20 Symptoms of Flu in Adults (No.4 Unexpected)

You must know what influenza is. So, influenza, or commonly just called as flu, is a viral infection that attacks the respiratory system, which are your nose, throat, and lungs. This disease is classified as the common disease since every person would suffer from this disease at some point in their lives. But, commonly this disease is seasonal, and in most cases will resolve on its own. You shouldn’t underestimate the flu, though since this disease could also lead you the deadly complications if you left it untreated in a rare case. But, do you know the exact symptoms of flu? If you don’t know yet, here are the possible symptoms of inflenza.

Sudden and Excessive Fatigue

Whenever you in the normal condition, maybe you will feel the sudden fatigue whenever you’re having the excessive exposure of the sunlight or having various physical activities at once. But, whenever you have the excessive fatigue without any apparent reason, there is an indication that you might suffer from the more serious medical problems, including flu.

The flu commonly will cause the extreme and severe fatigue, while the cold will cause you the normal fatigue. So, whenever you’re experiencing the sudden and extreme fatigue without any apparent reason at all, that could be the sign that your body is preparing to fight against influenza, and it will take a lot of energy from the body, which then will make you feel the sudden fatigue.

Body Aches and Chills

Body aches and chills would be the obvious sign that your body is preparing to fight against influenza, which then the body will alleviate the temperature and thus, this will make your body shake and tremble. This chill commonly occurs right before the fever develop into the body. Whenever the flu virus is going to invade your body, there is also the body aches that you may feel, but you will commonly thinks that it is caused by the recent workout that you’re doing. In the case you’re having the flu, the body aches could happen anywhere in the body, but the most common is in the leg and over your head.

Cough

Most frequent Symptoms of Flu is cought, Whenever you’re experiencing the persistent and regular cough, that would be the early sign that you’re about to have the illness, and of course the persistent cough could be the sign of influenza virus that already invade the body. In the case of the influenza virus, in several cases, this virus would cause the pleghm and mucus alongside with your cough.

Whenever you’re having the mucus alongside with your cough, you need to make sure that you always cover it up with the tissue so that the infection wouldn’t spread to your beloved ones. In case you’re having severe an persistent cough that has the mucus or pleghm on it, please do not hesitate to seek the medical attention as soon as possible since that cough could be the early sign of the further complications too.

Fever

Commonly, the fever could be occurred as the sign that your body is trying to fight the infections from the foreign thing outside your body, including influenza virus. But, in case you’re having fever because of the influenza virus, your body temperature should be 100 degree Fahrenheit or even higher. So, you need to check your body temperature whenever you’re having fever just to make sure whether the fever is caused by the flu virus or not.

But, you need to take notice that not everyone with the influenza virus would experience fever. Also, you could experience the chills with or without fever. So, in case you’re having the sudden fever, you could cure it with the medications such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen, or just simply take the doctor recommendation on medication.

Gastrointestinal Problems

It is no secret that whenever you’re having the flu, you will be more likely to develop the aches in the head, and maybe some discomforts in the area of the abdomen, throat, and chest. So, that would be no surprise that whenever there is the flu virus that invade your body, you will suffer the thing that commonly related to the gastrointestinal problems, such as diarrhea, nausea and even vomiting.

But, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this kind of symptom of flu would be more likely to suffer in the child rather than adults. You need to make sure that whenever you’re having the diarrhea, you will be more likely to suffer from dehydration and thus, you need to pay an attention on your fluid intake.

Sore Throat

As already mentioned above, whenever the flu virus invades the body, you will be more likely to have a cough, whether the cough has the pleghm and mucus or not. So, in case you’re developing severe cough, then it will turn into the sore throat so quickly and it will leave some discomforts around the throat, especially whenever you’re swallowing the foods and drinks. But, you need to also take notice that the particular viruses would cause the swollen and sore throat without making you suffer from cough. This sore throat also would get worse as the virus progresses and it would be wise to seek the medical treatment as soon as possible.

Nasal Congestion

Nasal congestion is the type of symptom that could occur whenever you have the stuffy nose, because there is an inflammation that occurs in the nose that caused by the virus, including the flu virus. While there are so many possible health problems that would occur to you whenever you have the nasal congestion, but this symtpom is the early sign that there is a flu virus that already invades the body. So, in case you’re having the nasal congestion, you need to give it the proper treatment so that this symptom would go away as fast as possible from your body.

Joint Pain

You might be surprised that the flu virus would cause the joint pain, but this is true. The infections that caused by the flu without a doubt would cause the joint pain. So, whenever you feel that you have the joint pain, you shouldn’t hesitate to seek the medical advice or medical attention so that you will have the further treatment as soon as possible. So, whenever you have the joint pain, here are the common treatment that you should do to relieve the pain:

Using topical pain relievers.
Stay physically active and follow the fitness programs.
Always monitor and maintain the iedel body weight
Taking nonsurgical treatment that the doctors may recommend to recover your joint pain.

