The upside of Dengue

[pseudolus]

It's not all bad you know. Maybe I came back from the Nakhon Sawan episode with a milder dose, but as confirmed by the quacks, I do believe I've had worse hang overs than this. Besides, no one tells you about the up sides.

So it hit me a bit like a train on Thursday afternoon. Day started nicely and made some nice pork noodle stir fry for lunch, and then did some work only to find myself wanting a kip at about 5pm and felt a a little hot. Immediately, of course, I told the other half that I was ill and she had to sort out the dinner and do a few chores that I had been putting off for a few days and when she came home, she brought me a bag of goodies including a tub of diet busting sympathy fuelled ice cream. Result 1.

My temperature sky rocketed as the evening went on, and the fever took hold just before bedtime. By midnight the chills were with me, to the point that my teeth were chattering with cold. So popped some paracetamol and turned the aircon off saving some coin on the electric bill. Result 2.

Pop off to the doctor Friday morning, and looking like more of a sack of shit than usual sat there switching between sweating profusely and chattering teeth, I drew a lot of sympathy from a couple of the nurses whilst I was waiting, one of which was bursting out of her top and the safety pin she obviously uses to keep her ample assets hidden had popped open revealing a very nice view indeed (Chills changed to heat at these moments). Result 3.

Friday night we were supposed to be going out with some of her relatives and as she had invited them, we were paying. Having been to the docs and had the foresight to get a chit from him, in Thai, the night out was of course this was cancelled saving wallet and patience abuse. Result 4.

The rash came along just as she thought I might have been faking it a little bit especially after the fever had be reined in with the paracetamol, ensured I could have full relaxation and TV remote rights for the entire weekend so caught up on the Rugby. Result 5.

This morning, she sets her alarm half an hour early to walk and feed the dogs, and bring me breakfast and coffee in bed just in case I was not up to much yet. Result 6.

So sure - felt like shit for 5 days now but it's not all that bad although I guess I am getting off lightly here...

[Davis Knowlton]

^You got off very lightly. I had it in Sri Lanka in 1978, and I was praying for death - my joints felt as if they were being cracked in a vice. I had two different types of malaria in Vietnam and Cambodia in the '60's, and dengue was far worse. Count your blessings.

[sunsetter]

i had the achy one,living on koh chang, was bad but still managed to get down to the beach, and get most stuff done as usual, pretty bad though, and lost a lot of weight.

[nidhogg]

^^^ You are not out of the woods yet. Dengue can be biphasic - 3-6 days ill, 1 to 2 days OK - then it can come back as a mild fever peak.

You are also at the junction point for dengue hemorrhagic - so if you really start to feel like shit - back to the docs....

[Butterfly]

how can you tell if you have Dengue ?

[pseudolus]

Originally Posted by Butterfly

how can you tell if you have Dengue ?

Well in my case, the doctor told me.

[pseudolus]

Originally Posted by nidhogg

^^^ You are not out of the woods yet. Dengue can be biphasic - 3-6 days ill, 1 to 2 days OK - then it can come back as a mild fever peak.

You are also at the junction point for dengue hemorrhagic - so if you really start to feel like shit - back to the docs....

Yup = fully aware of this and making hay whilst the sun shines.

[nidhogg]

^ Cool. Good luck.

[DrAndy]

Originally Posted by pseudolus

So sure - felt like shit for 5 days now but it's not all that bad although I guess I am getting off lightly here...

managed to survive, didn't die : Result 6

It can be mild, as you seem to have experienced, or much worse

I had it in KL years ago and luckily it was not too bad. You can tell it is Dengue by a simple test

A tourniquet test (also known as a Rumpel-Leede Capillary-Fragility Test or simply a capillary fragility test) determines capillary fragility. It is a clinical diagnostic method to determine a patient's haemorrhagic tendency. It assesses fragility of capillary walls and is used to identify thrombocytopenia (a reduced platelet count).
The test is defined by the WHO as one of the necessary requisites for diagnosis of Dengue fever. A blood pressure cuff is applied and inflated to a point between the systolic and diastolic blood pressures for five minutes. The test is positive if there are 10 or more petechiae per square inch. In DHF the test usually gives a definite positive result with 20 petechiae or more.[1]

that means you apply pressure with a band for a few minutes; when you release it you should get some purple patches

a clinical diagnosis would confirm this

[thailazer]

Had these painful bumps on my butt for years, I guess they might have been carbunkles. Had Dengue and dog gone if they didn't disappear. Go figure.

