Argh! Possible Hand, Foot and Mouth, anyone had it? Any advice?

[BalloonDinosaur]

Urgh, possibly a long story, bear with me...

I came home halfway through my shift on Fri night with fever, aches, pains, sore throat, shivering etc. Felt bloody awful. Spent Saturday in bed, but felt better today, booked back fit and came back to work. I had 1 super itchy little bump on my finger on Saturday but didn’t really think anything of it.

During the course of my shift tonight, I’ve gained a whole host of itchy/painful bastard little bumps on my fingers that are driving me up the wall.

No other spots/bumps anywhere else and only other symptom at the moment is sore throat. But I’ve basically convinced myself it’s HF&M.

I’m not aware of being in contact with anyone thats has it, DS (10m) was very unsettled on Friday night but has no other symptoms and neither does DP.

Has anyone else had it? Having read up about it, I I really hope it’s not HF&M, plus I don’t want to have to go sick again or risk infecting all my colleagues (anymore than I already have - had no idea this was a possibility until I’d already been at work a few hours)

Any help/advice/experience much appreciated

[Cantseethewoods]

The bumps are normally on the palms of the hands rather than the fingers and it's not that common in adults (as in most parents dont catch it from their kids). However, it is much more limited when adults get it, which may explain only a few spots, but doesnt really explain the rest as I have never met an adult who has actually felt ill when they had it.

Both my DC have had it (twice each- we live in HK where its endemic) and they have had spotty palms, soles of feet and inside the mouth (and also DS got it round his genitals that looked like some really bad STD, poor thing).

So, sorry, inconclusive from me.

[BalloonDinosaur]

Thanks for the reply, it’s much appreciated, really hoping it’s not HF&M, not least because, having not gone sick once during my pregnancy, I had a perfect work attendance of nearly 4 years. Would be really pissed off to mess that up with 2 in a week

[ginmama]

Hope for your sake it's not! I definitely had it on my fingers (see photo) as well as in my mouth, on the soles of my feet and between and on my toes - really hurt to walk. I felt like I was getting flu before the spots appeared. Horrible disease, think there's more than one virus that can cause it, which might make some cases worse than others? Spots were so painful, and I didn't find anything that helped except putting my hands in a bowl of water and ice. The worst of it lasted for about 5 days, then once the spots healed most of the skin peeled off my hands and feet ( think footner!). The icing on the cake was my finger and toe nails peeling off (from the nail bed 😱) a few months later! Only one of my kids had it, he had a viral rash all over to start, then spots mostly around and in his mouth - he didn't seem nearly as sore as me, but did lose his nails too. Fingers crossed for you that it's something else!

[BalloonDinosaur]

Thanks for replies. Not really got to the bottom of it, and I’m still the only one in my house suffering, luckily.

I still only have spots on my fingers, no feet or mouth. While it’s annoying, it’s not the end of the world.