Anyone who tells you that ‘they had the flu and it wasn’t that bad’ 100% did not have the flu to begin with.
(or was vaccinated and had milder symptoms because of it)
Most people will remember the EXACT week(s) they had their last bout with the flu.
Mine was my first year of family medicine residency.
I still remember the ER doc taking one look at me dragging myself in that night and saying:
“You look worse than every single patient here. Go home.”
I obliged & took nearly a week to recuperate.
My wife had to be kept overnight for dehydration/lethargy due to influenza as she wasn’t keeping up with hydration between bouts of sleeping and being deliriously feverish.
I had never been so scared for her until that day.