have you had it? how bad was it?
they say you can't but, have you had it more than once? was your first case mild?

:)

I got chicken pox when I was about 7 or 8 (I think?). Mine was very mild, I don't remember it being bad at all. I had one rub down of the chamomile lotion stuff for chicken pox the first day I had it, and I don't remember itching after that. Although I did take a lot of baths during the day, so I think that helped.

I caught it from a kid in swim class. My brother got it the week after I was rid of it,while we were on vacation! :( My older sister got it the same week my brother did, because she'd never had it before.

My poor sister was miserable! She was about 17 or 18 when she got them, and it left her with a lot of scarring. I remember she itched a lot more than I did as well, and was just in agony from it :(

I was roughly 5ish when i had it, but 2 weeks later my older cousin (would of been about 14 at the time) got it. and while I was content to be covered in pink lotion and watch pooh bear - his case so horrible that he ended up in the hospital.

And the cant have it more then once is a LIE... My oldest daughter, not only has had the vaccination (found out its like the flu shot, doesnt mean you won't get it - just that if you do it should be a more mild case then if you didnt) but this last school year she had for the 2nd documented time - we think though it was the 3rd time. The doctor who examined her this last year (she turns 15 this yr) said that she is most likely a carrier - and every time she is exposed will come down with it to a degree

I was like 4, but it was so mild, I can't even remember it.

I asked my mother.

I've had it twice, it was never that bad, I had it as a very small child then when I was an older child, about eight, it didn't bother me at all, I barely remember it. The only thing I remember is being naked and chasing my sister around trying to infect her!

I had it when I was younger. I don't remember too much about it, other than my mom kept chasing me around because I wanted to scratch everything. hah.

You can have chicken pox twice. I did, it's called Shingles and IT FUCKING SUCKS. It's painful. It felt like I had slept on my neck wrong. I had that feeling WELL after the rash was gone, which happens. It felt like I had the stiff neck for 2 months. Most people don't get the 2nd chicken pox until they're much older. However at the time I contracted it my immune system was in the garbage. I wasn't taking care of myself so I had a cold. Then I got Mono. Right after that I got the 2nd Chicken Pox. Not cool.

shingles is another infection that you can get if you've had chicken pox already, but its not the same as chicken pox itself... i'm sure someone medical will be along later to explain it.

my sister had chicken pox as a baby, then again at 3 and shingles at 4! shingles is nasty!

i'm curious as my daughter has just got chicken pox but by talking to people its a mild case and i wonder if she'll get it again in the future!

Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. Shingles is when the chicken pox virus that lays dormant in your body after having chicken pox... is "re-activated." So it's essentially like getting the chicken pox again. The symptoms are just different.

thanks for clearing that up!

@Beautiful Lies: I just realised my response was not needed, because you've already said it right here!

@ Frag, it's all gravy. I think people are more inclined to believe it from your mouth than mine anyway :p. Although it's not technically the same thing, it kind of is. Either way, it sucks! :)

I had it hardcore when I was like 4. I don't remember it but pictures made it look like it was AWFUL. I cried a lot.

A case of chicken pox showed up in my son's school, and I'm worried about him! But apparently there are "pox parties" where parents will take their kids to the house of a kid with it and expose them to it so they get it young and are done with it.

Not sure how I feel about that. I don't think the parents are irresponsible, because kids need to be exposed to things to build immunities and being exposed younger is best, but man. I couldn't force my son to get something like that :(

haha we had a pox party for my friends girls. made me feel totaly weird that she would want her kids to get ill, but she was desperate to get it out of the way!

I had the "pox" when I was 20 yrs old! It was the most painful thing ever besides my gallbladder disease. And it the pox hurt equally as bad. I had 104 temp that was hard to break, and it was just painful all around. I didn't really itch because my parents keep it cool in our house and I took constant oatmeal baths. Also I do have small scars but it started out as feeling like I had the flu. usually when you get it twice as an adult you get pox first and shingles next! Depends though. But it's so uncomfortable. I had them in my eyes and mouth, my throat and my toes! Ugh. It was just bad :(

As you know, once very mildly at about age 3, and then at age 20. The doctor recoiled when I went to get some anti histamines because he's never seen a case so bad. I was in fucking agony. And even though I didn't pick any of the scabs on my face, I have a lot of scars. Thankfully they aren't very obvious now but for a year they were red and I was really upset by them. So if anyone here hasn't had chicken pox; dear god get the vaccine. You'll thank me for it!! People forget that it might be a harmless childhood illness, but it's VILE in adults.

