Is it normal to be so very ill with chicken pox?

[EweHaveGoatToBeKiddin]

I naively thought the extent of chickenpox was just an annoying, itchy, all over rash.

5yo dd started getting a few spots on Fri night. By Sat morning, her back, front bum, tummy, chest and armpits were covered.

Yesterday they came up on her scalp, face and a few across her arms.

Today, there are a few more on her arms, and some on her hands and feet. Several on her face look extremely red and angry. There is one that has burst beneath her eye, and the skin around the eye is now red.

There is a huge yellow one beneath her nose and another on her chin, which also has a thick circle of red around them.

She's been feeling rundown for several weeks. Last week she had a tummy bug.

Since Sun, she's been really bad. Hardly eating. Coughing. Runny nose. Keeps getting very sweaty despite the fact it's frosty outside and i leave a window open for her when she's hot. Then goes very cold. So her temp is constantly up and down.

She's constipated. She's saying that her tummy feels like it needs to be sick, but no sick is coming out. She's barely left bed/the couch.

Today has been the worst. Absolutely soaked in sweat earlier despite the freezing cold temp and a window being open. Hasn't eaten in over 24 hours. Burst in to tears when i tried to put Sudo Cream on the 2 huge, yellow spots on her face. Says she's scared to look at herself because the spots scare her. And now she's finally napping.

She just seems so weak and drowsy and fragile.

I can't even take her out to get her a medicine. My Gp requires you to go pick up your prescription paper in person then take it to a chemist for the medicine. I don't even think there is a medicine that could help.

Any tips? Or even some reassurance that this is perfectly normal effects of CP? No idea who she has picked them up from.

I agree with kveta. My 2 always share baths and I think that's why dd got it so much worse than ds - it's a great way to share germs. (We stopped the shared baths one ds got his first spot but it was too late by then)

So glad to hear that she has got antibiotics I am sure she will quickly improve now and I'm glad to hear she is pretty chirpy - hope that has continued. Do keep a very close eye on her and be sure that she is improving over the next day or so. My DD was given oral anti-bs for infected CP, but after 2 days she was even worse. Ended up in hospital for over a week on IV antibiotics. Obviously this was an extreme case and I am not trying to worry you. I just want to say that you know your child best and if you are not CERTAIN that she is improving, get her back to the hospital or your GP and don't be shy about it. We were sent home twice from A&E with oral antibiotics and comforting platitudes when she was clearly very very ill and should have been admitted. CP is an utterly horrible illness.

I was told the second child frequently has it worse.
Have heard two theories about this:
One is that they're in contact for longer-the chances are the first one caught it over a hour or two contact, rather than all day.
The other is the virus actually mutates slightly to your genetic code, and as you share the genetic code with your sibling in some ways, this makes the second child get it worse as it's already mutated to fit them.

I can confirm that happened with us. My 3 year old had chicken pox then two weeks later his 1 year old sister. I put her being more poorly down to the fact she was still a baby. 4 weeks where we never went out.

I think my two were about the same tbh.

With mine my elder was worse they got it at the same time as close in age but younger had inside and out for a week and was fine elder had it for weeks and weeks ended up so ill they couldn't stand up and had to be treated by the hospital for complications.