Lingering effects of Dengue fever.

[giddyup]

Was diagnosed with Dengue a couple of weeks back, but find I'm still feeling fatigued and slightly dizzy. It seems there's nothing much can be done about this other than wait it out.

 

I am grateful that I got one of the less virulent strains, was unaware as to how many people (180) actually die from Dengue in Thailand each year.

[Sheryl]

Yes, the after effects are very, very prolonged, much longer than the acute illness. Can atke  several months with improvement coming very gradually.

 

In case no one warned you, in addition to being very weak and easily fatigued, a normal after effect is emotional depression, which can be severe and also take an out-of-character form (I remember bursting into tears over a cartoon in the New Yorker magazine...I normally never cry). Sometimes people think they are going crazy. It is normal, and it will pass.

 

Regarding the dizziness, are you keeping well hydrated?

 

 

 

 

[giddyup]

3 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Yes, the after effects are very, very prolonged, much longer than the acute illness. Can atke  several months with improvement coming very gradually.

 

In case no one warned you, in addition to being very weak and easily fatigued, a normal after effect is emotional depression, which can be severe and also take an out-of-character form (I remember bursting into tears over a cartoon in the New Yorker magazine...I normally never cry). Sometimes people think they are going crazy. It is normal, and it will pass.

 

Regarding the dizziness, are you keeping well hydrated?

 

 

 

 

Trying to drink at least a litre of water a day plus fermented tea and energy drinks. Might also add another side effect seems to be constipation.

 

Have been feeling on the depressed side but put that down to just feeling off-color and my age.

Edited January 6 by giddyup

[Sheryl]

5 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Trying to drink at least a litre of water a day plus fermented tea and energy drinks. Might also add another side effect seems to be constipation.

 

Well the dizziness mystery is resolved then:

 

 - Energy drinks can cause dizziness...and even cardiac arrythmias. I'd steer clear of them.

 

-  Fermented teas, like all teas, contain caffeine which  are OK in moderation, but too much can likewise cause the above. Limit that to just a cup or two in the morning.

 

For hydration, stick to water, coconut water,  fruit juices. If sweating a lot then rehydration salts in water, otherwise just water, or fruit juices or both, are enough.

 

There is nothing you can take that will help the dengue fatigue. Just be patient, rest when you need to, and give it time.

[Tropicalevo]

Here on Samui, many locals swear by Papaya 'tea'.

Many online sites for it and many against it. Just search papaya leaf tea for dengue.

This is just one

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3614241/

 

For the patient's treatment, the leaves of the plant (Figure 2) were collected and thoroughly washed with water. The leaves were grinded in fruit juicer with water. As the taste of C. papaya leaves extract was very bitter, some amount of sucrose was added for easy administration. About 25 mL of leaves extract was administrated orally, twice daily for five consecutive days. Before extract administration, the patient blood was evaluated for total platelets counts, after 24 hours each time. After extract administration the patient blood was rechecked for platelets counts again for five consecutive days. After which the patient starts improvement.

A couple of my neighbours say that it helped their symptoms.

[Sheryl]

13 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Here on Samui, many locals swear by Papaya 'tea'.

Many online sites for it and many against it. Just search papaya leaf tea for dengue.

This is just one

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3614241/

 

For the patient's treatment, the leaves of the plant (Figure 2) were collected and thoroughly washed with water. The leaves were grinded in fruit juicer with water. As the taste of C. papaya leaves extract was very bitter, some amount of sucrose was added for easy administration. About 25 mL of leaves extract was administrated orally, twice daily for five consecutive days. Before extract administration, the patient blood was evaluated for total platelets counts, after 24 hours each time. After extract administration the patient blood was rechecked for platelets counts again for five consecutive days. After which the patient starts improvement.

A couple of my neighbours say that it helped their symptoms.

He has already recovered from dengue.  He is talking about the post-dengue fatigue.

 

And no suggestion that, when ill, his platlets every dropped significantly.

 

This whole papaya  leaf business stems from an anecdotal report of just 45 patients with acute dengue (not people like the OP who are convalescing). It had no control group, so does not remotely meet scientific standards.   It nonetheless keeps cropping up because of how search engines work: people   convinced there is a "natural" cure for everything  google "natural treatment for dengue"(or words to that effect), this pops up because it is all there is, they click on it, and it then keeps popping up in similar searches etc. etc. 

 

Simple dengue is a self-limiting disease which naturally gets better with time. Easy for people to attribute the natural resolution with something they did.

 

 

 

 

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

 

Well the dizziness mystery is resolved then:

 

 - Energy drinks can cause dizziness...and even cardiac arrythmias. I'd steer clear of them.

 

-  Fermented teas, like all teas, contain caffeine which  are OK in moderation, but too much can likewise cause the above. Limit that to just a cup or two in the morning.

 

For hydration, stick to water, coconut water,  fruit juices. If sweating a lot then rehydration salts in water, otherwise just water, or fruit juices or both, are enough.

 

There is nothing you can take that will help the dengue fatigue. Just be patient, rest when you need to, and give it time.

Fruit juices are high in sugar, would it not be better to stick to water and coconut water?

[Celsius]

I got some really strange flu in Japan in 2011 and my breathing has never been the same ever since.

[Sheryl]

4 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Fruit juices are high in sugar, would it not be better to stick to water and coconut water?

If OP is not diabetic, no reason to avoid fruit juice.

 

Not all fruit juices are high in sugar. Unsweetened apple juice for example is not - Glycemic index only 41.

 

 

[scubascuba3]

9 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Fruit juices are high in sugar, would it not be better to stick to water and coconut water?

Sugar is energy don't forget, unless sugar phobic no problem eating, if diabetic it's another story

[Lacessit]

11 hours ago, Sheryl said:

If OP is not diabetic, no reason to avoid fruit juice.

 

Not all fruit juices are high in sugar. Unsweetened apple juice for example is not - Glycemic index only 41.

 

 

True enough; however, Thai fruit juice producers add sugar to damn near everything.

[Trippy]

Had Dengue almost 2 months ago, back to feeling normal again. I do drink 3 litres of water daily, rarely drink alcohol, smoke weed daily, so maybe that helped?

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

True enough; however, Thai fruit juice producers add sugar to damn near everything.

I am able to find unsweetened fruit juices at main supermarkets without much difficulty. Just need to read the labels.

 

Several of the Doi Kham brand juices are unsweetened (and very tasty).

 

Even Mali brand has an unsweetened apple juice.