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Anyone else have simultaneous Covid and Influenza?

Posted by drfeld @drfeld, Jun 11, 2022

Cases of simultaneous Covid and Influenza infection were news in January 2022 (I think) as if it were something new, but I tested positive for both in February/March 2021 and I can't imagine I was the first. Fifteen months later, I'm still struggling with severe, debilitating long-term effects -- all the "greatest hits" everyone mentions plus heart, brain, and possibly kidney issues (still testing). And I gained about 50 pounds. I'm a 50yo male with what I would call an unremarkable medical history until Covid/Influenza happened.

A successful heart ablation procedure in Oct 2021 alleviated the more than 10,000 PVCs/day that were triggered by the primary illness. But other than that procedure, it was difficult to get any doctor to pay attention until rather recently. Now I'm seeing my regular doctor, as well as a cardiologist, neurologist, pulmonologist, ENT specialist, psychiatrist, physical therapist, and soon a speech/cognitive therapist. I'm grateful to finally be on their radar at least, but so far they have no answers and they've yet to offer any solutions that improve my miserable quality of life.

If anyone else on this forum had simultaneous Covid/Influenza, what's your post-illness experience been like and how are you doing now?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 Support Group.

inez49 | @inez49 | Jun 15, 2022

The first of February 2020 I became very ill w/ flu & infection that took a horrible toll on me, after babysitting for my daughter who had recently gone on a business trip to NYC. I truly thought I was dying & actually did not care if I did. Covid was just beginning to hit & testing was not yet a happening. It took me months to actually get "any form" of better. I never had a Covid test due to my being unwilling to wait in long lines & that is all there were at the time. BUT my family & myself do believe that I had Covid, along w/ Type A flu & infection. Four months later I started losing my hair & still had no stamina. Since I am older (70 at the time), any other affects that it had on my body, Doctors attributed to aging. I have gone forth, but it has been difficult. I did get flu shots & Covid vaccines & booster as soon as they became available. I NEVER want to be that sick EVER again!

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1 reply
bobbyd1017 | @becky1024 | Jun 15, 2022

If it’s possible, l have a story for you that may interest you. Back in September of 2016, l got a mega dose of flu vaccine. Then in December 2016, I got a pneumonia vaccine shot. Come April 2017, l caught the flu from a bus driver coming back to work to soon. Figuring l would only get a mild case, WRONG. As days went by, it got worse and worse till l couldn’t breathe because my lungs were full of dark green and brown mucus. Finally, i went to the local ER, wondering why l was so sick after l had the flu shot. It’s 11 o’clock at night and some young doctor, listens to my lungs for a few seconds and proudly proclaims, you have adult pneumonia. Huh, l’m thinking, but doc, l had the pneumonia shot l wanted to scream. If this so called doctor had bothered to tell me to come back the next day for a chest X-ray, he might of found how he was about to kill me. I was allergic to the medicine l was give and by the next day I’m really getting ready to pass out because l can’t breathe, my lungs are crying out for help. As the days slip by, l’m running a high fever and my heart’s pounding in my chest from lack of oxygen, my respirations are up to 40 per minute and l’m dizzy. I get up the strength to drive to the next ER, 21 miles away. The first thing they did was, draw blood and guess what, took a chest X-ray. BINGO!!!! Not only did l have flu bugs inside me yet but pneumonia and also bronchitis to top it all off, plus being a misdiagnosed patient by a smart a$$ doctor. Today, whenever l get a chest X-ray, you can see all the scaring in the bottom of my left lung which causes me to be out of breathe all the time. So can you have the flu and Covid, I would say yes.

While on the subject, l picked up one of the earliest cases of Covid that causes neurological issues that was discovered in NYC. I got real bad in the end of May and all of June of 2020. Then l picked up a mild case in December 2021. Then March of 2022, l got a real bad case where l lost my taste and then smell and thought I’d end up in the hospital on a ventilator. I have a nonexistent immune system but my body kept fighting. Come Mother’s Day May 10, l go to the local Walmart where you don’t have to wear a mask but l always do, a good quality one. Only about 4 other people wore a mask besides me and guess what? Yep, I picked up one of the new B variants. I’m a long hauler now, waiting to see what the Good Lord has in store for this sad excuse of a body?

