Five Days with the Flu

I used to think that I rarely caught the flu.
For a while, that was certainly true, and in the roughly 30 years since I started working, I only remember catching the flu once.

Because of that, I had never gotten a flu shot.

I caught it once shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, but I went to the doctor, got some medicine, and felt better right away, so I continued to have an unfounded confidence that even if I did catch it, I would be "totally fine."

Since I felt like I really got hit hard this time, I want to write this down as a record.

Day 1: Friday (Maximum temperature 38.2°C)

I was working from home that day, but from around mid-afternoon, I suddenly started having a headache, and before I knew it, my throat was sore and my voice was hoarse.

I figured this was the start of a cold, so I decided to take some Kakkonto (kudzu decoction) herbal medicine and see how it went. Kakkonto is actually quite effective when you're just starting to come down with a cold.

However, by the time I finished work in the evening, I felt too sluggish to even stay up, so I lay down on the bed. My partner was out that day, so I think the thought crossed my mind for a second that I wouldn't have to make dinner.

I realized I had been dozing off in bed, but I woke up because my body felt hot. When I took my temperature, it was 37.5°C. For now, I sent a message saying I had a fever and was going to bed.
I tried getting up once to tidy up work, but I started feeling chills, and I began to think that this might be serious.

Back to bed. When I thought my fever might have gone up, I took my temperature and it was 38.2°C. Once it hits this temperature, I really have no energy to do anything, but I took some Loxonin, which has an antipyretic effect, hydrated, and lay back down.

My partner came home late and bought me Aquarius, pudding, ice cream, and other things. I am truly grateful.

By this time, the fever had gone down a little due to the medicine, so I had the pudding and kept the Aquarius by the bedside. (I also ate the ice cream later.)

Day 2: Saturday (Maximum temperature 38.5°C)

When I woke up around 9:00 AM, my body felt lighter.
I thought, "Maybe I managed to avoid a bad cold," but because my fever had gone over 38 degrees and I had a hair salon appointment in the afternoon, I decided to test myself just in case with a test kit I keep at home (the product below).

It hadn't even been a day since the onset of symptoms, so I thought it might not show a result even if I were positive, but the idea was that if it came back positive, I would cancel my plans. The result was negative as expected, and looking back, it was indeed too early for the test.

As for my temperature that day, it had dropped to around 37 degrees, and I was able to move around completely normally. That said, I didn't have much of an appetite, and all I ate was retort-pouch porridge, some pickles, and pickled plums.

After the hair salon in the afternoon, I got hungry very quickly and wanted to eat nabeyaki udon, but it was still a bit early in the season and there didn't seem to be anywhere nearby that served it, so I bought the ingredients, went home, and made it myself.

Well, looking back, the fact that I didn't have much of an appetite and that the only things I could eat were porridge and udon meant I was definitely sick.

Once I was full and started feeling sluggish again in the evening, I went to bed.
As I was lying down, the chills hit me again.
"Oh, this might be bad."
While I was thinking that, my fever shot up to 38.5°C.

I took Loxonin again, but this time the fever didn't go down easily, staying in the high 37s to 38s. It was too hot to sleep in bed, so I made an ice pillow using a large ice pack and rested my head on it. I put a "cooling towel," which I use in the summer, on my forehead. This cooling towel is quite excellent and keeps a moderate chill for 2-3 hours.

Looking back, perhaps I should have rushed to the holiday and night emergency clinic at this point to get diagnosed with influenza and receive medication, but since I had tested negative half a day earlier, I was hesitant.

I spent the night lying down, groaning or something? I didn't have much energy to check my body temperature, so it might have been even higher.

In the middle of the night, after some time had passed, I took Loxonin again, and my fever finally dropped to the low 37-degree range, allowing me to sleep soundly.

Day 3: Sunday (Maximum body temperature 39.1 degrees)

On this day as well, my body temperature was in the low 37-degree range when I woke up.
This bout of influenza followed a pattern where, after sleeping, my temperature would be relatively low and I would feel energetic from morning until evening, only to worsen from the evening onwards.

I didn't have any particular plans, so I ended up just lounging around.
Since the suspicion of influenza had become strong due to the fever the previous night, I regret not having just gone ahead and gotten tested or gone to the holiday and night emergency clinic sooner.

Since my symptoms had worsened from the evening for three consecutive days, I hurriedly performed a second test with a test kit. This time, it clearly showed positive for influenza A, so I took the test results and headed to the holiday and night emergency clinic.

Actually, the holiday and night emergency clinic is just a few minutes' walk from my house. It's not good that I didn't go sooner even though it's so close.

The temperature I measured before leaving the house was 38.2 degrees. At this temperature, even a few minutes' walk was quite difficult.

At the clinic, I filled out my symptoms and submitted the actual test kit before waiting for the consultation. Since it is a public facility, I am grateful that they accept patients with fevers. That said, unlike before, they no longer have patients with fevers wait in a separate room.
Actually, the internal medicine clinic I usually go to has stopped accepting patients with fevers since the COVID-19 pandemic, so the emergency clinic is more reliable in times like these.

