Chickenpox

monofin

At the grand old age of 47 I've finally succumbed to chickenpox.
Never knew it was this bad. Went to bed Saturday afternoon and got up today - tired, nauseous, headache and of course covered in spots.

Any idea how long this lasts in adults?

ESchap

I had it age 21 and it lasted 2 weeks or so, first week feeling like I'd been run over by a train, the second so itchy that I frequently immersed myself in a bath of cool water just to get relief from the itching .... good luck!

monquixote

I had it last year. Ended up getting a load of horrible secondary infections and feeling shit for about 6 months.

monofin

Oh great 

mudslide73

I had it when I was 28 - about a month from start to finish. I had a fortnight off work. Very rough indeed for the first week. 

Deijavoo

Got it pretty much bang on 5 years ago at the grand age of 28. 

Was pretty unpleasant and took about 3 weeks from the initial illness starting to the spots clearing up. 

On the plus side you now have this to look forward to:

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/100865/top-tip-shingles-content#latest

monquixote

monofin said:

Oh great 

I got Ill with the infection before I got spots so you are probably fine.

IvisonGuitars

I had it for the first time 2 years ago at 34. Caught it off my 2 year old.

I genuinely thought I was going to die.

I had spots everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE. I went deaf in my left ear as there were blisters on my eardrums which left me with a mild tinnitus and I spent 4 weeks in bed. My skin still hasn't properly recovered, I get very dry patches on my face and occasionally I can't feel my scalp at all.

Best bit of advice I found on the internet one night when I couldn't sleep is take as much Vitamin C as you can stand. I got my wife to buy me 100 odd tablets which i'd taken within 3 days and that REALLY helped me. 

Also, bathing in a bath with dried oats helps the blisters dry up.

I really feel for you. It's fucking shit.

Electro_Ham

It's a breeze the younger you are. It is sheer hell the older you are. As a 14 year old I felt as if I was piXXing hot glass.
I guess it must be like piXXing molten lava at 47.

jonnyburgo

My Bro in law was hospitalised with it a few years ago, still has the scarring on his face. Thought his number was up he was that ill.

Teetonetal

The scary thing with chicken pox is that what you see on the outside is also happening on the inside. Got my kids vaccinated as getting it as an adult is more than shit.

monofin

I can honestly say I've never felt so ill - never! Feeling a bit more human today but the spots are everywhere and I mean everywhere. Even taking a pee is a major event due to the pain involved and my face feels like it covered in molten lava

CabbageCat

I missed my school disco because of chickenpox so think yourself fucking lucky.

axisus

CabbageCat said:

I missed my school disco because of chickenpox so think yourself fucking lucky.

I'd have put that down as a result in my teen years

axisus

I had it at 18. Lasted a couple of weeks, it was a nightmare, it affected my throat badly and I couldn't swallow food or drink, it was deeply uncomfortable. I lost a lot of weight!

Ravenous

monofin said:

Never knew it was this bad. Went to bed Saturday afternoon and got up today - tired, nauseous, headache and of course covered in spots.

I had it at around 30 (now a few decades ago). Similar to you, I was in bed for a couple of days with what I'd describe as being like extreme flu.

The worst bit for me was a day or so after, stabbing pains in the wrists which just wouldn't go away. I would guess arthritis may be like that. At that point my doctor  prescribed me painkillers (1000mg paracetamol, I think) which was enough for 2-3 days, by then the joint pain was gone.

The spots started around this time and were unbelievably itchy - don't scratch them though.  In my case I had a lot of them on my head and every time I showered there was slime coming off them. (Hate to think what my scalp looks like now, under my hair.)

At the time I fancied myself as being pretty fit. Not sure how I'd cope with it at fifty...

(Fortunately haven't had any follow on stuff like shingles, etc.)

photek

Hope you feel better soon man.

I had it at 33 and it wasn't as bad as some of the guys above but was pretty unpleasant, whole body covered including the soles of my feet

I felt rough for 2 weeks and had 3 weeks off work. Avoid scratching and when you are feeing a bit better have some fun by scaring the crap out of the postman when you answer the door

Ravenous

photek said:

Avoid scratching and when you are feeing a bit better have some fun by scaring the crap out of the postman when you answer the door

Lol.  Did anyone see "Deadpool"?

monofin

Lil update. Have ended up in hospital for a couple of days. At least that have better drugs but I'm sick of people saying"wow that's the most severe case of chickenpox I've seen"

Deijavoo

monofin said:

Lil update. Have ended up in hospital for a couple of days. At least that have better drugs but I'm sick of people saying"wow that's the most severe case of chickenpox I've seen"

Ooh dear. Get well soon!

Bridgehouse

Could be worse. The pox's could be really small.


(seriously - GWS man!)