See also:
Injury
Sleep Deprivation
Dehydration
Hunger
Heat
Cold

Have you ever read a story where a character gets ill, and it seems so...fake? As if the author didn't really know what it was like to have...whatever it was.

I know most of us---all of us---have gotten sick before. What was it like?
How does it feel to have a high fever?
Is a runny nose really no big deal?
What first let you know you were sick? What hurt?
How long did it take to recover? Were there any lingering after-effects?
Please share!

I've had some sort of illness (don't remember what it was, not the flu though), that made it almost impossible to breathe. It took probably 2 - 2 1/2 weeks for me to recover, although for at least a week after that I felt weak.

So, I have had my fair share of illnesses...I've had strep throat two or three times, during which I completely lost my voice and felt really miserable. My throat was incredibly swollen and sore to the point that it hurt to swallow. I also had flu-like symptoms. I was pretty dizzy most of the time. I went without my medicine until I finally begged my mom and she took me in. They gave me really heavy medicine along with pills for vomiting. I did a lot of sleeping after the drugs because they were incredibly strong.

I also had a two-week virus once, in which I laid in bed and listened to books on tape for a very, very long time. I couldn't read because I was dizzy, and I remember that things were very fuzzy most of the time. I was in a lot of pain and walking was difficult because I was so woozy.

Finally, I also have had several stomach bugs that lasted about 24 hours of puking. I only slept in short one to two hour intervals and puked the rest of the time. Luckily, I recovered immediately after it was over.

Ooh, yuck. I hate, hate, hate throwing up. It's horrible. I actually prefer fever over nausea.

One evening, Daddy took me to an outdoor jazz concert. It was a pleasant evening, but soon after the sun went down, I felt chilled, and started shivering. My tense muscles then started aching, and soon I felt sore all over, including my eyes. It felt good to get in the car, out of the air, after the concert was over. Then, when we got home, I realized I still felt strangely cold and sore, but my forehead felt hot. I got a thermometer, and, sure enough, I had a fever. A fairly high one.
I got ready for bed as soon as I could, all the while still shuddering, and I felt so bad that my breath was quick and gasping, instead of slow and easy like normal. When I finally collapsed into bed, it felt so good, but my cheek quickly made a hot place on my pillow, which was uncomfortable. No matter where I shifted my head on the pillow, the pillow quickly got too hot. Finally I fell asleep, slept late, stayed in bed all day, and felt weak the day after. Then, I felt fine.
I don't know exactly what I had, but I'm pretty sure it was the fever that caused most of those symptoms.

That does sound strange, E...

I think the worst I've felt was when I got seasick... that was not fun. I threw up about four times, and it felt like the whole world was spinning. The few times I tried to get up and see what my family was doing (it was a deep sea fishing trip), I made myself even more nauseous. I dry heaved a lot, too. Blech.

The other time I remember being really sick was last summer in Liberia. I never figured if it was a bug, or if I drank the icky water... but whatever it was knocked me out for a whole night. The only thing that hurt was my stomach, but that had me curled up in a ball on my bed for a few hours. Thankfully, once I puked a couple times, I felt a lot better.

And then... I've actually had Mono, or something like it, for the past few weeks. No nausea, thankfully - just extreme fatigue and weakness for almost a month. That's no fun, either. When I was in the middle of it, I had to stay in the same spot all day, because I got so dizzy and weak when I stood up. I coughed a lot, too, which made my throat swollen and sore. Even last week, when I was on the upswing, I couldn't do much just because I was so exhausted. It was actually kinda pathetic; even practicing the piano wore me out.

Usually the thing that tells me I'm not 100% is just exhaustion. That and a runny nose or sore throat. (And a runny nose is definitely a big deal. Especially when you've rubbed your nose raw from blowing it so much! )

Oh, nose bleeds are awful.

The other things about runny noses is that they make it hard to breathe, especially when you're eating. And your lips get really chapped from always breathing through your mouth...

So true!!

Yes, runny noses are bad. They go through different phases, too. I hate the phase when it's stuffy but nothing comes out when you blow.

