I honestly thought I had pneumonia, but I've had two clear x rays now.  It is wicked bad, that's all I know.  Starts like a cold, then you feel like you have swollowed an ear muff and it's stuck in your throat, then body aches and fever, headache, bad bad bad sore throat.  I did those monday tuesday and wednesday, then the fever sorta went away and the continuous coughing hacking, literally chocking on sputum that won't go up and won't go down.  It reminded me of a stephen king book called "The Stand"  I can certainly see why pregnant women with full bellies die from it because breathing is incredibly hard without the added burden of 7 pounds of baby displacing your lungs upward.  I will make the decision tomorrow about weather to call my regular dr and get in to see her and extent my abcence again.  Today I can move around, clean a little but I have episodes where I just cough and cough and cough.  When your standing over a patient in their bed this is not a good thing to do.

Thanks for the well wishes.  I'll sure be glad when it's gone !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope that you continue to get better. I'd heard that H1N1 wasn't usually that brutal. When I had the infection in November, my doctor said that my lower fever was more like H1N1 and that a higher fever often meant something else. I guess everyone responds differently.

Hey ya'll, well we are pretty sure that it was H1N1.  I can tell you that I have not been sick like that in a very long time and when I went to the E.R. again yesteraday and showed them the "dead soldiers" they were shocked because it was dark brown with area's of  PURE BLOOD.   I told them I had coughed so long and so hard and wretched and coughed and coughed and wretched that I think I tore a broncial tube or esophogus.  

Today is a brand new day and I feel like I'm gonna live through this.  Always a good thing.  The bloody sputum has stopped.   They put my on a fairly broad spectrum antibiotic because both my ear drums were bulging and red, my throat was red and swollen and the fever went away and then returned. 

As far as getting a culture, no they did not.   But a culture takes three days and truthfully if I had to go through another 3 days of feeling how I was feeling I think I would have ended up hospitalized.

The bad news is that my x husband who lives with me is showing signs now.  I feel bad. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091227/ap_on_he_me/as_med_when_drugs_stop_working_killer_tb

Not trying to scare you to death, but do they doctors really know what the bug is they are trying to treat?

Twenty years ago I got a similar ailment, with a stabbing pain in my right lung. It got so painful I went to the ER. I got an antibiotic and exrays, and was asked to provide a sputum sample. But it hurt so much to cough I was unable to provide the sample which really annoyed the tech. I was annoyed, too, as I really wanted to know what was torturing me! The antibiotics cleared the secondary infection up. I think it was Hanta virus, as I had been cleaning out an old rodent infested rv in the high Sierras when I got sick with chills and fever  and this bad pain (had to sleep sitting up). The exray showed a white spot on my right lung where the pain had been, but it was not TB. Or cancer. I am still here and in excellent health, but whatever the devil that ailment had been, there was a time I thought I might actually die.

At least now that your body is coughing up the dead soldiers you are on the road to recovery.

I went back today and now they are giving me doxicycline, more prednisone and codeine cough syrup.  SHESHHHH.  Temps back.  I feel like dog poo

Sounds like the doc when I broke my ankle who tried to give me tylenol.  I kinda sent him running out of the room with a very sweet request for "MAKE IT NOT HURT" Drugs.  I think he heard me. I got the good stuff! 

I can't believe they would not give you a codeine cough syrup (well I do believe it but I'm just dumfounded that they are so stupid) Its not like 1 or 2 bottles will have you trying to sell it on the street corner....  

You know I asked for codiene and guiffenecin cough syrup.  You know how it is with some dr's when you ask for something, they go out of their way to NOT give you that.  He did give me tylenol #3 and said to take 1 every 4 hours.  Ha ha ha .  DID NOT EVEN TOUCH THE COUGH.  I ended up taking two so now I'm nearly out.  I got 14.  COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!  I swear to god.  It's tylenol #3, not dilaudid or ms contin for god sakes.  I understand that dr's need to be careful but sometimes it's just goofy.

Today, I'm running no fever, but I did, low grade, again last night.  Still very tight chested and doing duonebs q 4-6 prn.

I think the mucinex Jake went and got for me helped more than anything.  I'm coughing up crazy amounts of nastiness.

I'm so sorry you're sick!  Ugh!   tell them you want Phenergan with Codeine cough syrup and an inhaler?  That might help too...

Wow, sorry to hear this.  I hope you get to feeling better soon.