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My lovely big brother has just told me he has shingles... we visited him at the weekend to see my new baby niece (They are keeping an extra close eye on Mum and baby, 2 weeks old today)

Anyway, I have never had chicken pox but it has passed me by several times (once my other brother had it, twice through school and once through work) so I reckon I am immune or had a very mild case (which is apparently possible)

So I am waiting now to see if E develops the symptoms - does anyone have any handy hints to either keep it at bay, or to get it over with asap when it does get here.

Oh nasty. Chickenpox is not a pleasant experience. And all the childhood illnesses seem worse when adults are infected so I hope your really do have immunity.

My son had his dose of it when we were on holiday in southern France. He had a REALLY bad case of it but thanks to a lovely (but rather expensive) French doctor he managed to emerge without scars etc despite being absolutely plastered in spots. I think the French treatment is quite different to the British version but I can recommend it. Firstly he was given some bright red antibacterial paint which we had to apply to the spots. I know you can buy the same stuff in the UK but I'm not sure what it's called. I'll try to find out. Secondly he had a very mild sedative in liquid form (he was five at the time) to stop him feeling so inclined to scratch and thirdly an antiseptic shower lotion (used twice a day) to keep his skin spotless. She also recommended he was kept away from other chidren and out of the sunlight (almost impossible on a camping holiday in July on the south coast of France). I understand that once the all spots form scabs the chickenpox is no longer infectious.

Fortunately it's not particularly warm in the UK now so the effects might not be so bad.

Both my children had it when they were little, my daughter worse than my son but she ended up getting it again last christmas and she was very poorly. She was knocked off her feet for weeks. Unfortunately aswell she has been left with some permanent scarring on her back. I couldnt believe how badly she got it, even though I know it is worse when you are an adult. You could barely see her skin for spots. Her 3yr old also got it but just the odd fews spots. So it is much better to get it when you are a child. I purposely let my kids play with others that had it so they would get it over and done with, In our case it wasnt much help!
My daughter had antihistermines to try and relieve the itching and also abx as they did become infected. Apart from that it was cool showers to try and get some relief, plenty of fluids and calamine lotion.
Hopefully you are immune. You can actually have a blood test to see if you have had chickenpox if you are really worried.

Rhus tox tablet and cream ... the cream is labeled for rheumatism but it has what you need. Apply instead of that nasty calamine and give the tablets both will make the itching much less if not stop it all together. Homeopathic remedies.

My son's girlfriend (she's a pharmacist) has just sent me a text to say it's Betadine but she is pretty sure it isn't in production anymore. Anyway, it's iodine based so that will also do the job, although it would sting any open sores.

three of mine had it,gave them piriton and put calamine lotion in a spray bottle rather than apply with cotton wool,ok once the scabs form,

I swear by echinacea - to boost your immune system its cheaper in a good chemist to get the 6x white tablets rather than a health store variety. ( My last phial cost £4 but will last a while)
I had shingles while pregnant with my middle child and she proved to be immune - Hope you are too Annpan !(nearest i can get to crossed fingers)

invisiblepiper wrote: I had shingles while pregnant with my middle child and she proved to be immune )

I have an immunity to glandualr fever for the same reason; mum had a really bad case of it when pregnant with me.

I like the calamine in a spray bottle tip, that's a god one to ass on lol!

sorry for bad typing. dont know whats up today.
good one to pass on. there. makes more sense now.

Mine had it when they were wee. I put a drop of lavender, bergamot and eucalyptus EO in their baths and made sure they were completely immersed in it (apart from eyes of course!) Although they started with spots they dried up before they became blisters. Lavender promotes healing and helps prevent/reduce scaring, bergamot lifts the mood and eucalyptus has antiseptic proporties. We did the same with my dad when he had shingles. It started when they were visiting a friend who happened to be a doc - he gave him Zovirax (I think it's used here for cold sores) and told him it would be weeks before he was cured. He came home and we did the EO thing on him and he was better in a fortnight!
Good luck!

I had it as an adult. not nice - they say its worse for adults. I had chest pains which dr said was pox on the lungs! lovely!

anyway, dont use that camoline lotion.. horrid.. but i did use a aloe vera after sun gel.. very soothing. for kids, keep nails short. and when my son had CP he ws ill, high temp etc, long before pox showed.

my eldest had it when she was 18 months. she was really good and hardly scratched at all but has got scars anyway. luckily they are mostly on the back but she has the odd one on her face as well. we slpped loads of calamine on, which was horrid stuff, maybe the scarring would have been worse without but who knows