question about hand foot and mouth

Jackiemxoxo · May 2014

I think dd might have this because she is starting to show signs of little spots on her hands and feet. I have only kind of looked in her mouth because she wont let me. She had a fever over the weekend but that seems to be under control now. However, she has a little bit of a rash on her belly and cheeks. I am trying to figure out if this is an allergy rash or hand foot and mouth. For those of you whose LO's had hand, foot, and mouth, how did it present? Thanks for the help.

jac409 · May 2014

We went through this back in December and it was awful. It did start with a very mild fever, although that isn't typical. LO has just never had a real fever. The fever is supposed to be higher. Anyway, she had sores in and around her mouth, on her hands and feet and a few scattered around in other places. They looked like little blisters and eventually scabbed over. The hand, foot and body sores didn't seem to bother her, but the mouth sores were horrible. She wouldn't eat and would barely drink for five days. We did go to the doctor, but the only thing he could do was give us some liquid lidocaine, which we mixed with Maloxx and children's Benadryl. We swabbed her mouth with it to help with the pain. We also alternated Tylenol and Advil around the clock. She was inconsolable for almost a week. We also had Roseola, and that was also supposed to start with a high fever (not in our case), and it ended in a rash on her torso and neck. If your LO has actual blister like sores, I would be inclined to say hand, foot and mouth. If it is just a rash, I might say Roseola. Either way I hope she feels better soon!

MrsBigTime · May 2014

We had it a few months ago and it was awful!

Out of nowhere, Lydia spiked a high fever on a Saturday night (104?) and started to get a little rash on Monday. It was mostly on her legs with a few around her mouth, kind of where a teething rash would be. She had no spots on her hands or feet, so she was diagnosed as Roseola. Well, on Tuesday the rash was worse, and her demeanor was totally off, too. She was fussy and clingy and down-right miserable.

I gave her Tylenol and Motrin every 6 hours and pretty much held her for 4 days straight. From what I understand, the virus just has to run it's course

It's miserable and I will keep my fingers crossed it's simply an allergic reaction! You can give her a dose of Benadryl and see if it clears up the rash, and if it does, it's probably a reaction, but if it doesn't, you may be dealing with a viral rash, thought not necessarily HFM (roseola is common).

LittleFish1 · May 2014

what you described was like when LO had it. Max temp with the fever was 101.4 (using temporal forehead scanner) and she lost her appetite. The Sunday we returned from a play date and LO wanted to stay asleep even though we were done with the car ride & her forehead felt hot. She just wanted to stare out the window at birds for 2 or 3 days when she wasn't sleeping on mom or dad. The blister part of the rash had 2 spots on her face, that almost looked like spider bites or mosquito bites. Then Tue. some on her forearms and Tue night a different looking wide spread barely visible that became more pronounced on arms, legs, back. Took her to pedi who saw some blisters in mouth on Wed but didn't ID the rash as HFM because wasn't yet on hands/feet. She did a strep test just in case & checked ears. That night, the blisters showed up on fingers & toes & we emailed the pedi who IDed it right away.

LO full on refused tylenol throughout and would only let us give her the teething tablets.

Litgirl77 · May 2014

When Sam had HF&M, he was super lethargic, and had consistently high fever of about 102, but not alarmingly high. Never had anything on his hands or feet, but our doctor examined his mouth and throat and said there were sores in there. He was still taking a bottle at that point and wouldn't eat or drink much of anything for about 3 days. It was awful!

He just had roseola as well, and that was a fever for a few days, then a spike to 104, followed by the fever going away and the rash showing up the next morning. It usually starts on the torso and spread to extremities. It didn't itch or seem uncomfortable, but I freaked out thinking it was an allergy. Our doctor said allergic reactions are usually hives, and this looked a lot different. More like a prickly heat rash type of thing.

Not sure if any of that helps, but I hope your LO is feeling better. It's so awful when they're sick!

*LrCg* · May 2014

With DS he had a fever & stopped drinking & eating. He had sores only in his mouth. We did motrin for pain and cold malox to coat his throat. He was better in @3-4 days. For DD she also had a fever then started with.a few blister/spots on her feet. I immediately applied tree tea oil which is antibacterial and speeds healing and it never spread or got worse and all were gone in @5days. It never spread in my house & the other kids at daycare had it for 2 weeks (they did not use TTO).

