Anyone get a bad non-flu bug this year?

[gamecock1999]

Could be TOTALLY unrelated, but it occurred to me I got pretty well knocked flat by something around the end/start of the year that was bad enough I went to the doc in the box (which I never do, hence having no primary care physician) thinking I had the flu but they confirmed I did not have it. I remember coughing for 2 solid weeks, and I remember others getting something similar around that time and have now been reading of similar anecdotes. Never had a cold like that before.

Started thinking about this after reading an article by an Italian priest who reported giving an unusually large amount of funerals since back in January. Coincidentally, within the last 2 months my mom got pneumonia and my wife lost both of her remaining grandparents, ostensibly due to old age.

Again, could be completely separate and may not really matter regardless, but just curious if anyone else experienced something similar?

 

[alphazeta]

Could be TOTALLY unrelated, but it occurred to me I got pretty well knocked flat by something around the end/start of the year that was bad enough I went to the doc in the box (which I never do, hence having no primary care physician) thinking I had the flu but they confirmed I did not have it. I remember coughing for 2 solid weeks, and I remember others getting something similar around that time and have now been reading of similar anecdotes. Never had a cold like that before.

Started thinking about this after reading an article by an Italian priest who reported giving an unusually large amount of funerals since back in January. Coincidentally, within the last 2 months my mom got pneumonia and my wife lost both of her remaining grandparents, ostensibly due to old age.

Again, could be completely separate and may not really matter regardless, but just curious if anyone else experienced something similar?

In mid January, I had a fever that alternated between chills and sweating for 3 days. Worst body pain I have had in a long time. I had very low energy. Dry cough. I broke out in bumps on my arms and legs. The doctor said I had chicken pox. I told her that was unlikely since I had chicken pox in 1976. She asked was I sure I had chicken pox. I said I was very sure since I had shingles 10 years ago. She said people sometimes get chicken pox a second time and that was her diagnosis. I didn't believe her but it resolved within 2 weeks. FYI - I live in Williamsburg, VA.

 

[Bad seed]

In January I had what I thought was a severe cold. Sore throat, runny/stuffy nose. Had some body aches and a productive cough, but no fever. I think I gave it to my parents. They had all of those symptoms and both said they felt like they had flu. It got so bad they went to the ER late one night and were tested for flu, but didn't have it. They x-rayed and told my dad he had a slight lung infection, and gave him some antibiotics. A couple of days later his primary care doctor called to tell him the x-ray showed he had a slight case of pneumonia. Neither of my parents had a fever during all of that, but it took them what seemed like three weeks to start feeling better.

 

[USCrown]

Could be TOTALLY unrelated, but it occurred to me I got pretty well knocked flat by something around the end/start of the year that was bad enough I went to the doc in the box (which I never do, hence having no primary care physician) thinking I had the flu but they confirmed I did not have it. I remember coughing for 2 solid weeks, and I remember others getting something similar around that time and have now been reading of similar anecdotes. Never had a cold like that before.

Started thinking about this after reading an article by an Italian priest who reported giving an unusually large amount of funerals since back in January. Coincidentally, within the last 2 months my mom got pneumonia and my wife lost both of her remaining grandparents, ostensibly due to old age.

Again, could be completely separate and may not really matter regardless, but just curious if anyone else experienced something similar?

Yes, I too caught something shortly after the 1st of the year that was very much different than anything I had experienced before. I believe I got it from my job where people were hacking and coughing all over the place, but still coming into work. It came on suddenly and hit me like a ton of bricks. Similar coughing/congestion for just over 2 weeks, a few days with fever, chills, etc... I missed some days from work but never got tested. Essentially slept a lot, self medicated, drank plenty of fluids, etc...

It may be totally unrelated to what we have going on now, but I doubt it. It's very possible that this thing was going around well before the cat was out of the bag.

