How to recover faster from the flu, according to doctors

Whether you’ve been unlucky enough to catch the flu early in the season or just want to be prepared just in case, here’s what doctors recommend to speed up your recovery time from the flu.

It’s important to stress that there’s only so much you can do to speed up any viral illness, including the flu. But there are a few things that can help and keep you feeling better while you recover.

Rest

It sounds simple, but giving your body time to rest while fighting the flu keeps your energy focused on where it needs to be right now—getting better, he says Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York.

While you might feel bad about waking up and moving around with the flu, Dr. Russo says it’s not clear whether this will make your flu course last longer. “If someone has a critical activity they need to do instead of lying on the couch, it’s not clear if it will affect recovery time,” he says.

Stay hydrated

The flu can cause a fever, which can increase the chances of sweating. Replacing those fluids is important to keep your body functioning as well as possible while you’re sick, says Dr. Russo. “In general, poor hydration can lead to less than optimal blood flow to the organs, which is not good,” he explains.

Being well-hydrated can also help you feel better, says Dr. Russo.

Get your flu shot

If you already have the flu, this won’t help. But getting the flu shot before you get the flu will “absolutely” help shorten the duration of the illness, says Dr. Russo.

“The key is that you need about two weeks for your body to develop immunity to the flu.” Erin Muckey, MDassociate professor of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. “But this is the best way to get over the flu faster.”

“Our flu vaccines are imperfect at preventing infection, but if you do get infected, you’re more likely to have a shorter duration of symptoms,” he says. “You’ll also have a milder case and recover faster.”

William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, agrees. “The flu shot can turn your flu from wild to mild,” he says. “It will keep the flu from getting worse.”

Antiviral drugs can reduce fever and other symptoms and shorten the duration of the flu by about a day, according to CAD. There’s also a risk-benefit analysis to consider here, given that these drugs can come with the risk of side effects like nausea and vomiting, says Dr. Muckey.

Still, the drugs “have an impact, but not as much as we would like,” says Dr. Russo. However, they can also lower your chances of developing severe flu complications.

Doctors will usually prescribe oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or baloxavir (Xofluza) to treat the flu, although zanamivir (Relenza Diskhaler) is also an option.

Take OTC medications that reduce fever

OTC fever-reducing medications, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil), “can relieve pain and help you feel better,” says Dr. Schaffner.

However, it is not clear whether they will actually speed up your disease. “If you’re feeling miserable, though, certainly taking a drug like Tylenol is fine in that context,” says Dr. Russo. (He just points out that children and teenagers shouldn’t be given aspirin because of the risk of developing a complication called Reye’s syndrome.)

Consider supplements

These are not for everyone and are really best used if you are not eating well and need nutrients to boost your immune system such as zinc, vitamin Cand shock, he says Adriana Glenn, Ph.D.assistant professor at George Washington University School of Nursing. “Whenever you add supplements, please check with your provider or pharmacist to make sure there are no contraindications or interactions with other medications you may be taking,” she says.

Hydrate your air

This is another tip that may make you feel better, but it won’t necessarily speed up the course of the disease. “Consider using steam inhalation or vaporizers—cold or warm—to help clear nasal passages and help hydrate the dry winter air, which can make symptoms worse,” says Glenn.

The flu comes in different stages, according to CDC. These include:

• Incubation period. This is the time from when you are exposed to the flu virus to when you develop symptoms. It usually takes two days.
• Contagious period. People with the flu are most contagious in the first three to four days they have symptoms, according to the CDC, although you could technically be contagious longer than that.
• Recovery period. Most people will recover from the flu in a few days to a a few weeks.

Technically, you can’t kill the flu. “The flu virus, like all viruses, is not alive, so it cannot be killed,” says the infectious disease expert. Amesh A. Adalja, MDsenior researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “However, several different components of the immune system act to neutralize the virus.”

When your body detects the flu, a cellular defense mounts, says Dr. Russo. This causes the antibodies to attach to the virus and allow specific immune system cells to kill the virus, he explains.

Antiviral drugs won’t kill the flu virus, but they can help stop it from replicating in the body if you take them early enough in the illness, says Dr. Russo.

It really depends. “Flu varies in severity from very mild and almost symptom-free to very severe,” says Dr. Schaffner. “But the average person’s flu lasts five to seven days.” However, dr. Muckey says you might have a cough for two weeks or so afterward.