Hello.
I'm a 29 year old male who has just recovered from adult chickenpox so thought i'd leave my experience here to settle people and know there is hope when you are suffering from them. I did a fair bit of research for adult chickenpox but found conflicting information and only a few other experiences from other people. Here's another account for you.
So adult chickenpox can be caught from carriers of Chickenpox or Shingles. You can't catch shingles from chickenpox. Here's a summary of my experience:
Day 1: I noticed a spot on my chest which was painful and I wasn't feeling well. I started to feel lethargic and light headed.
Day 2: I really didn't feel well so I phoned the doctors in the morning. I now had about 5 spots on my front and a fair few on my back. I informed work I wouldn't be in as I could take the first 5 days off without a sick note. As an adult, I was prescribed an anti-viral medication called Acyclovir and took paracetamol alongside this. The medicine took quick affect but still felt rough.
Day 3: The itching got really bad all over my torso and face. I upped the paracetamol to para+codine which seemed to settle. By this point I hadn't slept over the 48 hours and felt miserable. The codine helped and was actually a settling feeling. I slept really well that night.
Day 4 - 6: I had to take on different techniques to keep me sane and to help reduce the itching. Here are some tips:
Bath: Take warm/cool baths to help soothing. Don't use soap as it dried my skin out too much. I came across a trick where you put a handful (or two) of porridge oats in a sock and use that as your sponge and bath soap. It turns the water murky but it really helped.
Clothing: Wear soft cotton and watch out for itchy labels. I actually found tighter soft cotton tee's to be the best rather than baggy. Anything to not rub on your skin. A wet towel across my face helped during the night to try and reduce the bumps and keep my face cool.
Entertainment: Find a load of TV to watch. You won't feel doing much at all and pretty tired. Make sure you rest enough and listen to your body. By day 6 I pushed the hoover around but it almost killed me.
Dry hair and face: My hair went really brittle and my scalp was painful. I used some hair oil to bring it back to life but kept it tied up most of the time. My face was also really dry but DON'T apply lotion as it really hurt. I just let my face go dry and ride it out.
Food: Increase your vitamin C levels to boost your immune system. I had pizza one night to lift my spirits but apart from that I tried to maintain my healthy eating (soups, salads, veggie meals etc).
Day 7-10 (recovery):
More TV, more chilling. I started to take on a few more bits around the house and tried to keep me occupied. I started to scab over for the bigger spots and the blotching skin started to reduce. You need to make sure all your spots are scabbed over before going into public as if they still have a white head you are still infectious apparently. The queen spot (main spot) it the worst one to heal and has taken the longest. It's right on my tattoo on my back so I hope it's not going to scar. If it does then i'll just live with it.
Day 11+:
Using lots of moisturiser to bring my skin back to normal. Also hair oil was my saviour. My skin is starting to return to normal but still have some scabs. I'll be able to go back to work by Day 14 (Monday) but still time to rest, recover and chill.
Ultimately, everyone can get chickenpox at different stages of their life and at different levels. I think my case was pretty severe but thanks to medicine, a helpful wife, good food and rest i'm now on the mend!
Good luck! There is hope.