Can you catch chicken pox twice?

Spendless

Yes, DH's godson caught them twice. The 2nd within weeks of him recoving from the 1st lot. I remember his mum querying it with her GP and him telling her that if you do not develop immunity from them the first time you get them (eg if you have a mild case, or your immune system is not fully developed) then you can go on to catch them again.

ellay864

I had chickenpox when i was 6 apparently...I've no recollection and mum says I wasnt that ill. When I was 20 I got it amd felt really rough...on the plus side it was during the 1984 Olympics so I had 2 weeks at home watching the games

barbiedoll

My DS caught it twice, firstly at ten months old (spotty but not particularly ill) and then again at age 5 (very spotty and he was quite poorly for the first week)

My sister had it when she was 8 weeks old, she caught it from me! :eek:
She then went on to develop shingles at age 14, she said that the pain was unbearable for a while. She did go back to school after a couple of weeks, simply to take her mind off the pain (doc said it was ok), but she came home crying when one of her classmates told her that if the rash around her waist met in the middle, she would die! :rotfl:

Can I just echo the other posters who said to see your GP if you feel ill? Chicken pox in adults can be very nasty indeed so don't hang about if you get worse, ok?

pigpen

I've had them twice too.. I got them, gave them to my brother who gave them to our sister then she gave them to our other sister who gave them back to me... lucky me!!!!!!!!!

everyone else got time off school.. both times I had them was holidays!!!

2 of my babies had them when very small.. 15 weeks and 17 weeks while fully breastfed.. the one that had them at 15 weeks got measles 2 weeks later!!!

tikka1951

Yes you can catch it twice.

I had it as a child, and then again when I was in my 30s. I was teaching 6 year olds at the time, and over half of my class of 30 went down with it.

It never ocurred to me that I had chicken pox the 2nd time. I went to the Drs with a strange headache. It felt as though water was trickling around inside my head. He examined me, and noticed some spots around my hairline, and I remember quite clearly what he said even though it was 30 years ago. He said ' My dear, you have chicken pox, and you are going to be very ill indeed'.

My goodness was he right! I have never been as ill as I was then. I was soon covered in every possible place, inside and out! Even my eyeballs had spots... up my nose, in my ears, in my.......everything.

I was initially given a sick note for 4 weeks, and the head teacher wasn't convinced and visited me at home to make sure I wasn't swinging the lead.

It makes me shudder now to think about it. I was off sick for 8 weeks and could drink nothing but fizzy pop, and had no appetite at all. I lost so much weight and had a doctor call at home every day.

I went back to school, but still didn't feel well for about another 6 weeks. Both my children caught it as well, but they soon recovered.

I think I was probably just unlucky to have it so severely.

meritaten

yes you can catch it more than once! the second dose is usually milder and you may be ok with ordinary paracetamol and perhaps a handful of cornflour in the bath for the itching! or you could just be a bit under the weather!

lauren_1

Yes I had it when i was 2 and again at the ripe old age of 24 when both my children gave it to me.

JG82

Yes, more than twice too. I've had it 7 times! Only once was severe the rest all just little patches. My cousin has also had it several times.

izoomzoom

so Bailey, how are you feeling today ?

Rev

I've had chicken pox four times, once badly as a child, three milder cases as an adult and a few years back I had a wickedly painful case of shingles. So yes, you can catch it more than once.