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Comment by rubicon33 | Hacker News Reader

I JUST recovered from the flu (yesterday was my first day without fever). At it's worst, 102 degrees under a pile of warm blankets, with thermal underwear and sweatpants on. Was still cold.

I hesitated on taking medication to treat the symptoms because my understanding is that a fever is your body's way of fighting the virus. I let it run its course for a few days, before I started taking Ib Profin which was a SILVER BULLET for breaking the fever. Within 30 minutes of taking it (800) I was back to normal temp.

I wonder if I had taken Ib Profin from the start, would I have been stifling my bodies natural ability to defeat the virus? Would I have potentially increased my risk for developing secondary disorders as a result of the infection? I can't help but feel like letting your body run it's course (while being safe) is the best way to go... I am not a doctor, nor a virologist.

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http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1778/2013...

Some evidence seems to indicate you did the right thing. Anecdote: I do the same thing now (embrace the fever); I let my body overheat; I’m convinced it shortens the total suffering

Did you mean to link to an articulate that leads with the benefit to the individual is disputed and then focuses on the benefits to the herd?

I guess so? I believe the comment I was responding to claimed the positive/negative effect of antipyretic medications was nebulous; I at least found something that showed that was not the case

Ibuprofen has been shown to inhibit antibody production, and I believe similar research showed something similar for paracetamol. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2693360/

That said, the discomfort of a 10+ day flu vs slightly reduced immune response, I'd take the medicine any day.

We don't really know if it affects ability to fight off germs, but I would assume it does. Fun fact, mix of ibuprofen and tylenol is one of the most effective anti-fever treatments known and by far out of OTC medicines.

I've taken ibuprofen in the past for other things, minor headaches, muscle aches, etc... Never really felt like it did much. Always kinda wondered why it was such a popular drug.

Well, I'm a believer now. When it comes to fevers ibuprofen appears to be incredibly effective. I took 800 at the peak of my 102 fever, and within the hour, my temperature was back to normal. Amazing stuff.

Huh I once had a fever of 103.6 in China and took some drug that was in a powder which worked similarly well. Maybe it was just ground up ibuprofen.

Could have been, injectables are frequently sold as reconstitutable powders where refrigeration isn't reliable. It's easy enough to just measure an oral dose from that in pinch

IMO OTC pain meds are much more effective for pain and fever than people give them credit for. On opiods you feel messed up and it's clear that you took the medicine.

Tylenol and ibuprofen are very transparent. There's no obvious effects to remind you that you're on it. Yet multiple scientific studies have shown that the two in combination are just as effective for relieving some kinds of pain as Vicodin.

I can't count the number of times I took Tylenol and 800 of ibuprofen then told everyone at work I was feeling 'better', only to train wreck at the end of the day and feel just as bad as I did that morning

Ibuprofen does a great job reducing inflammation for me. Not sure about just “aches” in general.

For example, I caught the Coxsackie A virus (“hand, foot, and mouth disease”) from my toddler a few months back, and it got in my gums and made them swell up very uncomfortably for a week. Ibuprofen significantly reduced the inflammation.

Different "pain medicines" do different things. NSAIDs like ibu are literally only effective for for fever/inflammation. Always check what a pain med does before trying to take it without doctor's advice.

I'm not sure if this is correct but the Flu is more of respiratory illness. There is a Fever associated with it but most Fevers people experience are probably some sort of viral infection and not necessarily the Flu.

Advil and Tylenol can be used when the body can't effectively lower its temperature on its own. My understanding is your temperature rises to kill the virus and sometimes your system loses control and that is when folks get into serious trouble. The medication will help lower your temperature.

I think the most important thing to consider is Starve a Fever and Feed a cold. Do not eat anything sweet ever during any kind of fever. It will fuel it like gasoline on a fire.

My Grandmother lost both her parents when she was 2 years old in 1918 to what they said was Pneumonia. I suspect it was the flu.

The flu is 100% viral by definition.

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