I honestly didn’t know anything about
dengue until I came down with the said illness one unfortunate holiday about
six years ago. At the time, I wasn’t really concerned about mosquitoes nor
dengue fever itself until I started to experience the symptoms myself. It
started off as a mild headache and then fever that never seemed to go away. I
also didn’t know I had a rash of tiny red spots over my legs because during my
illness, I was wearing my pajamas all the time. The fever was awful but the
worst thing was the headache. It was the worst headache I’d ever had, like
torture. Painkillers didn’t have any effect and it was worse when I tried to
sleep. So I got no sleep at all, which was so horrible. I suffered for three
nights before I sought medical help.
The doctors gave me the usual lab and blood
tests. At first, they were unable to confirm the dengue virus, in fact
according to the first diagnosis what I had was simply urinary track infection.
They told me to come back in two days if I wasn’t feeling better and that I
take paracetamol. And then later on, the tests did confirmed it was dengue.
Luckily, I didn’t have any dangerous complications. The thing with me was I
didn’t want to be confined in a hospital. (This isn't something I'd really recommend, okay. But this is my personal choice.)So I signed a waiver instead and
promised my physician I’d closely be monitored by my mother. There were only
three reminders for me to bear in mind: 1. I need to drink a lot of water. And
when I say tons and gallons of water, I really meant a LOT! 2. I need to have a
full rest. 3. Last but not the least, I had to make sure that when something
bleeds (i.e. my gums ), I’d have to rush myself to the ER.