And I've had shingles which is a reactivation of the herpes zoster virus and will come up around an inflamed nerve, which is why you get pain with it. I had it quite mild, like 8 spots. You can go to the doctor's within 48 hours and get tablets to stop shingles spots though. Nobody knows exactly why people get shingles, it's either to do with stress or being around people with chicken pox. I was stressed and around chicken pox at the time so maybe it's both!

You poor thing :( i so remember reading when you had this! My dad gave me chicken pox because of his shingles! lol. But geez, I feel so bad for you. It hurt like hell with the pox I can only imagine what your pain was if it's around a nerve. :(

To be honest, I didn't get shingles very badly; I can only assume because I was 21 at the time and that's really rather young to get them. But I can imagine if you get it when you're older, it's not nice. My mom has had it three times and I have read some theories that it's hereditary down the female line *sigh*

I had it when I was really young, so I don't remember it.
I think I caught it from my brother.. or he caught it from me, but I do know [from pictures] that we both had it at the same time.

my little brother brought it home from kindergarten. i was ten. best disease ever for me lol. i had 10 days off school. it was itchy, but not unbearable. i have a few scars where i thought it was fun to "squish" the sores lol.

I got it when I was either in pre-school or kinder. All I remember is scratching my underarm and my grandma screaming about "omg u have the chicken pox!!" It wasn't super bad. I had fun with it, I gave it to my brother and cousin. I tried to give it my other cousin but it didn't take LOL. I have like 3 scars from it: 1 on my belly, 1 on my boob and 1 on my lower eyelash line. The lower eyelash line one sucks b.c I have a gap between my eyelashes b.c I scratched the scab off.

I was 6 when I got them. I got them from my brother, who got them from a neighbourhood friend. I just remember being very itchy, and starting out with one on my back that had been cratched so much it was massive. Talking about it's making me itch too!

Yeah, chicken pox is 100x worse when u get older.. My Godmother got it in her 20's and she was in soooo much pain! She was such a mess and was miserable for weeks.

I never got it as a kid - the other kids at school would get it and I didn't. Probably because I was unsociable and didn't hang out with them! ;D

I then got it at age 21. I felt ill in the cafeteria at uni, blacked out, had to sit down quickly on the floor, and some girl helped me up to my room. I went for a bath and I discovered blisters all over my tummy! I knew it was chicken pox because I knew some guy in the halls of residence had it. I went to the doc, and the doc solemnly told me all the possible complications of getting chicken pox as an adult - gosh, I was convinced my prognosis was very poor from the comprehensive list he gave! But I was fine - I was ill for 2 weeks, and had a lot of spots, which were very uncomfortable, and felt faint quite a bit, but then I got better.

Then, quite randomly, three years later I found a chicken pox spot on my hip. Just one spot. I wondered if I was getting shingles, and I went to the doc and showed him my spot. He said it was a chicken pox spot. He had no idea why it was there, but there is was, and then it went away after a while.

I was about 3 or 4... it was awful! I remember being absolutely miserable, and my mom putting me in an oatmeal bath to help with the itching. It did NOT help.

I had it at the age of 6 or 7. I forget which year exactly, but it was right before my birthday and my birthday party had to be cancelled because of it and I was devastated! I also remember it itched like mad.

Shingles is not the same as chicken pox, but is a reactivation of the virus which causes chicken pox. Chicken pox is usually harmless in children, but can very rarely cause serious effects in adults (like pneumonia or meningitis). Unlike chicken pox which is mostly itchy, shingles is intensely painful, and if not promptly treated with antivirals can lead to chronic neuropathic (nerve) pain, a syndrome called post-herpetic neuralgia.