{"id":6054,"date":"2019-04-30T02:24:24","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T02:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.today\/?p=6054"},"modified":"2021-04-01T13:39:13","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T13:39:13","slug":"14-uncomfortable-symptoms-of-valley-fever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.today\/14-uncomfortable-symptoms-of-valley-fever\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Uncomfortable Symptoms of Valley Fever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Valley Fever can definitely be a concern if you live in certain parts of the world. Valley Fevers caused by a fungal infection and they can mean everything from regular flu symptoms that disappear after the body has eradicated the infection to a variety of illnesses that are triggered because the fungal infection has been allowed to spread to other parts of the body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two species of fungi that can cause Valley Fever illness. They are both found in soil in specific regions of North, Central and South America. Most notably, they may be found in areas that have extremely mild winters but very dry summers. That means that the desert regions of particular states in the southwest of the United States are particularly at risk as well as certain regions of South and Central America. While most people recover from this illness themselves without any intervention, dissemination of the infection can lead to very serious symptoms. Let\u2019s say look at eight uncomfortable symptoms of Valley Fever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Low-Grade Fever<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the initial symptoms that people experience is a low-grade fever<\/a>. Often, people do not experience any symptoms at all or at least not symptoms they can recognize. A low-grade fever is one of those symptoms. When you feel a little flushed, or you do not feel like yourself, you are not necessarily considering being sick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is only when more pronounced symptoms come upon you that you start to realize that you may actually have an infection. But with low-grade fever, often you can attribute it to various other things going on in your life \u2013 for example, the weather, having just worked out or simply the temperature in your house being too high. The point is that although this can be a symptom of having Valley Fever, you want to look for other symptoms as well but still pay attention if you have the initial warning signs of a fever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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2. Chest Pain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Chest pain<\/a> can be complicated. Whenever you go to the hospital complaining of chest pain you always go to the top of the triage list. That\u2019s because until they conduct as EKG or do any sort of heart monitoring, you could be suffering from a heart attack that will take your life in minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, chest pain is rarely due to a heart attack. Instead, it is often due to harmless things like acid reflux disease or perhaps eating your food too fast. But chest pain can also be a symptom of Valley Fever. It can be one of the initial symptoms of the experience, but it can also have serious connotations if the disease is allowed to move past its initial stage and into the stage where it is spreading throughout the body. It is important that you pay attention to chest pain when you have it both for reasons of a possible heart attack and for Valley Fever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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3. Unexplained Weight Loss<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you have unexplained weight loss<\/a>, then you may want to look for signs of an infection or something else wrong. There can be several contributing factors to unexplained weight loss. For example, you might have lost simply because you are suffering from a regular cold or flu that is making you not want to eat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it could just as easily be Valley Fever which is another type of infection to reduce your appetite. Although unexplained weight loss is usually something that can be explained away, if you experience it in the initial stages of Valley Fever, along with other symptoms listed here, then you may want to take it seriously and get tested anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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4. Coughing & Splitting Up Blood<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The last early warning sign is actually a really good barometer of whether you have Valley Fever or serious illness or just something that you can recover from easily. Whenever you find yourself coughing<\/a>, you usually attribute it to a cold or flu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when you find yourself coughing up blood, this is a much more serious problem and should get checked out by the nearest emergency room right away. There are other factors that can cause you to cough up blood, but Valley Fever is one of them, and if you have this symptom plus any of the others listed here then you may be able to clue your doctor into Valley Fever and get them to test you for it. The earlier you get tested and find out if you have Valley Fever the faster you can start to recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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5. Various Skin Conditions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If the infection spreads throughout the body, it can cause various skin conditions. These can actually be pretty major problems. That\u2019s because the disease spreads at a different rate for each person that infects, and it isn\u2019t really clear based upon the symptoms of how far the disease has progressed. Some of the outward symptoms include skin lesions that may be painful, skin rashes<\/a>, nodules and ulcers that may make it extremely difficult to get through the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These skin symptoms are often in the first few weeks following infection, and if you notice them and think that they may be attributed to Valley Fever, then you need to get on an antifungal treatment right away by visiting your local emergency room or regular doctor as soon as possible. This second stage of the disease is extremely serious. These skin conditions can sometimes be treated by over the counter medications such as muscle rubs and salves, but they are often not very effective against this type of pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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6. Pain Due to Lesions throughout the Body<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another latter-stage symptom is a pain. Unfortunately, if you have Valley Fever you\u2019re probably going to experience some sort of intense and chronic pain. Sometimes, this pain is due to lesions <\/a>in the skull, the spine or various other areas throughout the body. These lesions are located underneath the skin and so they cannot be accessed easily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You cannot apply any sort of over-the-counter salve to them to make them feel better, although over-the-counter pain medications may help a little. These lesions are very serious because they tell you that you are in the second stage of the infection, and if they spread to the spine, then you are even more risk because the last stage of the disease is when it spreads to the spinal fluid in the brain causing meningitis which can easily result in death. But even before that, you are still going to be experiencing intense and excruciating pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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7. Pain Due to Swollen Joints<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can also have pain due to swollen <\/a>joints. Painful and swollen joints can happen for a lot of reasons. Sometimes, joints can swell up because of arthritis. This makes it so a person is not able to use their hands properly because they are not able to bend their hand at the knuckle. But the hands are not the only place that this particular illness manifests. If it spreads throughout the body, then you may notice saying in the knees and ankles as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the knees and ankles are quite a bit larger than the hands, you may notice more than twice the amount of pain that you would\u2019ve been feeling from your hands from this infection. Swollen joints are definitely debilitating, and they can be caused by Valley Fever so you want to watch out for this particular symptom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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8. Meningitis<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Meningitis <\/a>is the final stage of the illness. Meningitis is when the fungal infection finally reaches your brain, your cerebrospinal fluid and various other parts of the head and neck. When this happens, you may be in such a late stage of the illness that it will be impossible to treat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why you want to take all these steps that are listed here to keep yourself from getting to the stage because even IV antifungal medications may not be enough to eradicate illness once it has progressed this far. Meningitis is a very serious disease that can manifest in a number of ways, but the most important thing you should know about it is that it is often fatal and you should pay really close attention to make sure that it does not progress to the meningitis stage.      <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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9. Chills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Patients with Valley fever may often experience acute illness during the first phase of the disease. High fever induces a body temperature over 100F, and the patient may become delirious and sweat profusely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fever is the body\u2019s response to an invading pathogen<\/a>. By turning up the temperature, the fungus responsible for valley fever has less opportunity to replicate and spread to other regions of the body. When the brain signals the hypothalamus to start the chemical reaction that induces fever response, pyrogen proteins attach to nerves, indicating the CNS to increase the base temperature setpoint for the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the patient may start to experience chills as the body catches up to the new setpoint. There is no treatment for chills unless the fever gets above 101F, where a doctor may choose to intervene with medications. These chills occur whenever the temperature setpoint increases, and subside along with the fever symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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10. Night Sweats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many patients who are suffering from fungal or bacterial infections find that they start to develop symptoms of night sweats<\/a>. The fungi that cause the development of valley fever may cause disruptions in various mechanisms in the body, inducing night sweats in the patient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doctors are still unclear as to the exact mechanics behind the development of night sweats, and theories range from disruptions in the nervous system to hormonal imbalance. However, night sweats are usually always an indicator of an underlying health condition that requires treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patients with valet fever may experience severe night sweats in the advanced stages of the disease. The sweats can become so intense that they soak the bedsheets. It\u2019s advisable that caregivers treating the patient, strip the sheets each day and wash them in a light bleach solution. Drying them afterward in a tumble dryer also helps to kill any remaining fungi and prevent reinfection.
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11. Fatigue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Patients experiencing viral, bacterial, or fungal infection will notice they start to develop feelings of fatigue <\/a>as the pathogen begins to spread in the body. The fungi responsible for the development of valley fever can produce severe fatigue symptoms in patients. The symptoms may start in the early stages of the disease and become chorionic as the disease advances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the immune system detects an invading pathogen, it jumps to work to limit the spread of it through the body. As a result, it starts to produce antibodies and white blood cells to fight off the fungi. This defense strategy takes a significant amount of energy, as the immune system goes into overdrive trying to kill the fungi. However, as the condition progressed, the body starts to lose the battle against the disease, and the patient becomes weaker and more tired as time passes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patients in the advanced stages of valley fever infection, require treatment with anti-fungal medications. If left untreated, it could lead to the development of severe health complications.
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12. Muscle Ache<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When the immune system<\/a> senses the presence of the fungi responsible for causing valley fever, it starts to produce antibodies and white blood cells from bone marrow and T-cells. The antibodies are usually the first responders on the scene, and they chase the fungi into tissues, destroying the cells before they have a chance to spread. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When this occurs, the patient may develop symptoms of a sore throat, and they may also find that their muscles start to ache as well. Think of the situation as your muscular system providing collateral damage to kill off the fungi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doctors may treat symptoms of muscle ache with over-the-counter medications, such as ibuprofen or Advil. In most cases, the symptoms of muscle ache show up at around the same time as the fever symptoms, helping doctors confirm their diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The symptoms will last for as long as the infection remains in the body at critical levels. After receiving treatment, the patient will notice signs of muscle ache fade in a few hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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13. Headache<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Patients experiencing an infection with valley fever may also notice they start to develop symptoms of a headache <\/a>in the hours before the fever begins to come on. The symptoms can vary in intensity and duration, but most patients report symptoms of a mild tension headache, that is not as severe as a migraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doctors treat symptoms of headaches using OTC anti-inflammatories and painkillers. However, in most cases, the symptoms come and go occasionally, and not all patients will have to endure this symptom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patients should try to relax in bed, drink a cup of tea, and close the blinds to the room. The dark space will help reduce pressure on the ocular nerves, which may help reduce the intensity of the headache. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this does not help, try using Aspirin if the patient is over the age of 18-years old. Never give aspirin to anyone under the age of 18-years, as it may result in the development of Reyes Syndrome.
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14. Severe Pneumonia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most patients make a full recovery from coccidioidomycosis-related pneumonia<\/a>, without any lasting complications. However, the fungi seem to have different rates of infection across race groups. People of African or Pilipino heritage, more commonly develop severe complications that have life-threatening consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When pneumonia only infects on lung, the symptoms of shortness of breath and phlegm are easy for most people to manage. However, when the infection spreads to both lungs, the patient may enter a battle for their life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patients displaying chronic pneumonia symptoms should seek immediate medical assistance. The doctor may require the patient to use a ventilator to ensure adequate oxygen reaches the blood. If left untreated, the patient may drown in their fluids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advanced stages of coccidioidomycosis-related pneumonia infection may cause ruptures to lung nodules. These tiny cavities in the lungs may rupture, causing chest pain and breathing issues. Ruptured nodules may require emergency surgery, increasing the risk of mortality in the patient.
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