By popular demand…
When I began blogging about our hand, foot and mouth disease saga, last July, I never expected my blog to explode with hits on that topic.
And once again, my blog hits appear to be skyrocketing with search hits containing some version of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), as well as symptoms relating to that disease.
When we originally were hit with HFMD, we thought Little Dude was reacting to the antibiotic he was given for an ear infection – thus the rash. As we later found out when I was hit with the rash, that wasn’t the case.
As I’ve had many requests to describe the rash and other symptoms, I did some digging through my photo files, and I found these pictures I had taken when the rash originally appeared on Little Dude, on July 7, 2008.
Here is what HFMD looked like for us. (Yes, my rash/blisters were very similar.)
It is there, but due to the nature of the rash/blisters being very light in color, we didn’t notice it at first. It covered our feet, our hands and the backs of our legs.
If you look at this picture, I noticed that at least one of the blisters is apparent on the left-hand side of his tongue.
So, this post is for all the folks who are still visiting, trying to figure out if they have HFMD, or what to expect if they’ve already been diagnosed.
For those of you visiting for that reason, welcome and I’m so sorry you are dealing with this. The good news is that the painful part should be over within two to five days.
Here is a rundown of how it all happened for us, as well as links to the posts I wrote about each stage.
- Little Dude had a very high fever and just appeared to be in pain. His appetite was lacking, and he was diagnosed with an ear infection.
- Little Dude appeared to get better from the initial sickness, but his appetite was still below normal. He refused food that wasn’t pureed, or that he had to chew. (I began to suspect he had some more teeth coming in.)
- The rash appeared, although we believed it to be connected to the antibiotics he was taking.
- We thought Little Dude was on the mend, even though he was still pretty clingy.
- I was hit by a high fever and just felt miserable.
- The rash/blisters began to appear all over me, and I suddenly knew why my son had been crying when he would walk or stand, while he had been sick, as well as why his appetite wasn’t quite back to normal.
- The foot pain from the mini-blisters made me want to amputate both feet.
- Blisters continued to appear on me, but soon we both were on the mend.
- The bizarre peeling of the finger and toe nails began.
I really hope this helps those of you seeking more information, especially since I know how lost I felt when HFMD hit us. The information I could find online was very general, and couldn’t tell me how my child was feeling, or what would happen to me next when it hit me. Each case is diffent, but I’m truly hoping our story can help.
My son were hit with it back when he was a toddler. All I remember was that the blisters in our mouths were so painful, that we both didn’t want to eat! The feet and hands were pretty bad too, but eating was a downright chore. I dreaded every meal.
Hey, I resemble that title!
I am so glad it has never struck at our house. I love the pictures of his toes.
He has such a great smile!
Thanks for the comments, ladies… With the number of people searching my blog for this info, I felt it would be handy to do a post about the entire thing, as well as include pictures. Hopefully it helps some other parent!
Oh no! There was a confirmed case of HFMD at my son’s daycare…after we had alraedy taken him out Monday with a fever. The comparisons to all the other stories is uncanny! He had a fever for 2 days, it broke by the 3rd day when we took him to the doctor. They also diagnosed him with an ear infection and put him on augmenten. The doctor did notice one blister in his throat & said to be on the lookout. Well, yesterday was Thursday and I noticed the first blisters on his toungue & inside his mouth and the bottoms of his feet looked red. Today, Friday, I can totally tell that he has it on his feet – it looks like all the pics I’ve seen online. He also has a rash all the way up his legs. I called the doctor & they said it could be an allergic reaction to the medicine & to keep an eye on that. I have a feeling from what I’ve read from everyone’s posts that this rash is part of the HFMD. So, I have a question. My husband today started having a sore throat and was tired & achy. Tonight he has a full blown fever – 101 and chilled. Now he’s sweating it out, but still complaining about his throat. I asked to look at his hands & feet. Nothing. Yet. That will take time, right? He has gotten stuff like this before, like a weekend flu, but with my son having HFMD, I would suspect to see the marks on my husband in a couple days. Does that sound accurate? Can I expect to get it too? Did anyone in your family avoid getting it? Thanks.
Hi Crystal – So sorry this has entered your family. My husband didn’t get HFMD, so there is hope that your husband won’t get the full-blown version and that you might avoid it.
For me, my Mom informed me she knew I never had it as a kid. I would suspect that somehow I avoided that virus my entire life until my son got it. That is why it appears that so few adults get it – most of us have been exposed to the most common strain by the time we’ve left childhood.
Good luck to you and your family, and I hope the rest of you avoid it.
hi my daughter i just noticed that she has some spots on her feet and wont let anybody hold her or anything im a young mom and freaking out ive heard about the meningitis and things and i was afraid that was it. my aunt that i live with said that it looks like hand foot and mouth disease.
