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Old 03-08-2018, 05:32 AM
briverb briverb is offline
 
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Default Dengue Fever

Went to Thailand for the first time and got Dengue Fever 3days before having to fly home on Feb 26. What a nightmare. Rushed to hospital 2 hours after we landed back in Calgary and 3 days later tests came back positive for Dengue.

We were staying in a place that had a lot of open spaces to the outside and a lot of mosquitos got in. We did use a lot of bug repellent and then put up a mosquito net the next night. But you cannot stop all bugs from getting you. Both me and my wife got bit a few times, but she is fine.

I had an incredible fever, nausea, headaches and acid reflux. It took 10 days before the symptoms went down enough were I could get out and walk my dogs for a bit. I am on recovery day 14 and feeling better each day.

I got the go ahead from the doctors to go back to the gym by March 12. I am so eager to get back into shape. Lost 10 lbs and feel weak. I will start slow to see how things go.

Looking for any advice from anyone who has had Dengue Fever and how long it took to feel normal and maybe what you did to get back to normal. I know it won't be the same for everyone who has had it. I have been researching it a lot and have been following all the doctors advice, but I have always found listening to other peoples' personal experiences always helps.

Thanks for all replies.

P.S. I hope y'all are enjoying the snow.
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Old 03-08-2018, 07:26 AM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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I had a Aussie Military acquaintance catch it when we were in Cambodia. It took him a couple of months to fully recover so it sounds like you are doing great. We Canadians were on Doxycycline as an anti malaria drug and no one contracted anything. I wish you a speedy recovery.
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Old 03-08-2018, 07:31 AM
leeelmer leeelmer is offline
 
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I got it on a small island off the coast of Mallasia back in 2001.
No hospital, the old guy I rented the beach hut off of knew what was wrong with me and took care of me. I lost 40lbs, took about 3 weeks to feel normal again. It locked all my joints and mussels, and it was a good thing the local knew what was wrong, fed me some kind of nasty tasting soup, but it kept me alive.
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Old 03-08-2018, 09:20 AM
briverb briverb is offline
 
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Wow!!!
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Old 03-08-2018, 04:37 PM
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Sundancefisher Sundancefisher is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by leeelmer View Post
I got it on a small island off the coast of Mallasia back in 2001.
No hospital, the old guy I rented the beach hut off of knew what was wrong with me and took care of me. I lost 40lbs, took about 3 weeks to feel normal again. It locked all my joints and mussels, and it was a good thing the local knew what was wrong, fed me some kind of nasty tasting soup, but it kept me alive.
he wasn't related to her I hope?

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Old 03-08-2018, 06:14 PM
NCC NCC is offline
 
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My wife's uncle contracted it in Thailand and it killed him within a few days.
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Old 03-08-2018, 06:31 PM
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RavYak RavYak is offline
 
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I got Dengue while travelling in South East Asia. I started having the symptoms in Laos but I must have either contracted it when first entering Laos or in northern Thailand as it has to incubate for a while.

I started to feel it in the remote town of Muang Ngoi. I woke up feeling like I had a slight fever and figured I was coming down with a cold or something. I decided to change my plans which were to go explore some even more remote areas in the NE part of Laos and hopped on a bus back to Luang Prabang.

That night it really started to hit me. I could feel that I had a ridiculously high fever so I set off in search of a pharmacy. I remember feeling like I was drunk or something, almost like I was hallucinating all because of the fever. I found a pharmacy and got some ibuprofen since I never take drugs and it was the main one I knew of that would bring down a fever. For the record ibuprofen will bring down the fever but it also thins your blood which can lead to severe complications if you have the most severe strain of Dengue which can cause internal bleeding, acetaminophen is a much better choice. Anyways I took some of that and headed back to the guesthouse I was staying in and that night I woke up in what appeared to be swimming pool because my body was sweating so much to trying keep itself cool.

