Chickenpox

dd99

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My three year old son has chickenpox.

Does anyone have any tips on managing the symptoms and prevent itching/scarring?

Digging around the forum, I wish I had some emodin, because it looks like it might help as an anti-viral, but I think it would take too long to order.

Doctors suggest a (pretty toxic) gel to prevent itching and resultant scarring. Would coconut oil serve a similar purpose?

I'd appreciate any tips. Thanks.
 
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dd99

dd99

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Thanks, HDD! I'll try that. Did you also use topical creams or gels?
 
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dd99

dd99

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I was just reading about baking soda! Thanks for the tips. A bath with baking soda, apple cider vinegar and/or oats (in a sock) seem popular, old remedies. Vitamin E turned up, too, a few times in my googling as a good topical.
 
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dd99

dd99

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As an update, my son cruised through chicken pox after twice daily baths in baking soda, Epsom salts, oats (in a mesh bag) - and two drops of Oxidal (methylene blue) in the water.

I got the last tip from Dr Peat, who wrote:
Ray Peat said:
I think I would use a diphenhydramine lotion or spray; the Benadryl versions contain zinc as well as the antihistamine. Methylene blue is safe and widely available; a dilute solution can be applied topically (the virus causes nitric oxide to be released in the skin, and methylene blue blocks that). Aspirin would probably help, but doctors generally warn against its use in children with viral infections. I would worry about the genetic toxicity of antivirals such as Acyclovir; this patent suggests that methylene blue has a preventive effect. I suspect that aspirin, in a dose of about 300 mg about three times a day would have a protective effect.

Methylene Blue Therapy of Viral Disease
US 20060264423 A1
Abstract
A method for using thiazine dyes, especially methylene blue or methylene blue derivatives, in an immediate or controlled release formulation, alone or in combination with low levels of light or other drugs, to selectively inactivate or inhibit hepatitis infection, has been developed. Clinical trial results demonstrate efficacy in a human clinical trial for treatment of hepatitis C by oral administration of methylene blue immediate release formulation, in a dosage of 65 mg twice daily, over a period of at least 100 days. A method for using thiazine dyes, especially methylene blue or methylene blue derivatives, in an immediate or controlled release formulation, along or in combination with low levels of light or other drugs, to prevent or decrease reactivation of viruses, is also described. The preferred class of patient is infected with, or has been exposed to, viruses such as Herpes simplex virus type 1 & 2, Varicella zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus, Cytomegalovirus, and Herpes virus type 6 & 7, Adenovirus, and Human polyoma viruses, e.g. JC virus and BK virus. In one embodiment the thiazine dye is administered to a patient experiencing symptoms or disease caused by reactivation of a virus. In a preferred embodiment the thiazine dye is administered to a patient at risk for or experiencing symptoms or disease caused by reactivation of a virus, prior to or during immunosuppression or chemotherapy.
……
• Clinical trial results demonstrate efficacy in a human clinical trial for treatment of hepatitis C by oral administration of methylene blue immediate release formulation, in a dosage of 65 mg twice daily, over a period of at lease 100 days.
• [0015]
A method for using thiazine dyes, especially methylene blue, methylene blue derivatives, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, in an immediate or controlled release formulation, along or in combination with low levels of light or other drugs, to prevent or decrease reactivation of viruses, is also described. The preferred class of patient is infected with, or has been exposed to, viruses such as Herpes simplex virus type 1 & 2, Varicella zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus, Cytomegalovirus, and Herpes virus type 6 & 7, Adenovirus, and Human polyoma viruses, e.g. JC virus and BK virus. In one embodiment the thiazine dye is administered to a patient experiencing symptoms or disease caused by reactivation of a virus. In a preferred embodiment the thiazine dye is administered to a patient at risk for or experiencing symptoms or disease caused by reactivation of a virus, prior to or during immunosuppression or chemotherapy.
• [0016]
Examples of useful thiazine dyes are methylene blue, azure A, azure C, toluidine, and thionine. The preferred dye at this time is methylene blue.

The last bit on aspirin was in case my wife caught it. But in a dramatic twist, I have caught it! So I am now pox ridden. I will be bathing in a similar concoction to my son, putting dilute MB on the spots and Benadryl cream, and taking aspirin occasionally.

Any other tips?
 
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haidut

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My three year old son has chickenpox.

Does anyone have any tips on managing the symptoms and prevent itching/scarring?

Digging around the forum, I wish I had some emodin, because it looks like it might help as an anti-viral, but I think it would take too long to order.

Doctors suggest a (pretty toxic) gel to prevent itching and resultant scarring. Would coconut oil serve a similar purpose?

I'd appreciate any tips. Thanks.

Ray told somebody over email that methylene blue is the safest anti-viral out there. I posted some studies showing most viral infections requiring the serotonini receptor to take hold and develop so using drugs like cypro may be helpful as well.
 
