Singapore - Personal Dengue Experience (Nov 2015)

It was Day 47 (14-Dec-15) since my dengue symptoms started on 29-Oct-15 and yet I have not fully recovered.  The starting symptoms are pain behind the eye, high fever and aching body, without the flu symptoms of cough and running nose.  Things got serious when blood "flowed" out of your blood vessels and turned your limbs (and face) to something which look like blood-red rashes.  Within 24 hours, your stomach rejected whatever you ate and drink, and everything got projected out through your mouth, even before they were digested.  I felt like a "zombie" from the "Walking Dead Season 6" TV serial screening at that time.  The next few days were spent in a haze, sleeping, waking, getting blood test at hospital, back home to sleep again.

It is Day 58 on Christmas Day (25-Dec-15) when this article is next edited.  I found a research article which I last read while recovering from dengue.  In my "hazy" state back then, I mistook it to be post-symptoms of dengue which one will recover from. On second reading, it is about persistent symptoms which could continue, even at Day 730 (which is 2 years later) !!  More of this below.

This blog entry is more about post-dengue symptoms.  What happened during dengue, up to the "skin peeling" stage has been well documented and easily googled.

Food that made me feel better from post-dengue symptoms (fatigue, etc) include papaya fruit (not the leaves), longans (and its related sweet desserts), fresh pineapple fruit, peanuts (unsalted), peanut soup (dessert type with "tang yuan", or the hot steamy type with lean meat ("bak kut")) and green bean soup (the sweet dessert type).  The internet also suggested omega-rich food like steamed fish and white meat like steamed chicken (definitely not fried).

Back to the "long-term persistence" of dengue symptoms, the full article is found here.  According to the research article, "in the 2 years after hospital discharge, more than half (56.7% of 97 study participants) reported having experienced dengue symptoms".

The top ten (10) long-term persistent post-dengue symptoms are: Muscle pain (30% reported experiencing this), Arthralgia or joint pain (30%), Asthenia or abnormal lack of energy - lethargic (23%), hand weakness (22%), general malaise or feeling of discomfort/illness (20%), Irritability (19%), Lost of memories (19%), Palpitations or irregular heartbeats (19%), Dizziness (18%), and Arthropathy or joint discomfort (17%).

So you can now put it down to "dengue", whenever you have any of above symptoms within the first 2 years of the Aedes mosquito bite.  However, do take extra care, as the second Aedes mosquito bite may not be so "forgiving".

Next edit: Day 365+10 (Day 375)...  The memories lost came back over the months, whenever I hear familiar songs over the radio or watched movies showing "something familiar".  Finally in early Nov-2016, it felt like everything (all memories and past yearnings) had came back to me !!  The feeling was exhilarating, like just getting off a long and thrilling roller coaster ride, and surviving it.

My first thought was.. "Oh no, I have lost a year of my life !".  After a while, I decided not to "lose the year", as I had picked up some good habits during my "lost year", which I will try to integrate with my past yearnings. So all is not lost... as I look forward to my first "real" taste of a glass of red wine, after "rejecting" the wine (alcohol) taste for a year since dengue.  Cheers !!

Singapore - River Hongbao 2015 (Feb 2015)

Singapore River Hongbao 2015

Physical Address: The Float at Marina Bay
Web Address: http://www.riverhongbao.sg
Nearest MRT stations: Esplanade MRT, Promenade MRT, Bayfront MRT or City Hall MRT
(click at Visitor's Info in above web address for walking direction from the MRT stations)
Operating hours: 2pm to 11pm (till 28 Feb 2015)

There is no need to visit Singapore River Hongbao only at night, although you get to see the lantern displays when they are lit at night.  It is equally colourful by day.  Just go during late afternoon (after 4pm) when it is not so hot.  A preview of the lantern displays can be seen in below URL:
 (http://www.riverhongbao.sg/lanterns.html).