TAMIFLU, Those who took Tamiflu before, please Help! (doctor, symptoms, stomach)

[CA84]

I suddenly got knock out for few days of flu like symptoms, today I went to the doctor. He suspect I might have the flu since there is an flu going around in my area right now, so he prescribed me TAMIFLU and cough medicine.
That TAMIFLU medicine is so expensive, like $150, but luckily my healthcare pay for it.

I did some research around on TAMIFLU, and there were so many cases of children committed suicided and hallucinating after taking this drug. TAMIFLU were banned in Japan on children due to they have so many cases of young children have suicidal thoughts. If you GOOGLE you will see it, so many news on children jump off building, run outside in front of a truck.... scary!
.... so I am scare to take TAMIFLU.. I want to ask has anyone here ever take TAMIFLU before? And did you experience any side effects like that?

This year flu is terrible, I probably end up taking this drugs anyways if my Flu doesn't go away in one week.
Anyone who take Tamiflu before, please share your experience.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

I took Flumadene years ago - knocked out the flu in a couple of hours! Don't know iif it is related to Tamiflu but it was wonderful.

[EvilCookie]

I haven't taken it myself, knock on wood, but my MIL got a sample of it from her doctor friend once when she got sick, and while she didn't hallucinate or have suicidal thoughts, she did say it made her feel completely awful - worse than the flu itself. It caused nausea and vomiting, stomach pain, and dizziness after she took it, she said she'll gladly take the flu over it anyday now.
I've heard similar accounts of it having terrible side effects; it's a pretty hard-core drug, not like tylenol or something. I say, unless you're really feeling so bad that you've got nothing to lose, or your doctor said you need it to prevent complications, I wouldn't take it. They say it's not effective unless taken within the first 48 hrs anyways, which sounds like it's been longer for you. Feel better!

[CA84]

Yeah, therefore I probably won't take it. I just take the cough medicine Q-Tussin-DM
I think this cough medicine is safe, no bad side effect showing on the net yet.

All those suicidal cases on Tamiflu are from younger children, ages 10-17, this is why Japan banned this drug for children in this age group.
I'm an adult, so I probably won't be like those little children, but I still have a family to take care. I don't want to end up jumping down the building, I live on the second floor. So I scare this tamiFlu might make me hallucinating and open the window in the middle of the night and jump. Scary! Cases like this happened before in Japan.

And honestly, I rather have the flu for few weeks and let my immune system kill it, instead of have this drugs mess around with my brain.

[Weichert]

My wife and I both had the flu a couple of months ago, went to the doctor, was prescribed Tamiflu. We both took it. It did the job but the thing that we both noticed was shortness of breath. Sometimes we felt that we could not breathe properly.

We dropped it after the first couple of doses. Fortunately, the flu was over by then.

Be aware, Tamiflu is very powerful medicine. I think if I ever have the choice again I'd skip it.

[waxhawmom75]

All medicine can have side effects. And each person reacts differently to medication. I wouldn't take the advice of others b/c it won't mean much in terms of how YOU will react. Read the side effects, know that there is a remote possibility of them occurring, and decide if the positives outweigh the possible negatives. A case of the flu can wipe some folks out for weeks. That's devastating if you are working and need a paycheck! I would say that Tamiflu can be useful in such a situation. Good luck

[CA84]

Thanks EvilCookie,
I agree Weichert, seem like very powerful medicine. I open the box, and it only 10 little pills and it cost $151 USD, just for this 10 little fella. For it to cost this much, it must be powerful enough to work down the Flu.

The Flu itself is terrible, constant high fever and shaking chills is No Fun! People can't be at work if they shilvering and have fever like this. So I think few pills of TamiFlu could save them.
This year I heard about the H1N1 flu going around.

H1N1 Flu Hits Hard With 147 Dead So Far in California ====== This is no fun neither, since I am in california. And suicidal thoughts side affect from TamiFlu is also no fun.

[Woof]

Be aware that some of the symptoms attributed to Tamiflu probably come from the flu itself. However, personally I wouldn't take it unless there was an unusually deadly strain going around.

[CA84]

I know I have the flu. The first day I got hit hard with 102 fever, and I was shaking violently, with body aches, headaches and cough. This is no common cold, must be the flu that going around.

Now no more shaking but fever still at 99, I think the flu still in my body. This is the 4th day into my sickness, so this TamiFlu probably won't work, LOL! Since it say must be taken 24-48 hours once exposed to the flu. I'm so undecided whether I take Tamiflu or not, both the Flu and this medicine both are deadly, LOL!

Hope to see more sharing stories from those who have took Tamiflu in the past. And thank you to all those that give your opinions, greatly appreciated.

[myrc60]

You should forget about taking the Tamiflu. Your symptoms sound like they are easing. You may have what seem like short relapses to come yet. Flu is a hard illness to have. It can render you near useless for almost a week some for longer. Rest and drink lots of liquids.