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Children's health

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Original poster

Particularly virulent dose of Chicken Pox...when to see the doctor

26 replies

LackaDAISYcal · 26/02/2012 20:15

DD, 4.5 came down with CP on Friday. By this morning she has upwards of 600 individual spots, and Is very poorly with it and has been in and out of a fever all day.

She had loads in her mouth and throat, and this evening is struggling to swallow. It hurts for her to open her mouth, but from what I could see the lesions on her tonsils are white and her tonsils are very swollen. I'm worried about it having gone bacterial, but am not sure what they will realistically do, or even if they will see her given she is still contagious.

Calpol and ibuprofen giving her a couple of hours relief before she crashes again :(
I hate seeing her so ill, and not being able to help :(

OP posts:

topknob · 26/02/2012 20:17

I took dd2 when she was about 9 months old to the gp as she had a load on her face which were hot to touch...turns out they were becoming infected and she was given Anti b's.

If your dd is so bad she has them internally I would take her first thing tomorrow xx

Heyyyho · 26/02/2012 20:19

Yes she needs to be seen. She has internal spots which could be infected. She may need anti virals to halt the spreading of the virus or antibiotics for a bacterial infection.

Poor little thing. hope she is better soon.

Hattie11 · 26/02/2012 20:19

How on earth did you count them all? ;)

I'm not sure theres much they can do, my dc's have had them in their mouths, eye lids and genitals which always look so dreadful, we used to sit them in baths with bicarbonate soda in - supposed to sooth. And apply lots of calamine cream - (they do a cream one in tub which is much better than the lotion in a bottle.) when my dc's were particularly in pain, i'd sit and dab the cream on affected area over and over again. My dp also suffered really bad with cp when in his 30's had them internal aswell - i spoke to the doctor back then and still - nothing could be done except pain relief.

The good thing is cp is quite quick, just when you start to feel you and your dc can't take anymore, the spots do begin to scab over.

x hope your dd gets better soon.

Chaotica · 26/02/2012 20:20

Poor girl. I hate to alarm you, but I would phone nhs direct or take her to out of hours. You do not want her with swelling in her throat.

fiveisanawfullybignumber · 26/02/2012 20:21

Take her tomorrow. DD2 had them like that, internally mouth, throat, all in nappy area too. They got infected, needed antibiotics.
Hope she feels better soon.x

Original poster

LackaDAISYcal · 26/02/2012 20:23

She has them everywhere, round the edges of her eyelids and even inside her labia, which has me squirming just thinking about it :(

I'll call the docs in the morning. We're keeping her with us downstairs and I'm going to sleep on her floor again tonight.

OP posts:

ANTagony · 26/02/2012 20:26

Do you have an out of hours gp you can ring? Do they do home visits in your area? not sure about how you would go about going into surgery with something like chickenpox.

Ring NHS direct they should be able to advise what else you can give/ try to make your dd as comfortable as possible.

ANTagony · 26/02/2012 20:27

Would ice cream help her throat at all?

Sneezeblossom · 26/02/2012 20:31

I think you should call your out of hours.

catsareevil · 26/02/2012 20:33

I would call out of hours tonight. If she needs an anti-viral it will be more effective the quicker it is given.

Ninablue · 26/02/2012 20:34

Hi my daughter had a terrible bout of the pox a few years ago. I thought it would be bad for a few days and then subside but her spots became infected. She had a very very high fever and after two trips to the out of hours walk in centre she was admitted and put on a drip and given non stop antibiotics for almost a week. The worst time ever, go on your instincts. I kept her at home for days thinking that this is what happened but she got worse not better. Let us know what the doctor says tomorrow. Nina

shazbean · 26/02/2012 20:35

When dd had CP the ones that bothered her were the ones in her privates, she was crying with the itching/pain.
We called ooh and they gave us antihistamine without seeing her, DH went to a hospital pharmacy to pick them up and at least she got some sleep that night.
It wasn't a miracle but it eased the pain enough for her to get a few hours unbroken sleep. Hope your dd is better soon, its sounds horrid.

Original poster

LackaDAISYcal · 26/02/2012 20:35

Thanks for all the responses :)
My 9yo and I counted them by choosing the least spotty arm and leg, then her back and doubling! Mainly because we promised her a penny for every spot to cheer her up. Of course this was on Friday when she only had about 50 altogether :D

We'll monitor her until I finish work (I managed to pop home on my break but have to leave again now) but DH is going to call the OOH service and will make an appointment for wh3n I've finished work If they think she needs to be seen

OP posts:

leftmymistletoeatthedoor · 26/02/2012 21:13

Given that they are in her throat I definitely think she needs seen.

Ds (4) and dd (14m) both had about that many spots - ds had one on his eyeball and under his foreskin and a couple in his mouth but if they're in her throat they could affect her breathing.

