu:
http://www.lysol.com/coldflu/coldOflu.shtml

Another link on how lysol really does kill germs..I didn't think it did but my sister sent me this link:
http://www.lysol.com/products/disinfecting-sprays/lds-disinfectant-sprays/

Now I dug ours out and sprayed but with our allergies I don't think either one of us can handle me spraying this all the time to kill germs. :( I wish they made odorless! I will probably get those disinfected wipes...I have been using wipes on the computer keyboard and mouse when he is done on here. I just can't stand those perfumed sprays! cough, cough, gag...:rolleyes: Hate breathing that stuff in..its like breathing perfume in..I don't see how that can be good for a person actually...

I have been washing my hands like crazy too since he got sick and they are so dry now its terrible. I don't like that hand sanitizer stuff either because of the horrible smell it puts on your hands...ewwww. They need to make that odorless too!

From the CDC website on the H1N1:http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/sick.htm


He has been entertaining himself by playing games on the computer and watching TV. He also has been fixing up boxes and other things to slide down the basement stairs on...:rolleyes: One of those went badly and he actually did flips in the box going down the stairs which scared me to pieces so I said no more of that! He has also been doing stuff outside in the backyard too since the weather has been warmer...(though not today..suppose to rain). Yesterday thanks to him stinging duck tape out, I had to save a grasshopper that got stuck on it. Vegetable oil on his stuck legs worked great! lol Nate has been using tons of duck tape on everything and anything he can think of to entertain himself...:rolleyes:

I was thinking..depending on how he feels of course...of taking some of my Foam Core boards and cutting it up to make a castle..a small one of course. Foam Core is like poster board but with styrofoam in the middle making it stronger then poster board. You can get colored ones or plain white or black at places like Kmart in their office supply art area...or Hobby Lobby..Walmart. They can be painted..things glued on them of course...I usually use them to paint pictures on.

We have board games and card games too of course we can play if he is up to it. Any other ideas?

Oh and with him being sick and at home right now..unless he is sleeping, I am not on here very much...just pop in and out for brief periods of time. I may read any replies on here but not log in too.

God bless

I have to say in reading comments from parents on facebook and other places I feel so, so bad for the kids with this. :cry: Many are extremely sick...way too sick to do anything I suggested on here. :( Makes me feel almost guilty my son hasn't been sicker!

Nate has been up and down on how he feels. Some days dragging badly and doesn't want to do anything but lay down and watch TV. Other times he feels good and then is bugging me like crazy cause he is so bored. :rolleyes: He can feel good part of the day, then tired part of it. Very up and down. Some days eating good, others like yesterday, not so good. Nothing sounds good to him...you know how that is when you are sick...just nothing sounds good to eat. So I was struggling to get him to eat much yesterday. He has to eat when he takes the tamiflu medication or it really upsets his stomach.

His coughing is gradually getting better but last night he started running a below normal temperature which was really strange but apparently can happen in any illness. I did some searching trying to see on the net if there was anything about those with the H1N1 having no fever or below normal temp. I found a number of people posting on other websites saying they had H1N1 and were running a below normal temp but nothing on any medical sites.

This is all I found so far:
Many Swine Flu Cases Have No Fever (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/health/13fever.html)

Many people suffering from swine influenza, even those who are severely ill, do not have fever, an odd feature of the new virus that could increase the difficulty of controlling the epidemic, said a leading American infectious-disease expert who examined cases in Mexico last week.

Fever is a hallmark of influenza, often rising abruptly to 104 degrees at the onset of illness. Because many infectious-disease experts consider fever the most important sign of the disease, the presence of fever is a critical part of screening patients.

But about a third of the patients at two hospitals in Mexico City where the American expert, Dr. Richard P. Wenzel, consulted for four days last week had no fever when screened, he said.

“It surprised me and my Mexican colleagues, because the textbooks say that in an influenza outbreak the predictive value of fever and cough is 90 percent,” Dr. Wenzel said by telephone from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he is chairman of the department of internal medicine.