Muscle Aches

This is one of the most common symptoms that you would get when the flu virus already invades the body. In the matter of fact, all of the people would suffer from muscle aches at some point within their life. So, the infections from the virus the will progress into the muscle tissue too, which the will cause you to suffer from muscle aches. But, you shouldn’t worry whenever you’re suffering the muscle aches that caused by the flu virus, because you could do the following things to relieve and alleviate the pain caused by this condition by following these tips:

Resting the area of the body where the pain occurs.
Taking over-the-counter medication like ibuprofen, for example.
Applying ice in the afected area that you will the aches in several minutes.
Always gently stretch the muscle
Avoiding weight-lifting sessions for several moments until the symptom of muscle aches disappears.

Chest Pain

Just like already mentioned above, the flu virus will be progressed on to the worse level whenever you left it untreated before then it will get better afterwards. The chest pain would occur when the flu virus is progressing to the worsen level. So, in case you’re suffering from the chest pain, it would be very wise if you seek the medical attention as soon as possible so that the doctor would inform you the underlying cause of the chest pain. But, in case that the chest pain is caused by the flu virus, taking the over-the-counter medication would be enough. But in case that the chest pain is caused by the heart related problem, lung re-inflation or the surgical treatment would be occurred too.

Breathing Difficulty

Whenever you’re having the flu that caused by the flu virus, you will also suffer from the breathing difficulty since already mentioned above that the flu virus will be progressed as the time goes by, which then will cause a lot of health problems, such as the breathing difficulty. The breathing difficulty would be occurred since the flu virus will cause the chest pain too, which without a doubt will make you feel the discomfort while breathing.

Also, you will be more likely to have the nasal congestion or stuffy nose whenever you’re having the flu, which also will make you feel the shortness of breath and you feel that you can’t get enough of air while breathing. So, to alleviate this symptom, you need to change the habist of the lifestyle alongside with consume the over-the-counter medication or the medication that already prescribed with the doctor.

Dehydration

The dehydration will also occur whenever you have the flu because whenever the flu virus already invades the body, you will be more likely to suffer from the sudden fever. So, if you have the fever, of course that your body will lose a lot of fluids through the skin surface because your body will always try to lower the temperature. Also, fever is also would cause the excessive sweating that if you’re not replenishing the body with the fluids, you will be more likely to suffer from dehydration.

But, you shouldn’t worry to suffer from dehydration since this symptom is totally preventable. Here are the tips that you should do to avoid dehydration.

Always replenish your body with the fluids from water or maybe from the electrolyte drinks.
Avoid to consume the beverages that contains too much sugar or salt, caffeine and alcohol. Caffeine and alcohol is diuretics, which will stimulate you to have the urination and thus, it will make the dehydration getting worse.
Always drink a lot of fluids althiugh you stay inactive during the day.

Bluish Skin

Your skin will be bluished whenever you’re suffering from the complications from the other flu symptom, such as fever, the difficulty of breathing, and chest pain. All of those symptoms would lead you to the bluish and discoloration in the skin. Basically, the bluish skin is commonly occurring because the body couldn’t get enough oxygen and this is commonly would be the sign of serious medical conditions. So, whenever you see that your skin bluished whenever you feel that you’re having the flu, you shouldn’t be hesitated to seek the medical treatment as soon as possible so that you will get the further treatment. Since the bluish skin could be treated based on the underlying caise, the doctor then would recommend you the best treatment to alleviate the bluish skin in the body.

Dizziness

This is also one of the most common symptoms that you would get whenever the flu virus. So dizziness is the condition that commonly described as the feeling of being lightheaded, woozy, or unbalanced. While this symptom is common and you shouldn’t worry about it. But whenever you’re experiencing the persistent and severe dizziness, that could be the sign that you need to seek the medical treatment since you might suffer from the serious medical conditions. In the case of flu virus, since this virus could lead you to fever and extreme dehydration, that would be no doubt that the dizziness would come along with the other symptoms as the sign that the flu virus is already invading the body.

But, you shouldn’t worry whenever you feel the dizziness since this symptom would be overcome whenever you do the following tips:

Taking over the counter medication such as ibuprofen.
You need to make sure that you always replenish the body with the fluids on a regular basis.
Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco products.
Eating the healthy diets.

Sneezing

Sneezing is the condition that commonly occurs whenever the body are trying to remove the irritants out from the nose of from the throat. So, sneezing is the powerful expulsion of air which happen without any warning at all. This condition is one of the most common symptoms too whenever you have the flu virus that already invades your body and cause the infections in the body. But, you shouldn’t worry whenever you have this symptom since this is the common thing that every people would suffer whenever they’re having the flu.

Whenever you’re sneezing, you need to get rid or stay away from everything that could trigger you to sneeze, such as the dirty room full of dust, or the feather of your pets. Also, to cure the sneeze that caused by flu virus, you can use the nasal spray to relieve the congested nose, or you can use the antiviral medication to speed up the healing process. One thing that also you need to do to speed up the recovery process is drinking a lot of fluids throughout the day, on a regular basis.