Littlemissnegative · 26/02/2012 22:53

Your poor DD sounds terrible. My three DCs had chicken pox last year, not as bad as your DD but took them to doctors was prescribed antihistamines which helped but the thing that really helped was a mousse called Pox Clin which a friend recommended, from chemists. Honestly it is brilliant stuff an has an accumulative effect so the more you use it the less they itch. As it's mousse it soaks right into the skin. Honestly it's brilliant, I put it on them about 6 times a day, it's expensive but really worth it, my DDs had loads os spots in genitals but this mousse really worked.

meala · 26/02/2012 23:05

My DD had very bad chicken pox. She was prescribed anti-biotics, anti histamine and an antiviral. The doctor said that antivirals had to be started quite early to help so it might be worthwhile calling out of hours.

hope she feels better soon.

Original poster

LackaDAISYcal · 26/02/2012 23:32

I'll ask for that at the chemist tomorrow littlemissnegative, thanks :)

DH spoke to a nurse at the ooh service, but they won't see her. They said as long as she is swallowing her own saliva, then she will be ok, but to call back obviously if she worsens. She said it sounded like a very bad case, but other than the usual self help measures there's little they can do unless she gets a bacterial infection. She also said that our GP would be reluctant to have her in the surgery due to still being very contagious.

But, the heady combination of calpol, nurofen and piriton perked her up to the point DH told her to go to bed at 9.30 as she wouldn't stop talking, so it was obviously not as sore as it had been.

Interestingly, the nurse said not to use calamine lotion or cream as these dry the spits out too quickly, meaning they might crack and let bacteria in and to use a skin gel as this cools better and leaves the skin in a more natural condition. We have already gone through a whole tube of Virasoothe gel (at £8.50 a pop) in two days. This could be quite expensive!

I'll see how she is tomorrow though and get a phone consultation with my GP if needs be.

Thanks again for all you replies :)

OP posts:

Onebirthplaneveryminute · 26/02/2012 23:45

How do they know over the phone if it is infected or not?

I would go to A and E but have someone go in ahead and advise staff so they can take quarantine measures. Unfortunately in rare cases chicken pox can lead to serious complications and I wouldn't take risk.

Original poster

LackaDAISYcal · 27/02/2012 07:45

I missed your message last night onebirth as DD got up again.
We've had a pretty rubbish night and the poor mite is miserable this morning.
I'm going to call my GP this morning and firmly request that she be seen. I think one of them by her ear has got infected as it's swollen and red, and her throat is still very swollen and sore. Her breath is pretty foul and her tongue is coated in a thick white fuzz. She's only eaten a slice of bread and a tiny bit of pork pie and some ice-cream since Friday and isn't drinking much either.
This is horrible :(

OP posts:

notyummy · 27/02/2012 07:55

Def get her seen, as you say. Not chicken pox related, but I kept DD at home a couple of years ago when poorly because we were told it was swine flu and that she shouldn't be brought in. It turned out to be pneumonia and she was blue lighted to hospital to be admitted. I really wished I had trusted my instincts and taken her in earlier. I am sure most medical professionals would rather err on the side of safety.

alorsmum · 27/02/2012 07:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

theseventhdwarf · 27/02/2012 08:25

Hi
Posted this on another tread earlier... When ds was 18 months he got c pox - which was not awfully bad but he also developed terrible spots in mouth (I remember the breath so smellly) - similar to what you say
Luckily we have a very good GP who identified it as a different virus (same family as c pox) I can't for the life of me remember the name of it, but I do remember him saying it was extremely painful and to hightail it to a and E if tere was and worsening. Ds was given antivirals (Zovirax or similar) voltarol suppositories and improved after a few days.
So I wouldn't ignore if not improving or throat persistin
Hope your dd is improving.

Original poster

LackaDAISYcal · 27/02/2012 09:20

Was it gingivostomatitis 7thdwarf? My boys have both had it...nasty nasty thing that it is. It's caused by herpes simple and can result from a primary infection.
I don't think that's what's going on with DD, but will keep a close eye, thanks :)

She's had a sleep and has woken up a bit brighter (but that could just be the calpol!) Still complaining of a sore throat, but has had a beaker of banana smoothie and a few spoonful of breakfast cereal.

She's hopefully turned a corner :)

OP posts:

theseventhdwarf · 28/02/2012 08:04

Yup it was something like that. Horrible dose. Delighted to hear your dd had improved.

MeanMom · 28/02/2012 11:39

My DD is 13 and came down with CP on the 18th Feb. She has/had them everywhere including inside her mouth ears eyes nose and 'down there' ! Several quickly became infected - very red and swollen surrounding skin- spots themselves looked more like Acne - greenish yellow in colour

Her doc did not want/need to see her - I booked a telephone appt and described what was happening to spots. Doc put out script for anti biotics for us to collect - would have prescribed anti histamine but we were already giving her Piriton tabs that we had bought over counter (always have some in house for hayfever)

We used some calamine lotion and another day some Eurax, but DD found that neither really helped with itching - worst itches were places you couldn't use it on anyway! It was anti histamine meds that helped (helped her sleep too)
She still has some blisters 11 days after first ones appeared but infection cleared up about 3 days after starting anti biotics. She finishes them today.

Hope your DD feels better soon LD x

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