Make sure you take it easy on recovery. There is a syndrome called post dengue depression which really needs to be avoided.

[TizMe]

Today was my first day back at work after coming down with Dengue on Saturday 29th.

There was nothing at all pleasant about the week since then.

There are 4 different strains of Dengue. Having had one, you are then protected from getting that particular strain again. But apparently if you happen to get hit by one of the other 3 any time in the future it will be far less pleasant than the first time around.

Here's a really interesting TED talk about some of the efforts being done to control the spread of Dengue.
Hadyn Parry: Re-engineering mosquitos to fight disease - YouTube

[Albert Shagnastier]

I had something weird about 5 years ago in Chiang Mai. Never found out what it was either, but it lasted for about 4 nights. I was fine in the daytime but got a high fever each night - back to normal by morning.

[Rural Surin]

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

^You got off very lightly. I had it in Sri Lanka in 1978, and I was praying for death - my joints felt as if they were being cracked in a vice. I had two different types of malaria in Vietnam and Cambodia in the '60's, and dengue was far worse. Count your blessings.

Yep. Kinda nasty, it is.

I've done dengue and malaria a couple times over my life time.

Interestingly enough, every situation and person will react differently.

[Davis Knowlton]

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Yep. Kinda nasty, it is.

I've done dengue and malaria a couple times over my life time.

Interestingly enough, every situation and person will react differently.

Very true, I had two bouts of malaria, but only had one mild recurrence a few years later - as opposed to my grandfather, who had recurring bouts of malaria for many years. On the flip side, the case of dengue I had was really nasty, pretty much as sick as I've ever been.

[Loy Toy]

Thank god mosquitoes don't go in the bars where I drink.

Anyway good to see you on the mend pseudolus but take it easy over the next few weeks.

[pseudolus]

So having entered the eye of the storm, and had a restful day, my stomach has bloated, feeling like puking (holding it down somehow), very tired, sweating but not hot and some aches in the muscles and joints that gives me great empathy with my 92 year old granny. No blood signs yet which is a plus. The nausea is making keeping the water topped up very difficult. not helping that my ever loving and protective dogs know I am sick, and keep jumping on me to express their concern by licking my face. bastards.

Damn- miss those chills though; they were heavenly.

[nidhogg]

watch for:

Recognition of Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF)
- Symptoms similar to dengue fever plus, any one of the following:
- Severe and continuous pain in abdomen
- Bleeding from the nose, mouth and gums or skin bruising
- Frequent vomiting with or without blood
- Black stools, like coal tar
- Excessive thirst (dry mouth)
- Pale, cold skin
- Restlessness, or sleepiness


you have those, and head to an outpatient department.......

[Boon Mee]

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Thank god mosquitoes don't go in the bars where I drink.

I've been told it's the mosquitoes that bite during daylight hours that are the dengue fever-carriers. Whether this is true or not, I don't want to find out by getting bit...

[DrAndy]

yes, the Tiger Mossies (striped biggies) are the carrier, and are active during the day (night too, probably)

they are quite slow and easy to splat though

[Looper]

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

I've been told it's the mosquitoes that bite during daylight hours that are the dengue fever-carriers. Whether this is true or not, I don't want to find out by getting bit...

The ones that make the whiny noise can give you dengue but they can't give you malaria and the ones that you can't hear can give you malaria but not dengue.

[Butterfly]

I think I must have got it, quite a mild one though

noise is bleeding though, what should I do ?

[Dillinger]

^^^ i zapped one of those big fukkers with the silver stripe a week or so ago during the day time, he crackled for a good 30 seconds in the trusty electric tennis racquet.

[nidhogg]

Originally Posted by Butterfly

I think I must have got it, quite a mild one though

noise is bleeding though, what should I do ?

Are you serious?

Get to an outpatient department as soon as possible.

You also have aches? headache?

PS: anything with hemorrhage (nose bleed) is NOT mild.....

[Butterfly]

Originally Posted by Dillinger

he crackled for a good 30 seconds in the trusty electric tennis racquet.

these are wonderful tools, aren't they ? they should import those in the western world,

[Butterfly]

Originally Posted by nidhogg

Get to an outpatient department as soon as possible.

You also have aches? headache?

I am recovering now, small aches and headaches for 3 or 4 days out of nowhere after i got raided by 4 or 5 mosquitoes

very mild nose bleeding could be the pollution, not unusual here

feeling much better now,