Tension Headache

Tension headache is commonly described as the condition when you feel the mild or severe headache around the head, behind the eye, and neck. Some patients also say that the tension headache will feel like a tight band around the forehead. In the case that the tension headache that caused by the flu virus, you will feel the tension headache whenever you develop the fever and chills, which when the temperature of the body become lower than usual.

But, you shouldn’t worry whenever you have the tension headache since you can relieve this symptom in your own home by taking over-the-counter medication such as ibuprofen or aspirin. Alternatively, you should do the following tips to relieve this symptom:

Applying the ice into your head for five to 10 minutes per day for several days.
Taking the hot bath.
You need to make sure that you manage the stress level so that you will be avoided from tension headache in the future.

Fainting

This is classified as the chronic symptom that could occur whenever you have the flu virus alongside with the other symptoms that already mentioned above. So, fainting is the condition that occurs whenever you loss the consciousness for short amount of time. In the case of flu virus, you will suffer from fainting whenever you’re experiencing the severe dehydration, dizziness, or coughing too hard. But, you will be more likely to suffer from this symptom if you have the history of fainting before.

To prevent the fainting, you need to know what kind of thing that probably would trigger you to experience this symptom. Whenever you have the history of fainting, you need to seek the medical attention or maybe have a visit to your doctor so that you will have the further option how to deal with the fainting in the future.

Loss of Appetite

Loss of appetite is commonly described as the condition when you have the reduced desire to eat. So, since loss of appetite is commonly caused by the virus infections, there is no doubt that the flu virus would cause you to reduced desire to eat. This symptom is basically will occur alongside with other symptom such as headache, coughing, tiredness, or sneezing. Whenever you suffer from the loss of appetite because of the flu virus, you shouldn’t worry about it since these illnesses would typically lasts in a very short-term and as the time goes by, you appetite would turn back to normal. You need to make sure that you still eat a small portion of meal everyday, eventhough you don’t have the desire to eat.

Mental Confusion

Mental confusion could be classified as the flu symptom since the flu virus will cause you the severe headache, alongside with dizziness, fever, dehydration and shivering. In the matter of fact, dehydration is one of the most common causes of confusion, since this symptom would cause your body will run out the fluids and thus, it will prevent the parts of the body to function properly. So, mental confusion is the situation whenever you think that you can’t think clearly.You might also feel disoriented and have the hard time to focus or even making the decisions. So, whenever you feel that you experience the mental confusion, seeking for a help to your family, friends, or even the doctors immediately would be a wise move.

Difficulty of Sleeping

So, whenever you have the flu virus, there is no doubt that you will experience the difficulty to sleep since you will also suffer from the various symptoms such as stuffy nose, difficulty of breathing, cough, and headache, which without a doubt would make some discomforts whenever you’re trying to sleep and thus, you will experience the difficulty of sleeping during you have the influenza virus. To overcome this symptom, just make sure that you have a lot of physical activities during the day, which then will make you feel tired and you can sleep tight easily at the night.

How to Treat Flu

Now, after you already know all of the possible symptoms of flu, you might also want to know how to treat flu, so that you will be turned back into the normal condition as soon as possible. So, here are the tips on how to treat flu so that your condition will be getting better in short amount of time:

Treating Flu From Home. You could treat the flu from your own home since this disease is commonly not a serious one. Take a rest, keeping warm, and drinking a lot of fluids will make you feel better. But, if you still feel unwell, you could take the over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen. You need also stay off the school or work whenever you feel the flu so that your friends and co-workers wouldn’t suffer from flu too.
Taking antiviral medications. Some doctors would also recommend you to take the antiviral medications whenever it is possible. The antiiviral medications such as oseltamivir and zanamivir would be very useful to reduce the risk of complications of flu. Antivirals medication will work by stopping the virus from multiplying in the body.
Taking Pain Relievers. Taking over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen will fight the achiness that commonly related to influenza.

How to Prevent Flu

Okay, now you already know all of the symptoms of the flu alongside with the way to treat it, but you know that the prevention act would be better than the cure act, isn’t? Well, you could protect yourself from influenza virus by following these tips:

Wash Your Hands. Persistent and regular hand-washing would be very beneficial and very effective to prevent many infections, including from the flu virus. To ensure the hygiene, you could use the hand sanitizer or soap that specifically designed for your hand.
Cover Your Mouth When Coughing. Covering your mouth whenever coughing and sneezing would also very beneficial too to prevent the spread the infections of the flu virus. So, you won’t make your hands become contaminated and thus, you need to cough or sneeze into the tissue paper.
Avoid Crowds. For your information, the flu will spread rapidly whenever you’re in the crowd. So, whenever you decide to avoid the crowd during the flu season, the possibility of you having the flu infections would be lower too. If you have the flu, you need to rest in your home and don’t get yourself in a crowd in a public places, so that you will not infect the others.