shingles, chickenpox and PMR
Posted , 8 users are following.
I know this has been discussed a number of times before, but never sure what conclusions are reached. My son, whom I see frequently, most recently on Sunday, tells me that he may have had chickenpox as a child after all, as his doctor has tentatively diagnosed him with shingles. Although it might be a really bad case of contact dermatitis. 
Test results won't be available for a few days so he's being treated as though he has shingles just in case. What should I be aware of? I don't think I've ever had chickenpox, although if son had it, maybe I too have had a subclinical case. Both other kids had chickenpox, years apart, so we were apparently not a very vulnerable clan.
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Anhaga
Posted
Just thought I should give people the end of this story as it is rather amusing. Apparently my son's test was negative for shingles. He believes what happened was this: he was thinning out some parsnips, and before taking off the leaves he'd rested the plants on one arm. When he came into the house he washed his hands right away. That evening he had some discomfort of the skin on his arm, which got worse until it blistered a couple of days later and triggered visit to clinic and shingles scare. His skin has mostly cleared up but remains sensitive to sunshine. So, beware the evil parsnip leaves! A relative, I think of things like wild carrot, but also giant hogweed and poison hemlock. Oddly enough I remember well into my adult years being very sensitive to carrots in that my fingers would develop itchy blisters when I peeled them. New theory - carrot family causes inflammation.
donna60512 Anhaga
Posted