Have You or Your Kids Caught Swine Flu?

Have you looked into Vitamin D3? We are on it and we have not gotten sick. I give my boys (ages 3 and 5) 1000 mg per day in a yummy lemon favored gummy that I buy at Herb Mart in Mesquite. My husband and I take 2000 mg per day as well. This is dose for the "flu" season, I half the dose in the summer. And if we are in contact with a lot of people (mall, play area etc..) We take an added dose of Elderberry (children's liquid and adult capsules) that day. Done this for years and never get sick. You should get on the internet and do some research on it. Good stuff. I don't vaccinate my boys so I always look to alternatives to support their immune systems.
Best Regards,
C.

N., I have nothing to add because we haven't gotten it yet here at my house, but THANK YOU for posting this question!!! I've been wondering the exact same thing, and honestly, for whatever reason, the media is only focusing on people dying from this instead of the average experience.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!

And thanks to all the posters here too.

me and my kids got it about 2 weeks ago. My youngest(3yrs) got the sickest. He was sick for 8 days- though the first 4 were the worst. My 8 yr old had it for 5 days with a fever that would go away during the day and flare up at night. My 5 & 9 yr. olds had slight fevers for about a day and a half- they slept most of the time and then they were fine. I had it for about 5 days- the Doc put me on Tamaflu(sp?) because I am almost 7 months pregnant and that cleared it up pretty fast. I still have a lingering cough. But with my kids, we just used motrin for the fever and a damp wash cloth(thier eyes hurt and that seemed to help) lots of emergen-C vitamin drink, lots of water and juice and fruit popcicles and some vicks vapor rub on thier chests at night to help keep their lungs clear. But my kids are pretty healthy and colds and flu don't get into thier chest too often- if your child does, you'll have to take them to the doctor so they can keep an eye on that part. Now everyone is better- it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be- although it really wipes you out energy-wise. My husband never caught it even though he stayed home from work to take care of me and the kids when I was sick.
Just be watchful and listen to what you know is best for your child. If you feel you need to take your child into the ER- it's better safe than sorry, but for the most part, it's really not that bad. It just sucks being sick!
~C.

My 14 yr old daughter was diagnosed with swine/h1n1 about 3 weeks ago. It was not as horrid as I had heard.

My daughter rarely gets sick...we have been one of the lucky ones. I think she was 2 when she got her first antibiotic and has not had many since then. Per her history though, when she does get sick..it is a big one.

Here's what happened.....she woke up on a Thursday am feeling tired but no fever. She is VERY active and usually at school until 6 or so or has night activities involving school almost nightly.

SO, when she actually said she felt like she needed a day of rest, we knew something was up because she HATES to miss school...especially on a game day when she is scheduled to cheer.

I had her go to bed at that point. Around noon, I checked on her and she looked like she had a fever...she did and it was 102. So I called the pedi and we ran in to be tested..which she tested positive for swine.

My pedi does not give Tamiflu...since there is a shortage on it, it is being saved for the children who really need it. I was ok with that because we don't like to take meds anyway. I felt if she knocked this out on her own, her immunities would be stronger.

She had 24-30 or so hours with fever not below 102 and not higher than 103.5. This was the most miserable part. She felt horrible. She has also seen a lot of the news and she was concerned because of what she had read and seen.

Once the fever broke, everything got better quickly. I sent her back to school on Tuesday. She had no fever be Sunday. I let her stay home and rest on Monday.

She jumped right back into her regular routine and hasn't stopped since.

We only used Tylenol or Motrin when needed, she ate a lot of popsicles, home made chicken soup, her requested home made chicken pot pie and lots of liquids.

I kept her upstairs, confined to 1 area. I washed everything in clorox as we were going through the process. My husband nor I caught it.

I believe all 25 cheerleaders had it and it has been going through her high school like crazy.

Good luck!

My BFF's son had it during the summer. He came down with it on Thursday night -- he did feel totally lousy. He got Tamiflu on Friday and was fine by Monday.

