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Original poster

Shingles in a child - who can tell me what?

33 replies

Katymac · 01/12/2009 10:30

ATM it is only suspected

But DD had nerve tpye pain/neuralgia in her shoulder blade/back/neck and down her arm - she has recently been on steroids and apparently this can be significant

I didn't think children could get shingles - but what do I need to know in case?

We have a GP appointment late afternoon but I am to bring it forward if her temp changes or here eyes start to hurt I am very

OP posts:
Original poster
Katymac · 01/12/2009 10:43

Aw go on

Talk to me - DD is so miserable

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Seona1973 · 01/12/2009 12:34

shingles can occur at any age if they have had chicken pox in the past.

shingles

nickytwotimes · 01/12/2009 12:40

Yep, shingle can happen anytime.
The Gp may be able to prescribe acyclovir if it is indicated for your wee one and if she has only had it for a few days. It minimises the duration, but has to be used within the first few days afaik. Ibuprofen is good and can be rotated with paracetamol if both those drugs are okay for her to take. Just follow the leaflet.
Steroids can suppress the immune system, so that may be the connection, but tbh I have had shingles twice and can think of absoluely no trigger. I was healthy, on no meds and under no more stress than usual. Sometimes there isn't an obviosu cause.
Is she feverish and tired? Poor wee soul. It is bloody horrible, but she will be fine I am sure. The eye thing is because it can affect any part of the body, including the eyes, but if it is her shoulder etc, then that is probably as far as it'll go.

Original poster
Katymac · 01/12/2009 13:08

Thanks for this - I am quite worried about her - mind you it could be somethingelse

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nickytwotimes · 01/12/2009 13:14

Let us know how it goes. It is diagnosed symptomatically, but the rash is quite distinctive (if she has one. Not always present. ) In the abscence of the rash, it will be diagnosed on type of pain and flu like symptoms. The pain/rash is only ever one sided which is quite a give-away. I'm sure your GP will be able to put your mind at rest and advise you on medication/treatment to make her more comfortable.

Original poster
Katymac · 01/12/2009 13:31

No rash yet - the pain is shoulder blade/neck/top of her arm - the sort of pain you get when "you pull off a bit of skin on our finger, then touch the bit where the skin was" which I thought was quite a good description of nerve pain (well at least that is how mine feels)

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noddyholder · 01/12/2009 13:35

I really feel for her I have this atm .her description is perfect I have been given 2 strong painkillers but am scared to take one of them

nickytwotimes · 01/12/2009 13:42

oooh, her description is spot on.

I felt like I had been peeled.

Poor you Noddy.

Original poster
Katymac · 01/12/2009 14:01

She is getting dressed atm - it is taking her ages as it hurts so much (even with Daddy helping) - it has spread across her back & is both sides now

I can't see them giving her strong painkillers

She is sitting there with tears dripping down her face - no sobs or anything

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nickytwotimes · 01/12/2009 14:03

Poor thing.

I don't think shingles can be bilateral, but I may well be completely wrong. The pain sounds shingle-y.

Original poster
Katymac · 01/12/2009 14:14

Oh I don't know the pain has spread over all her arms & her thighs - so I am guessing something else

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nickytwotimes · 01/12/2009 14:16

Yes, shingles tends to be one-sided and in one area.
Poor soul.
How long till you go?

Lilymaid · 01/12/2009 14:30

DS2 had shingles on his bottom on his 13th birthday and spent his birthday night sat in a cold bath to relieve the pain before we could get him to a doctor. The rash was obvious to the GP - I'd wondered how a 13 year old could get bad nappy rash!

Original poster
Katymac · 01/12/2009 17:04

Well I am not happy - dd has been crying with pain & the gp just dismissed it all - she actually laughed at the pins & needles in her toes & said not to be silly

Apparently her symptoms don't 'add' up to anything, so she can't have anything, her wee is clear & she should go off to school tomorrow

She can barely move/stand, she is a very odd colour (all flushed and pink with bright eyes) and she turns her head & winces (even when we aren't looking)

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LIZS · 01/12/2009 17:06

slapped cheek (csn cause aches and pains )or scarlet fever (any sore throat)?

namechangedmoi · 01/12/2009 17:06

Hi - your poor DD. I just wanted to add my two pennorth and say that she is also capable of infecting other children and adults with chicken pox, although from memory I think it's contact related.....I could be wrong though re: the contact. I had it at 18 and had to stay away from children although did go to school heavily dosed on painkillers. Poor lass x

namechangedmoi · 01/12/2009 17:08

Sorry - cross posted. I would go to another GP for a second opinion - you can go to any one as a temporary patient, or just to another one in the practice.

PrettyCandles · 01/12/2009 17:12

I don't want to be a panic-monger, but my gut instinct as a mother would be to go to A&E if she is still like this later this evenig. A child should not be in such pain that they are crying.

Original poster
Katymac · 01/12/2009 17:59

I m really, really not happy with it all atm - something is definitely wrong

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noddyholder · 01/12/2009 18:17

It took me 2 days to get a diagnosis as there was no rash and I was thought to have a kidney stone I was screaming with the pain.Poor little thing go to A and E

nickytwotimes · 01/12/2009 18:59

Your GP is an arsehole!
No way should that be dismissed.
Go to A and E, if you are not there already.

Fucking hell! Cannot believe the attitude of that doctor! It may well be an undiagnosable virus that will run it's course, but to dismiss it out of hand is a disgrace. And as for going to school and infecting others (apart from how horrible it would be for the wee soul)! Jesus!

Original poster
Katymac · 01/12/2009 20:02

She is doped up with lots & lots of calpol - if she wakes in pain in the night we will take her - she has perked up a bit & is a much better colour (for going to bed). I think we will check on her a couple of times in the night

Her Dad thinks I am fussing but my mum knows exactly how I feel. She says sometimes you just know something is wrong

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PrettyCandles · 01/12/2009 20:21

I've just been on the phone to my mum.

Apparently last week she was in shrieking agony with pain radiating down from her neck, shivering with cold as if she had a fever, completely washed-out.

I can't believe that Dad didn't take her to the dr or at least take her temp! Honestly, the long-suffering mother syndrome: "It's nothing. I'll be fine. I don't want to queue among all the germs at the GP." FGS!

The pain and other symptoms eased over a few days, and on the weekend she came out in a post-viral rash.

Sounds exactly like your dd.

Original poster
Katymac · 01/12/2009 20:34

Really? - gosh it does sound similar, your poor mum

I can accept that she has a new bug/virus but not the GP saying it's just the end of the chest infection - I mean what chest infection gives you pins & needles in your feet!!

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PrettyCandles · 02/12/2009 13:48

How is your dd today?

The only way I can see that such pain might relate to a chest infection, would be if she had strained something by coughing. But then I'm not a doctor!

Sometimes one condition can mask another: I was taken to hospital with excruciating back pain when I was 10, and was nearly misdiagnosed as having meningitis because I started vomiting when I got there. Turned out I had two unconnected conditions at the same time: I had torn some muscles in my back, and also had a stomach bug from swallowing polluted water.