Tips for Faster Recovery from Dengue Submitted by eatright on Wed, 09/21/2011 - 09:59 More Sharing ServicesShare | Share

on facebook Share on twitter Share on multipl y Share on email Share on print By Che G. Zablan-Salazar, MD "Doc, dengue po ba ito? (Doctor, is this dengue?)" Just about anyone who comes into our clinic because of fever asks this. We can't really blame them because the incidence of dengue has been increasing at an ala rming rate since rainy season started. Year in, year out, this disease plagues o ur country. The good news is that our body can fight Dengue given the right supportive care. It being a viral illness, an effective medication against it is yet to be disco vered. With God's help and a great medical team, all of our patients who had Den gue this season were sent home well. However, this illness takes too much toil in our body that full recovery may tak e a few more days after being sent home from hospital. The symptoms of slight we akness and fatigue may be felt even after discharge. What do we usually recommen d to our patients on the road to full recovery? Water. I remember getting all sorts of facial expression when we tell patients t o increase their water intake to fully recover from Dengue, or any viral illness , for that matter. However, 8 glasses a day is not enough. More is like it unles s your doctor tells you otherwise. Juice, energy drinks, caffeinated and carbona ted drinks may just have to sit back awhile to give way to water. Not that they are not okay to drink, but some of them contain too much glucose that may not be good after an illness. Besides, water is free, these drinks are not. Food. Unless you were admitted for Dengue which had complications, your diet mus t have been the same as before you were admitted. So, there really is no special diet to prescribe patient after a Dengue infection. Although there are cases wh ere you were advised not to take dark-colored foods during your hospital stay. B lack stools may mean internal bleeding and we don t want to get confused if you ta ke dark-colored foods. However, once at home, you may eat whatever colored-food you like. For patients who were put on no intake for some time, they may benefit from soft and low residue diet for a day or two. Example of low residue diet includes sou p, porridge, and chowder, among other things. Vitamin. I know this is in every patient s mind whenever they are sent home. Peopl e just have this perception that vitamin will make everyone well and feel better . Seriously, that's not always the case. The intake of vitamin has not been prov en to prevent some illness like colds and cough, if they are eating well and rig ht. I always tell my patients, if you eat right, you won't need vitamins. Vitamins a re prescribed for patients who have deficiencies, undernourished or have conditi ons that predispose them to these conditions. For example, zinc has been proven to decrease the severity and duration of diarrhea especially in children. So, vitamins won't do you any harm if you take them after an illness, but they h aven't been proven to help a lot. Besides, our body can only take so much vitami ns in a day, so if you take too much of it, it will just go to your urine. As Sh eldon puts in The Big Bang Theory, vitamins will lead to healthy urine. Not nece ssarily to a healthier you.

Rest. The benefits of getting plenty of rest can never be underestimated, most e specially after Dengue infection or any other illness. We usually advise 1 to 3 days of rest after being discharged. However, rest doesn't mean just lying in be d and doing nothing. It will help in your recovery if you ambulate, move around and do your usual activities at home. The only activities that I can think of av oiding are extremely strenuous ones that may cause physical stress. You may walk around, help prepare the table for dinner, etc. Lying down in bed all day will slow down your recovery. As I mentioned previously, Dengue infections is a viral illness. Once we get it, we just hope that our body is strong enough to fight it. What we doctors give i s supportive care like hydration and treating your symptoms like fever and abdom inal pain. The road to recovery goes the same way. We should make our bodies stronger by ta king in more fluids, eating right and resting properly. Also, let s make sure that the next rainy season, mosquitoes don't get near our skin.