Preparing for the Flu for the chronically ill
 

I have a friend just recovering from a bout with the flu that began about mid-December. Big, healthy, moose of a guy but just couldn't shake it. Lives with his wife and adult daughter (a nurse). He had a hard time with it and that got me to evaluating my own situation.

Most of us already have PD at a minimum and often more. Many of us live alone with little support and few resources. We are, to be blunt, at risk. Some of us have had flu shots and some have not, but none of us know if they help or hurt our wonky PD immune systems. And we don't know about those wonky systems themselves. It may well be that we are naturally flu-resistant due to the hypervigilant state. We just don't know.

So this seems like a sensible time to talk preparedness. What to do if you wake up tomorrow feeling like crap even more than usual. What you would be wishing you had already done. How you can best ride it out. And so on.

Feel free to add tips of your own, but let's stick to the practical things that can actually be done today rather than things that would be nice to have available, if only...

So, here are some of mine.
1) If you have little or no support, get cracking. Transform your bed into your own personal ward. That means meds, food, lots of water, toilet/bucket, phone, computer, an extra set of pajamas, tissues, etc. Aim for a two-week stay. Set up the microwave and a stack of single-tray meals at hand. Stash extra bedding under the bed in case you end up there. In fact, whenever possible, do that for everything. Get a case of bottled water and go through and break all the seals now while you have the strength. Get an egg carton or two and lay out two weeks worth of meds. Keep your others close by in case you spill the main supply. Call the people that you do have available and ask them to call daily if you need it. But you don't want them stopping by unless you do actually get it since self-imposed isolation is one of your defences. Let them know where an extra key can be found so they don't break down your door while you are gone to the grocery.
2) During the period leading up to getting sick, stay home if possible. If you must go out, wash your hands at every opportunity. Invest in a cloth mask and gloves.
3) Two things from the health food store-
A) Green tea both as a tea for gargling and as a tablet. The gargle prevents the virus from being able to attach to the membranes to enter your system.
B) NAC - N-Acetylcysteine - among other things it increases the mucal content of your lungs enabling a "productive cough." A wracking dry cough seems to be a major symptom of this strain and is what made things so tough for the friend I mentioned.

I gotta go now but will add more later. Anyone else?

-Rick

yu ping feng san wan
 

I have what I consider a healthy skepticism about certain traditional Chinese medical practices, but several years ago a friend recommended I try Yu Ping Feng San Wan to help ward off the 2-3 colds I was getting every winter. Astragalus is the main ingredient, but it contains a number of other herbs which potentiate the astragalus. Since then I have had just one cold in the last 3 years (ironically I caught it from my wife who had just returned from China with the bug in January a year ago). I teach at a university and am surrounded by students who in the winter are always happily hacking disease vectors. But this stuff seems to really work. Jade Screen is the most popular brand. You can find distributors by googling. Worth a try if you're prone to multiple colds as I was.

Jon

Why not just get a flu shot? it's not too late.

Too late getting flu shot
 

Get one every years but waited too long this year. The first thing that happened was my neuro added the Neupro patch as I've been having a lot of really fast coming on off periods. Two days of the patch and I felt like crap. So I stopped the patch assuming that was what was making me sick. This was of course right after Christmas when you can't scare up anyone... closed for the holidays!!!!
Then my best friend in the whole world died of MS... really felt horrible then. By that time I was sick enough to be in the hospital but fearful of the whole scene. So I toughed it out still it didn't dawn on me that this wasn't a PD thing. Finally it occurred to me that I had the flu... nothing you can do about it.
Suggestions... the life saver for me is my favorite Christmas present for this year.... a LaZboy lift chair. The best. It has vibration to ease my aching joints, heat to soothe my back and best of all, it elevates my head just enough so that I'm not laying flat. I have horrible congestion and laying flat makes it tough to breathe. I also tend to freeze when laying in bed. Raising my head in this chair kept everything draining. I really believe one off these types of chairs really makes a difference. I've spent several nights sleeping in it.
These tend to be pricy when new but there are a lot of gently used ones out there.

Question...have any of you with PD had bad reactions to a flu shot.? I have never had one and my daughter said I cannot come see my grandbaby (who is 19 mo and being treated for infant leukemia without having had one at least two weeks before a visit. A doctor told her you can pass on the flu before having any symptoms yourself. I always felt I had a better chance against the flu than against a shot. Any thoughts????

takes 2 weeks to build immunity after the shot so within those 2 weeks you can catch the flu from someone else - not from the vaccine - and infect someone else.

never had a reaction.

I have gotten a flu shot every year since being dxed with PD. 12 years now. I have never had a bad reaction and have not had the flu either. It's a personal choice and you should read up on and know what the risks are before doing.

Important to also provide a supply of music beside the bed, plus whatever other electronic connections to the world you would be able to handle - internet, TV, maybe even a book although probably feel too rotten to read it. Things to distract you and make those long, long nights go by

Somebody should call you once a day to see if you are still ticking.

It really helps if you have a girlfriend who is a nurse and who comes to your house everyday after work, in her starched white skirt uniform and little white hat. Probably got the germs from her in the first place, because she comes from the hospital, so you have to weigh the plus and the minus; but if she stays all night to make sure you are okay, you are making the best of the situation, and that's all we can ask.

[QUOTE=Bob Dawson;946540]Important to also provide a supply of music beside the bed, plus whatever other electronic connections to the world you would be able to handle - internet, TV, maybe even a book although probably feel too rotten to read it. Things to distract you and make those long, long nights go by

Somebody should call you once a day to see if you are still ticking.

It really helps if you have a girlfriend who is a nurse and who comes to your house everyday after work, in her starched white skirt uniform and little white hat. Probably got the germs from her in the first place, because she
\
There you go bragging about your darned socialized medicine again!

:D:D:D