On October I got the flu vaccine at Costco. However on January 12 I started having flu-like symptoms: severe sore throat and dry cough that lasted for 10 days, 2-3 days of mild fever, extremely week and sore joints for about 4 days, no runny nose but felt congested and post-nasal drip, and swollen lymph nodes in neck and one in the back of the head (occipital, non tender). I got tested for strep throat and mono, which came back negative, diagnosis was "viral Faringitis".
About 6 days after the symptoms started and 2 days after fever stopped, I started having night sweats and been having them for exactly 3 weeks now. Some nights very mild and a few nights completely soaked. This is not normal for me since I'm usually very cold and I'm used to sleeping with a lot of blankets, however now it doesn't matter if I only sleep with one blanket, it doesn't seem to help. My lymph nodes are not painful anymore however I can still feel them in the neck and in the back on the head.
I'm wondering if it's possible I got the flu even if I got the shot? And also if it's normal having night sweats and lymph nodes for this long or should I be concerned?
On a side notes: In January I started taking medication for acid reflux (pantoprazole) and I changed my birth control prescription. (In case this could be related)
Any help or experience you could share with me would be useful!! Thank you
This was much more than just flu. Night sweats are usually associated with some viral infections. There is always possibility of getting flu with a different strain/serotype of flu shot you had at Costco.
But the night sweats and lymph nodes are signs of other viral infections and immune response. You will need lymph nodes biopsy if it is more than a week and check with Infectious diseases specialist.
I will follow your advice and give it one more week to check back with my GP. Thank you for your response!
Jeessgb, did your night sweats ever clear up?
After having flu like symthoms for a week I seen my GP. He said, I had 1 of 30,000 unidentified viruses floating aroung the counrty right now. A nasal swab showed I did not have the flu. But I had a virus that was mimicking the flu AND measles. Then my yearly acute bronchitis started up. 20 days of low fever and 15 lbs. lighter, I started to feel better. But night sweats started after a couple of days feeling better. I've never had night sweats in the 59 years i've been alive.
IN my case the night sweats continued since January (it's been 4 months now). I've had since a CT scan of the neck to check my nodes which came back as normal reactive nodes, a chest X-ray, a spleen ultrasound, numerous blood tests and everything has turned out fine. So I've been told not to worry, just keep monitoring lymph nodes.
In your case I think is normal to have these night sweats due to the nasty infections/virus that your body is fighting. Even when we don't have symptoms anymore we have viruses still lingering that our body tries to get rid a 100%.
I would say do not worry, and go back to your doctor if your symptoms continue after 6 weeks. And even then like you can see in my case, sometimes our body just act weird for no reason at all.
Good luck!
Hi Jeessgb, has it cleared up for you yet? Ours stories sound similar. I've been better for about a month, but still have night sweats and swollen glands...
Hopefully everything cleared up for you and you are back on your feet?
With the night sweats you are having, and can feel lymph nodes this could be your immune system, it would be a good ideal to get this checked out.
I've been having night sweats for almost 2 weeks now, and also sweating a lot during the day too.
Seems we have a similar virus. Mine has also affected my tonsils.
I'm still getter occasional chills too, did anyone have that?
Sorry if I'm posting too much, looking for answers to settle my anxiety 🙃
The Flu can be related to a variety of symptoms some of which are common and other viral infections such as common cold. So if you are thinking night sweats might happen due to flu infection then here are some of the symptoms by which you can understand are you affected by flu or not. The symptoms or signs are
Fever
Excessive sweating and night sweats
Aching joints
Nasal congestion
Diarrhoea
Vomiting
Fatigue
Sore throat
Coughs