This is not medical advice
I’d never even heard of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (I’ll refer to it as HFM) until a year ago when a friend and her baby caught it. Honestly, I thought it was something that only cows got (turns out that’ll be Foot and Mouth Disease), and I’ve since found out I’m not the only one to think that. So I thought I’d write about my experience of catching HFM as an adult because it was very unpleasant and this post might help someone out there to know they’re not alone!
When my child caught HFM
My little one woke up with some spots on his cheeks on a Saturday morning. As the day progressed, he was developing little spots all over his body. As this was an unexplained rash that was spreading, we took him to an NHS walk in centre (because we didn’t think it was chicken pox) to get him checked out. The doctor checked him and told us it was highly likely it was HFM, gave us medical advice for treating temperatures and itchiness and told us it was rare for adults to catch it, although it was highly contagious.
Thankfully, little one never seemed bothered by it, didn’t develop a temperature, wasn’t itchy and just generally looked spotty. I’m sure children must be affected by it differently and I was thankful that he seemed to have mild symptoms.
When I caught HFM
This was a different story! On the Wednesday (so four days after my son showed spots) I woke up feeling feverish, with achey joints and general lethargy. I had to take painkillers to bring my temperature down.
On the Thursday, I developed a sore throat and I mean, really sore throat where it hurt to swallow. This lasted several days.
On the Friday, as well as the sore throat, my mouth started showing spots and it felt like I had swelling inside my mouth. I could only eat yoghurts or ice creams or soups for a few days because swallowing anything else, even porridge, was too sore. On the Friday, I also developed little spots on my hands which continued to grow larger and deeper over the next couple of days.
That weekend, my hands, particularly my fingertips, were so sore that it hurt to unfasten nappies, do up buttons etc. The best way to describe it was like having sunburnt fingertips.
Over the course of the next week, the sore throat started to go down and the finger spots started to disappear. The fever and temperature only lasted a couple of days but the lethargy was there for several days. Once the spots started to disappear, my fingers started to peel (where all the spots had been). I’m now on Day 13 since my first symptoms and my fingers have been peeling for at least four days. The peeling has been quite sore and made my fingers feel quite sensitive again.
My symptoms:
- Fever
- Aches
- Lethargy
- Sore throat
- Spots in mouth
- Spots on fingers
- Peeling skin on fingers
Conclusion
I don’t think catching HFM as an adult is as rare as some might think. Since catching it, I have found at least two adults I know who have caught it (one caught it twice from her children and the third time, escaped the contagion so perhaps there is hope for developed immunity), and I know of a couple of others through friends who have had it.
It is unpleasant and seems to take a long time to recover from the symptoms. In my experience, my hands have had the worst impact and are taking the longest to heal.
It seems like you have to let HFM run its course and manage the symptoms as best you can.
I hope by writing about this, that if any adults are experiencing symptoms, that you might find the solidarity of some comfort!
