Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

[Kristie in Florida]

Any experience?

 

My two year old has it, according to his doctor. He is absolutely miserable, has the rash, but no sores in his mouth or a fever.

 

I've been trying to keep him comfortable with oatmeal baths and children's advil if needed. Just waiting for it to run its course.

[Guest]

Both of my kids had it, seperately. It was the pits, but they came through unscathed. I dont remember doing anything specific, that I wouldnt always do with a sick kid. That doesnt mean I didnt though. Hugs to you. Its the worst when little ones are sick.

[kitten18]

There's a new strain of HFM, it's more severe and people that have immunity to the original strain are not immune to it.

My 26 year old niece got it then my 56 year old sister got it. They were absolutely miserable. It was a couple months ago and my sister stil has scars healing on her hands and she thinks one of her big toenails is going to fall off.

My sister was going to write up a list of all the things they did to stay comfortable, I will see if she finished that.

[kitten18]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-more-virulent-version-of-hand-foot-and-mouth-disease-hits-kids--and-parents/2012/09/16/63807780-f5f0-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html

[Lady Florida.]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-more-virulent-version-of-hand-foot-and-mouth-disease-hits-kids--and-parents/2012/09/16/63807780-f5f0-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html

 

Ds had it once, probably got it from the ball pit a Chuck E Cheese. He was uncomfortable and there wasn't much we could do for him but let it run its course. It lasted about 2 weeks and he had no lasting effects.

 

From that article I hope your son doesn't have the stronger strain. 

 

I wish I had a helpful answer. 

[Kristie in Florida]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-more-virulent-version-of-hand-foot-and-mouth-disease-hits-kids--and-parents/2012/09/16/63807780-f5f0-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html

That sounds terrible.

 

Poor baby has no fever and no sores though so I'm wondering if it is what he has. My sister said that the sores could show up in his mouth later though. He is also getting over the double ear infection that he had last week. We can't catch a break.

[redsquirrel]

Oh god, my youngest son got it and then I got it. It was miserable. Mine turned into... meningitis? But not the dangerous kind, just the painful kind.

 

Keep him as comfortable as possible, I specifically remember from my own experience that light HURT my eyes. So maybe keep the lights dim and try to keep noise down. Oh, my head hurt so much...just so much.

 

It will run it's course.

 

Hang in there, mama

[ktgrok]

Worst illness ever! The sores can be in the throat where you can't see them. No fruit, nothing acidic. Dairy helps coat it and make it feel better, so we did lots of ice cream and frozen squeeze yogurt. I think that's all I could get in them when they had it. So miserable. 

[mamaofgirls]

My daughter had it bad last summer... dont be surprised when his toe nails peel/fall off in a few weeks!

Edited April 23, 2016 by mamaofgirls

[J-rap]

A couple of my children had a milder case of it years ago, but it really wasn't too bad.  

[kitten18]

This is what my sister said for her and adult niece to stay as comfortable as possible.

 

"I can't find it. Here's the gist of it. No hot baths, it will make more come out. It can get itchy. We also thought that the more we actually moved around the worse it got. Obviously things like that could be in adults only. It hurt Madeline's feet to walk. My hands got so itchy they actually hurt. My nails are still falling off, 2 1/2 months later. As for the food:

Everything at room temperature, no spices, no sugars,no textures, as bland as you can get. We both lived on plain Greek yogurt. I also could eat soft, kind of runny scrambled eggs and cream of wheat. The only reason we actually ate was because we were taking pain meds and we wanted something in our stomachs. Do not sip on water, that was my most painful day.. Make them drink a whole,glass of water at once and maybe only once every hour. I suggest just trying to sleep as much as possible. I had a prescription for a really strong medicine to help with the itching, it barely worked but it did make me sleep. We both could not really eat anything normal for at least a week. Let me know if they ask anymore questions. "

[kitten18]

Another text from my sister. 😂

 

"The heat makes them spread and the babies get a lot more around their mouths and where their diapers go. I would tell her to ask her doctor about giving him a kiddy cocktail , double dose of Advil and Benadryl. "

[Spryte]

Oh, horrible! Kids and I had it one summer, we suspected the new strain. It is so painful. And the peeling, later, and losing the nails. Just miserable. DS lost most of his nails, I lost some. I remember feeling shocked by the peeling, later, and how long it went on. It seems like the worst part was over fairly quickly, though.

 

I hope everyone feels better soon.

[Kristie in Florida]

Do you think we'll know by now if it was the worse strain? This is day 3 and he doesn't seem to be in any pain. Eating fine. The rash is worse around his mouth and diaper area, but mild everywhere else. He has it on the soles of his feet even!

[redsquirrel]

Do you think we'll know by now if it was the worse strain? This is day 3 and he doesn't seem to be in any pain. Eating fine. The rash is worse around his mouth and diaper area, but mild everywhere else. He has it on the soles of his feet even!

 

It prob doesn't matter at this point. You treat it symptomatically. The thing with this virus is that different people have different reactions. My son had it and it was three bad days of fever and crying, with no real rash to speak of. I was laid up in bed for a week and took two more weeks to recover.  A friend's baby who caught it at the same time had the rash in his mouth and his feet peeled etc.  I never had that and neither did my kid.  It just is what it is.

 

I think the idea of 'new strains' (and that wasn't a new article, it's from 2012) is going to be of more interest to doctors than patients. If you have a bad case of the 'old' strain or a mild case of the 'new' strain... you are just going to treat it as it plays out. If it's been three days, you are hopefully at the top of the hump, so to speak. If he starts to get worse, his fever stops responding to medications, he suddenly becomes light sensitive, becomes even harder to comfort, stops eating, his rash gets worse, then go to a doctor and have it checked out. But hopefully the poor little guy will turn the corner soon

[Joules]

Ds had it once, probably got it from the ball pit a Chuck E Cheese. He was uncomfortable and there wasn't much we could do for him but let it run its course. It lasted about 2 weeks and he had no lasting effects.

 

That's where my ds got it (about 15 years ago!)  Despite being assured it couldn't happen, both dh and I got it, too.  Absolutely miserable!  (I'm kinda hoping it was a rare occurrence of the icky strain.  I don't ever want to go through that again.)

[JessReplanted]

It's the worst. Liquid benadryl can help with some of the itching. I know that for each of my kids it meant that we were spending a week together on the couch (in misery). Hope he's feeling better soon!