While many people with severe cases went on to develop fever after they were admitted, about half of the milder cases did not; nearly all patients had coughing and malaise, Dr. Wenzel said.

So if your child has what seems like just a cold with no fever don't think its not the flu! Its going around so badly right now its better to get them checked out. I have also heard that a child can seem to be mildly sick for several days then suddenly get much worse too. So it pays to keep a close eye on them. Also what might appear to be the stomach flu can be caused by the H1N1 too. Every child is having a different reaction to this flu it seems. It seems to vary widely on how it makes them sick.

Nate has not been interested in making a castle or doing anything really...no games or anything other then talking to his friends online. I guess he is too old for board games and arts and craft with mom now..:rolleyes: He is so bored he actually wants to go back to school! lol. I wish he could go back to school too! But he can't until Monday..:cool:

Prayers going out for all the sick kids and adults with this!! :pray::pray:

God bless

Did some searching and discovered tamiflu can cause a lower body temp too, among other things:
Half of children taking Tamiflu have side-effects

Nausea, insomnia and nightmares reported after taking antiviral drug for swine flu, study finds
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jul/31/tamiflu-side-effects-children)

More than half the children in England taking the swine flu drug Tamiflu suffer side-effects such as nausea, insomnia and nightmares, researchers have found.

Two studies from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) show a high proportion of schoolchildren reporting problems after taking the antiviral drug.

Data was gathered from children at three schools in London and one in the south-west of England who were given Tamiflu to try and stop them developing swine flu after classmates became infected.

The researchers behind the study said while children may have attributed symptoms to the use of Tamiflu that were actually due to other illnesses, "this is unlikely to account for all the symptoms experienced".

Oseltamivir (tamiflu) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oseltamivir)

I know this is from wikipedia which I know many no longer trust, but I compared the information there to other sites and it seems pretty accurate..just easier to read.

I think if Nate's temp is too low today I will call the doctor. I mean surely by now he is over the actual flu! So wondering if this is a side affect of the tamiflu now. :hmm:

God bless

Well I'm not quite a kid anymore but I was home sick with H1N1 pretty much all of the previous week. Tamiflu was one of the medicines I was put on to combat the illness. I, myself, experienced no side effects from any of the drugs I was prescribed.

Well I'm not quite a kid anymore but I was home sick with H1N1 pretty much all of the previous week. Tamiflu was one of the medicines I was put on to combat the illness. I, myself, experienced no side effects from any of the drugs I was prescribed.

Ok good! thanks for that information. On one site they said only one percent had any side affects...never can know for sure on numbers...:rolleyes:

Sorry you were sick though. Do you think the tamiflu helped?

God bless

Well I was on a few different things. The doctor pretty much decided that barraging me with meds would cover all bases. :P So I can't really confirm what, if anything, actually helped get me over it.

Oh ok..thanks for the information. :)

God bless

My son just got flu like symptoms today. Pale, hot heat and fever of 101. He says he feels fine though. Gave some Children's tylenol and sent him to bed.

In my area, I am being told that the doctors do not want you to come in unless severe. So how can you get tamiflu, if you cant come in?

My son just got flu like symptoms today. Pale, hot heat and fever of 101. He says he feels fine though. Gave some Children's tylenol and sent him to bed.

In my area, I am being told that the doctors do not want you to come in unless severe. So how can you get tamiflu, if you cant come in?

I would try calling and ask to talk to the nurse or if she is busy, leave a message for her. If she has voice mail tell her what is going on and leave your number...then sit by the phone all day like I did! :B

I am hearing in some places they aren't RXing the tamiful saying it only shortens the flu by one day and the side effects aren't worth it....(this is what they told my sister that lives an hour away)..others are saying they are only giving it to children under the age of four. Don't know why..don't know if they are running out or afraid they will. Personally I think they should rx it to anyone who needs it because we have no way of knowing who will get seriously ill and who won't.