Jackiemxoxo · May 2014

Thanks for all the responses. You all are more helpful than anything I found on google. DD still has the rash this morning but its all over and no longer and her palms and soles of feet. She has sensitive skin and had a similar rash before which was diagnosed as contact dermatitis/eczema but i dont remember it being on her palms or soles. I'm gonna see how she does today and then take her to the pedi tomorrow for help if it doesnt get better. I wish I knew what she was allergic to but then again it could be viral so we'll see. I feel like every week she brings home something new from daycare so hopefully this phase passes soon!

LittleFish1 · May 2014

After some research with dr Gooogle, found out that many people had it as a children so far less likely for adult to get it. Also, HFM is caused by a set of viruses, so antibacterial properties won't help that aspect. DH got it from LO, he said he could see why she didn't want to eat due to the mouth blisters. Used some calomine lotion (externally) on DH to help with the itching (he said it didn't help; seemed more like it was nerve pain rather than pain in surface of skin) but it did help with drying out to blister like sores. Am guessing that was where the tea tree oil helped. Didn't use the calomine lotion on LO though because pedi said there was nothing we could do other than give her time and snuggles however would have been messy. Very messy.

valeriegp · May 2014

My son had HFM just a week or so ago, but it was mild. One night he had a fever. A day or two before that he had what we thought was a diaper rash and a little rash under his chin, and had a little bit less of an appetite, but nothing extreme. His diaper area and chin eventually had spots that sort of looked like aggravated ant bites with redness all around. He did have red bumps on his hands and feet, but only a few of them blistered. The doctor also saw a couple of bumps in the back of his mouth. It was terrible in his diaper area and spread a little down his thighs, but wasn't the typical horrible blisters on his hands, feet and mouth. The pediatrician (and Dr. Google) said that the diaper area is an incredibly common area for the blisters.

ExcitedAunt2b · May 2014

My goodness, it seems like HFM is a rite of passage! We haven't had it with Morgan, I'm hoping that she doesn't get it.

How do they get it, is it direct exposure to someone with it? What about Roseola...I've never heard of that and now I'm freaking out about both!

LittleFish1 · May 2014

@ExcitedAunt2b HFM is a virus that can be transmitted in feces, or also by coming into contact with fluid from sores. Hand washing good way to reduce likely hood of transmission. If you're still waiting for the cold snap to end, that could be part of it. One of those times that dr google is useful.

*LrCg* · May 2014

TTO is also an anti-septic so it would help in preventing spreading and contamination. Whenever someone in our house is sick I add a few drops to the wash

jac409 · May 2014

@ExcitedAunt2b‌ , When Ainsley had HFM, the doctor told us she probably picked it up at the gym daycare, which is the only place she really goes where there are a lot of kids. Roseola is spread through oral secretions I think. Most likely in both cases, she stuck a toy in her mouth that had germs on it from another kid who was sick. I know they clean the toys at the end of the day, but there are a lot of kids in and out of there on a daily basis. Most kids get one or both sicknesses before they turn 2, according to our Ped. But, the good news is that they should only get it once.

ExcitedAunt2b · May 2014

Oy...I guess we're lucky she hasn't had it yet but she goes to an in-house daycare and the lady is very careful about washing stuff. However...we go a lot of places where she could possibly catch it so I guess we've just been lucky.

Now watch, we leave for vacation on Sunday...who wants to make bets she gets one or the other before then

ExcitedAunt2b · May 2014

@littlefish1...I am afraid to google a lot of stuff. I go on for a scratch on my arm and end up dying from small pox!!

Jackiemxoxo · May 2014

Ok, so it was definitely HFM and now I have it too. My throat feels horrible and I haven't had fevers this high since i was a kid. Ughh, why couldn't I have caught this when I was little. I am totally having ice cream for dinner.

jac409 · May 2014

Sorry you are sick now too! Definitely have the ice cream. When LO had HFM, that was the only thing I could get into her for days! And then only maybe once a day, and only a few bites. It is interesting to hear the adult perspective of how it actually feels since they can't tell us.

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