How long has it actually been around? First I heard of it was in the APS "China quarantines a whole city" thread*.
But back in late September, early October, I had about the worst "flu" I ever had about two-three weeks after I went to the ER for something. Son2 had about the same thing soon after that, but we had not had actual contact beyond phone and e-mail.
Now I'm hearing it was apparently around before the Chinese quarantine.
Terry
Similar story here. I got hit a few days after an appointment with my endo. Late January. I think it was the worst I've ever felt in my life! Wife got hit to a lower degree, but still pretty rough. Son (who is only 35) got hit, but damn near shrugged it off like "regular flu".
Some observations that I have:
Lost my appetite entirely. My favorite foods would turn my stomach and disgust me. Smells were distorted. Nominally "good" smells smelled like rot and decay.
I'm type 2 diabetic. The lost appetite was reflected in some exceptionally low glucose levels. I took to carrying a secondary meter with me and testing multiple times a day. Sometimes hourly. Luckily, i could get glucose tablets down. Bananas and orange juice were palatable, and helped after emergency sugar tablet therapy. This all helped to sap my energy and strength.
Sleep was fitful. ( I did NOT misspell "sleep with Fistful"!
) Had dreams like I had when I was on nicotine patches, but darker. Almost hallucinogenic. Concepts took physical form. For example: I've been playing with making better coffee lately. (Presses, Aeropress, 3 different pour-overs) I had this time when a non-defined coffee-making step was (in my mind) a fan belt with a pulley, that was also in some way tied to a stretch of road. All 3 of these things were one. This happened during a period of lucid sleep. It was... disturbing.
Sensitivity to light. Mostly to white light. Went to work ( I know! At this point I was just thinking a really bad case of "something". Also, although I get 120 hours of sick time per year, I get punished for calling in sick. Still took 4 days off, though.) Anyway, as I walked through the parking lot at about 3:30 a.m., I saw that the 2 LED lamps at the employee entrance had apparently been upgraded. They were SO damn bright! It was like some dystopian Nazi camp movie. I had to look off to the side and shield my eyes with my hand as I approached from well over 100 feet away. When I got to the, I looked and they were the same lights that have been there for many years.
Tired of typing now. Going to eat dinner and get some sleep. Tomorrow is my Friday. Appetite is back. I have self-adjusted my meds downwards considerably, and glucose levels are doing good now.