Omg I’m 28 years old and cannot beleive that I contracted this disease. It all started with what looked like ant bites on my neices lower legs and feet. 5 days after the visit with my neice I developed 10 or more very painful canker sores inside my mouth. I did’nt think much of it. I thought I was having an allergic reation to a new medicine or fruit. Then 2 days later I developed the same bumps that I spotted on my neice on the palm of my hands and 2 on my feet. Me googling my symptons is how I first found out that I had HMFD. By seeing different pictures and reading all sorts of articles on the topic. I knew I had HFMD.
I just contracted HFMD this past week, and let me tell you I thought I was dying. The 5 day fever is enough to kill someone!! I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. Blisters all over the inside of my mouth and swollen feet and hands, gross!! Soooo sick!!
Same phases for us! Healthy 11 month old,dx with ear infection, two antibotic fever went away. Back to ped, another antibotic, ear was still red. Next day rash appeared, thought he was allergic to Omnicef, back tp ped…Hand Foot and Mouth after $60 in copays and $85 in antibotics! Wish I had read this first!
I believe my 1 year old has HFMD. She hasn’t been able to sleep, doesn’t want to eat and has bumps that look just like ant bites on her lower legs, feet and hands. I haven’t looked inside her mouth yet, but she is drooling more than usual and has a runny nose. And she has a bad diaper rash. Oh and she also has a faint small rash as well as the blister like bumps. We are going to the doctor first thing in the morning. Why do things like this always happen on the weekend?? Thanks for this blog, it was nice to hear from another mom.
Darla, Ralonda, becca, Sherry & sallie – So glad I could help and hope everyone is feeling better (or will be soon)!
Sherry – Yes, the doctor’s bills are a treat – especially if the diagnosis is missed early on.
sallie – I wish I had run across more moms talking about it, too, which was why I pulled this together. Take care!
32 years old and very healthy, contracted HMFD last week, fever for 4 days, blisters, sores on entire inside of mouth, and down throat. No sign of HMFD on hand or feet. Gums are so swollen that my teeth have moved apart. The mouth pain is the worst of all, I’ve never been so sick in my life! I’d give birth to my son without any drugs 100 times over before doing this again. Here is a website a friend sent to me, I’m going to try some of these natural remedies. Maybe they’ll work for you.
http://www.alive.com/1464a4a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=227
Hi Alisha. My mouth didn’t get as bad as your mouth, from the sounds of it. We went through this experience last year, but thank you for sharing your experience here for folks who end up with HFMD in the future!
I think I’ve had HFMD since I was a kid (I’m now 25). No doctor has been able to diagnose it, but I get little red bumps on (usually just) my hands, but this year it’s spread to my mouth, elbows, and forearms. They’re more itchy than painful unless I touch anything and then they become painful. Whatever it is lives dormant in me for most of the year then comes out in the summer. I never get a fever and usually feel fine other than the horrible bumps. Does anyone else have a similar story? I’m the youngest of 4 in my family and we all have these symptoms come out every summer.
Candice – I have never heard of HFMD recurring like that. I’m not a medical professional, but it sounds like you are getting a form of eczema and should see a dermatologist.
My 19 month old and I have mild (so far) cases of HFMD. His symptoms started with small red bumbs around his mouth, similar to hives. He has had a low grade fever of 99.3. He had a significant increase in the amount of poopy diapers. Then I noticed similar bumps on his bottom. I was thinking this all was due to how much fruit he was eating. He was also drooling significantly more. I thought maybe this was due to teething. A few days later, I found the first mouth lesion, and noticed a small and mild one in my own mouth. Both of us have a bit of a skin rash. I woke up with a sore throat and red spots on my tonsils. So far though, it has been fairly manageable. From the sound of it, I think that we have not been hit as hard as some. I will update if anything seems to change.
Thanks for posting the blog. There is not much info on the web, especially for adults. It has been helpful!
Jackie – I hope everyone got healthy quickly and glad our story helped!
Thank you for this!! I did find your blog while searching for hand foot mouth disease! A couple of weeks ago my 10 yr old daughter was sick complaining of her feet and hands hurting and a kind of numb feeling… sore throat stomach ache and running a fever. She was diagnosed with strep.Now I am not so sure about the diagnosis! Last wknd. My husband started having a sore throat and took an antibiotic he had been Rx’d before and just never took at the time. He took one dose and starting having a tightness in his hands and feet, a bit of swelling, redness and a pins and needles kind of feeling. We thought he was having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic like you did wth your son! He went to the doc last Monday and was diagnosed with suspected HFMD. By By Tuesday the mouth sores appeared on his tongue. Today i think it is my turn! oh Yay! Sore throat fever achy and mouth feels abit funny…Just hoping my other 3 kids do not get this though i am not holding my breath! Really stinks as school starts in less then a week for all 4 of them and I am susposed to start peewee cheer leading practices as i am the coach in three days! eeek!