 

[ForeUSC]

Could be TOTALLY unrelated, but it occurred to me I got pretty well knocked flat by something around the end/start of the year that was bad enough I went to the doc in the box (which I never do, hence having no primary care physician) thinking I had the flu but they confirmed I did not have it. I remember coughing for 2 solid weeks, and I remember others getting something similar around that time and have now been reading of similar anecdotes. Never had a cold like that before.

Started thinking about this after reading an article by an Italian priest who reported giving an unusually large amount of funerals since back in January. Coincidentally, within the last 2 months my mom got pneumonia and my wife lost both of her remaining grandparents, ostensibly due to old age.

Again, could be completely separate and may not really matter regardless, but just curious if anyone else experienced something similar?

We have wondered the same thing. Three of us in this household had a similar condition. Lots of chest congestion, coughing, no fever that lasted two weeks.

 

[Buzzkill1]

Back in August, my wife, son and I had the same thing. Worst cough any one of us had ever experienced. Same symptoms and we caught it from each other. My son said he got it from a friend so the same symptoms were out there. My wife brought it home from the pre-school where she worked. A kid whose Mom was a respiratory therapist brought it to school. She wouldn’t take him to the doctor. Go figure.

The cough was really bad for about 2 weeks. It improved very slowly after that but didn’t completely go away until November. I kept thinking it was just a virus and the cough would resolve, but after the really bad initial few weeks, it hung on in a less severe fashion for what seemed forever. Same with other family members. Also was really tired early on with some chills. Never checked for fever. But that was about it on symptoms - it was nothing at all like a cold or the flu or sinus infection.

The cough was helped very little by OTC meds. I actually thought I had whooping cough or walking pneumonia because the cough response was so unusual and unprecedented. The internet is a terrible diagnostician but I tried because it was so different than anything I had ever had in my life. I’m 58 so this wasn’t my first rodeo.

My wife and I did not have insurance, so we never went to the doctor or were tested. Also I hate doctors, but that’s another issue. Son did not seek treatment either. But we all get the flu shot every year usually in Sept. This was earlier. I work from home so that wasn’t an issue.

The big thing was the uncontrollable cough with gasping for breath toward the end of each spell. The cough was so hard that I even vomited a couple of times. I had not been sick in 5+ years and work to stay healthy, so this was really weird. I actually thought it was going to leave some permanent damage since it did not completely go away for a couple of months.

We’ve been telling folks since we had this late last year of how weird it was. And this was well before the COVID-19 thing even started.

Thanks for posting. We have been thinking about how this might be related and it’s interesting to see that others had something similar.

 

[FORKCOCK]

Could be TOTALLY unrelated, but it occurred to me I got pretty well knocked flat by something around the end/start of the year that was bad enough I went to the doc in the box (which I never do, hence having no primary care physician) thinking I had the flu but they confirmed I did not have it. I remember coughing for 2 solid weeks, and I remember others getting something similar around that time and have now been reading of similar anecdotes. Never had a cold like that before.

Started thinking about this after reading an article by an Italian priest who reported giving an unusually large amount of funerals since back in January. Coincidentally, within the last 2 months my mom got pneumonia and my wife lost both of her remaining grandparents, ostensibly due to old age.

Again, could be completely separate and may not really matter regardless, but just curious if anyone else experienced something similar?

Yes. Around Christmas, got very sick and it hung around through mid February. Terrible congestion, caughing, headaches, chills, etc. Went through 3 rounds of Antibiotics and Steroid shots. Then my wife got it. Thought we were going to die. Worst cold of my life.

 

[FORKCOCK]

Could be TOTALLY unrelated, but it occurred to me I got pretty well knocked flat by something around the end/start of the year that was bad enough I went to the doc in the box (which I never do, hence having no primary care physician) thinking I had the flu but they confirmed I did not have it. I remember coughing for 2 solid weeks, and I remember others getting something similar around that time and have now been reading of similar anecdotes. Never had a cold like that before.

Started thinking about this after reading an article by an Italian priest who reported giving an unusually large amount of funerals since back in January. Coincidentally, within the last 2 months my mom got pneumonia and my wife lost both of her remaining grandparents, ostensibly due to old age.

