Firing on all four cylinders
Could this be a nasty bout of man-flu
I am now recovering from a particularly nasty bout of man-flu. I was in bed for two a half days with a sneeze rate of anything up to 10 per hour. Add to this a temperature and I felt super grotty. I was not firing on all four cylinders Going out into the fresh air did make me feel better but it was always short-lived. In total I was out of action for four days.
What is man-flu?
Here is a surprise, only men suffer and it is definitely not flu. When I have a cold I am likely to make it sound much worse than it is. Allegedly I will shirk responsibilities, seek sympathy and tell everyone how ill I’m feeling. MrsB won’t believe a word of this and just tells to “put up and shut up”. TLC is not her strong point.
Why a woman never gets man-flu
Man-flu arrived on the scene in the noughties In the Christmas 2017 edition of The BMJ, a review of existing research found some evidence to indicate that men were hospitalized more frequently and had higher influenza-related death rates than women. The review suggested that the underlying cause could be evolutionary hormonal gender-differences affecting the immune system.
The voice of an expert
Back in the day
Everyone just called it a cold and told you to get on with life. It definitely was not flu. Incidentally it is not a good companion for my multiple sclerosis. Let’s be honest, what is a good companion for multiple sclerosis?
It all started about two weeks ago. For a few days I had used the occasional tissue to remove a drip on the end of my nose. On the Saturday morning I had a flu vaccination injection and in the afternoon my right arm was sore. I went to bed early that night as I not feeling too good. Was it a reaction to the flu jab?
Next morning
I hadn’t slept well but that seems to be normal at the moment. I woke up, thought about life and the universe then I sat up on the side of my bed. Oh dear not a good idea so I lay down again and went back to sleep. The day just got worse from there on. I was walking with a wobble and a box of tissues was my best friend. On Wednesday night man-flu packed up and left. Four days of my life had vanished in snuffles, head-aches, sore-throat and sneezes.
The sundry effects
Getting through three boxes of tissues and acquiring a sore nose weren’t the only problems. Inevitably there were complications. I am very sensitive to my body temperature. It went up and my wobbly walking got much worse, Uhthoff’s phenomenon. I had even less stamina and strength. I couldn’t argue back with MrsB when told to go to bed.
Was this a permanent change?
I know my MS changes very very slowly but when you see certain abilities suddenly go down the plug hole then it is inevitable to wonder whether they are going to return. Well they did come back
Firing on all four cylinders again
The good news is that my old irritating habits are definitely back and I’m now firing on all four cylinders again.
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October 2019
As always Patrick, you hit the nail on the head about how silly little things like a cold can often affect MS.
I am usually not one for being poorly – prior to MS I had only had 1 day sick leave in my 30 year career.
But my recent cold had me in bed for most of the week (and it was NOT flu) and then due to my low immune system (caused by my DMTs) took another few weeks to be fully gone.
I was getting worried that it was a general MS decline and maybe I had to slow down even more (boring!).
But finally this week it seems to have passed at last and I am back to the current “normal”.
Isn’t it so nice not to wake up feeling **** and only be the normal MS wobbly & easily fatigued!
Hello Chrisjo,
Thanks so much for stating that I can hit the nail on the head, so I’ve not lost all my motor skills yet.
I also hate having an illness as well as living with my MS. That feeling of wanting to hide under a rock and cry is really not healthy as well as taking all the fun out of life.