The month after HFM-adult

Thanks for the replies and advice. I know I just have to be strong and remind myself that as unpleasant as it is, it isn't life-threatening. It's not helped by the fact that the doctor prescribed me some hydrocortisone pills for my mouth ulcers, and I think I'm suffering from one of its potential side effects, insomnia. Just about the last thing I need!

I've read conflicting advice about how long you're contagious for. My son has had it but am worried about my parents who are coming over to look after him. I'm not going to touch them or stay too close to them, and I've disinfected everything I've touched. I really hope that's enough.

My experience of Hand foot and mouth!

By the way.. I am 24 female and caught this at my daycare I work at. There was a boom of it for a good while, but died down.. then strep was rolling in. Buuut here my story,

SO it all started with a sore throat for a few days.. didn't think anything of it.. later in the week one of coworkers got strep! So now I'm freaking out that this is what i have! I ended up catching a mild fever about 99.4 I didn't go to work that day, ended up going to doctor and it wasn't strep doctor said it was viral, no antibiotics just rest and sent me home. I went to my night class tho that night, Teacher then sent me home because I was literally shaking the table from the chills, you woulda thought I was having a seizure. I calmed down enough to end up driving home! That night my temp goes straight up to 103.4 it was THE WORST night.. I for sure thought it was strep. I've heard you can test for strep and it not come out positive the first time so I went to doctor next day, and the swabbed AGAIN and it was still negative .. my fever was breaking this day and I was literally sweating my fever out all day even at the doctor.. doctor was still calling it viral..but decided to test for couple other things like Mono.. but not once decided to test for hand foot (I didn't think I had it which is why I never brought it up but you'd think a doctor would) if you check symptoms for hand foot I had all of them (besides the blisters and such on my body) and that was that.. I rested that whole day. Next day fever was broke and I went to work! Exhausted and all. That night I had burn like blisters starting popping up on my hands I thought I burned myself cause they showed up while I was cooking! And my feet had this weird tingly feeling all night thought it was weird but went to sleep that night not thinking anything much of it. That morning.... BOOM dots/blisters whatever you want to call them were ALL over my feet. Good dozen on my hands and even a couple on my labia. I knew it had to be something because I was JUST at the doctor and got had my physical 4 days before all this happened and decided to get checked for along STDS which came back negative. So called my doctor and sure enough she diagnosed me over the phone with Hand Foot and Mouth because I was not going back to the doctor for the 4TH TIME in 2 weeks.

REMEDY I USED: coconut oil coconut oil coconut oil

I took one if not 2 baths a day and after every shower I lather in it (which I do both of these things anyways) but it literally helped the annoyance of them. The fever was the worst part of all of this, the blisters I had little to no problem with, so I would say use tons of coconut oil should help!! At least it did for me.

I conracted HFMD from my BF who got it from his niece. I'm from US and flew to Rome where he went for holiday and was hospitalized due to dehydration- his ulcers in his throat was so severe he couldn't swallow and therefore couldn't get fluids into his system. He didn't eat for 3-4 days but that didn't matter the doctor said.. no fluids for 2 days is what hurt him the most. After 3 days in the hospital he felt better and was discharged on a Friday morning. I most likely contracted it on Thursday when he was having bouts of dry coughing and I was sleeping in the hospital bed next to his. On Sunday morning we flew back to the states and I had a massive fever on our flight back. It was so terrible I went to urgent care where they showed I had a 104 degree fever. I had a feeling it was HFMD but the doctor says it could also be the flu; since the flu and hfmd are both viral diseases the treatement is similar: 1 shot of Toradol (similar to ibuprofen) when I was at the hospital and he gave me 800mg of ibuprofen to take home. He also gave me lidocaine for my throat pain; it's a numbing agent and helped a tad. See below for my treatments:

Day 1:

Symptoms= fever, nausea and sore throat

Treatment= Ibuprofen extra strength for fever and pain, Ondansetron for nausea, salt & water gargle and Lidocaine viscous-maalox for throat (all this medication is prescription).

Day 2:

Symptoms= mild fever, and escalated sore throat pain, sores all over mouth and tongue. Rashes on hands, feet, buttox, genital area, and back of neck/head start to form but do not itch

Treatment= same as day 1 minus Ondansetron. 

Day 3:

Symptoms= sore throat but not as bad as day before, I start to notice sores on mouth and tongue. The worst part- Rashes on hand and feet start to itch like mad!

Treatment= Ibuprofen for throat pain, salt and water gargle, stopped lidocaine but now focused on helping my rashes (I did a ton of things but I'll list what worked for me): Benadryl x2, slather Biofreeze gel or icy/hot on hands and feet, over the counter sleeping pills!

Day 4: (currently writing this on day 4)

Symptoms= sore throat, sores all over mouth and tongue, rashes on body still itch like crazy and now starting to feel painful/sore, especially when walking.

Treatment= Claritin/Benadryl extra strength, slather biofreeze gel or icy/hot on hands and feet, stopped prescription ibuprofen and may take regular advil if my throat keeps me up.