Again, could be completely separate and may not really matter regardless, but just curious if anyone else experienced something similar?

Yes, I too caught something shortly after the 1st of the year that was very much different than anything I had experienced before. I believe I got it from my job where people were hacking and coughing all over the place, but still coming into work. It came on suddenly and hit me like a ton of bricks. Similar coughing/congestion for just over 2 weeks, a few days with fever, chills, etc... I missed some days from work but never got tested. Essentially slept a lot, self medicated, drank plenty of fluids, etc...

It may be totally unrelated to what we have going on now, but I doubt it. It's very possible that this thing was going around well before the cat was out of the bag.

Sounds like what my wife and I went through.

 

[sgacock]

I got the flu shot this year for the first time in January.

Two weeks after getting the shot, everybody in our workplace got sick. I was one of the last to get it. Put me on my ass for three days. Coughing, headache and slight fever for two days.on the third day my fever peaked at 103.5. Glue-like phlegm

The next day the fever was gone. Felt like crap for about 4 more days and continued phlegm coughs. Had mild headaches slight cough and general malaise for about a month. I’m a smoker and throat clear ough about once an hour anyway.

None of us ever went to the doctor. We all assumed it was the flu strain that the shot didn’t cover. Probably was but it was the worst flue I have had in my 65 year life.

 

[world famous 3rd base hecklers]

I got the flu shot back in November 2019 and hopefully this will help in some form...

CDC confirms additional cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus in United States

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/s0126-coronavirus-new-cases.html

 

[Rollerdude123]

No. I had the flu shot. No flu bug this year. I’ve had less allergies this year than any recent year I can recall.

I did get a stomach bug that lasted about a week in January.

 

[Garnet chicken]

Could be TOTALLY unrelated, but it occurred to me I got pretty well knocked flat by something around the end/start of the year that was bad enough I went to the doc in the box (which I never do, hence having no primary care physician) thinking I had the flu but they confirmed I did not have it. I remember coughing for 2 solid weeks, and I remember others getting something similar around that time and have now been reading of similar anecdotes. Never had a cold like that before.

Started thinking about this after reading an article by an Italian priest who reported giving an unusually large amount of funerals since back in January. Coincidentally, within the last 2 months my mom got pneumonia and my wife lost both of her remaining grandparents, ostensibly due to old age.

Again, could be completely separate and may not really matter regardless, but just curious if anyone else experienced something similar?

I had the same thing. It took a month to clear it. It did not seem like a normal cold and wasn't the flu.

 

[cockroche]

We have wondered the same thing. Three of us in this household had a similar condition. Lots of chest congestion, coughing, no fever that lasted two weeks.

Same here in late November & early December. Almost exactly. Started with 3 year old grandson, then daughter, son in law, wife and me. Went to doc for regular checkup about 3 days in and asked about it while I was there. She told me it wasn't flu, but wasn't sure what it was. Thought about going back several times over the next week because it was getting worse, but ended up just riding it out.

 

[GamecockJL]

I did in early January. Could’ve swore it was the flu. Doctor said it wasn’t the flu because of the symptoms I had. I insisted on a flu test anyways just for the peace of mind. It was negative.

 

[pepsicock]

Pollen was my only problem

 

[Dizzy01]

My son and I both had about a 3 week fit with chest congestion and coughing. I have asthma as well and even with all my meds I couldn’t really keep it calmed and a woke up in the middle of the night having a hard time getting air in. It was bad but the lingering was the worst for both of us.

 

[funktavious]

I got sick twice this past winter but I really don't think it was Covid-19. It was winter and people tend to catch colds at that time of year. I coughed. I had a runny nose. I came into contact with a lot of people who didn't catch what I had. It wasn't Covid-19.

 

[stu1cocks]

My daughter and I both had a low grade fever and dry cough in the first week of February. It had me down for a week and I never get sick. It was like a milder version of the flu but we both had the flu shot so I figured it was a strain that wasn't covered. I now wonder if it was Covid. Guess if the antibody test becomes available I might find out.