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Original poster

Help - anyone else seen chicken pox this bad?

120 replies

indigo277 · 07/01/2023 11:43

My son came out in chicken pox on Monday (5 days ago) and he has just got progressively worse.
I called 111 yesterday who sent an ambulance. We were in a&e in an isolated room for around 5 hours. He had a high heart rate and temp. After 5 hours they discharged him and said that his spots aren't infected so take him home and bring him back if after 7 days he hasn't improved.
I'm so stressed, worried.
Looking for reassurance- has anyone else's child had chicken pox like this and healed ok??
He is covered like this over his tummy too

OP posts:
ProserpinaProserpina · 07/01/2023 11:45

Gosh I’m so sorry OP that looks horrific for poor DS. My husband had it badly but not THAT badly.

Plump82 · 07/01/2023 11:46

Oh the poor soul ☹️
I was going to say my niece had it pretty badly but no where near as bad as that!

RagzRebooted · 07/01/2023 11:46

Aww, poor little thing! No wonder you took him to hospital. I'm glad they've said it's not infected and fine to be at home. Just really horrible for him. I haven't seen it that before, but I know it can be.

cowsaysmoo · 07/01/2023 11:47

Oh poor bubba.
My friend's ds had it really bad, similar if not worse, including spots inside his mouth and nose but he fully recovered in a normal time for the chicken pox.
Try not to worry, just make him comfortable as much as you can.
It's good that they monitored him at a&e.
I hope he will feel better soon!

HamishsMomma · 07/01/2023 11:48

Yep, my daughter aged 9 months only area of no spots was soles of her feet and palms of her hands - otherwise everywhere including in her ears, up her nose, gentials, hair and obviously covered everywhere else. Now two years old and a few scars but otherwise she made a full recovery.

TokyoSushi · 07/01/2023 11:49

DD had similar to this when she was 2 (she's 9 now) it was horrific, but she did completely heal, she probably has about 3 scars.

It did take a good while for her to start looking better though (a couple of months) but she was completely fine.

Hope your poor DS is much better very soon.

OneFrenchEgg · 07/01/2023 11:50

Yes ds was about 9 months and covered. Hardly any visible skin. Luckily he made a full recovery and no scars now. Was a sorry time for him though.

picklemewalnuts · 07/01/2023 11:50

My DS! It looked so sore. He recovered fully though. We were told to keep an eye on the spots occurring in the back of his mouth (swelling risk) or in his eyes, if I remember correctly. He's 23 now, so I may have forgotten something.

We kept his skin moist with bland creams, as we found that reduced the itching.

Montypulciano · 07/01/2023 11:51

Poor little chap. My daughter had the pox really badly when she was 2. Hospital admission, spots everywhere anc loads of them - I have up counting when I had counted 100 on her forehead and that wasn’t all of them. She was massively miserable for a week or so but now at 15 has not a mark on her. She did scratch and pick, but all fine. Bicarbonate of sofa in the bath helped a lot to soothe her.

Soontobe60 · 07/01/2023 11:52

Exactly the same with my little one. There have been no problems since. She recovered within 3 days and was back in nursery within 5. Try not to worry xx

JungleJungle · 07/01/2023 11:53

Yes my son was like this. The amount of judgemental looks we got when we went out after they'd scabbed over were horrible. Took about 3 months for them to all clear up! But, he was fine and amazingly only has 4 or 5 very faint scars.

marmaladegranny · 07/01/2023 11:53

Oat baths helped when my GD had bad chicken pox. Fill an old sock or similar with oats and tie it below the tap so water runs through the oats when filling the bath.

tenbob · 07/01/2023 11:55

Poor thing.

My godson was nearly as bad, some parts of his chest you couldn’t see skin for all the spots, and they were on his eyelids and inside his throat.

He was so miserable and my friend has to wake him through the night for calpol because his temperature kept spiking

It took about a month for all the spots to fully heal but I don’t think he has scars

Seeing how ill he got was a big reason I had all mine vaccinated for chickenpox

LucyWhipple · 07/01/2023 11:56

Oh poor lamb :(

yes my ds had it like this at 11 weeks old. It was awful. He was hospitalised for over a week and very poorly (had pneumonia as a complication). But is now a very healthy 9 year old with zero scars from it. Whereas my dd who had it moderately age 3 does have a couple of scars still.

Really hope your ds is better very soon.

annonymousse · 07/01/2023 11:57

My daughters both had it really badly. The spots were everywhere - their noses, mouths, ears and their genitals. It was very tough They cope with illness very differently and my younger one just withdraws into herself but the elder one had to have soothing baths at 2am to calm her down and in the end the gp gave her a mild sedative so she could rest. Hope your poor little ds gets better soon. It really is a horrible illness.

Mybonnielad · 07/01/2023 11:59

Oh, poor little soul! That looks truly awful. My granddaughter had it badly but nothing like that. I hope he recovers quickly.

Noln · 07/01/2023 12:00

Just wondering - you're not giving him nurofen (Ibuprofen) are you? Can make chicken pox much worse.

Original poster
indigo277 · 07/01/2023 12:04

Thank you everyone- I'm honestly beside myself with worry. I can't bare seeing him like this it's just awful.
It's nice to hear so many of your babies healed up well. I've been reading horror stories online and have scared myself sick.

I've been using:
oatmeal baths
Calamine lotion
Calpol
Chicken pox relief gel

Definitely haven't given him any nurofen. X

OP posts:
Millionaireshortbread0 · 07/01/2023 12:06

One of my dc were similar the back became one big scab when they started drying up. I took them back to nursery and before they were able to go into the room they were checked to see if fully scabbed over the nursery nurse vomited when she saw the back. The worst bit was the ones in the mouth and throat. This was about 17 years ago and had no ill effect, ill for about 7 days.

Calmdown14 · 07/01/2023 12:07

Oh poor thing. My niece had it that badly. The worst were her poor eyelids. My sister took her on holiday two weeks later (did panic about whether she'd e allowed on plane but we're all healed over).

I found the Poxclin very good for mine. Like a foam so easy to apply

ForestofD · 07/01/2023 12:08

It also helps if you pop the lotions/gels in the fridge. My eldest was in bed for 2 weeks with chickenpox and the coldness of the gel/lotions/creams really seemed to help the itching.

Hunkydory99 · 07/01/2023 12:23

I think calamine isn’t recommended any longer as it dries the spots out. Poxcilin is good as is an antihistamine if you can find one he can have. Lots of calpol (as appropriate!). Hope he gets better soon

Mariposista · 07/01/2023 12:35

Ouuuuch poor lad!

Starlight229 · 07/01/2023 12:38

Poxclin is really good. My dd had it last month and she said that was the most relief. Also bicarb of soda in the bath.

Orangebadger · 07/01/2023 12:38

Oh your poor baby, looks so uncomfortable. All I can see is keep a close eye for infected pox, it's usually that that stops them from getting better rather than the actual chicken pox. Are you giving oat baths? That helps ease it a lot.

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