How to make Chicken Pox more bearable..

Hi folks!

I kinda exhausted my medical leave for the year...one year for dengue, this year for chicken pox..hohoho...

I was having terrible backache and itchiness for the first 3 days. Can't even sit for 10 mins. It was terrible as if after childbirth.

Here are what i did to make this ordeal better:

1. On the air-cond to keep me from sweating to avoid feeling itchy.

2. Wear light clothing. I made the mistakes of wearing my boy with long sleeves and long pants as I thought that would avoid letting him scratching on the pox. But I was wrong..when I had the pox, i feel so hot that I just want to wear shorts and singlet.

3. Drink plenty of water to keep the body heat down.

4. Took barley and coconut water. 

I made the mistakes of drinking coconut water everyday for 4 days consecutively, that the 5th day my leg just go "lembik" wobbly...Though some people said barley is a bit too cooling for pregnant woman, but I drink it alternately and found it's good in helping me to clear the intestines and clear the heat through doing the "big biz"...

5. Shower with a special medicine call for chicken pox(sold in packets which can be bought at those chinese medical hall). I shower with it for 4 days.

6. Some Malays and Indians friends recommended neem leaves. They usually shower and sleep on these leaves, said to be good in eradicating itchiness. I only managed to get the leaves from hubby's colleague on the 4th day. So started shower with it on 5th day. I am not sure how much it helps as starting from 5th day i find it less itchy already. Maybe be'cos some of the pox has started to dry up.

7. Apply calamine lotion. Some find it doesn't work and recommended coconut oil. I tried coconut oil for 3 days but it doesn't help much with the itchiness. Thus I tried calamine lotion and it worked for me. Helps to make the pox dry faster too.

8. When one week is up, i still find myself looking like a "sick" person especially with all the pox on my face. Then i start to realised if i ever want to go back to work quickly before i used up all my medical leave for the year, i would need to make the pox on my face disappear faster. Otherwise, even if I am declared "safe" to be back to work, I think my colleagues or anyone who sees me will probably runs off from me :P

So I tried applying tea tree oil on the pox on my face after every shower. And tried once applying aloe vera gel as well. But mostly applying just tea tree oil as I find it hard to use both at the same time. It HELPS!! I can see the pox disappearing/smaller quicker.

9. SHOWER 3-4 times a day with cold water. This is from my friend who got it when she's 7 months pregnant. THIS REALLY HELPS! I did that on the 4th day. True enough, it not only stops the itchiness, it also helps to reduce the heat in my body. I have never enjoyed the cold shower that much in my whole life!

10. Sleep, rest all you can. As the virus can make you fatigue. I literally sleeping half of the day whenever I am not entertaining my son, preparing meals, shower or taking my meals.

11. Some elderly folks said to avoid anything from beans (which is quite tough for me as I am vegetarian but I managed to avoid in the first week), eggs, nuts and seafood(this one is ok as I don't take seafood). The doctor told me this is simply to avoid feeling itchy. And to avoid getting fever, my mom asked me not to take rice.

So what do I eat? Mostly bread, bee hoon soup etc. I don't have much choice or appetite until the 6th day. That's when I think ok..i should be on the road to recovery..usually when I am not feeling well, if I ever start feeling hungry all the time means I am on my road to recovery.

12. Vitamin C. I took more dosage of Vit C which is said will help in recovery, I also made KY and SE to eat Vit C, probiotic and spirulina daily.

I am told that the virus will still remained in my body so have to take extra care for this whole month till i am due to deliver in 2-3 weeks' time.

I am taking some supplement which is said to be helpful for the baby and me..namely Dr. Xeniji and Kington. It's a MLM product which my mother-in-law consumed daily.

Whichever that would help the baby as I am feeling bad for not taking good care of myself and will do whatever I can to ensure lower risk of complication to both of us. Gynae said some babies might get the pox in the womb...though my chinese physician(sinseh) said baby won't get the chicken pox in the womb..will only get rubella...so well..anyhow..just to play safe..pray everything will be ok...

And as what many mommies and my dad said..RELAX...watching dramas, youtube on baby massaging, cooking and listening to uplifting songs on iPad does helps too..no wonder SE best companion during his chicken pox time is iPad...

That's all I can think of for now..this is my third week after the chicken pox..am playing precaution not to go near any pregnant woman or hug KY(no matter how much I miss her hugs) until this weekend..

Cheers and have a good weekend all!