My 6 year old son just got over it. He had a temp of 104.9 , a bad sore throat, headache and body aches. He was miserable but we stayed on top of the motrin and tylenol, pushed fluids and he got through it just fine!
I'm really praying that the rest of us don't get it! :)

My 2 year old caught it, and it came on FAST. Last Sunday morning he was playing and active, just like normal; he went down for his nap, and when he woke up from his nap he had a fever of 102. His fever went up to almost 103 during the night and he was miserable. He acted like he was in physical pain, he woke up about every hour, he was crying a lot and sweating like crazy. By the next morning he was coughing and congested; I took him to urgent care at 7am the next morning. He was tested and his test was actually negative. But the doctor said the tests give up to 50% of the time a false negative; she said she was 90% positive he had it. She prescribed Tamiflu, and said we all as a family would most likely get it. Including Sunday of last weekend, this is his 7th day since, and his 1st day with no fever. His temp got up to 104 at one point. My entire family, as well as myself, have caught it with varying degress of severity, but he has had it the worst. He also has asthma and so I was concerned that that would cause a problem, but it didn't. I couldn't get him to take the Tamiflu; if I had, he probably would have gotten better sooner. Unforunately, it doesn't matter how clean you keep the house, how much you sanitize or anything like that; it's spread by means of respiratory infection- you have to breathe the virus in. Living in close quarters (such as with my family) makes it difficult NOT to get it. The biggest problem the rest of my family and I have experienced is dizziness; in addition, I have had a bad cough, congestion and my lungs have hurt (I have asthma).

My 3 year old had it about 3 weeks ago. came on suddenly with 103.5 fever. She ran this fever for about three days. Fever, tired and a sore throat were her only symptoms. No tamiflu given, she fought it on her own. Fever lasted 3 days and the whole run lasted about 4-5 days, she did develop croup following the flu but it too was mild. She had the seasonal flu last year and it was MUCH harder on her. We were lucky noone else in the family got it, but it was alot milder than I expected. Pedi said as long as the children are otherwise healthy you really dont have much to worry about- its the flu and has to run its course. Just have to watch for the warning signs if the kids do come down with it. Good luck!

my daughter had it a few weeks ago and I caught it early and she was just fine. They immediately put her on tamliflu and it helped her get better fast! All I would say is that if you guys have any symptoms go to the dr. immediately to get on medication and get tested. I think you can do everything you can to prevent the flu but, you can't control others that may not be doing the same. So it puts us all at risk! Just to put it in perspective.

All 3 of my kids (6,10,13) all had it - of coure they all got it one after the other.

Seemed like similar symptoms as others reported, and yes very sudden onset! They all complained of body aches, chills, headaches and sore throats - then a sudden spike of fever to 103. My son had nausea, and vomitting too. The fever and body aches just make you feel soo lousy! FLUIDS and MOTRIN are your friend.

Unless your child has underlying respiratory illness (athma) then they don't qualify for tamaflu (at my dr.) - they were better after about 48 hours.

And the single best way to prevent transmission is HANDWASHING!!! There is absolutely no truth in swabbing or gargling with salt water - salt has NO antiviral properties!!! Sneeze into your sleeve - wipe things down in public places (like airplanes) with an antiseptic wipe.

A lady I know the the CDC said the best thing to do to prevent it is to swab your nose everyday with salt water and to gargle with it. You should do this everyday for all your family members. Also, she said to gargle with salt water and of course the usual handwashing and try not to touch your face which we all know is hard, especially in children. Once you have the a certain strain of flu you will never have that one again. However, there are 14 different strands right now. All the people who have died from swine flu have had underlying health and respitory problems except for two. Also, take Vit. D3. It's an awesome immune builder and it helps with other things too. I agree with the other posters-don't let the fever spike, alternate Motrin/Tylenol every 3 hours.

My son woke up from a nap on Friday 10/2 with a 103.5 fever after being fine all day. My 14 mo. old started running fever 2 days later (on the weekend of course). They would play and then crash, repeat, repeat, repeat. Their fevers would go from 103 down to 94-96 several times a day. My husband started running fever Monday, and they all went to the dr. Tuesday (couldn't get the kids in on Monday). They were all coughing and had runny noses. All 3 tested positive for Flu type A. We were told the actual swine flu test is expensive and takes 2 weeks to get the results, but 98.9% of Type A cases are swine. They started the Tamiflu and were fever free after 24 hours, but my husband was still very fatigued several days later. The runny noses lasted a little over a week, and my baby still has the cough. My husband had vomitting, but the kids didn't. I still can't believe I didn't get it, but I had been on anti-biotics for strep in September, so maybe that's why??? BTW, my son turned 4 during the week of the swine, so we had to cancel his party and have our own under quarantine. I lysoled everything, washed my hands constantly and made sure not to touch my face at all no matter what unless I had just washed my hands. Incidentally, my baby coughed in my face 2-3 times, so I was extremely fortunate. Good luck!

