Question for Pelican Doctors
 

I hope the doctors on Pelican won't mind if I ask a medical question. I promise you can ask me any computer question in exchange. :)

The question is about chicken pox. I came down with the disease when I was 16 years old. And because of my relatively advanced age, the virus hit me very hard and I was extremely sick. In fact, about a week into the illness, I developed a freakish complication. And that is the topic of my question. Basically, for no apparent reason, my temerature began to skyrocket. I have no idea how high it got. But I am pretty sure it started to affect my thinking and judgement. Then, all of the muscles in my back siezed up into one giant knot. It ran from the base of my spine to the top of my neck. And it was unbelievably painful. I literally spent two days on my back and unable to move. I even had to breathe in small gulps of air because any deep breaths triggered unbearable stabbing pains in my back. It really was just WAY off the charts - like nothing I have experienced since. It was so painful I actually stopped feeling the itching and stinging from the chicken pox sores. It was like my back pain overwhelmed my brain receptors and blocked out any other sensations. I didn't sleep or eat for two days and did not move from the spot where I lay. Then, after two days, it subsided and I returned to my regular chicken pox mysery.

So here is my question: WTF happened to me? It has been a mystery to me for the past 24 years. I've also had recurring back problems ever since then (no idea if it is related). I've tried googling "chicken pox complications" but nothing remotely like my experience comes up. So may I ask you folks to throw out your theories, observations, or SWAGS? I'd love to be able to solve this mystery.

No Dr. here, but the high Temps you talk about at some point would cause seizures..2 days long..that is what I am waiting to hear about..guessing at muscle spasm.
Rika

You didn't see a doctor at the time?

Not a doc either but I know that the virus can settle into specific areas of your body and wreak havoc. Perhaps it affected a portion of nerves that triggered the reaction.


When you recover from the initial virus Chicken Pox (typically later in life) it's referred to as Herpes Zoster (3?) or Shingles and can be extremely uncomfortable. One danger is it getting to ones eyes.

Here's an after affect that sounds similar:

"Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a painful condition caused by the varicella zoster virus in a dermatomal distribution (the area governed by a particular sensory nerve) after an attack of herpes zoster (HZ) (commonly known as shingles), usually manifesting after the vesicles have crusted over and begun to heal. Because it is fundamentally a (neuropathic) nerve pain, it is not controlled by traditional analgesics such as opiates and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs."

Its often impossible to make a definite diagnose without seeing the patient and more so when time has passed.

In the Dept. of Pediatrics we, naturally, see a lot of the more complicated Varicella virus infections. Its part of the group of Herpes virus, containing several virus with common traits. For example, most of them will infect children and adolescents as their primary infection. They will then stay dormant in the body of the bearer for the rest of her life. Different virus prefer different organs in the body. The Varicella virus will primarily 'go to sleep' in the 'nerve rotes' in the back. Mostly they will not wake up any more, but sometimes they do - wandering out along that nerves branches on one side of the body - herpes zoster/shingles.

During the primary infection the symptoms in childhood is typically mild. The older one is when affected, the more severe the symptoms tend to be. Possibly because the immunsystem and hormonal system has matured to meet the aggressor. This can lead to a whole array of different symptoms as different organs are involved in the inflammation. Nervous system - both central and peripheral, muscles, inner organs etc.

With a little more information and of course a physical examination at the time, the more exact term for your illness could possibly be established. Plausibly inflammation in your muscles and or nerves.

Hey, thanks very much for the information. The whole thing seemed pretty freakish at the time. I've never before or since had a whole section of my body spasm into a painful knot and then stay that way for days. I honestly wish I could provide more details but that is all I know. I only saw a doctor when I first got the Chicken Pox which was easily a week before the weird complications.

May I ask if having a super high fever alone cause a reaction like mine? Or maybe fever combined with dehydration? And I must confess I never considered what Rikao4 said. But in retrospect, I guess having a super high fever for two days is probably a bad thing in and of itself. I wonder if I should consult a doctor about checking for long term affects of the two day fever. It's been 24 years but who knows?

High fever can cause seizure, severe muscle pain is not common with high fever, but could be associated. Dehydration with muscle spasm is another possibility. A more common reason would be pain in the muscles due to your own body's defenses, the interleukins and interferons which are secreted during an infection do a good job of messing up the invader, but also do some collateral damage as well (yes, even in the body innocent civilians get killed...see? I made the thread political...HAH).

As Livi said, it would be tough to tell you for sure why your back hurt so much if you were in the hospital today, much less 24 years ago. As far as long term consequences, I doubt it.