Since tomorrow is Saturday...here anyway the doctor offices are open only in the morning..you can google the name of yours and see if they are open on Saturday and see if you can get that for it. Just read the side affects and watch for those.

Sorry I didn't see this sooner.

Keep us updated on how she is doing. Some kids get really sick, high fevers..even throwing up alot and all but get over it quickly too..just really really tired for days afterwards. I have heard from many that it really wipes the kids out so they end up staying home from school a few days longer just to get their strength back. Nate went days feeling fine at first..tons of energy though his throat hurt, and he coughed almost constantly...it wasn't until mid-week he really started dragging...now the last few days he is up and down on how he feels. Just taking him a long time to get over this.

God bless

I have tried not to panic about this whole flu thing. I know it can be very serious, and I heard that they feel most Americans will get this flu. I try to remember they also said for most people, the symptoms will be mild. It's just that so many are going to be sick, that they know a certain percentage will have serious complications. Of course, then you have to remember that our God is bigger than all of this.

My sister told me about a man looking for a basic thermometer in Walmart. They were sold out of all but the really expensive ones. We can't find our thermometer so I went into a drug store to buy one. Dumb. The drug store is the last place one wants to be when it is flu season. Anyway, I found the same situation she described. Basic thermometers... gone. I walked out quickly. Perhaps I'll find my thermometer here at home. I'm not sure though. Seems like the battery might have been dead in it so I may have thrown it out?

My husband and I were talking about this. I wonder if it wouldn't be a bad idea, while we aren't sick, to buy some ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and diahrea medicine, to have on hand. Perhaps some cough drops and decongestant too. Perhaps we should get some antibacterial gel and some disinfectant wipes too. It makes you wonder what will be in short supply. We take for granted this stuff will just be there. I'm not in a panic and I don't mean anyone else should be. Just thinking maybe it might be a good idea to have stuff on hand.

There are some things to remember that I haven't read in any of the many notes sent home from school, or the health notices on the news or wherever. Disinfectant wipes get expensive and I don't know how safe they are to continually use them. Personally, I keep a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the house. Every once in a while, I will soak a cotton ball in alcohol and wipe down things like the light switches, faucet handles, toilet flush handle, and door knobs. It's safe. It's inexpensive. You could also use a vinegar spray (one part white vinegar to two parts water). Now if I know someone is sick in our home, I will likely use a disinfectant wipe or some other kind of home disinfectant to clean.

I have friends who take their shoes off as soon as they come into their homes. They feel they are spreading less germs by doing this. I know a woman who comes home from work, showers and changes her clothes immediately to help keep down germs in her home. Some people take vitamins and probiotics to help with their immunity. They tell us to eat nutritious foods, get adequate rest and exercise to ward off sickness.

We are also trying not to eat out during this flu season. If I buy lunch meat, I will try to get prepacked meats. Anything I can think of where there might be exposure to the flu, I try to avoid. Perhaps a little too cautious, but what seems reasonable to me. I need more blood pressure medicine this week, and I plan to beg the doctor to let me have it without being seen. I just don't want to go into that office during flu season.

Most of all, we really need to trust the Lord, whether we get the flu or not. He is our help and the seriousness of this flu certainly reminds us that he is the only one we can count on.

I have tried not to panic about this whole flu thing. I know it can be very serious, and I heard that they feel most Americans will get this flu. I try to remember they also said for most people, the symptoms will be mild. It's just that so many are going to be sick, that they know a certain percentage will have serious complications. Of course, then you have to remember that our God is bigger than all of this.

My sister told me about a man looking for a basic thermometer in Walmart. They were sold out of all but the really expensive ones. We can't find our thermometer so I went into a drug store to buy one. Dumb. The drug store is the last place one wants to be when it is flu season. Anyway, I found the same situation she described. Basic thermometers... gone. I walked out quickly. Perhaps I'll find my thermometer here at home. I'm not sure though. Seems like the battery might have been dead in it so I may have thrown it out?

