HFMD really awful

[mizznicole]

Both kids (3y and 7m) got HFMD from a friend who didn't realize hers had it.  It's been absolutely terrible.  They are COVERED in blisters from head to toe.  The saving grace is that only the baby has a mouth sore.  They can't sleep.  They are itching like crazy.  They are uncomfortable, whiney, miserable.  I wanted to post this because I've seen a lot of people call it "no big deal."  Well, for my kids it's been awful.  Imagine blisters from the size of a pinhead to a pea covering a baby's fingers and hands, toes and feet.  No big deal???

What's also frustrating is that there is almost NO advice out there on how to deal with it except NSAIDS.  They've been getting them around the clock, plus benedryl for the older one, probiotics, fish oil, and colloid silver.  Nothing seems to be shortening the length so far.

One interesting observation - I've been laying on zinc oxide super thick all day long, and that seems to have lessened the blistering/rash in the diaper area.  I wonder if it could help the big blisters elsewhere.  But again, no info anywhere!

I had to spray down DS1 with lanocane to get through the night.  He was rubbing his feet raw for hours on end until I thought of it.  I'm sure there's some awful side effect.  But what do you do when they are suffering so bad at all hours of the night?

I'm really second-guessing letting them get chicken pox naturally after this! 

[onetrumpeter]

hope your LOs are on the mend.  we've dealt w/ HFMD (what's the name? coxsackie virus, IIRC) a few times and it's been really bad.  I'm so sorry!  there are several strains(?) and we've had it a few times.  yes, we did lots of ibuprofen which seemed to help a bit but it was still bad :(

[Alenushka]

I am really sorry.It was really bad for my kids too. 

[Kanna]

Careful with the NSAIDS! If you give them too much, this can cause kidney damage!

Also, open sores are prone to attrackt secondary infections (e.g. with staph), which (in rare cases, mind you) can cause systemic infections (=sepsis) so keep a close eye on if they get worse (pus, increased redness, swelling, fever, baby not as responsive anymore, etc.). If things DO get worse, I'd recommend seeing a pediatrician for some antibiotics.

[Mummyboo]

We had it really bad a couple of years ago, My husband had blisters on his hands and feet that were an inch across.  We had to keep the kids in for about 3 weeks as that is how long it took for the blisters to go, it was really awful.  We had a lot of success with porridge oats in a pair of tights in the bath, put the kids in there and they would literally sit in the bath and play for a couple of hours, and that helped bring down the itching.

Not sure how old your baby is, my youngest was just under a year old and we had trouble getting fluids in him because his mouth was so sore, I had to get someone to get me a breastpump because he wouldn't feed and I was painfully engorged and we ended up expressing, putting the milk in the fridge until it was cold, and then using a syringe to feed him it a little at a time, the coldness helped the pain, but I was almost about to take him to hospital for fluids.

I have dealt with chicken pox with all 4 of my children now, i'd rather have that than Hand foot and mouth.