A while ago, I think I got a bit of congestion in my lungs, because I found it harder to breathe than usual. I tried to compensate by taking deep breaths, but then I felt like I wasn't exhaling enough, so I tried to breath even deeper. Before long, the problem was mostly in my head. If I stopped thinking about breathing, I had no trouble, but if I thought about it too much, I would breathe weird until I started yawning to grab enough air, and my fingers and lips tingled a bit. It was weird.

Thanks, E, for sharing that fever story. Yes, it was very strange. I've never had a fever that badly, but my younger sisters report having strange, scary dreams when feverish.

I'm quite healthy most of the year. I am ill usually once a year with a chest cold, fever, or ordinary flu--(not the stomach flu). I'll supply some examples of when I have been sick.

When I was nine I caught Influenza . It was scary because so many people were dying from it that year. I don't remember a lot because I was sleeping most of the time. I do remember always being exhausted and my legs couldn't hold me up for long before giving out. I remember my mom bugging me to give me medication when my fever hit 103.5 degrees Fahrenheit and having to drink beef broth because I wasn't hungry. My eyes always burned and watered with the fever. It took about ten days to recover.

I've had strep throat a couple times myself on top of a seasonal cough. That is quite unpleasant. Especially when my mom woke me up in the middle of the night to take Robutussin couph syrup.

I had flu-like symptoms in January. It started as a dry cough, then a mildly sore throat, a low grade fever swinging between 99.3 - 100.1 degrees Fahrenheit, runny/stuffy nose, and pressure in my face. It was like a sinus infection and flu all in one. I was out with the low grade fever for four days and recovered in about a week.

~Calen

How does it feel to have a high fever?

Basically so sick that you don't want to move.

Is a runny nose really no big deal?

It depends. Usually it's only a big deal if it's running while you're trying to do something, like eat or sleep. Otherwise it's just annoying.

What first let you know you were sick? What hurt?

Whatever part(s) of the body are affected usually start feeling bad and then grow worse either slowly or rapidly, depending on the illness. Sometimes this will be preceded by unusual fatigue.

How long did it take to recover?

It depends on the illness.

Were there any lingering after-effects?

Usually just fatigue, as the body builds its strength and endurance back. The longer or more severe the illness, the longer the time it takes to regain full strength and endurance.

When I was little, I had a kidney problem, we didn't know it, Every two weeks I got the flu, "EVERY" I would be sick for four days I would throw up anything that I ate that kept happening for about two years, then after one year, I would get head-aches three times a week, not little head-aches but Migraines! After two years, my parents got me checked out, I had problems with my kidney, a few months later, I was rushed into major surgery. Why? My kidney was shutting down. Years later, even though it was minor for kidneys, I still get sick easier. So even a hit to my kidney can take me down in an instance. So even if your character has any kidney problem, consider this: It will affect them for the rest of their lives, there is no time when it stops, it's always there.


(Edit I also have a four inch scar there.)

I don't know if this is what it's like for everyone else, but when I have a fever, I have the sense of time dragging on forever. EVERY sensation bugs me-light, heat, cold, the slightest sound (someone eating potato chips across the room), even the clothes on my body (I think I remember once stripping naked and lying in my bed because the fabric rubbing on my skin hurt so badly, and even then the sheets I was lying on hurt me). I don't feel hungry at all (when I do it's usually a sign that I'm on the road to recovery), I get dizzy when I try to stand, sometimes there are black spots in my vision, sometimes my vision blacks out almost entirely if I exert myself too much. My throat feels thick and cottony, my eyes feel hot and dry. That's actually how I know when I'm getting a fever, is the feeling in my eyes, and then the fatigue and the coldness.
EVERYTHING is boring and tedious, even watching an amazing movie or reading an epic novel (if I can focus my brain enough). I usually just watch dull, mindless movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey when I'm sick.
I remember a time when I was little (maybe 3 or 4, I have a good memory) when I had a very high fever and I hallucinated. It looked like the floor was on fire, and there was an alligator (one of my biggest fears at the time) under my bed that came out to snap at me every time I got out of bed (consequently I was stuck in bed because it was so terrifying). There were snakes all over the floor, the room was like shifting and warping, there was (somehow) an elephant under my dresser, and I just kept screaming for my mom until she came (it seemed to take hours but I doubt it took more than ten minutes-they're sound sleepers). When she came in, all the scary stuff went away.