Hi N.-
My 12 y/o had it a few weeks ago and he is totally fine. Like someone else said it came on VERY suddenly. Was feeling fine at b-fast, rode his bike to school like every other day. During 1st period he said he suddenly felt REALLY sick. Went to the nurse had a fever of 101.7. Took him to the doctor and he tested positive. He got Tamiflu, along w/my 2 other kids as a preventative for them. The biggest complaint he had was a terrible sore throat. He was very tired as well and slept a lot. LAst year he had the seasonal flu and he said that was FAR worse. That being said, he missed a week of school for both flus.
No one else caught it in our house. I am sure the Tamiflu helped. Also,he pretty much stayed in his room and no one else used his bathroom. Once he was no longer contagious(after no fever for 24 hours)we disenfected everything. And we washed our hands like CRAZY!!!!
Good luck and don't worry to much about it. I know it is scary, but you'll be ok. :-)

My 12 year old daughter had the swine flu 3 weeks ago. It started with her feeling really, really tired before school one morning. She didn't have a fever or any other symptoms and really wanted to go to school, so she went. I received a call from the school nurse 4 hours later telling me that my daughter had a fever of 101.5. She later developed a sore throat and a cough and felt achy. We did give her Tamiflu and she was feeling well again 5 days later. Her fever never rose above the initial 101.5. We didn't give her any additional medication. There were A LOT of kids and several teachers at her school who also had swine flu. My son said 10 kids were absent from his 1st grade class last week. He dodged the bullet once. I hope he can do it again!

My other 3 kids stayed healthy. My husband and I both had a low fever of 100 degrees or so for 2 days and felt tired, but that was it. Not sure what that was about.

My two boys and I all had it about a month ago and it was different for each of us. My 11 year old had it first, and it was worst for him. He has a bad virus for a week before getting H1N1, so he was already weak. When he got the virus it was very bad. He had high fever, and had the breathing trouble you hear about on the news. He had to have chest x-rays, which came back alright. He was sick with the flu for 7 days, and had the previous virus for 5 days, so was sick for almost 2 weeks. He's normally a very healthy child.

My youngest is 5, and when he caught it, it came on fast. He had no symptoms except extremely high fever and a cough. His temp was 105 for 4 days while taking Motrin. Then the fever went away and he was fine.

I had it at the same time as my youngest, and it lasted 4 days also. I felt worse than I ever have. I had a horrible congested cough and low fever. It's hard to describe how I felt, but it was awful.

We all kept coughing for 2 weeks after all other symptoms went away. The cough just wouldn't go away.

My oldest was considered high risk because of the prior illness and the breathing trouble, so they put him on Tamiflu, and then I guess since they gave him Tamiflu. Then they gave Tamiflu to my youngest because of the extremely high temp. I guess they gave it to me because they felt sorry for me. Our doctor isn't giving Tamiflu to patients that aren't high risk.

I teach high school, and many of my students have already had it. Many of them are coming to school sick and are then being sent home.

I hope you can stay well!

Both my kids and I have had the swine flu. The first week my 13y/o had it and my 6 y/o had strep throat. The next week he had it and she was put on steroids and antibiotics because she couldn't shake the cough. They both have a history of asthma. I had my daughter stay in her room if she came out she wore a mask. But he couldn't help trying to make her feel better by taking her popcicles and juice. So he got it the 2nd week. It hit him the hardest. He came home from school complaining that his eyes were burning, and his throat was sore again. His fever din't get very high but was persitant for 2 days. he had terrible body aches. They had alot of popcicles and gatorade. We used bottled water. Both the kids took TamaFlu and it helped. I got it from him as we all know little ones want mom when they are sick. For me it wasn't too bad. Low grade fever and sore throat. I have been told mine wasn't as bad because I was around in the 70's and had whatever flu was going around then. I was just really tired for about a week. We all slept alot. My husband didn't get it as he was out of town when the kids had it and I guess because my case was so mild he didn't get it fom me.
I also added a little bleach to the dishwasher when I did the dishes. Used a lot of lysol and hand sanitizer.

We have not had it, so I called my doctor to see if they had the H1N1 vaccine. They said yes and recommended she get that one before the regular flu vaccine because 90% of the cases they are seeing are H1N1. So we got the vaccine and have to return in a month to do it again. Call your doctor to see if they have it.