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dd99

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Ray told somebody over email that methylene blue is the safest anti-viral out there. I posted some studies showing most viral infections requiring the serotonini receptor to take hold and develop so using drugs like cypro may be helpful as well.
Thanks. Would a drop or two of Oxidal in the evenings be enough or are we talking high dosages? (This is for me, not my three year old - he's recovered fully.)
 

haidut

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Thanks. Would a drop or two of Oxidal in the evenings be enough or are we talking high dosages? (This is for me, not my three year old - he's recovered fully.)

I don't know about doses for viruses but Ray seems to think even 1mg is effective.
 
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dd99

dd99

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Thanks, man. I'll let you know how it goes.
 

moss

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I was just reading about baking soda! Thanks for the tips. A bath with baking soda, apple cider vinegar and/or oats (in a sock) seem popular, old remedies. Vitamin E turned up, too, a few times in my googling as a good topical.

Hi dd99
Steal a pair of your wife's pantyhose and cut the end off. This works better than a sock. In addition to the ES and Oats which are both excellent adding Chamomile into the mix will soothe even more.
After the bath, for the itching, the herb Hypericum (St Johns Wort) used topically, if you can get the fluid extract. Soak cotton wool pad and dab on the blebs. Scratching them will cause them to spread like wildfire so anything to stop the scratching will help as you know.

This is also helpful for a bout of shingles for others reading this.

Great feedback about your son cruising through and trust you will too.
Did the MB stain the bath?
 
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dd99

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Hi moss, that's great, thanks for the tips! I'll get some St John's wort tomorrow

I only used two drops for my son and five for me and the bath came out unstained.
 

tara

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In addition to the other good ideas above, I wonder whether a couple of generous doses of activated charcoal could be helpful, to bring down the endotoxin load even further, and leave the immune system freer to get on with the job of handling the virus?

My kids both got chicken pox before I'd heard of Peat. One got through lightly, the other did it hard.
The things that helped somewhat with handling the symptoms were calamine lotion and a bath with pinetarsol.

If it happened now (or any of us get shingles) I'd be trying the MB.
 

moss

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Hi moss, that's great, thanks for the tips! I'll get some St John's wort tomorrow

I only used two drops for my son and five for me and the bath came out unstained.

Excellent, I always make my baths medicinal, a kind of spa therapy. Now all I need is to hook up the red light!
I haven't added MB because I thought it may stain the bath....

If it happened now (or any of us get shingles) I'd be trying the MB.
:thumbsup:
 
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dd99

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In addition to the other good ideas above, I wonder whether a couple of generous doses of activated charcoal could be helpful, to bring down the endotoxin load even further, and leave the immune system freer to get on with the job of handling the virus?
Hi tara, whenever I get sick these days, I immediately do some high dose charcoal to see if it's bacterial or viral. Generally, if it's viral, the charcoal has no effect on my symptoms. But maybe I simply need to do it for longer with viruses, like you said, to free up some space in my immune system?
 

tara

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Hi tara, whenever I get sick these days, I immediately do some high dose charcoal to see if it's bacterial or viral. Generally, if it's viral, the charcoal has no effect on my symptoms. But maybe I simply need to do it for longer with viruses, like you said, to free up some space in my immune system?
That's interesting.
I don't know the answer to this question - I would have guessed so, but I can't say how much difference one should be able to expect.
I'm not sure I understand how you are distinguishing bacterial from viral infections - just on the basis of how quickly they recover/resolve after charcoal?
Is it true that viral infections tend to last longer than bacterial infections regardless of treatment?
 
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dd99

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I'm no expert, but my rule of thumb is that if something shows improvement relatively soon after high dose charcoal (a light antibiotic), then it was bacterial and endotoxin related. If not, it's probably viral.
 
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dd99

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I won't lie, I'm not doing well with chickenpox. After three years of Peat inspired eating, my skin was flawless (I think thanks a lot to niacinamide) - even received compliments, which is unusual for a man.

Well, that's gone. I have exploded in pox. They are concentrated on my face, but all over head and torso, too. The little bastards have also saved the biggest pox for my face.

It doesn't help that the UK has banned diphenhydramine and benadryl creams.

I am still taking the baths with Epsom salt, baking soda and methylene blue. I'm holding out hope I won't be scarred.
 

moss

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I won't lie, I'm not doing well with chickenpox. After three years of Peat inspired eating, my skin was flawless (I think thanks a lot to niacinamide) - even received compliments, which is unusual for a man.

Well, that's gone. I have exploded in pox. They are concentrated on my face, but all over head and torso, too. The little bastards have also saved the biggest pox for my face.

It doesn't help that the UK has banned diphenhydramine and benadryl creams.

I am still taking the baths with Epsom salt, baking soda and methylene blue. I'm holding out hope I won't be scarred.

Sorry to hear dd99, what a bummer!
What you are currently doing to date will help and Hypericum oil or extract is helpful as I mentioned earlier because it will soothe and perhaps Tea Tree oil or Red light to lessen possibility of scarring?

Hope this resolves really quickly for you.
 
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I have been told that calamine contains Mercury . My son had chicken pox once when he was two and was covered- everywhere - even his ear lobes. He pointed to one on his abdomen and said "this one isn't itchy"
 

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