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What Causes Severe Joint Pain And Fever While Having Chikungunya Viral Infection?
Question: I fell ill with a sore throat and fever at the end of March this year in Costa Rica, in an area where there was a high incidence of Chikungunya fever, and a few days later I developed excruciating joint pain all over my body. There were no other symptoms. I got better but the pain did not disappear, I now still have episodes of severe pain, mostly in my shoulder joints, but also, in bouts of some days, in my hands, hips and other joints. It seems the pain comes and goes, but is most consistent in my shoulders and my movement is severely limited. My voice is also still hoarse. I am a male of 67 years old, with slightly high blood pressure and some overweight but have had no health complaints until this happened. I have not yet sought medical care and have tried NSAID's which help a lot with the pain.
Brief Answer:
Post viral arthalgia
Detailed Answer:
good evening
thank you for writing on health care magic..
Well what you are experiencing is very common problem. A lot of times it happens that after viral fever like chikungunya these arthalgias can persist
I would like to know a few more queries before guiding you further:
1. is there any swelling you noticed?
2. is there any early morning stiffness associated?
3. how much of nsaids do you take? like the frequency of medicines?
4. any other symptoms of fever, oral ulcers, dry eyes or dry mouth?
Do let me know these queries. A lot of times it happens joint pains persist after viral infection which can go for an year or so. but we need to be sure it is not start of arthritis
await. your reply
regards
Dr naval
Post viral arthalgia
Detailed Answer:
good evening
thank you for writing on health care magic..
Well what you are experiencing is very common problem. A lot of times it happens that after viral fever like chikungunya these arthalgias can persist
I would like to know a few more queries before guiding you further:
1. is there any swelling you noticed?
2. is there any early morning stiffness associated?
3. how much of nsaids do you take? like the frequency of medicines?
4. any other symptoms of fever, oral ulcers, dry eyes or dry mouth?
Do let me know these queries. A lot of times it happens joint pains persist after viral infection which can go for an year or so. but we need to be sure it is not start of arthritis
await. your reply
regards
Dr naval
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Dear Dr Naval, thank you very much for your reply. As to your questions:
- there is and has not been any noticeable swelling or redness
- the pain is worse (stiff and painful) in the morning in my hands and rotator cuff joints in both shoulders…then with some movements and some stretching it becomes better, but the pain in my shoulders remains with movement restriction throughout the day. There is also some stiffness in my hips when sitting cross-legged that I never had before, and occasional pain in my hamstring tendon and muscle of my right leg (but this is not worse in the mornings).
- I have taken about 600 mg of ibuprofen per day for the last month to 6 weeks
- I only had fever for a few days at the beginning in March…(typical flu like symptoms), but no more fever the last months. I had laryngitis at the beginning and there is a remaining roughness in my voice. But there are no other symptoms, like throat pain, oral ulcers, dry eyes or dry mouth, nor any skin symptoms.
Thank you in advance and kind regards
- there is and has not been any noticeable swelling or redness
- the pain is worse (stiff and painful) in the morning in my hands and rotator cuff joints in both shoulders…then with some movements and some stretching it becomes better, but the pain in my shoulders remains with movement restriction throughout the day. There is also some stiffness in my hips when sitting cross-legged that I never had before, and occasional pain in my hamstring tendon and muscle of my right leg (but this is not worse in the mornings).
- I have taken about 600 mg of ibuprofen per day for the last month to 6 weeks
- I only had fever for a few days at the beginning in March…(typical flu like symptoms), but no more fever the last months. I had laryngitis at the beginning and there is a remaining roughness in my voice. But there are no other symptoms, like throat pain, oral ulcers, dry eyes or dry mouth, nor any skin symptoms.
Thank you in advance and kind regards
Brief Answer:
is it PMR?
Detailed Answer:
Good evening there
Well, your symptoms do fit into a different kind of disease, especially at your age and is very common in your population...It goes more in favor of Polymyalgia Rheumatica...It is a very typical history of pain in the shoulders and hip area with worsening in the mornings and gets better by NSAIDS. It may have been triggered by the viral infection you had, but since you have sparing of the hand joints and foot joint it is less likely post viral arthalgia..
I would suggest you get the following tests done: CBC, ESR, CRP...Also you can read over net for POlymyalgia Rheumatica and see if your symptoms fit into it.
There is no specific test for it, it is more of a clinical diagnosis..But yes, one thing we can try is a low dose of steroids( 20 mg wysolone)--> If disease is there, you will have a magical effect..But yes, I would want you to go off brufen as soon as you can as long term use can have an impact on the kidneys and GI system
DO let me know for more queries and the blood tests if you can get done..Also, once you read it let me know if it matches your symptoms
Await your reply
Regards
Dr naval
is it PMR?
Detailed Answer:
Good evening there
Well, your symptoms do fit into a different kind of disease, especially at your age and is very common in your population...It goes more in favor of Polymyalgia Rheumatica...It is a very typical history of pain in the shoulders and hip area with worsening in the mornings and gets better by NSAIDS. It may have been triggered by the viral infection you had, but since you have sparing of the hand joints and foot joint it is less likely post viral arthalgia..
I would suggest you get the following tests done: CBC, ESR, CRP...Also you can read over net for POlymyalgia Rheumatica and see if your symptoms fit into it.
There is no specific test for it, it is more of a clinical diagnosis..But yes, one thing we can try is a low dose of steroids( 20 mg wysolone)--> If disease is there, you will have a magical effect..But yes, I would want you to go off brufen as soon as you can as long term use can have an impact on the kidneys and GI system
DO let me know for more queries and the blood tests if you can get done..Also, once you read it let me know if it matches your symptoms
Await your reply
Regards
Dr naval
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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