Day 5: (tbd)

*HFMD symptoms vary depending on the person. My BF had mild fever and severe throat pain but had 10 little dots total on hands and feet which never itched; both his niece and his sister had a lot of problems with the rashes but had mild fever and mild sore throat; so far my biggest issue was my fever and the rashes are driving me insane. 

oh my gosh, I am so happy I've found this discussion! (btw, sorry not native english speaker).

my doctor didnt even know about this virus, they said it is some kind of virus blah blah. so i've found your discussion and i am relieved haha.

oh, i am 27yrs old female. got this monstrous thing 2 weeks ago. the simptonms exactly like yours and so on. and now being on a second week what bothers me the most, btw i've had those red itchy burning dots all over my face, palms, part of hand, and feet. after all the burning red hell, i've got a relief, but everything just started to peel of, especially palms, and it peels off in huge large thick patches of skin and under these patches the skin is red and not fully formed, so it hurtssss owwwch. so i am going everywhere with my gloves on, even getting a shower (which is painful) with rubber gloves on. because if it gets wet, it hurts a lot and pulsates. what is helping me a bit is a d-panthenol spray and a glycerine for a new forming skin. the same goes to my feet btw, just not that dramatic, but i am waiting.. also the face looks bad, on the areas where were most of those dots (chin, forehead, eyebrows, nose, even lips) there is healed but left ummm red-brownish spots which annoys me so much, maybe they will stay forever here haha. so yeah, it's a freaking nightmare this virus and it's aftermath.. but we've survived it! could be worse :D

In October 2016 on a visit to the UK from Sweden, my 1year old suddenly developed a 41c fever and was not responding so had to be rushed to hospital. 6 hours later after every part of my little boy was examined we were told to go home as it was most probably just a virus. The next day my son refused to eat or drink or open his mouth and then stsrted to develop a faint (at first) rash on his legs. Over the next few days the rash became worse, spreading on his legs, feet and hands. He was very ill for a week in total and quite run down for a while afterwards (lots of colds abd bugs etc). It was at Christmas time I noticed that his little fingernails and toenails started to drop off. Another strange thing, before HFMD my son could say around 10 words. Since the illness he has never spoken since, possibly due to he was in so much pain in his mouth.

At the same time as my 1 year old had HFMD I caught it 3 days after. I started with a high fever, aches and chills (almost flu like symptoms) I had a severe sore throat that no medicine seemed to help. The blisters in my mouth were horrific and could only manage soup and mashed potato. I too developed the characteristic rash on my hands and feet, first starting with needle like sharp pains. I recovered within 2 weeks but it left me very weak and tired. It is now March 2017 and since October I have caught every single bug going from stomach flu to coughs and colds and have felt very run down and can't seem to pick up again. I have also lost 2 fingernails and a toenail!

It is a very nasty virus and I don't wish it on anyone! Hope this helps anyone looking for info on HFMD.

So sorry. Mine was horrible too. And I still get blisters occasionally. It's a weird whacky virus. And crazy healthy people get knocked down with it.

Okay, so I'm on day 3 of HFM; but it is only my second day since my hands and feet were affected.

It started off Wednesday morning with the major fever, headache, sore throat, feeling so weak that I even had to have my girlfriend help me to the toilet because I just couldn't walk by myself without feeling as though I was going to collapse. Last night my hands and feet started itching uncontrollably, but didn't have any blistering so I thought I may have had an allergic reaction to something because just moments before, me and my girlfriend were sat on her roof to watch the sun go down(soppy, I know). Today I also didn't have any blistering just red dogs around my fingers and thumb but weren't risen, and when I walked I could feel blisters there, but was unable to see any. So, I went to my local doctor and straight away he had told me that it is infact HFM even though there is no blistering inside my mouth, but there was a breakout on my face(on my chin and around my nose). My question is, how do you stop the blistering from remaining there? Like stopping scarring?? On my hands and feet I'm not too fussed because as my doctor said, most of them are under the skin(it's the itchiness I can't handle). But I have been feeling so low seeing the way my face looks with all of the blistering. Do you have any tips for stopping it from scarring or whatnot? I'd really like to get rid of it in all honesty😪 my face has just cleared up from years of wearing make up, I'd really like for it to be as clear as possible once again.. please can you help?!

I'm 30 and I just caught HFMD from my room mate's kid and I used to walk barefoot a lot so the skin on my feet was really thick mine started with massive diarrhea and a massive headache then 1 blister appeared on my right pointer finger then it slowly progressed and I am quite heavy my feet started to itching then over 2 days my feet were covered in white very painful blisters that itch,burn tingled and if I tried to walk it hurt extremely bad I could hardly walk at all and I couldn't wear socks or shoes I was in misery nothing would help the pain I wished there was a cure does anyone know how to ease the awful pain in my feet

I am so happy to find this thread.  I've been thinking my experience with HFMD was totally outrageous, and it's just nice to see that I'm not alone, although I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone. 

