They say the flu is going around strong in the US this year. I got one, too. I slept through last weekend, canceling a couple of parties. I am recovering from it now.
This 2013 January "flu-like disease" came mainly with a high fever, terrible fatigue/dullness and soreness everywhere. I felt very weak, which is a major difference from the annoying yet manageable common cold. I am sure there are micro-injuries caused by the virus everywhere in my body. No coughing or upper respiratory symptoms, and no stomach or digestive tract symptoms, though.
My usual home remedy is low-tech. I use bed rest and stay warm. Using the hair dryer to warm up the bed can be surprisingly handy. Lots of green tea and black tea. Megadose of Vitamin C (2-3g/day). Zinc tablets (one tablet (50mg)/day). Some of what I do are anecdotal remedies but most medicines work only for many, anyways. When fever is high and pain is more than annoying, I take Aspirin (Caution: Aspirin is not for kids with viral diseases) or Ibuprofen, maybe Tylenol. These drugs do generally the same thing but with some differences. You can Wikipedia them and compare them.
I am a scientist, but I do not have all the information for fancy "customized medicine". My genetic composition, epigenetic data, viral strains.... I don't know these. When we don't have enough information to make a smart diagnosis and pinpoint treatment, we go with some blanket medicine that is supposed to work for most or for many, don't we?
Speaking of "blanket medicine," for a long time western medicine assumed that medicine works on all bodies. In contrast, Chinese traditional medicine uses a different approach and actively takes the patient's body type into consideration. They use different herbal concoctions on different body types with the same disease. A stocky, red-faced, muscular guy gets different medicine from a skinny pale, moist-skinned woman when they both get the flu, for example. I see a certain rationale in their approach, and I wonder how long it'll take for western medicine to actually customize medication to that level. For certain types of cancers, molecular diagnostics and customized treatments have begun (like, "her2 positive breast cancer" etc), and over-the-counter cold medicine started using different drug mixes for different symptoms ("sinus and fever" etc), but we still have a long way to go.
I did get a flu vaccination a couple of months ago. I am not certain it worked or not. Either it missed this viral strain and did not work at all, or it helped to cut the worst time short, or it has even saved my life. In life usually we do not have appropriate control groups (like 10 others of me who did not get the vaccination and 9 more me who got the vaccination). In life what happens is usually unique. There are always many ways to interpret what happened.
When I get sick, it is a reminder of the importance of healthy body. When I heal from a cold or the flu, there is a time when my entire body feels warm and blood flows smoothly. I am almost there. I should be fine in a few days. Hope my wife stays healthy.
I am expecting a busier time in a few weeks. Let's say I am lucky to get this flu now rather than to get it later in the busier time.
