Safe to cycle with flu?

Anonymous

Hi.

I seem to have come down with a mild dose of flu, I seem fine, has severe headaches yesterday, but they have gone, also felt weak, that has gone too.

I feel I could happily cycle but my dad told me that doing anything intense whilst having the flu can allow it to get to the heart and then kill you, is this true? If so I might have to rest a few days .

Bit of a **** take, everything I start getting back up to performance something happens to cause me to take time off and back to square 1 again


Thanks
Will.

stevewj

A top class runner Keith Penny (47min for 10 guy) many years ago trained with a chest infection. The virus went to his heart muscle (apparently a fairly common possibility) and he never ran anything like afterwards despite many years of VERY consistent high level performance. They reckon if the infection is above the throat - train steady/easy, below the throat -forget it.

Anonymous

Well it's in my chest and my muscles ache abit, so is it safe to say if I go cycling I could end up killing my performance in the very very long term and short term as compared to just short term if I take it easy, rest and let it go away?

johnnyc71

Another way to look at it:

Lose a little time and start back when well.

or

Cycle whilst ill and be out for weeks.

I have empathy with your situation - I'm currently off the bike with a cold / mild chest infection - all I want to do is get out there and get the miles in...

andyxm

You haven't got flu, but either way if you exercise hard it will slow down your recovery

neil²

I'm not a medic but personal experience from last summer... I did a training hike to prepare for a long challenge whilst hanging on to the back-end of a nasty man-flu.

The result was that the man-flu got totally re-embedded and pretty much scuppered my sporting activity for the rest of the summer. I felt like I only had half the usual lung capacity for weeks.

I would take care if I was you....

N

Anonymous

What have I got then?

I'm showing the following symptons of flu:


chills
muscle aches and pain
severe headache
weakness and tiredness
chest pain

From the BBC that was.

Harry B

I went on a longish ride whislt recovering from this bug (manflu ) that's been going around and bonked 20 miles from home. It took me ages to get back despite Mars bars etc and I felt pretty dreadful by the time I got home and looked even worse according to the wife.

Have a rest and you'll soon be back

Anonymous

I wish it was manflu I had, I'd be out tonight then.

Roadie Rods

My tuppence worth...if you think you have flu, don't ride. Rest, and get fully recovered.

Couple of years back I had a chest infection, so I stopped riding for a couple of weeks. Finished my antibiotics, and the next day I felt better, and decided to ride the 15 miles to work (I usually ride 150+ miles a week, so this shouldn't have been too much effort).

Fortunately (?) I had my annual medical that day, so I was in with the nurse when I fainted! :oops: Was ordered by the doc to rest for another 3 weeks.

If you feel like you have to get some exercise, you could try going for a gentle walk, or do some stretches.

dennisn

My brother had a virus/flu go to his heart. Had to have open heart surgery and have a
cow heart valve put in because the virus/flu had damaged his "original equipment" one.
He's fine now. So I guess these kind of things can happen.

Dennis Noward

alp777

You have a cold!

If you had the flu you would be bed ridden for a few days at least!

Anyway, complete rest is what's needed

dodgy

Probably already said, but I've jumped straight to reply. If you can contemplate riding, even if it's just a tiny fragment of thought right at the back of your head - you do not have flu.

That is all.

Jeff Jones

willhub wrote:

Hi.

I seem to have come down with a mild dose of flu, I seem fine, has severe headaches yesterday, but they have gone, also felt weak, that has gone too.

I feel I could happily cycle but my dad told me that doing anything intense whilst having the flu can allow it to get to the heart and then kill you, is this true? If so I might have to rest a few days .

He's right. If you have any sort of a virus , then you shouldn't do any exercise until you feel strong again. It tends to take me a week to 10 days before I'll even consider getting on the bike. Then, it's important not to do anything intense for a while - four to six weeks, depending on how severe the virus was.

Even if you don't die, you can do permanent damage to your heart, which is obviously not good for an athlete.

On the plus side, if you rest properly you'll find you come back to your previous level quite quickly. It's only January now and the conditions are crap anyway, so you'd be well advised to take some time off.

Anonymous

I'll take it easy for another 2 days, see how I feel, then I'll rest for another day, see how I feel.

This has being the worst cold I have had in my life, and the first cold where I have experienced those flu like symptoms.

This is a truly violent cold.

The left side of my chest has a weird ache/burning feeling, not heartburn, my stomach is perfectly fine.

Gotte

I've had flu - real flu - a couple of times, and found that any exhurtion before I was fully recovered brought on a relapse. Even with a heavy cold, I'd lay off.

meagain

If it were full-blown, full-on, flu - not only would you not be contemplating riding, it is also extremely unlikely that you would be posting on here!

Anonymous

So their is no such thing as a mild dose of flu?

It's either no flu or full blown flu?

mmitchell88

Not necessarily - there are different types of flu. The mildest is very much like a cold - but just because it's 'mild' doesn't mean it isn't a flu. Having said that, the most common form of flu is usually the most serious, typically coming around every few years. And it will knock you for six.

My personal view on the cold/flu/ride/don't ride issue is: don't push it. I've only just gone back to work having spent all of December in bed with pleurisy of all things. Late October I had a rolling series of colds/flu/whatever and tried to keep riding/spinning when I should have been resting. Result, I haven't been on a bike for over 2 months.

The left side of my chest has a weird ache/burning feeling, not heartburn, my stomach is perfectly fine.

