Hello and thanks for your query.

I am sorry to hear you are still dealing with some symptoms now after you were diagnosed with the flu almost one month ago. Let me provide you with some more information and reassurance regarding how you are feeling now.

Viral syndroms including flu can cause a persistent degree of illness which can last for many weeks and in fact occasionally a month or longer. Also, when a viral syndrome affects the body, the immune system can be compromised to some degree and a bacterial infection can also occur at the same time - which is what I suspect happened in your case. The antibiotic treatment was appropriate. I agree also with the steroid therapy because that will help to decrease the inflammation which occurs in the body after such a syndrome as you experienced. When your immune system attacks an illness there is quite a bit of inflammation that goes on which can cause swelling in joints as well as sometimes in the lungs. The steroids help to minimize this and hasten the resolution of the inflammation.

I am not surprised that you also had some irregular menses during all of this. Your body was stressed out and it is not uncommon to see hormonal fluctuations. I would expect your periods to return to normal - unless- for some reason you may be approaching menopause. We will see in the coming months how things go along those lines. If your periods remain irregular, your doctor may order some hormone levels to assess things.

The fever should slowly resolve over time - again I feel this is related to the systemic inflammation your body experienced with the recent illness. I recommend you maintain good fluid hydration daily, a healthy well-balanced diet AND also I recommend that you focus on maintaining a healthy level of exercise daily - either walking or cycling or a light jog. This exercise will also help your body heal.

Congratulations on enjoying a good remission of your breast cancer. I am glad your followup testing confirms that you have beat the cancer - your oncologist will continue to follow you for that I am sure.

Lastly, from today let's see how things go and give it 2 more weeks. If after the two weeks you still have aches, sweats and the like - see your doctor for an exam. In the meantime, think positive as your mind has a significant impact on your general health. I know this is difficult if you still feel somewhat ill but I feel strongly that it will help you.

I thank you again for your query. If you have additional questions, I am available to answer them.

Best regards,

Dr. Galamaga

---

Hi XXXXXXX thanks for the followup note.

I wish you continued improvement in your health and I am sure you will feel better in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Dr. Galamaga

---