What was chickenpox like for you as an adult?

[Signoritawhocansway]

My DD currently has chickenpox. She's not too badly affected at all; not a lot of spots, seemingly not itchy and no other symptoms. My DS hasn't had it, and neither have I (as far as I know - Mum always said I didn't get it when my brother had it).

Unfortunately, we've never been able to afford immunisation for it. At £90 x 2 per person, it's been well out of our reach.

I'm not too worried about my son getting it. He'll be 13 soon and while I know it might not be so mild for him, I'd rather he got it over and done with

I'm worried about me though. Everything I read says it will be horrendous. Is that your experience of having it as an adult? I'm prepared to phone GP for anti-virals if I get symptoms

Had it at 18. Utterly horrendous. Felt ill beyond belief. I caught it from two much younger family members and they had it much milder in comparison. I was off college for 6 weeks.

I had it at 40, not terrible, felt feverish like with a bad cold & itchy spots but nothing too awful. It was Christmas and we cracked on (me and two DC) all the adults had already had it & wanted to spend Christmas with us

You should get your son a vaccination now.

I had Chickpox aged 6. Very mild only a few spots. But I passed it on to my mother who was 34 at the time. OMG she was so ill with it.
Took herself off to the spare room as my Dad hadn’t had it . I can see her now laying in bed with the curtains closed. Dad must have had immunity, never caught CP

I was thirty. I had the headache from hell for a week and very annoying itchy spots but it wasn't horrendous.

Had it at 37. Very, very ill for over a month. 400 plus spots.

I had it at 39. I felt so ill. I assumed I was immune as I'd never caught it, but my children had it at the same time and I caught it from them. I felt fluey, then the spots appeared. They were all over and the ones on my fingers got infected. After a week I got a wheezy chest and had to see the doctor. He said it's very common for adults to get a secondary bacterial infection and mine was a chest infection. It was the worst illness I've ever had. My brother came down with it a few weeks later and he was ill like I was. If antivirals are recommended, do take them.

I got it when I was around 40. My ds got it first (aged 5) and I caught it from him. DD who was around 2 didn’t appear to get it at all! I didn’t feel great and had spots everywhere externally which were annoying but I don’t remember feeling particularly awful. I did make the mistake of rubbing off the scabs on my face though and they left marks.

I got CP at the age of 33 AND 26 weeks pregnant!!! DDS had it while staying with us despite me telling DH I never had CP.
Luckily I wasn’t too ill and had the spots but they weren’t horrendous.
i was of course concerned about the baby but was reassured that it was a relatively safe time.
DD is now 21 and never had CP so I wonder does she have the immunity

I had it at 24 when my twins were a few months old it was ok felt bit fluey and itchy but was able to look after the babies still . My hubby got it at 40 and was horrendous in bed for 3 days which is unheard of for him ,

Not me but both my brothers. One had it at 23 and will ill for a good 3 weeks. My youngest brother contracted it at 40 from his 5 year old. Bit of a horror story I’m afraid. My sister in law ended up taking him to hospital as GP refused to come out to him at night. Hospital told my sister in law that if she had left it 24 hours my brother would be dead. It had got into his eyes and lungs and was put on a ventilator. They wouldn’t even let our mum in to see him he was that ill and when she phoned me she really thought that he was on his way out. He was ill for weeks. Complaint was made about GP. For some reason neither brother got it when my sister and I had it, we did have it pretty mildly. I never realised it could be so serious. We are all in our 60’s now but I remember being really scared for him.

I had it in my 20’s when I was 6 months pregnant. It wasn’t much fun but no worse than any other virus I’ve had. Spent a few of days with a high temp/feeling washed out etc, luckily didn’t have a huge amount of spots.

I had chicken pox when I was 20 and at first I thought I'd got flu but a couple of days later the spots appeared which were really itchy and unpleasant.
I felt rough for a couple of weeks then returned to work.

age 21, I was extremely ill, almost hospitalized....the scars afterward weren't too widespread but one (small pit) on face has always bothered me

Horrific. I caught them at 19 yrs old. I collapsed & had a stroke. I'd no idea chicken pox could cause strokes. My case was extreme & pretty rare but it does happen 😢

I haven’t had it as an adult but when my daughter was exposed last year (playing and hugging a child in the morning who broke out in spots that afternoon) the pharmacist said you can sometimes prevent an infection or lessen the symptoms by getting the vaccine. You have to do it within 5 days of exposure- the sooner, the better. We got her jabbed 4 days later and she didn’t get it. It was £65 - the pharmacies around us charge between £60-75, we went with the only one with availability (they were all catching it in her very large nursery). Call the gp or go into the pharmacist and see what they suggest!

I caught it at 26 from my 2 year old. Spots everywhere! The worst ones were in my ears - they made it difficult to sleep. It took 3 weeks for the spots to start crusting over - was off work for over a month (no working from home option back then)

A dad at my children’s primary school was hospitalised because of chickenpox.

NO! Do not stock up on Ibuprofen, seriously do people not know this by now?! Do not give Ibuprofen to anyone suffering from chicken pox!

ihad it in primary school. My daughter is an adult and has never had it. It just didn’t come round our area when she was young. I will tell her to seek advice from the GP because it does worry me.

I was 26 weeks pregnant too when I had it, luckily I wasn’t too ill.
Has your DC had CP or do you think they got immunity in the womb? DD is 21 now and never had CP

Thought it was free through NHS?

i contracted chickenpox at 31 from putting cream on my mum's shingles .
I didn't know someone with shingles can give you chickenpox.

I had a new baby and remember feeling delirious and trying to scrub clean shitty towelling nappies. I felt awful.

i soon changed to disposable nappies as was getting no help.

I had chickenpox as an adult and honestly, it wasn’t pleasant, but it also wasn’t the horror story the internet makes it sound like for everyone. I felt rough for a few days — feverish, tired, itchy — but I got through it fine with rest and antivirals from the GP. Plenty of adults do.

If you’ve genuinely never had it, there’s a good chance you could catch it from your DD, but it’s impossible to know for sure because some people had such mild cases as kids that they don’t realise. I’d definitely keep an eye out for symptoms and contact your GP early if you start feeling unwell, as antivirals work best when started quickly.

Also, the fact your daughter’s case is mild doesn’t necessarily mean yours would be severe. Try not to panic yourself reading worst-case scenarios online, most healthy adults recover absolutely fine, even if they do feel more wiped out than children usually do.

I had it at 34 and it was really awful. Started with a wave of lethargy then a couple of welts. For some reason I went to GP for a diagnosis, I was single and living alone maybe I wanted to know how to treat it? I think I had tones of piriton, that chalky lotion and paracetamol. I had a fever for about a week. I covered the sofa in sheets and had the TV on constant for company, Mum phoned daily and I had a few friends do food runs but there was very Iittle could eat. All in all I was off work for 3 or 4 weeks, lost loads of weight.

Conversely, a similarly aged colleague had it and it was a doddle, back at work after a week or some such.