This has been a great blog and it helped reading about your families experiences!Thank you!
Crysti – So glad this helped and I hope the rest of your family managed to skip getting it!
I’m really glad I found this. While I was searching online, all I saw were articles about kids having them. My daughter was exposed at school and then my son has it now. I haven’t experienced the sores yet, but my hands feel tingly. I’m hoping I’m just being paranoid as I do not want to experience this. My daughter just had sores in her mouth. My son has it all over, his mouth, hands, feet and arms. I feel for him. At first, I thought he was just playing about not feeling well. Poor kids……
If I do end up getting it and they’re on my hands, how will I cook? Do I need to wear gloves? Do I just not touch anything? How about cleaning? Do you have to clean everything? I just don’t want my kids to get it again.
Wendy
Hi Wendy – So sorry you are battling with HFMD. It is a tough one… I was told, while I was sick, that the sores on the hands/feet weren’t an issue in spreading this, unless they were open. As for your kids getting it again, you shouldn’t have an issue once they have had it. There are several strains, I was told, but it is pretty unlikely for a person to be hit twice (per the information given to me). I am lucky that my Hubby cooks, so I got to bypass that. I kept any cleaning to a minimum during that week, too. It just hurt too much to walk for me to do a lot.
Don’t feel too bad about thinking your son was playing at feeling sick. Because the rash/blisters can be hard to see in some cases, that is what we thought at first, too. We couldn’t figure out why he didn’t want to walk or play – he just wanted to be held. Hope everyone heals soon!
hi. OMG. your blog is so interesting!
my 3 year old daughter was complaining about her tongue for 3 days. she said it was from a freeze pop, so i just figured she froze it a bit, or bit it, or cut it with the little freeze pop plastic bag. she could not sleep one entire night because of her tongue. she never had a fever. the day that i was going to bring her to the doc, she was eating goldfish pretzels, saying she was fine, so i cancelled the appt.
i had been battling a cold at the same time as the above was going on, but woke up yesterday morning, and my tongue was killing me. i had bumps on my hands, and every time i moved my tongue in my mouth, there was a new bump. then my feet started to kill me. i spent the day at work. (are all of my co-workers going to get that now?).
when i got home that night, i looked at my daughter’s hands and feet, only to find bumps. she even had some on her bumper.
i feel so bad that i ignored her tongue pain for 3 days (but she would NOT take any tylenol). that’s called karma, i guess. i am miserable!!!
how contagious is this stuff? i have heard conflicting reports. my daycare said that kids with HFMD can come to daycare?! but on the mayo clinic website, it said that it’s highly contagious.
HFM = Hell For Me!! kellie
Hi Kellie – So sorry you are dealing with this.
I have heard conflicting reports on the contagiousness of HFMD, too. The common thing I’m hearing, though, is that it is shared before the blisters appear, usually, and then if the blisters are open. Most of your coworkers have had HFMD as children, from the statistics I’ve heard, and as long as everyone has good hygiene practices (washing hands frequently, they don’t constantly touch their face/mouth after contact with other people, etc…), they shouldn’t all get it.
The problem with us moms is that our kids shove their hands and faces into our faces. It is next to impossible for us not to get something they have, especially if you haven’t had it as a child.
I never thought I would even be looking into HMFD at my age (39!). I have no idea how I got it…I have three kids, but none have had any symptoms. I noticed the ulcers in my mouth first…thought it was odd but attributed to too many sweets. Then the next day ulcers on my hands and then the next day I woke up with sore feet ( I finally went to the doctor by the 4th day and she was quite surprised that I had HMFD.) When I went to research on adults with HMFD, I found that it is quite rare and usually only affects adults with compromised immune systems….which is not what I thought of myself! I have been so diligent trying not to get the H1N1 (taking vitamin D, sleeping well at night, excercising, and constantly washing my hands!). It actually makes me worry that if I can pick up HMFD, then what is stopping me from getting H1N1! The only thing I can think off is that I washed my hands too frequenlty with an alcohol based cleaner that I may have gotten rid of my “good” natural bacteria that protects me from these viruses! (My husband is a little freaked out…I am sure I would be if I were in his shoes!!
Hi Tammie -
I’ve heard that the alcohol-based cleaners are good to use, so I don’t know about that. However, all it would take is one of your kids’ friends to have been infected with HFMD, and for you to have some sort-of exposure (they didn’t wash their hands and touched something that you were using).