The next morning I could feel the fever creeping back so I set out to find somewhere with a thermometer, I was 40 degrees in my armpit and I was feeling significantly better then the night before... I knew something was wrong so I looked into hospital options which told me the hospital in Luang Prabang was horrible and to get to Thailand for treatment or down to a french run clinic in Vientiane so I hopped on a 11 hour bus ride to Vientiane which as you can guess was lots of fun... I found a place to stay and the next morning made my way over to the french clinic where they did a blood test which showed positive within minutes.

They told me the worst of the fever was already passed and that I was out of the danger zone but that I was going to face the other symptoms of itch, soreness etc in the following days. They gave me some acetaminophen and told me to come back in a couple days. I spent the next 5 or 6 days holed up in a crappy guesthouse fighting through the fever, soreness and itching before I finally got feeling good enough to start doing some travelling again. All in all it had sidelined me for around 10 days before I felt like doing stuff again.

I then continued my way south and believe I only had minor symptoms for maybe another week. Since I was travelling I forced myself to be active which may have helped in the recovery. My guess is you are in the last stages now.

Dengue was definitely an experience and one that I am not in a big hurry to try again. I gotta say I am jealous that you got to deal with it at home. Trying to survive on my own in the middle of Laos wasn't much fun lol.
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Old 03-08-2018, 06:43 PM
briverb briverb is offline
 
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Wow! That sounds like a horrible experience. You're right, I was able to battle most of it at home. I did however have the worse symptoms while we were in Thailand and on the plane back. I am still pretty weak, but do walk my dogs twice a day. After each walk I feel like I was hunting the mountains all day with a heavy pack on. I can't see myself hitting the gym next week.
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Old 03-08-2018, 07:25 PM
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RavYak RavYak is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by briverb View Post
Wow! That sounds like a horrible experience. You're right, I was able to battle most of it at home. I did however have the worse symptoms while we were in Thailand and on the plane back. I am still pretty weak, but do walk my dogs twice a day. After each walk I feel like I was hunting the mountains all day with a heavy pack on. I can't see myself hitting the gym next week.
I never really felt that weak after my worst days at least that I can remember. For the most part I just had the high fever at first then sore, itchy, fever and headache in later recovery making it so I didn't want to do anything and wasn't even comfortable laying in bed. Later I was maybe a little more tired but my first couple stops after I left Vientiane were to go do some hiking, a cave tour and then rented a scooter to go explore waterfalls and coffee plantations. Maybe I was lucky to be able to do all that stuff as soon as I did.
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Old 03-09-2018, 01:45 AM
prarie_boy1 prarie_boy1 is offline
 
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What part of Thailand were you traveling in?

Quote:
Originally Posted by briverb View Post
Went to Thailand for the first time and got Dengue Fever 3days before having to fly home on Feb 26. What a nightmare. Rushed to hospital 2 hours after we landed back in Calgary and 3 days later tests came back positive for Dengue.

We were staying in a place that had a lot of open spaces to the outside and a lot of mosquitos got in. We did use a lot of bug repellent and then put up a mosquito net the next night. But you cannot stop all bugs from getting you. Both me and my wife got bit a few times, but she is fine.

I had an incredible fever, nausea, headaches and acid reflux. It took 10 days before the symptoms went down enough were I could get out and walk my dogs for a bit. I am on recovery day 14 and feeling better each day.

I got the go ahead from the doctors to go back to the gym by March 12. I am so eager to get back into shape. Lost 10 lbs and feel weak. I will start slow to see how things go.

Looking for any advice from anyone who has had Dengue Fever and how long it took to feel normal and maybe what you did to get back to normal. I know it won't be the same for everyone who has had it. I have been researching it a lot and have been following all the doctors advice, but I have always found listening to other peoples' personal experiences always helps.

Thanks for all replies.

P.S. I hope y'all are enjoying the snow.
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Old 03-09-2018, 06:26 AM
briverb briverb is offline
 
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Bangkok, Chang Mai, Ao Nang Beach, Koh Lanta, Krabi, Koh Phangan.

