I rarely get sick, and I’m also the kind of person who almost never runs a fever. So most of the time, when something minor hits, I just tough it out. A regular cold used to clear up in about two days for me; now it takes three or four. Age catches up with everyone, and after years of being battered by all kinds of overly processed food, my body definitely doesn’t feel as resilient as it used to. My resistance has been getting worse bit by bit.
During the day it’s still manageable, but what I really can’t stand is the nighttime nasal congestion. That’s usually when I’ll take something like 快克 or 感康. I’ve never been someone who takes medicine often, so when I do, it tends to work pretty noticeably. In most cases, I feel almost back to normal the next day.
Starting yesterday, though, my throat already felt off. Then came the dizziness, runny nose, body aches, and coughing. At first I thought I was just exhausted because the kid had been keeping us up at night and I hadn’t rested well. So I went to bed a little after nine last night to try to recover.
Compared with today, the symptoms did ease up a bit after resting, but I still had some dizziness, that all-over soreness, and the runny nose. Until then, I hadn’t really connected it to influenza A. Around noon, though, a coworker who had just come back from a few days off mentioned that she’d been away because she had gone home for injections and medication, and had also gone to the hospital. The doctor diagnosed her with influenza A. The difference was that she had a high fever, which was why she had no choice but to go in.
After that, I told my partner about influenza A and listed my own symptoms. Based on that very simple home diagnosis, it’s basically certain that I’ve got 甲流. My partner immediately started figuring out where I should stay tonight and how to arrange things for me—really going to great lengths over this.
Most likely I picked it up from going a little too hard lately: playing arcade games, watching movies, eating KFC, and being around crowds. That kind of environment makes it easy to get infected. Looks like I’ll need to wear a mask for a while.
One thing I can clearly feel lately is that the air quality is bad. Even on a bright, sunny day, you still can’t see very far, and everything looks hazy. My throat always feels a little uncomfortable in this kind of air. Honestly, it feels like the air is only slightly better out in the countryside.