My husband and I were talking about this. I wonder if it wouldn't be a bad idea, while we aren't sick, to buy some ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and diahrea medicine, to have on hand. Perhaps some cough drops and decongestant too. Perhaps we should get some antibacterial gel and some disinfectant wipes too. It makes you wonder what will be in short supply. We take for granted this stuff will just be there. I'm not in a panic and I don't mean anyone else should be. Just thinking maybe it might be a good idea to have stuff on hand.

There are some things to remember that I haven't read in any of the many notes sent home from school, or the health notices on the news or wherever. Disinfectant wipes get expensive and I don't know how safe they are to continually use them. Personally, I keep a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the house. Every once in a while, I will soak a cotton ball in alcohol and wipe down things like the light switches, faucet handles, toilet flush handle, and door knobs. It's safe. It's inexpensive. You could also use a vinegar spray (one part white vinegar to two parts water). Now if I know someone is sick in our home, I will likely use a disinfectant wipe or some other kind of home disinfectant to clean.

I have friends who take their shoes off as soon as they come into their homes. They feel they are spreading less germs by doing this. I know a woman who comes home from work, showers and changes her clothes immediately to help keep down germs in her home. Some people take vitamins and probiotics to help with their immunity. They tell us to eat nutritious foods, get adequate rest and exercise to ward off sickness.

We are also trying not to eat out during this flu season. If I buy lunch meat, I will try to get prepacked meats. Anything I can think of where there might be exposure to the flu, I try to avoid. Perhaps a little too cautious, but what seems reasonable to me. I need more blood pressure medicine this week, and I plan to beg the doctor to let me have it without being seen. I just don't want to go into that office during flu season.

Most of all, we really need to trust the Lord, whether we get the flu or not. He is our help and the seriousness of this flu certainly reminds us that he is the only one we can count on.

I got some germX wipes and wipe off the keyboard or phone...whatever Nate has touched...then you throw it away. The thing is most of this is spread through the air...in that case what I posted in my first post about lysol would help..it apparently really does kill cold and flu germs. I think stocking up on cold medicine and the other things you mentioned are a good idea. I tend to have things like that anyway in the house...usually left over from past illnesses. Its nice to have if I get sick with anything cause the last thing I want to do is be going out sick and trying to buy that stuff..:rolleyes:

I had the same thing happen to me at Walmart by the way, went to get a simple thermometer and they were either all sold out or they took them off the shelf. mercy isn't exactly safe if the thermometer gets broken. All they had left was the high price ones. We had a mercy free one my mom got but I don't think it was accurate..always showed us having a low grade fever when we didn't. I also checked the dollar store...the clerk thought they carried them but they had none and no place for them. So had to finally go to Kmart and got a digital one that beeps when its done. It was only six dollars and something. And more accurate. I really needed to keep track of Nate's temp ...like that one night it went below normal. At his school when I went to pick up his schoolwork and told them about that, they said they had heard that too...other kids sick with this there temp going below normal. Its weird.

Avoiding the doctor's office is actually a good idea..our pastor's son got sick and his mom took him to the doctor and said the waiting room was full of sick kids. :( When I took my son last Monday there was only one other kid..a girl and they were waiting on the test results for the flu. I didn't know she was sick...only heard her cough once. But the nurse came out and said she had tested positive. I felt so sorry for her...she started fighting back tears and pulled her knees up to her chest...clearly upset. Other kids were in the family and the nurse was telling the mom to try to confine her to her room..for a week! No wonder she was in tears. But the idea was not to spread it to the other kids...but gosh that is like being put in jail for being sick..being alone all the time with nothing to do. Can only hope she had a TV in her room..:(

God bless

I agree, I think one can go too far. The flu is contagious anyway a day or two before symptoms start so I feel like everyone in your family has been exposed to it anyway. I don't get too close to my son but I sit in a chair next to him in the same room. He is doing better. He gets 12 hours of sleep every night and I have him taking 3 vitamins per day. He also eats healthy so hopefully, it will be mild.

