Hand foot and mouth in adults

[ButtMuncher]

Hi all,

My DS (13 months) had HFAM last month and got over it relatively quickly (if painfully, poor lamb). The weekend before last I had a random vomiting bug, which seemed to bypass my son and partner but caught my mum and brother (Mum looks after my DS twice a week when I'm at work).

Friday just gone I left work early with a sore throat and fever, which peaked Saturday early hours at 40c. Spots appeared Saturday lunchtime and by evening I couldn't swallow or eat, and my mouth was full of pus. Sunday the spots worsened and spread to finger tips and base of feet.

It's now Monday and I can't weight bear on my feet due to the pain of the blisters and can't used my hands effectively (weirdly my thumbs seem ok). My hands are completely blistered and red hot.

Could anyone with experience of HFAM in adults shed light as to what point this should be a doctors appointment, if at all? This is my last week at work before my new job and need to handover - but have no idea if or when I'll get in I know HFAM is viral so no antibiotics are required but not sure if there is a benchmark at which point medical intervention is require to prevent infection etc. I'm finding it hard as I can't do much with my DS but my DP can't do everything so I know my DS has come into contact with the virus again.

The pain is genuinely worse than childbirth

Excuse the awful tattoo

I feel for you - the pain is terrible. Nothing the doctor can do either. Maybe try some calamine lotion? Once I turned a corner, the rash went really quickly (like almost overnight) so fingers crossed. It's very contagious though so you can't really go into work until the rash goes.

Not a medical professional but I caught HFAM off my niece a couple of years ago. It was horrible! Mine lasted just under a week I think from getting to initial fever to the pain dying down. I didn't bother going to the doc though - if you are confident that it is indeed HFAM there really isn't a lot they can do as it's viral.

Has your fever gone down and can you swallow better now? Those are the two things that would probably make me want to talk to a doc, the rest is more unpleasant than anything. I seem to remember the NHS Choices page on HFAM is quite good, maybe have a read if you get the chance.

I came down with it on a weekend and then had about 3 days off work I think, its pretty contagious so my bosses were quite happy not to see me! DNiece obviously had about 1 blister and was better in 24 hours...

OP, hope you feel better soon.

Annoyingly we don't have a GP at the moment as we've literally just moved, so anything to avoid going is a good thing. I'm so conscious of my son catching it, but I suspect it was him I caught it off.

I will try and get some chamomile lotion, it's more the weight bearing I find the hardest, it's not so bad if I'm laying down but having a 1 year old and laying down aren't two things that to hand and hand