Also, as there are mild versus extreme cases, I am wondering if it is possible that one of your kids had a very mild case that they barely noticed. (That being said, I think the fever at some point before the blisters is a common symptom, so I’m not positive on this – unless it was a mild fever.)
My Hubby didn’t get HFMD after all of this, but he was most likely exposed as a child, so tell your husband not to worry too much!
i would like to share my story. i am 38. my daughter is 3. she started dec14th with a high fever which last for a few days. she developed blisters in her throat and mouth and had bad breath. she was diagnosed with HFMD. She developed a painless rash from head-to-toe a fews days later. Dec. 23rd. i started with a fever. i developed painful blisters on my lips and tongue, my gums red and sore, my glands in my neck swollen, aches and fatigue. worst christmas ever, especially hearing my daughter cry in pain. she cried for days including christmas day. We spent that day eating freezer pops and drinking fluids. Wasn’t able to spend any time with famiy and friends and heart wrenching seeing your daughter not want to play with her new toys. my daughter is now just started to feel herself again since yesterday. she. is able to eat and drink without a tear. Her rash is almost gone. We are not out of the woods yet. i am off work this week. My husband now has a fever and his tongue is covered with painful blisters. It sure was nice to find a website like this to actually read what others have experienced. Thank you for letting me share my story.
Deana – Thanks for visiting and sharing your story. It sounds like you had the blister pain longer than we did and all of you are getting hit. My Hubby managed to avoid this, thankfully.
Hope you all feel better soon and am so glad your daughter is starting to recover.
Thanks for your blog. I am 42 year old male that has contracted HFM. My youngest daughter got it first. I had a low grade fever and a sore throat for a few days. I just started developing the sores on my tongue, hands and feet yesteday. I feel sorry for my daughter. These sores are painful. I wonder what strand of HFM I have. I am in great physical shape and rarely get sick.
Hi Scott! Hope you feel better soon. With any luck, you have gotten one of the most common strains, so the chance of contracting it again is very slim. Best of luck!
found your blog while I was googling HFMD for adults. This is the third time my son has had it. Had it Aug 08, October 08 and again now. To boot – this is MY second go around. I had it in Aug. 08 and then again now. The blisters both times were pretty much in my mouth, making yogurt, smoothies and popsicles all I could stand! As far as recurrence – my pediatrician said that some kids just don’t build up the immunity until they are older or are exposed to different strains w/o a lot of cross reactivity and since I never had it as a kid, it may take me several exposures to get immunity – just what I wanted to hear! Thanks for your blog!
Teresa – Thanks so much for sharing your story. I can’t imagine getting HFMD multiple times – not for me and not for my child.
I truly hope your saga is soon completed. If you have any other bizarre symptoms/results you would like to share in this thread, I hope you do, so that others can learn from all of our experiences. Take care and hope everyone feels better soon!
I think that the information provided on the internet is misleading regarding HFMD when it repeatedly states that adults are usually immune to it or are immunocomprimised if they get it. I am a 28 year old female and have battled this sickness twice now. The first time the doctors were baffled with my fever and sore throat but negative strep test until I started getting full blown blisters all over my tonsils and then red dots on my hand and feet. For me my throat was worse than my feet and hands. Then a few weeks ago my one year old ran a low fever and had a few ‘cold sores’ and a rash on her butt. I never put it together but when I started getting the blisters, fever and spotted hands and feet I finally realized she had probably had a mild version of it. I will say the second time was less intense than the first. I spoke with my doctor and was kind of freaking out that maybe i needed to test my immune system, but she said you can get different strains of the virus or take time to build up immunity. Everything on the net that says this is a ‘mild’ illness that doesn’t affect adults is …pardon my French..BS!!
I just want to thank you for posting this. I have been searching all over the internet, and you are the first person I have found with HFMD as an adult. I have no idea how I got this, but reading your blog has helped me realise I am not a freak! Your post about not being able to walk is spot on. I had my wife read it so she didn’t think I was just being a baby. Again thank you.
Hi,
I’m 36 and I’m on day 2 of my horrible HFM experience. How long does it take for the hand blisters to stop hurting!!??? I seem to have it much worse than my 21 month old daughter who had a low grade fever, a few mouth ulcers and just a mild rash on her bum. For all of you searching for info like I was, first let me say that YES healthy adults can get it, my doctor said it wasn’t all that unusual — especially in light of the fact that I was changing my daughter’s diapers and peppering her drool-covered face with mommy- kisses to ease her suffering. I’ve been taking Benadryl tablets for the itchy, burning hand pain and it has helped a bit. Any other tips? I have no choice but to leave on my non- refundable vacation in two days…do I have any hope of being better by then? The hand pain and three foot blisters are so painful!! Far worse than the sore throat.