I Got Dengue Fever In French Polynesia, & This Is What It Was Like

Have you ever had shin splints? If so, you know that terrible feeling of tender achiness that stretches across your lower leg, as well as the sharp localized pain when you try to run or walk too fast.

That’s what my entire body felt like for seven days straight, after I contracted dengue fever in French Polynesia.

Believe it or not, this wasn’t the first time in my life that I tested positive for dengue, either.

I was first diagnosed with this mosquito-transmitted illness in 2015 while in Utila, Honduras…which actually turned into one of the scariest and most extreme situations I’ve ever experienced, because I vomited blood twice. 

I ended up having to spend two days in a little island clinic getting an IV and consuming nothing but one banana smoothie per day (which in retrospect, actually seems like an under-reaction given the circumstances – but hey, I survived).

Fortunately, that first dengue infection was as brief as it was intense: my flu-like symptoms and fever lasted for only two days, followed by a few days of feeling normal. Then I vomited blood and was admitted to the clinic, and less than one week later I was back on my feet and feeling mostly healthy again.

My second time contracting dengue fever was nothing like that at all.

Having experienced the effects of dengue once before made it pretty easy to identify this recent illness, even without visiting the doctor’s office (although bloodwork did later confirm my suspicions).

However, this second round of dengue was quite different from the first. My flu-like symptoms lasted for seven days; I had two separate rashes (whereas the first time I got dengue, I didn’t get the telltale rash at all); and I didn’t feel fully normal and healthy until around three weeks after my fever started.

So, let’s take it back to beginning…

First, what is Dengue Fever?

Dengue fever is a mosquito-transmitted illness that is sometimes known as “breakbone fever” due to the severe muscle and joint aches that it causes.

From the CDC:

Dengue viruses are spread to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species (Ae. aegypti or Ae. albopictus) mosquito. Dengue is common in more than 100 countries around the world.

From the World Health Organization:

Dengue should be suspected when a high fever (40°C/104°F) is accompanied by 2 of the following symptoms: severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pains, nausea, vomiting, swollen glands or rash. Symptoms usually last for 2–7 days, after an incubation period of 4–10 days after the bite from an infected mosquito.

Lucky me, I had ALL of the above symptoms 🙃

My experience with Dengue Fever

It’s impossible to know when exactly I was bitten by a dengue-infected mosquito, but I do know that my symptoms began late on a Thursday evening, four days after returning home from French Polynesia.

The symptoms came on extremely suddenly. I was fine throughout the entire day, until around 8pm when I started feeling very fatigued. Then came the chills and shivers, followed by feeling like my eyes and forehead were burning up (one of my telltale fever symptoms). By 10pm, I was completely convinced I had the flu.

The body aches began at some point during the middle of the night, and by 7am on Friday morning, I just knew in my bones that it was dengue fever.

I remember waking up and describing my symptoms in detail to Derek, and suggesting that it just might be dengue, rather than the flu.

At first he was skeptical of the odds that I could possibly have dengue a second time in my life…but after seeing the bright red flush that was spreading across my skin, as well as watching me break down in tears as the body aches got worse, he started to agree with me.

By 9am I was on the phone with my step-mom, telling her that I knew it sounded crazy, but I was pretty sure I had dengue fever again. Fortunately she didn’t think it was so crazy, and urged me to see a doctor as soon as possible.

…And yeah, I probably should have done exactly that. But knowing that there’s no treatment for dengue (and also considering that every inch of my body – including my skin, teeth, and eyes – were in pain), that just didn’t seem like an appealing course of action.

So instead I stayed bundled up on the couch, watching Real Housewives and researching everything that I could find about dengue infections in French Polynesia.

What I found is that like in most tropical countries, dengue fever is a risk in French Polynesia. I also discovered that my symptoms were 100% textbook dengue, down to the last detail:

• Muscle and joint aches so severe and intense they literally brought me to tears; at certain points I felt like I could barely take it anymore, and just needed to grit my teeth and breathe through it. The pain was especially bad in my hip joints, knees, thighs, and lower back.
• Severe eye socket pain – shifting my eyeballs any direction other than straight ahead make it feel like my eye sockets were bruised and swollen, as if someone had punched me right in the eye. This was one of the most unbearable symptoms during the first few days.
• A flat red rash across most of my body, with little pinpricks of red. It mostly just looked like I was flushed or sunburned, until later into the illness when it turned into a splotchy, extremely itchy rash.
• A fever that fluctuated wildly, anywhere between 99 and 103 degrees. The fever seemed to come in waves along with my aches; when the fever would subside a bit, so would the pain.
• Skin sensitivity – even the lightest touches on my skin (from Derek’s hand, a blanket, or my loose PJ pants) felt like pressing on a sunburn.
• Extreme fatigue and weakness – y’all, I’ve literally never been so out of it in my entire life. I felt dizzy and wobbly anytime I would stand up; it was hard enough just going from a laying position to sitting up on the couch. My legs felt so weak and jello-y, like they could barely support me.
• Chills, shivering, goosebumps, and sweating – I would completely sweat through my clothes multiple times per day.
• Absolutely no appetite – I didn’t eat solid food for three days (during the worst of my symptoms) because anything other than the smallest sip of water or Gatorade made me feel instantly nauseous.