Pretty sure I got it in Koh Lanta. As that is where we stayed in a hut with lots of open space to the outside and many mosquitos got in.
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Old 03-10-2018, 06:45 AM
briverb briverb is offline
 
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Day 15 and still feel very weak. I have been drinking lots of fluids, eating fruit, veggies, chicken and fish, but still get wiped out after a 30 minute walk with the dogs. I was staying away from red meat as I thought it might be a little to hard to digest. However, I had a steak on Thursday and holy cow did my energy level spike. That makes me feel good as I had a very successful hunting season last fall and now can get back to eating venison. I might try doing extremely light workouts at home to see how that goes. Not being able to get out ice fishing or rabbit hunting or exploring in the mountains with my dogs is absolutely killing me. Oh well, better to be smart and recovery fully than make it worse.

Thanks for the feedback and messages. Appreciate it.
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Old 03-10-2018, 06:53 AM
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omega50 omega50 is offline
 
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Yikes.
Step daughter heading to Thailand next week.
Any controls other than bug spray?

I am a little confused-a very quick web article stated that a mosquito bites someone that is already infected with the Dengue virus and then goes on to bite someone that was virus free and transfers the virus to them
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Old 03-10-2018, 07:57 AM
briverb briverb is offline
 
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Wear bug repellent especially in the evenings. Get the strongest stuff they have. Also, ensure there are not open spaces in the room she is staying to the outside where mosquitoes can get in. A few places we stayed at we had them come in and got the hotel personnel to come and spray the room down with bug repellent as there were already mosquitos in there.

Another control is to buy a mosquito net while there. She can drape it over the bed to also keep bugs off.

I know a lot of people who have gone for many years without any issues. My wife was with me and got bitten, but she is totally fine. I was just unlucky.

I hope she has a great time!!! Lots of awesome places to go there and the food is amazing.
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Old 03-10-2018, 08:06 AM
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sewerrat sewerrat is offline
 
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Wow , We've traveled thru Vietnam, and Thailand , and just got back from Central America (Nicaragua) Am I glad that we never got hit with that damn dangue. It really would ruin your vacation.

I'm glad you guys all pulled thru.

My Aunt she is in mexico and was stuck with it for almost 4 months.
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Old 03-11-2018, 06:08 PM
briverb briverb is offline
 
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4 months?!?!? That would be awful.
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Old 03-11-2018, 08:05 PM
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RavYak RavYak is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by omega50 View Post
Yikes.
Step daughter heading to Thailand next week.
Any controls other than bug spray?
All the obvious mosquito avoidance techniques. Bug spray, long sleeve shirts, pants etc. Remote rural areas are more prone to Dengue as well although I wouldn't let that have any affect on trip planning.

Having a mosquito proof room or net can help but more so for Malaria then Dengue as the mosquitoes that transmit Dengue are only really active during daylight hours whereas the Malaria transmitting mosquitos are active at night.

Overall the percentage of travellers that get Dengue is small and although it sucks I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just good to know that if you start to get a fever, especially a high fever to be ready to get to a hospital just in case as there is a chance it is either Dengue or Malaria.
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Old 03-16-2018, 08:05 AM
briverb briverb is offline
 
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3 weeks today since getting dengue. Doing much better and don't get tired walking dogs anymore. Biggest mistake was going to my gym on Monday. BIG MISTAKE!!! I only have one gear and that's go hard or go home. Hahaha.

My trainer knows what I am battling so he told me to go easy, which I tried.........kind of. I started the first round with 75 percent of the weight and intensity I normally do. Son of a gun that almost killed me!! So I dropped it down to about 60 percent. I still could only get halfway through the workout. So incredibly weak and frustrating. For the next 3 days my hamstrings were tighter than ever and I was exhausted. I have been sore from taking a break from the gym and then going back many times before but this was incredibly more painful.

Lesson learned. I am planning on going back today but going much much lighter and at a much slower pace. Also need to get back to stretching more often. This is going to take longer than I thought, but just glad the worst is over......I hope.

I was able to catch again for one of my fastpitch pitchers and then hit the batting cages. It was a bit tiring, but felt pretty good.

My friends keep telling me to have patience. My response: "I only have patience when doing 2 things............Fishing and Hunting.
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