Oh no ! Its Chicken pox !

When our DDs were little they had CP which I then caught, never having had it as a child-boy was I ill! Poor DH spent his entire summer holiday (from teaching) nursing us all. DD1 wasn't too bad, DD2 had it worse-I was covered internally and externally too.
Than a few years later they gave me German measles-again they had a mild illness while I was very poorly with swollen elbows and knees one day, next day swollen wrists and ankles and finally swollen toes and fingers-I think it then must have poured out of the ends. It was grim

Creams to help soothe the itching include Virasoothe gel, Poxclin, calamine aqueous cream and Eurax cream. Oh and Piriton.

I stand corrected.

Sorry pompa but you are wrong. I have had chickenpox twice. Once as a young child and then again in my teens. Both times it was diagnosed by a doctor. It is rare to get it twice but definitely possible.

.........or you could even try calamine!!!!!

Scalamine CREAM rather than lotion. The lotion dries the scabs and makes itching worse.

Just read on Facebook - NEVER give Ibuprofen to people with chicken pox - will make it a lot worse!

When DD and DS had chickenpox in their mid teens they suffered really badly and calamine lotion wasn't giving any relief to the constant itching ,so I used germaloid ointment instead which is normally used to relieve pain and itching for haemorroids (Piles),It has a local anesthetic and cooling affect and gave instant relief.

Sorry if I'm repeating previous posts. You can only catch chicken pox once,

You cannot catch shingles, it is a virus left over from having chicken pox when younger. This virus settles in the spinal nerves (I stand to be corrected on that) and activates when the host becomes susceptible due to minor illness etc (similar to herpes).

DGS 5 had a single spot on his back on Friday evening a week ago. Went home with definite chicken pox. Light case, few spots. Cheerful and behaving normally throughout.
Today I facetimed them, DGD 1, his little sister, has more spots than I've ever seen before, everywhere. Surprisingly cheerful and normal most of the time but not sleeping well.

It is unusual but possible to get chickenpox twice. Adults usually feel worse than children and it can be quite serious. Any lotion that stops itching is good. I found calamine as good as anything.
Most important thing is NEVER give aspirin or ibuprofen to someone with chickenpox as they can cause a fatal reaction. There was a very sad case in the paper last week and I had forgotten that.

I am one of the rare people to have had chickenpox twice. Once as a young child and the second time in my teens after babysitting a child who had it. I now have shingles. I was prescribed Aciclovir within 72 hours of the first spots/blisters appearing and that seems to have helped to keep the symptoms quite mild. I was planning to visit four month old grandchild next week but as he has not had chickenpox, he could catch it from me so visit is off . Read yesterday about the possible side effects of giving Ibuprofen to children with cp. Calpol recommended instead.

Chickenpox can take three weeks to incubate so little brother could get it at the last minute after big brother is better

I had chickenpox when I was nine and shingles twice as an adult both times on my face in the same place. Felt really awful both times. GP gave me anti viral tablets to take an monitored me as he said if the rash went any nearer my eye I'd have to go to the eye clinic at the hospital, shingles on the face can affect your eyesight so be careful. My granddaughter had chickenpox very badly when she was 3 you couldn't put a pin between them, they were everywhere, in her hair, mouth, genitals and bottom poor child as well as all over her body and face. She was crying with the soreness of it all. Calamine cream and cool baths helped a bit but not as much as we'd have liked. Her twin sister had it really mildly

All 3 DDs had chicken pox, the youngest was only 14 months. When she was 8 she developed shingles, albeit it a mild case. Both her DCs have had chicken pox and I was concerned that she might develop shingles again, but luckily not [phew]

DGD had the spots everywhere, inside her mouth and throat, round her eyes; she is only 7 so it doesn't mean that having chickenpox as a young child you have it more lightly (poor little thing.)

My mil had shingles and some time later I came down with chickenpox,being pregnant at the time it was awful, especially as the skin is already quite sensitive during pregnancy, I've still got the scars on my stomach,which, being quite large at the time, look pretty horrible now. Worse was to come, my husband caught it. Palms of hands, soles of feet, throat and mouth, the sores were everywhere, he really went through the mill. If cp is around it's better to have it when you're young. One more thing, my mil BLAMED ME for giving her shingles, nasty old cow!, and I mean that most sincerely.

The incubation time for C P is between about 10 to 21 days

My 3yrold DGS1 had it a few weeks ago he was first and passed it on to his 10mnth old brother. DGS1 had a really bad time he felt very poorly and was covered in spots. Baby brother was much less badly affected.

I wonder if that was partly due to any immunity passed through his mums breast milk as she is still feeding. Or if the virus was modified by itself.

Shingles occurs in people who have already had chickenpox, usually many years later.

Shingles is very contagious. You can catch chickenpox from someone with shingles through contact with their secretions or their skin rash.

You cannot get shingles from someone with chickenpox.

Sorry the oats bath didn't work, I had never heard of it until a nurse told DIL to try it with the DGD and it seemed to help.

If you have a compromised immune system for any reason apparently it is not good to have the shingles vaccine (unfortunately).

The oats bath didn't work well for him, he was very itchy after the bath, so popped him back in a plain warm bath and new pjs and he's fine now .

Poor little lad.

I found putting a good tulip of bicarb in their bath helped the itching.

I had chicken pox as a child and then shingles very badly in my 50s. It is so painful and I was really ill, I didn't feel right for three months, and certainly lowered my resistance for some months beyond that, so ended up with very nasty flu and cold viruses. Knocked my energy levels for a few years and I am normally enjoying rude health. so definitely to be avoided.

It is important to get the right medication very quickly, especially if it is in your head. After my attack my ophthalmologist told me that I was lucky my French doctor diagnosed it instantly as the rash had spread between my eyebrows. He said a rule of thumb was that if the rash got to the end of the nose then the optic nerve would probably be damaged and therefore possible sight problems. The drugs are very expensive, at the time I was not under the French healthcare system and they cost me over €100. I have since been told that due to their cost in the UK it is a postcode lottery if you get prescribed these particular drugs.

My DS has chicken pox mildly aged 6, but when he was nearly recovered the remaining few spots came back with a secondary infection and he was then very ill for a couple of weeks.

Not a virus to be ignored however mild it seems to be.

"I've never had chickenpox although DC and DGDs have all had it. I'm hoping I'm immune - don't fancy getting it at my time of life!"

I don't think it's necessarily bad if you get it as an adult. I had it at about thirty, but I felt well enough to have gone back to work after a week if I hadn't still been covered in scabs.

"From September 1 2015 the shingles vaccine is routinely available to people aged 70 and 78. You become eligible for the vaccine on the first day of September 2015 ""after"" you've turned 70 or 78 and remain so until the last day of August 2016.

In addition, anyone who was eligible for immunisation in the first two years of the programme but has not yet been vaccinated against shingles remains eligible until their 80th birthday. This includes:

people aged 71 and 72 on 1 September 2015
people aged 79

The shingles vaccine is not available on the NHS if you are aged 80 or over."

From the above, I just hope they continue the programme after August 2016, the way the NHS finances are going, who knows!