I know this all sounds very dramatic…and that’s because honestly, it was.

Along with the first time I got dengue fever, this was easily the sickest I’ve ever been in my entire life. I couldn’t shower, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t even sleep for more than 2-4 hours each night because I was so uncomfortable.

I didn’t leave my house for 9 days. I called out of work for an entire week. I was so miserable that I just wanted to cry, but crying hurt my eye sockets so that wasn’t much help anyways.

I finally did end up going to an urgent care on Sunday, mostly because I wanted the bloodwork to confirm that this really was dengue that I was dealing with.

Annoyingly, the doctor that I saw did not seem convinced whatsoever that I had dengue, and brushed it off as some unknown viral infection. He recommended that I just keep taking pain relievers and drink lots of water.

It wasn’t until the rapid flu test came back negative AND Derek spoke up and asked if I could please just have the dengue test anyways that the doctor agreed to take my blood. (Side note: Learn how to ADVOCATE for yourself when you know in your heart that something is wrong with your health; and if you struggle with that like I do, have someone who can do it for you).

Lo and behold, the test came back positive for dengue (although I didn’t actually receive my bloodwork results until my symptoms were already gone…whomp).

By Tuesday my fever was consistently lower than it had been on the previous days, but I was now dealing with abdominal cramping, vomiting and diarrhea. Also, this is when the itching began.

Oh man, the itching.

I mentioned earlier that I had two separate, distinct rashes over the course of my illness; the first started on day one and consisted of a general flushed appearance over my face, chest and arms.

The second rash started around day five, and was a fucking nightmare (sorry for the vulgar language, but this honestly doesn’t even begin to express my feelings towards this rash).

The itching started on my palms and feet, and I noticed that they seemed a bit swollen and red. By that evening, I had a splotchy, pink and white rash over my entire body…and it felt like my skin was ON FIRE.

I truly don’t have the words to explain this rash; it wasn’t a normal itching, like poison ivy or bug bites. It was like pins and needles, or electricity lighting up every inch of my skin. It was like my skin was coated in thousands of biting fleas.

I tossed and turned all night long, in complete disbelief of how unbearable this rash was. My mind was racing. Thankfully, I really just had two days of severe itchiness; by Thursday the rash had faded substantially.

By Friday, I felt as if the vast majority of my symptoms were gone – but I also felt completely and utterly drained. It was another week (not until the following Friday) before I stopped getting dizzy and out of breath when doing simple things like washing dishes at the sink or folding a blanket.

It was a full second week after that before I felt well enough to really get back into my normal routines…so all in all, around three weeks from the start of my symptoms until the day I felt well again.

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Why would I share such a miserable story on this blog?

Firstly, getting sick after traveling abroad is just a part of traveling. It’s something that happens, whether in the form of traveler’s diarrhea or a mosquito-transmitted illness like zika or dengue.

I’ve been posting a TON of content about how incredible French Polynesia is, and it would have felt weird and wrong to completely skip over this part of the experience, without even acknowledging it. I like to share the whole story behind my travels, not just the pretty parts.

Second, dengue is a risk in many destinations, from Hawaii to Thailand to Mexico. If my story can help help answer some questions for future travelers who believe they may have dengue, I feel obligated to share that story with them. I hope this post can serve as an unofficial resource for travelers concerned about dengue.

Third, someone from the Santa Clara County Public Health Department just called me today to ask me about my experience, and it reminded me that I should probably go ahead and publish this blog post 😂

Also, there are two things I want to emphasize:

1. I am 100% FINE, healthy and normal now! I recently did a six-hour hike in Yosemite and have been back to working out at the gym four days per week. There are zero remaining symptoms or persisting issues, thank goodness!
2. Please please please do not let this story ever dissuade you from traveling to French Polynesia, or anywhere else in the world. I have been joking with my friends that French Polynesia was “worth the dengue”…but actually, it’s barely a joke. If I could go back in time, I would still travel to all the same places to enjoy all the same activities (but I would be significantly more diligent about wearing insect repellent). Which leads me to…
3. Wear DEET. Just do it. I know, it’s heavy-duty stuff. I know, you probably want to use that nice-smelling, all-natural repellent instead. No – just use DEET.

Trust me…I would know 🙃

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Have you ever contracted dengue or another illness while traveling? How have you dealt with getting sick abroad, or shortly after returning home?