First of all I will start this review off with some facts about Swine flu before telling you my account of suffering from it last year.

Swine flu is a strain of the very common influenza virus. It is thought to have been initiated from pigs which is where it has gotten its name. The symptoms of swine flu are very similar to normal flu, such as:

* High fever over approximately 40 degrees
* Migraine
* Aching body/muscles most often the legs
* Weakness
* Fatigue
* Sore throat
* Cold

However there are other symptoms that have only been shown to occur with swine flu sufferers like:

* Diarrhoea
* Vomiting

However not all of these symptoms require drastic medical care there are a list of much more severe symptoms which are very important to get recognised early on and to seek medical advice from them these include:

* Fever with rash
* Problems with breathing like pain or tightening of the chest causing breathlessness
* Confusion
* Persistent vomiting
* Pneumonia
* Bluish coloured skin

However just like many other illnesses and viruses a certain percentage of the population are more at risk than others if they catch it for example, those with heart disease or liver disease. Those over the age of 65 years old and those under the age of 5 years old would also be more at risk as their immune systems are weaker. Therefore there is a swine flu vaccination for these people.
There is no specific time period with swine flu, like normal flu, that symptoms are supposed to last for. They can vary from person to person. It must also be remembered that many of these symptoms of swine flu may be part of symptoms for another virus or illness.

Now looking at treatments these are similar for swine flu as they are for normal flu.

First of all anybody suffering from symptoms that seem to be like Swine flu should not leave the house to visit a doctor because of the contagiousness of it. So they should speak on the phone to a doctor who will guide them through regular appointment questions to diagnose the virus or illness properly. They will then recommend the treatment they are required to take.

The treatments include:

* Paracetamol to take the fever down and relieve the headache and sore throat
* Also something along the lines of ibuprofen (an anti inflammatory) can be used which will help the fever as well as the pain and aching muscles. Ibuprofen can usually be used alongside paracetamol but there are side effects such as a stomach ache and sickness feeling from this.
* Swine flu can also be treated with anti virals like the most common one called Tamiflu which will help to relieve the symptoms as well as reduce the number of days that the person suffers from the swine flu, however this also has many side effects like nausea which can be problematic because if continual vomiting occurs it takes away the use of the anti virals and other medication. Antivirals are specifically or primarily given to those that are higher at risk of longer term problems from the swine flu but they are still often given to a lot of other people who suffer from swine flu.
* Antibiotics can also be prescribed but this will only treat the bacterial infection to help to prevent the swine flu from snowballing into another virus or illness.

Overall there is now a large range of treatments for sufferers of swine flu but antivirals are most probably the last resort, treatment wise. It is best to start off with the easier treatments to the body like paracetamol.

***How I suffered from Swine flu***

I suffered from swine flu last year, it struck two nights before Christmas! (Just my luck!) My dad had asked me to go to Sainsburys for him for a few last minute bits and pieces for Christmas lunch. My dad is very particular on the bits he wants from Sainsburys and I seem to be the only one he trusts to get him the right things. However he had definitely asked the wrong person on this particular day. I had felt a bit overtired that morning but once I got to Sainsburys with the overwhelming volume of people fighting over bits and pieces down every aisle I started to feel very claustrophobic and dizzy. I held onto my trolley hoping I wasn't about to faint. Lucky for me this dizziness then passed and I got all the bits I thought dad required. However once I had gotten home I realised that 5 out of the 6 things on his list I had gotten completely wrong and looking back it was because this swine flu was overtaking me before I had even known it. For example, he asked for a specific custard and I had picked up double cream which shows I wasn't all their in the head at that particular moment.

Once I was home I had a terrible migraine and the rest of the family was going out for a quick meal for lunch but I really wasn't feeling great and went straight to bed. Later on I woke up and I had to try to entertain some of my cousins which I really wasn't fit to do. Later on into the evening everybody commented saying I looked under the weather and I had an early night. Then going into the night I got progressively worse. A ridiculously high temperature, aching legs, migraine, fatigue and sore throat. The problem with the swine flu though is that despite being so tired the aching in your muscles seems to prevent you from sleeping.

However we hadn't realised it was swine flu until 2 days later when it triggered in my dad's head what it might be and he rang the NHS helpline to ask about it. They spoke to me on the phone to try and diagnose what I had and they said it was swine flu.

I was told to take paracetamol and ibuprofen for the next day until my dad had picked up the tamiflu. But after my first antiviral tablet (tamiflu) I was instantly sick and then I had another one later that day and the same happened. The antiviral seemed to make me feel far worse than better so I refused to have any more of them. 5 days later I was back to normal again. But I have to say it was one of the worst times in my life. I had absolutely no Christmas and I missed out on seeing all my family. It takes you over so quickly.

***Overall***

Luckily there are lots of signs and symptoms to diagnose Swine flu quickly and there are a lot of effective treatments. But I have to say that I wouldn't wish Swine Flu on my worst enemy! I hope you never get it!