There weren't many patients that day, and there were only two people waiting when I arrived, but it took about 30 minutes of waiting and the consultation ended in 1 minute. As always, the time it takes at the emergency clinic is a mystery. But I am just grateful to be examined and prescribed medication.

There is a pharmacy attached, so I safely received the influenza treatment (Inavir), fever reducer (Calonal), and medicine for throat inflammation, and left the clinic.

On the way back, I thought walking was even harder than on the way there, and when I measured my temperature after returning, it was 39.1 degrees.

In the first place, I would normally be driven by my partner's car, but it was just at the timing of replacing my partner's car; the old vehicle's inspection had expired, and the new car was waiting for delivery, so the car could not be used. It's only a few minutes' walk, so I thought it wasn't a distance to call a taxi, but I was a bit naive.

Inavir is a type of medicine that you inhale through your mouth, and although it was my first time, I successfully finished inhaling it, took the Calonal, and went to bed.

And thanks to the medicine, my fever dropped dramatically for a while. Down to about the low 37-degree range.

Day 4: Monday (Maximum body temperature 38.1 degrees)

During the night, my fever fluctuated in the 37-degree range, so I couldn't sleep very well.

Well, since it was Monday, it was a workday, but even if I were working from home, I was in no condition to work, so I contacted my workplace to inform them that I had caught influenza and would be taking annual leave. There were a few meetings, but I had them rescheduled.

I spent the morning mostly lying in bed, dozing off. In the afternoon, my body temperature stabilized in the low 37-degree range, so I spent time watching TV, but when I checked my emails, I realized something important.

I had won tickets to a festival hosted by my favorite artist that I had applied for, and the payment deadline was Tuesday. I knew until Friday that the lottery results would be announced on Saturday, but it had completely slipped my mind since I developed a fever.

Recently, many artists use a system where winning the lottery means immediate credit card payment, but in this artist's case, the pattern is to pay at a 7-Eleven within a few days of the winning notification. It is considerate that if you apply for multiple performances and win many, you only need to pay for the ones you actually intend to go to after winning, but it is troublesome in times like this.

There are two 7-Eleven stores about 1 kilometer away from my house (in different directions). If I had a car, this wouldn't be a problem at all, but as expected, I still couldn't walk there on this day.
I thought about waiting until the next day, believing I would be better by Tuesday, but since there was no guarantee of that, I took a taxi to 7-Eleven and back. It cost 2,000 yen including the pickup fee. It hurts to say the least, but this is within the range of my personal rule that I decided to follow: since I chose not to own a car, I will use taxis without hesitation whenever needed, so it is okay.

I was relieved to have paid for the tickets safely, but perhaps going out was a bad idea, or maybe it was just part of the routine, but my fever started to rise again in the evening. At this point, I had no choice but to fight it with Calonal and an ice pillow.
And just when I thought I had finally fallen asleep...

Day 5: Tuesday (Maximum body temperature 38.7 degrees)

I woke up at dawn feeling intense chills.
It was perhaps the most intense chill I have ever felt.

As expected, my fever shot up to the high 38-degree range.
When my body temperature reaches this level, my whole body feels hot and I cannot sleep.
I prepared an ice pillow again, but I also started cooling areas around my lower back and neck. An acquaintance advised me that it is good to cool areas where large blood vessels are close to the surface.

Of course, I also took Calonal, managed to doze off, and welcomed the morning.
Around 8:00 AM, it was in the low 37-degree range.

Based on the pattern of the last few days, if I could manage to keep it in the low 37-degree range from the morning until early afternoon, I thought I might be able to work from home, so I started working.
I shared my situation with my workplace. I told them I would start working, but if I couldn't continue, I would take a half-day off or leave early (flex time).

The result was that on this day (today), I managed to get through until my regular finishing time without my fever rising.
And in the evening, it finally dropped to the 36-degree range. It is still a little high, but since it has almost reached my normal temperature, it seems this bout of influenza is coming to an end.

Afterword

This time with the flu, the pattern of being quiet during the day and acting up at night, and experiencing a fever of 38 degrees or higher for a total of 5 days, might be a first for me. I feel like it wasn't even that bad with COVID-19.

My appetite has not returned to normal yet. My throat is sore, but I only want things like ochazuke, rice porridge, udon, or plain bread. I wonder if my appetite will recover a little more tomorrow.

I heard from my son on Monday night that he had a fever of 38.5 degrees... He went to a clinic the next morning and was diagnosed with influenza. He got medicine immediately. Wow, my son is faster at making decisions. Since he had returned home over the weekend, I think his decision was based on watching my condition, though...

And while I was fighting the flu, the stock market seems to be falling. Is it because of Takaichi-san, or rather, China? No, I don't think we need inbound tourism anyway.