I know of a family whose child had a 105 degree temp for a few days and it has been over a week and none of the rest of the family got it. I wonder how many of us have the virus but have no symptoms or very mild symptoms.

I agree, I think one can go too far. The flu is contagious anyway a day or two before symptoms start so I feel like everyone in your family has been exposed to it anyway. I don't get too close to my son but I sit in a chair next to him in the same room. He is doing better. He gets 12 hours of sleep every night and I have him taking 3 vitamins per day. He also eats healthy so hopefully, it will be mild.

I know of a family whose child had a 105 degree temp for a few days and it has been over a week and none of the rest of the family got it. I wonder how many of us have the virus but have no symptoms or very mild symptoms.

Yea I have read several articles that said probably alot of people have it and don't even know it...(I hope I am one of those! :lol::lol: to have an illness and not feel bad..yea!).

Yet when it comes down to it, its just too wide spread to avoid it...all we can do is get enough rest..(getting run down does lower our immune system making it easier to catch something)..eat healthy of course...eating junk food doesn't give our bodies the vitamins and nutrients it needs, so again our immune system gets run down. Just do all the common sense things they tell us to do to take care of ourselves so if we get sick, it won't be as bad...

God bless

I don't know WHAT I came down with earlier in the week, but last weekend and all the way up to Tuesday or early Wednesday, I was sicker than I've been in a long time. Fever, aches, chills, headache, stuffy nose, horrid cough, other typical flu complications... my whole body hurt. I dragged myself in to the doctor, and her only comment was "well, I don't hear anything in your chest so you should be okay, but I'll try you on this...." and she randomly wrote me out a prescription. :P

Now, a few days later, I still feel exhausted and achy with a constant cough that hasn't faded. Whatever I had feels better, except for that blasted cough. It's hard to breathe. I normally sit down for my job since I'm on the computer all day, but I stood for most of the day because it made the breathing a little easier.

My sincere sympathy and prayers go out to kids and parents of kids who are sick right now. It's rough enough for an adult to slog through a day when we're ill, but with kids, I KNOW they have it even rougher..... although Moonglow, I am NOT surprised, somehow, that Nate managed to slide down the basement stairs whether he was sick or not.... :lol:

I don't know WHAT I came down with earlier in the week, but last weekend and all the way up to Tuesday or early Wednesday, I was sicker than I've been in a long time. Fever, aches, chills, headache, stuffy nose, horrid cough, other typical flu complications... my whole body hurt. I dragged myself in to the doctor, and her only comment was "well, I don't hear anything in your chest so you should be okay, but I'll try you on this...." and she randomly wrote me out a prescription. :P

Now, a few days later, I still feel exhausted and achy with a constant cough that hasn't faded. Whatever I had feels better, except for that blasted cough. It's hard to breathe. I normally sit down for my job since I'm on the computer all day, but I stood for most of the day because it made the breathing a little easier.

My sincere sympathy and prayers go out to kids and parents of kids who are sick right now. It's rough enough for an adult to slog through a day when we're ill, but with kids, I KNOW they have it even rougher..... although Moonglow, I am NOT surprised, somehow, that Nate managed to slide down the basement stairs whether he was sick or not.... :lol:

Yea when you have an ADHD kid, it takes ALOT to keep them down...:rolleyes: Usually a good fever will do that but he hardly had a fever at all...:rolleyes: He has fooled many doctor's over the years when he had sinus infections and they didn't think he did cause he didn't run a fever most of the time..:rolleyes: Now he has a doctor that knows better..same one for years and knows that doesn't mean he isn't sick...he know what to look for..usually in his nose...lol.

