Crazy cold and flu! Anyone else get it? How long b4 swimming
Former Member
This flu season is crazy! I live in Southern CA and even here people are getting it all over the place. I NEVER get sick and I had the flu so badly 4 weeks ago that I had to go to the hospital and get fluids, potassium, and sodium. Then I started swimming really easy 4 days later and was doing alright - getting better very slowly, but never 100%, then 2 days I go I got a full blown cold and probably bronchitis. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow and I've vowed to not swim until my lungs are totally clear. Anyone else have flu/cold experiences this season? When did you get back to working out?
I'm currently coming off a cold. Not the flu but this cold knocked me on my butt. I missed almost 3 days of work (attempted to go in on day two and didn't even make it 3 hours) and I typically don't stay out long if at all. It started Friday night. I opted not to swim and get some extra sleep since I felt run down thinking I'd feel better Saturday and have a good swim then. NOPE. Continually got worse. Even the idea of floating made me want to cry, everything took so much effort, it was ridiculous. Finally got back to work today and took the dog for a short 1 mile walk. Feeling much better and hoping for a swim Saturday . . . time will tell. This virus may not be lingering longer than the average but it is evil.
This flu season is crazy! I live in Southern CA and even here people are getting it all over the place. I NEVER get sick and I had the flu so badly 4 weeks ago that I had to go to the hospital and get fluids, potassium, and sodium. Then I started swimming really easy 4 days later and was doing alright - getting better very slowly, but never 100%, then 2 days I go I got a full blown cold and probably bronchitis. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow and I've vowed to not swim until my lungs are totally clear. Anyone else have flu/cold experiences this season? When did you get back to working out?
I had a cold right after Thanksgiving - it started as a head cold but moved to the chest. Naturally the day it moved into the chest was the day of a meet and I still swam that, which was not wise, but then I was out of the water for about a week until my chest was clear. I have been told that the conventional wisdom is that if your cold is above the neck, exercise is fine as long as you feel up to it, but when it's below the chest you should wait. (The Mayo Clinic website backs me up on this.) I'm asthmatic so I tend to err on the side of caution when anything goes to my lungs.
If I were in your situation, I would be cautious and ask for/listen to to my doctor's recommendation on when to get back in the water.
I hope you feel better soon! The flu is terrible this year.
Pimm, just curious if you recieved the influenza vacc?
I recieved the vacc and months later the actual flu. The symptoms were very mild, 100F fever, but it was very drawn out.
I didn't get the flu vaccine until I actually got the flu, then they gave it to me in the hospital. Just went to the doc today and he said here's what probably happened: I was doing well by taking it easy on my workouts as I was recovering, and then I started pushing myself too soon, and that made things worse and brought the sickness back. I believe that is true because it's kind of how I felt. I think I started trying to push a little harder before I was well enough to. I was doing pretty well doing my normal yardage but not trying too hard and then I was too eager to do harder workouts and it set me back.
I'm not talking just a cold. I've always worked out through colds. This flu was an ass kicker and then when I got a second round, I did try to swim and felt like I was going to drop dead. Never had that happen before....be careful out there guys!