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1 reply
drfeld | @drfeld | Jun 17, 2022
In reply to @inez49 "The first of February 2020 I became very ill w/ flu & infection that took a..." + (show)
@inez49

The first of February 2020 I became very ill w/ flu & infection that took a horrible toll on me, after babysitting for my daughter who had recently gone on a business trip to NYC. I truly thought I was dying & actually did not care if I did. Covid was just beginning to hit & testing was not yet a happening. It took me months to actually get "any form" of better. I never had a Covid test due to my being unwilling to wait in long lines & that is all there were at the time. BUT my family & myself do believe that I had Covid, along w/ Type A flu & infection. Four months later I started losing my hair & still had no stamina. Since I am older (70 at the time), any other affects that it had on my body, Doctors attributed to aging. I have gone forth, but it has been difficult. I did get flu shots & Covid vaccines & booster as soon as they became available. I NEVER want to be that sick EVER again!

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Your comment about not caring if you died -- I totally get it. There were days at the worst of my primary illness that for the first time in my life I completely surrendered. It wasn't a "pretty-and-peaceful" sort of surrender either. Rather, it was a cold and empty indifference to survival. It wasn't until later that I truly recognized how remarkable and awful it was to have been at that point. Thank you for responding and I hope you continue to make progress on your health journey.

REPLY
drfeld | @drfeld | Jun 17, 2022
In reply to @becky1024 "If it’s possible, l have a story for you that may interest you. Back in September..." + (show)
@becky1024

If it’s possible, l have a story for you that may interest you. Back in September of 2016, l got a mega dose of flu vaccine. Then in December 2016, I got a pneumonia vaccine shot. Come April 2017, l caught the flu from a bus driver coming back to work to soon. Figuring l would only get a mild case, WRONG. As days went by, it got worse and worse till l couldn’t breathe because my lungs were full of dark green and brown mucus. Finally, i went to the local ER, wondering why l was so sick after l had the flu shot. It’s 11 o’clock at night and some young doctor, listens to my lungs for a few seconds and proudly proclaims, you have adult pneumonia. Huh, l’m thinking, but doc, l had the pneumonia shot l wanted to scream. If this so called doctor had bothered to tell me to come back the next day for a chest X-ray, he might of found how he was about to kill me. I was allergic to the medicine l was give and by the next day I’m really getting ready to pass out because l can’t breathe, my lungs are crying out for help. As the days slip by, l’m running a high fever and my heart’s pounding in my chest from lack of oxygen, my respirations are up to 40 per minute and l’m dizzy. I get up the strength to drive to the next ER, 21 miles away. The first thing they did was, draw blood and guess what, took a chest X-ray. BINGO!!!! Not only did l have flu bugs inside me yet but pneumonia and also bronchitis to top it all off, plus being a misdiagnosed patient by a smart a$$ doctor. Today, whenever l get a chest X-ray, you can see all the scaring in the bottom of my left lung which causes me to be out of breathe all the time. So can you have the flu and Covid, I would say yes.

While on the subject, l picked up one of the earliest cases of Covid that causes neurological issues that was discovered in NYC. I got real bad in the end of May and all of June of 2020. Then l picked up a mild case in December 2021. Then March of 2022, l got a real bad case where l lost my taste and then smell and thought I’d end up in the hospital on a ventilator. I have a nonexistent immune system but my body kept fighting. Come Mother’s Day May 10, l go to the local Walmart where you don’t have to wear a mask but l always do, a good quality one. Only about 4 other people wore a mask besides me and guess what? Yep, I picked up one of the new B variants. I’m a long hauler now, waiting to see what the Good Lord has in store for this sad excuse of a body?

Jump to this post

I empathize with you -- it's a difficult road on so many levels. Sometimes I mentally stop and marvel at how unprecedented, bizarre, and horrible this entire experience has been for so many millions of people. Never would I have imagined that people like you and me would go through this. Thanks for responding to my post. I hope you catch a break and get some hard-earned relief.

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