Go see a doctor. May be something, may be nothing.

eyes like marbles

i tend to use the throat and above rule (could be b*llocks tho) if its a head cold its ok to go out but be nice to yourself, if its in the chest don't do it.
if you feel crap off the bike and its a stuffy head sometimes it helps jsut to get moving but if you have a bad throat and especially discomfort in the chest lay off for a bit and go back quietly when you do go back.

ColinJ

Every time I got the sniffles, I used to say that I had a flu bug. One day, I caught a real one and then I learned the difference!

I'd be shivering violently and just couldn't get warm. I'd have the heating on full, two sets of clothing on, gloves and a hat, a duvet wrapped round me, and I'd still feel cold. After a while I'd suddenly feel hot (not surprising given the above) and sweat would start pouring off me. Then the heating had to go off, I'd rip off the duvet and clothes and start applying cold flannels to get my temperature back down again. I developed a thumping headache so I couldn't bear to have the light on. I was coughing up all sorts of stuff. But then things started to get unpleasant... .

Projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhoea are never pleasant, but my big strong cyclist legs buckled every time I stood up, so I had to drag myself along the floor to the bathroom every time I felt the next wave coming on. I nearly didn't make it a few times... :shock:

Imagine that somebody phones you up and tells you that they've put an envelope containing £1,000 in your dustbin, all you have to do is to go out to the bin and take it out and it's yours. The refuse collection is in 10 minutes time. If you go and get it, you've got a cold. If you're not the slightest bit interested, you've probably got the flu (or you've got a cold and are very wealthy !).

One time when I had a bug, I waited until I felt better. Then I left it another couple of days. Then I went out on my bike. 30 minutes into the ride, I blacked out and came round lying behind a dry stone wall. My heart was thumping and my vision was blurred. Nowadays, I rest when I need to rest...

You can go out on your bike if you want to - it's a free country. I'd listen to my body if I was you - it's telling you that you are ill. Why not listen to it?

Anonymous

I get the impression people are trying to tell me I have got "manflu"

eyes like marbles

purdy much

Anonymous

eyes like marbles wrote:

purdy much

:?:

redddraggon

Basically everyone is saying don't be a fool and ride if you are feeling far less than 100% - it'll probably end up making you worse.

oldwelshman

First of all I do not understand why your worried about performance level in January, unless you do CC of course
If you have a virus or infection, do not ride until recovered simple.
If I was you I would go to doctor to see if you have pleuracy as your symptoms sound similar. Many people think it is flu at first. You certainy do not want to ride if you have that as you wiill be prone to getting it in the future.
It can start mild but if it gets worse you have stabbing pains in chest and can hardly breathe. I had it whislt working in a coal face and I wasw in bed for weeks once it took hold, good for loosing weight though

Anonymous

Every now and again I have weird sort of pains in the chest, and I cant breath in fully with it, as when I breath in up to a certain point it feels tight and this pain, but it goes away eventually.

Sometimes I even hear creaks and stuff like it is a cramp :shock:

It's not too serious if I get it diagnosed by the doctor? Can a doctor quickly diagnose it? I really don't want to be off cycling for weeks that will **** me off as it's one of the things I do to relax and clear my mind.

Also, how is being in bed for weeks good for loosing weight lol?

Nuggs

willhub wrote:

Every now and again I have weird sort of pains in the chest, and I cant breath in fully with it, as when I breath in up to a certain point it feels tight and this pain, but it goes away eventually.

Sometimes I even hear creaks and stuff like it is a cramp :shock:

It's not too serious if I get it diagnosed by the doctor? Can a doctor quickly diagnose it? I really don't want to be off cycling for weeks that will **** me off as it's one of the things I do to relax and clear my mind.

Also, how is being in bed for weeks good for loosing weight lol?

Well, I definitely think you're doing the right thing: asking a bunch of non-medical people on t'interweb about your chest condition.

Here's a couple of handy tips:

1. For help setting up your bike, mechanical problems and kit choices: ask Bikeradar
2. For medical help: go and see a doctor

HTH

graeme_s-2

I generally don't ride (or exercise) if I don't feel great. I find exerting myself really hampers my recovery and leaves me feeling ill for considerably longer.

On the flu thing, I had flu once when I was a teenager. I was bed ridden, delirious with a temperature for 3 days and lost a stone in weight over the 3 days. I basically spent half the time thinking I was going to die, and the other half wishing I would. It's by far the most horrible illness I've ever had. I would have been physically unable to put my shoes on, never mind get my bike out of the shed or ride it.

I have had colds that have left me feeling crap with the symptoms you describe as well, and they're not much fun either, but they're nothing like a dose of the flu. Hope you feel better soon and can get back to your training!

Anonymous

I've got a cold and chest infection at the moment and it's killing me this not riding malarkey. That said, I'm well aware that if I start back too soon I will be a hell of a lot worse!

I've had flu twice.

Both times I thought I was going to die. It is the worst thing I've ever had.

Anonymous

I hope I never get flu. Maybe I've had it when I was little, I cant remember, sort of remember been in bed for a long while throwing up though.

Nuggs, they might be doctors here , I know in the cycling club I'm in in York there is a doctor that comes out on rides often .

It's really annoying because this is not 2008, it's 2009, I planned to kick start this year with plenty of cycling and a view to boost my performance beyond what I was at last year in summer and I though I'd get a head start this year, but if I don't get cycling properly until feb I've literally not got a head start .


The annoying thing about going to the doctor is, I have more than one thing I want the doctor to check me up on, but this is a pain, it means booking like 3 different appointments, as the doctor I am with will not do more than one thing at once, for example I had a knew problem and sleep problem, he asked me if their was anything else I wanted to talk about, so I said yea my sleep, so he told me to choose one and book an appointment for the other one at a later date , and that is a total faf about