Post Dengue Weakness. Is It Safe To Drink Beer? Suggest Exercise And Diet Plan

Posted on Thu, 28 Mar 2013

Question: Hi my name is XXXXXXX I am 24 years old. Male. I live in Chennai, India. I have just recovered from Dengue and am experiencing the expected post-dengue weakness which is slowly disappearing. I want to know when the right time to begin exercise is? And eventually when can I get back to playing Football on a regular basis? Also is there any specific diet I should be following? And this may be a stupid question but when would it be okay to drink beer again? I'm more of a social drinker, thrice a month at average, to put things in perspective.

Answered by Dr. Y V Siva Sankara Murty (51 minutes later)

Hi XXXXXXX

Thanks for writing to health care magic.

I wanted to know if you just had a Dengue fever or any of the complicated forms. Were you hospitalized and given any fluids (Dengue shock syndrome) or given any platelets or had any complications.

How long it has been already that you suffered all this? Do you have any other problem now? Did the doctors say all the investigations are normal now or not?

If every thing is normal I suggest you can exercise. Be slow initially. Do not exert for some time. Stop when you feel you have a problem. When you think you are comfortable playing and doing all the running around you can play foot ball. (but say if a person has lot of blood loss and hemoglobin is not in the normal range then exertion may cause breathlessness. If a persons platelet count is not normal any injury can cause more bleeding. I hope all these investigations are normal for you now. Only if you had complicated Dengue fever such investigations may be abnormal temporarily. What is your current hemoglobin level? What is the platelet count like? What are the liver enzymes like?)

A balanced diet XXXXXXX in fruits, vegetables should be good enough. If you had some blood loss and hemoglobin is not in normal range (anemia) you may require more XXXXXXX leafy vegetables.

The last thing you asked was about beer. Here I suggest stay away as long as possible. This will be good for your general health also.

Hope I answered your query.
Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Mohammed Kappan

Follow up: Dr. Y V Siva Sankara Murty (14 minutes later)

Thank you for your prompt reply. Your answer was helpful. In reply to your questions, I was admitted in hospital for 2 days and given fluids because my platelet count dropped to 60,000. There were no complications. No Dengue Shock Syndrome or Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. My platelet count and hemoglobin levels are normal now. It has been 1.5 weeks since my discharge. Liver enzymes I assume are normal. The doctors never brought it up.

Also is it okay to eat meat?

Thanks for answering my queries.

Answered by Dr. Y V Siva Sankara Murty (6 minutes later)

Hi XXXXXXX

Thank you for the complement.

Stop before you are tired (at least initially)
You can eat meat. No problems with that. (Normal diet that is advised for any healthy individual applies to you as well.)

Hope I answered your query.

You may contact me with doubts (after finishing your another follow up query that is free and can be availed by you) on the following URL...........

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In such scenario the questions are directly forwarded to me .............. and I can answer your queries regarding your health regularly.

Hope this helps.
Take care

Dr Y V Siva Sankara Murty
M.D.(Pediatrics)
Associate Professor of Pediatrics

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Mohammed Kappan