Oh no ! Its Chicken pox !

I thought I read that you can get it again but not absolutely sure. I used calamine lotion on mine when they had it seems to calm the itch a little.

Only shingles?! Shingles is worse than chickenpox. Good luck.

yes I thought calamine lotion * Tanith* but i have a vague recall of natural yoghurt ????

and thanks Jingl that's cheered me up no end LOL

Yes, sorry, shingles!

My GS had chickenpox when he was about a year old. It's miserable for them. I had had chicken pox and so had DD, but DH was susceptible to shingles, having had it twice (and yes, it is far worse than chicken pox!) so he kept his distance. As for whether you can get chicken pox twice, I always thought no, but the jury appears to be out on that one. It must be rare for it to happen.

Sorry, forgot to say, plus one for lots of calamine lotion!

DD absolutely swore by Poxclin recommended on Mumsnet when my DGSs had chickenpox and as I was called in to help look after the boys both times I too saw what a difference it made. That plus baby Antihistamine to reduce the itching. Don't just stick with calamine , this is so much better.

Just been through 2 with chicken pox. DiL had to come over to chemist near me because the local chemist had sold out of calamine cream! She reckoned about 20 of her friends' children had it. Epidemic! Calamine cream helped and also a warm bath with bicarbonate of soda in it (as recommended by my gran years ago!) Watch out for shingles I can never remember which way it works, but if you have symptoms see your GP asap there is an anti-viral treatment that works best if it is given in the first day or so. It worked very well when I used it but a friend had it too late and really suffered.

Yes it's going the rounds. DGS1 had it about 4 weeks ago and his little brother two weeks after that.

I understand that you can get chicken pox from shingles but not the other way round. Shingles is caused by having dormant chicken pox virus in your system. It can get you if your immmune system is low.

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2585.aspx?CategoryID=200

Chickenpox and shingles are both caused by the same virus: the varicella-zoster virus.

In some people who have had chickenpox, the virus can become active again later in life and cause shingles.

You can't catch shingles from someone else. However, you can catch chickenpox from someone with shingles if you haven't had chickenpox before.

I have had Chicken Pox twice. Once as a child, aged about 10, and again in my early thirties. I was teaching 6 year olds at the time. Over 20 children in my class had it. My own two had it. I have never been so I'll. I was off work for 2 months, and still not right after 3.

Nellie you are correct, you cannot get chickenpox from shingles. As mentioned, go to the GP asap for anti viral treatment, especially if the shingles is on the face and eye region. It can be incredibly painful and unfortunately this can last for ages.

It is possible to get shingles more than once but happens rarely- usually if the person is immuno suppressed.

My friend who had chemo just over a year ago, has had shingles several times in the last few months. Just one small patch which keeps coming and going.

nelliemoser is right of course. What you do have to be careful is the exudate which contains the virus so handwashing is vital as usual.

I'm always pleased when children get chicken pox. My husband didn't have this as a child but caught it in his mid thirties from my daughter. He was very ill indeed. Its a much more serious illness in adults.

I hope the children are comfortable from the itching soon.

Its not uncommon to have shingles more than once but has already been said the varicella virus mutates in the adult (who has previously had chicken pox) and emerges as Shingles usually at a most inconvenient moment - I speak from experience.

Shingles pain is awful

I had shingles 9 years ago and the pain was worse than the major abdominal surgery that I had last month.
Calamine lotion works but the cream is kinder on the skin.
Two of our nieces had chicken pox twice.

I caught chickenpox from my DDs about 30 years ago. It was awful, think I got it worse than they did. I did not catch it a second time when DGS caught it. He was living with us at the time so plenty of time for the germs to have travelled. Never had shingles, fingers crossed.
There are newer creams/lotions available now, DDs used them on the grandchildren. Sorry, cannot remember the names, could google?
Good luck, hope you stay free of it!

I worked with a guy who claimed he'd had it three times. I didn't know you could get it from someone with shingles, my father had shingles before I had CP.

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!

Thank you all . Great advice.

DGS3 is now getting more blisters ( even on his 'skittles') as he explained to me .

DGS4 is still spot free , and I just feel lousy so hopefully I've got a bug and nothing worse.

I've sent my husband off to buy the things recommended and then we'll be painting crosses on the door to warn of contagion

NanaandGrampy you are very unlikely to get chickenpox again, especially as you've had a pretty full-on dose of it already. I'm always sceptical of those who claim to have had it more than once and wonder if it was correctly diagnosed the other times. But of course it is always possible I suppose.

Once you've had CP the herpes virus stays in your body and can reactivate for various reasons (.stress, compromised immune system, being run down, etc) and reappear as shingles.

You might be sceptical Anya but it is possible to have it more than once, as I know to my cost!

I've twice had CP, once as a child and again in my 30s when I caught it at the same time as DS2 who was suffering - he also for the second time.

I was a paediatric nurse at the time, so it was correctly diagnosed.

I have a friend who found she had shingles in her throat on Christmas Eve. She still isn't brilliant. So it would be very sensible to get some sort of protection sorted.

There is a cream or lotion you can buy which is more effective than calamine, but I can't remember the name ask the pharmacist. I don't ever seem to had had chicken pox although both my children and two grandchildren have had it.