I took him out shopping Friday for winter clothes...he hadn't been out for a week...then yesterday to run a couple of errands. He was shocked to see how much had change on some things being built around town. lol That was funny. So when we went to Walmart he asked me if that had changed too. lol.

Then we went to church last night...I didn't let him go last week cause he was sick. While he is a homebody like me, I think it was nice for him to get out and he enjoyed it.

It does sound like you had/have the flu...both kinds are going around now but I am concerned about your breathing. I think you need to go back to the doctor. I have heard of this going into pneumonia for some. Those that have walking pneumonia don't feel too bad, but have the breathing problems you are having. That can get worse...so I would ask the doctor to x ray your lungs or at least listen to them again. I almost wonder if I didn't have this all last month that started out as a sinus infection cause for awhile it seemed like it was in my lungs too. Took me forever to get over it and I still cough some too...:rolleyes: I told Nate it might take awhile for the coughing to clear up. He isn't coughing much at all now, but when he does, he just sounds SO congested. :( But it is getting better.

God bless

Nate went back to school today after being out all last week. :pp He is still coughing some and complained over the weekend of being very tired, but I think maybe some of that is due to finally getting out and doing some things. Plus from what I have heard the flu really wipes people out..but he wasn't that sick...so who knows. What matter is he is back in school..yea! Now he can get back into the routine of things again which he does so much better with..having a routine. We went to church over the weekend and he went to youth group last evening....that seemed to perk him up some. :)

I told him to use his hand sanitizer in his locker alot though as there are other things going around like strep and the stomach flu..and we sure don't want him turning around and catching something else!

I found this article on my yahoo homepage this morning that I thought might interest some:

Cold/Flu Products: What Works, What Doesn't (http://health.yahoo.com/featured/54/cold-flu-products-what-works-what-doesn-t)

I was disappointed to see the 'airborne' cold prevention doesn't work...I was giving that to Nate when he first got sick. I don't see how it can hurt though...its packed with lots of vitamins and herbs. And who knows, maybe that is why he didn't get as sick as many kids have with this inspite of what they say about it. :hmm:

One thing I do know is vitamins do help us with our allergies. If I forget and don't give him his daily vitamins for a few days I can tell his allergies get worse. And when the body is run down fighting allergies, that is when a person's immune system weakens and they are more likely to catch whatever is going around.

God bless

"60 Minutes" H1N1 Teen Goes Off Ventilator
Update on Luke Duvall, a 15-Year-Old High School Football Player Striken with H1N1 (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/23/eveningnews/main5415715.shtml?tag=cbsnewsTwoColUpperPromoArea)
CBS) When Luke Duvall arrived at Arkansas Children's Hospital Oct. 7, he was critically ill, his left lung filled with fluid.

CBS News Correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports this healthy, strong 15-year-old football player had the flu for days - then suddenly couldn't breathe.

His father, Chad Duvall, told "60 Minutes," "He was panting like a dog, really fighting for his breath."

Doctors confirmed Luke had H1N1 and for reasons they don't fully understand, the virus attacked him with an intensity rarely seen in someone who was healthy.

"He did have moments when he was really sick enough and there was concern if he didn't improve he could die from this disease," said Dr. Jerril Green of Arkansas Children's Hospital.

CBSNews.com Special Report: H1N1
"60 Minutes": H1N1 Most Dangerous to Young People
CDC: Learn More About H1N1
CDC: What To Do If You Get Sick
Flu.gov: Where To Get Your Flu Shots

Doctors are seeing more cases like Luke's. Seventy-five patients have tested positive for H1N1 at Arkansas Children's Hospital since August. Seventeen of them, like Luke, ended up in the pediatric intensive care unit. Just last month, there were more H1N1 patients in the unit than were admitted all last year for the regular flu.

In the privacy of Luke's hospital room, doctors removed the breathing tube. 20 minutes later, Luke was trying to talk.

More at the link.

God bless