My boyfriends 15 yr old son is staying with me at the moment & he got chickenpox a week last monday. I've given him liquid paracetamol as per the pharmatist, Aqueous Calamine cream & bicarb for his bath. He does seem to be getting alot better spot wise, but he is sleeping alot & gets tired quickly. When awake he is his usual self & eating well, but earlier he was on the lap top talking to his friends & just fell asleep & is still asleep now. Does anyone have any experience of teenage chickpoxor is it time to visit the doctor? Thanks Anne

Poor kid.  The older you get the harder it hits you.  Sounds like he is coping ok if he is eating and seems ok in himself.  You could ring NHS direct and ask their advice or ring your surgery in the morning and ask to speak to a doctor.

I was 17 when I got chickenpox - it was horrid. Like most viruses it does make you feel very tired, both during it and for some time afterwards. At least he's old enough to be told not to scratch or pick at the spots, unlike small children!

Marginally better than the mumps poor lad.

Yes definitely better than mumps!  Hope he doesn't scar.  My husband had it when our children were small.  My mother-in-law failed to remind him that he had never had it until he had been cuddling our daughter instead of keeping a distance.   He went down with it badly poor thing.

I had it at 16 - the itching was unbearable, and I did scratch a couple and got scarred.  The only real relief was to take cold baths.  The doctor confirmed it, but I didn't need to see them again - I did a lot of sleeping.  Some of the spots were inside the body (!), and that was worse than anything.

I was 17 when I got it for the second time.  I do remember sleeping a lot and loss of concentration was another symptom.  I also fainted a couple of times.  Hope he feels better soon.

Also hope he feels better soon. I had chickenpox only a few years ago, in my 30's, not very nice at all but much worse for my baby who caught it from me. I found the cool baths helped quite a lot but it can make you tired and run down - I ended up going to the homeopath as I was so run down afterwards which really worked for me. I think the GP generally doesn't do anything unless you are becoming very poorly and dehydrated? 

Times have changed. When I had it in '74 the advice was not to get the skin wet until all the spots had scabbed over - so I wasn't allowed to wash at all for about 3 weeks! It was horrible!

Son (10 ) had Chicken Pox not long ago.   Most interesting advice from the doctor was to give PIRITON !! at night for the itching, it really helped him to stop scratching and get a good night's sleep :)  I also gave him baths with tea tree and lavender in which were really soothing ;)  He was very tired all the time and slept for hours every day.

Hope he's better soon, OH had it when Daughter was 13 and had a terrible time of it, while she had hardly any spots or itching  :(

Oh it's going around isn't it?  My son's godfather had it last year & he's obviously an adult.  He was in agony & phoned me 'cos of the kids having had it in the past.  Yes bicarb in the bath, it makes the spots scab over quickly, calamine in aqueous solution is easier to apply as it's like a cream rather than the old fashioned stuff & piriton (I gave my kids liquid piriton).  Obviously the piriton may make him more sleepy but sleeping's better than scratching!

Haven't given any more advice than the posters, but the tiredness really is part & parcel.  The doctors won't do anything unless it goes incredibly close to the eyes.  Poor lad's probably got 'em in his mouth & everywhere else, it horrible.

Hope he's over it soon.  Nasty one to get as an "adult" :-(

Thanks for all your advice. I did cal NHS direct yesterday evening & they were very helpful. I think they were more worried it may be menegitis (sp). They told me to look for puple spots, co-ordination of limbs etc, all was ok, but they suggested a trip to the doctors. So off we went today & it felt like we was wasting his time, he just checked Alfie's temperature & looked at his spots & said he was just worn out due to the chickenpox. I understand there wasn't anything he cold do, but me & Alf didn't like his attitude. Never mind, all's well. Thanks everyone!

You can actually get chicken pox twice- when my daughter got it (I have never had it) I got a few bumps, then my son gets it and guess what a few more then last time- thank fully I never broke out like they did...

The same virus thats causes chicken pox causes shinlges- my mom told me that...

Hope your boy is feeling better soon....