I'm a relatively healthy 33 year-old female, and it's been about a week since I experienced the first symptom. For me, it was a minor sore throat at first. I had heard that HFMD was going around at daycare, but I didn't pay much attention. My toddler contracted it, but seemed fine. She had a mild fever, followed by a rash, but none of it seemed to bother her much, and about 4 days after the fever, she was fine.  I, on the other hand, am still living in hell. 

The sore throat went from minor to excruciating in just 24 hours. As the sore throat is ramping up, I notice I have a "paper cut" between two of my fingers.  I don't remember getting a paper cut, but I put a bandage on and keep it moving.  A few hours later, I notice two other spots that feel like paper cuts, I bandage these and try to be more careful with my paper handling.  Of course, more spots on my hands appear, my hands are itching and feel a little like the pins and needles "asleep" feeling you get when you lose circulation. I begin to suspect that they were not caused by poor paper handling skills.

The next day, the itching is even worse.  I can't stop rubbing and wringing my hands all through the day, as more and more spots are appearing.  I am worried that my toddler is going through the same thing, so I make a Dr. appointment for her for the next day.  That night my hands burned so bad, I couldn't sleep at all.  The only relief I found was by dunking my hands in a bowl of ice water.  In the meantime, I haven't eaten anything in two days, bc my mouth and throat are burning, preventing me from swallowing.  Ice water is my only friend.

The next morning, my toddler is fine, no signs even of the rash, no issues.  We go to the doctor anyway, because at this point, I'm convinced I'm dying. I've also noticed a yellow crustiness that's developed on my ears, around my nostrils, and in some places of my scalp.  The pediatrician confirms HFMD, but I have to go to an urgentcare to be treated since I'm an adult.  What a waste of a $60 co-pay.  They basically told me to go home and use neosporin with lidocaine and take ibuprofen. I had been taking ibuprofen for the duration, and it didn't even scrape the surface of the insane pain I was going through. 

At this point, the tingling and itching were moving to my feet, making it difficult to walk.  I shuffled through the drug store and bought every product containing lidocaine or claiming to reduce burning and itching (spoiler alert: nothing worked).  I bought some over the counter sleeping pills as well, since I was exhausted but didn't think I could sleep through this pain. I also made the excruciating journey 27 feet out of my way to get ice cream, which actually really helped my throat.  Actually, one of the lidocaine products did help a little, especially as the burning in my feet increased, it was an Aspercreme roll-on with max strength lidocaine.  The sleeping pills were also helpful, would recommend.

The next 24 hours are a fever dream-like blur. I could hardly move from bed, I couldn't walk, I had developed the blisters on my elbows now, too, which made even propping myself up to dunk my hands in my gross bowl of ice water painful.  My hands and feet were swollen. The blisters were so painful. It felt like I was covered in paper cuts, and that miniature people were stabbing me with tiny knives in all my paper cuts.  My hands and feet felt like someone had rubbed them raw with a cheese grater.  My husband wore a surgical mask and gloves as he refreshed my bowl of ice water for my raw meat hands and wrapped my feet in towels soaked with cold water.  I felt like a burn victim.

Thankfully, by the next day, the mouth and throat pain had subsided marginally.  I actually thought I could venture out of my house, which I did, wearing fingerless hobo gloves on a hot summer day, but the energy I expended totally drained me. It was a bad idea. In the evening, as a fun treat, all the yellow crustiness peeled off my nose, leaving it feeling like an open wound.

Today, I am at work, also a bad idea.  I haven't left my desk all day, because the pain in my feet still lingers, I'm a hideous mess of blisters (thankfully only 2 on my face), and bc I don't want to infect anyone else.  I stumbled on this forum, because I'm pretty sure I have nerve damage in the tips of many of my fingers.  I had also been saying for the last couple days that it feels like my fingernails are going to fall out, and I'm not thrilled to find out from some of these other accounts that might actually happen. My hands and feet are covered in leprosy blisters, some larger and more painful than others. The skin has shriveled up in places on my hands, like permanent pruney skin from being in a bath too long. There are still lingering sores in my mouth, under my lips, and when I try to describe this ordeal to anyone, they seem skeptical, saying only. "I thought only little kids got that," as they back slowly away from me with their hands held up, blocking the sight of my hideous, spotted, rashy hands.

This really was so horrendous, I don't even think I've fully processed it, and from what everyone has written, it doesn't sound like it's over.  I think it was more painful than my natural un-medicated childbirth.  Doctors really need to be more aware of this as an issue, I was treated poorly by the urgentcare staff, and I know that there's nothing they can do, but they were aloof and uncaring in the face of my visceral, abject, devastating pain. Other than posting this, it doesn't sound like there's anything else I can do, so I guess I'll just sit here and wait for my fingernails and skin to peel off...

my teenage son had this and we are about two weeks out with the peeling hands. This morning he is now complaining his hands are so numb he cant feel them. has anybody experienced this