Chicken pox- at what point do I worry?

[wrigglebum]

Ds2 is 15mo and caught pox off his big brother. When ds1 had it he was poorly the first two days, then fine and was all crusted over by about day six.

Ds2 got his first spots on Monday afternoon but is still getting more and more every day five days later. He is getting progressively more unwell, hotter and grumpier. He's having trouble sleeping too, writhing around and sobbing. Poor boy is covered- all over his back and chest, face, ears, scalp, eye lids and spreading down his arms and legs.

I'm keeping him in light clothing, giving as much calpol and piriton as I can, plus cuddles. He's drinking a bit of water and eating ok but just not himself.

At what point do I need to get worried and see a doctor?

not much help but both cases I know of in rl where the younger sibling has caught it from older one, they've had it worse for some reason. Having said that trust your instinct and contact your doctor if you are worried, the worst they can say is you're overreacting hope it improves soon

Thank you for your reply. I know it can be worse when caught from a sibling- I had it very badly whilst my sister sailed through.

It's just horrible that it's going on so long and he's so young. I can't believe people would deliberately expose their children to this!

Hi Wriggle...sounds like you're being very sensible, but yes always see a doctor if it doesn't feel right!
My DC3 had a febrile convulsion due to his fever from chicken pox...he was fine, we dialed 999 and he was monitored in a and e for a couplr of hours, and he made a complete recovery from chicken pox, but yes, made me realise it's not 'just' chicken pox!
I hope your little one feels better soon!

When my two had it, they were 3.5 and 9m. Eyelids were a concern for the doctor; I had to take DC1 to A&E when a pox blister on the lower eyelid spread down the inside of the eye. She was given antibiotics. They were concerned about both DC when a high fever lasted (from memory it was over 40 for 3 days when I called the GP, despite calpol and ibuprofen. This was considered too late, I didn't find out exactly what point they'd have wanted to be called but they did say 39 for 48hrs in young children was dangerous). Both DC then got antibiotics when the fever came back about 10 days later and they started coughing - the pox had spread to the lungs and I was told it was mild pneumonia at that point. One of DD's friends was in intensive care with pneumonia.

Since each time I phoned I was told to bring the DC in immediately, I'd say phone now. Our surgery had a separate side room to avoid contagion. If I'd phoned earlier about DD's eye, she may not have got the scar she now has on her lower eyelid and we wouldn't have had the worry about whether her sight was affected.

Hth, ope your DS2 gets better quickly. It's truly horrible.

That sounds so scary mummy. Glad he recovered well.

Having a look at him there are a few very red spots, I'll keep an eye on them in case they are infected.

Wing, that sounds awful, especially from something so widely considered a 'mild' illness. I'm so sorry for what you went through. I don't think people realise how serious it can be, so much talk about how good it is to get it out of the way.

Ds2 hasn't had anything like that level of fever yet, touch wood. I'm keeping a very close eye on him and will go straight to OOH or children's A&E if anything of concern comes up.

I would agree with WingDing. My Ds had temp of over 40 that we couldn't bring down with calpol and Ibuprofen, he wasn't sleeping and was covered in blisters, he was admitted to childrens ward with suspected meningitis. He was given antiviral intravenously for 24 hours and was bouncing on the bed the following day when the consultant came round.
If you are having trouble keeping his temp down ring out of hours or just go to A & E.

Just a quick mention don't use ibuprofen for chickenpox fevers though I noticed you only mentioned calpol anyways I'm just making sure.

Dd had it at 14 months and its so difficult because they just done understand and aren't very easy to distract.

I remember we did ALOT of nighttime bicarbonate of soda baths for her.

I personally would worry if he gets worse having been improving , if he seems to be having trouble swallowing or with his ears or has a cough, if his temp is over 39 and has lasted more than 2 days or so or if any of the spots look pus filled or have any growing area of redness around them. Also if he is lethargic / unresponsive obviously.

Chickenpox is horrible.

He finally seems a bit better- I think new spots have finally stopped appearing and he's only slightly warm, about 38c. Awful night again but I think the itching is pretty bad, he kept rubbing his head a lot. Plus he was angry that I wouldn't let him spend the whole night latched on- but trying to stop bf and he was down to just 1 feed at 6am before the bloody chicken pox. Plus the dribbling and tooth grinding shows he's teething too- joy!

I'll definitely keep a very close eye on him though. Not that I have a choice as we're pretty much housebound, can't wait to get out and about again.

Yes, I saw on nhs site about not using iboprufen, it's supposed to increase the risk of spots getting infected.

Pleased it sounds like the worst is over!