I have Herpetic Whitlow
Posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 11:51 AM
I have had Herpetic Whitlow on my left thumb for 12 years. I contracted it back in 1996 and I have no idea how. I have been struggling living with this debilitating disease and I find it really hard to care for my two children. I constantly wear latex gloves when bathing or changing them and am still in fear of giving this to them. From what I understand, in-tact skin doesn’t shed, so as long as I am not currently having an outbreak, I am not contagious. But I struggle with this aspect and even when I am not experiencing an outbreak, I still wear the gloves.
When I first got this, I was breaking out on an average of every other month, it was awful. But then my doc put me on Famvir, 500 mg, twice daily. Over the years, my OBs have become less frequent. I believe this is due to the Famvir and the virus getting weaker over time. I broke out a week before my first daughter was born, which sucked and then two years went by and I hadn’t broken out at all until I was pregnant with my second child. Then, I broke out at 7 months pregnant and again a week before the birth of my daughter. Luckily, I have a very caring and understanding husband who was willing to do all of the bathing and changing until my outbreaks healed.
This may sound completely ignorant, but I honestly feel that if I had Herpes genitally or orally, I wouldn’t struggle with this as much. For the simple fact that I would still be able to change diapers, bathe my children and interact freely with them without concern. Having this on my hand is very hard to deal with when having children. – M
Is Herpes Whitlow always painful? How pain is painful? Is it come with a blister underneath with a red base?
My blister is not painful and not itchy and it does not come with a red base.
Can anyone answer this question?
[E-mail Address Removed by Site Admin to prevent SPAM]
I would imagine that Herpes Whitlow when active is not a very comfortable scenario.
Everyone’s symptoms will vary from person to person along with pain, intensity, size of outbreak, etc.
If you are having something going on and are trying to figure out what it is, see your doctor.
A healthcare professional will be OR should be able to help you figure out what is going on with your symptoms.
Good Luck!!
M,
I am in tears right now. I am touched to know that there is another “Momma” out there that is wearing gloves at home to change diapers and give baths.
My son had just turned two (July 2008) when I finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with herpetic whitlow (I have had the blisters very few and far between for about three years now).
The past month and a half, however, have been very emotional for me. I’ve had more outbreaks than I have ever had and it is extremely uncomfortable. My middle finger has been so swollen I cannot even close it all the way. My whole arm hurts and I have really had a hard time finding quality information about this particular strain.
The worst part of it all is that I have been so afraid of passing it to my son. I am a single mother; and, although my parents have been a tremendous help, I still do the majority of diaper changes and baths. My son does not understand why “Momma” is now wearing a glove. I am conscious of it always, it’s hard not to! I have been so paranoid about “shedding” when I wash my hands (i’ve been through tons of paper towels and band-aids), in the kitchen preparing his meals, or even simply just picking up toys and other household objects.
I am thankful, though, that I don’t have to worry about giving him kisses. I can hug him with my other arm and kiss his head whenever i want; and that issuch a blessing.
M, I am so glad that you posted your story. I know that I am not alone in my struggle and that means so much to me.
-A
Hi A,
Have you spoken with your doctor about the methods you are using when it comes to changing your son’s diaper and giving him baths?
What are you taking to treat your outbreaks? Has your doctor made a recommendation about what you might be able to do if you are getting frequent outbreaks?
- Angela
I am not a mother but believe me I understand what you are going through. I have a herpetic whitlow on my right middle finger and it is not just an unpainful red base. Mine has erupted only a few times over the last 10 years and has also lessoned in frequency – thank God – as mine has actually put me in the hospital twice. My finger turns an angry purple, swells to twice its normal size and the skin breaks open to reveal tiny pustules that look as though they are boiling to the surface. This is usually accompanied by a red line that grows from my middle finger to the top of my hand, up my arm and eventually across my chest towards my heart! It is extremely painful, frightening and debilitating. In fact, as weird as it sounds, from your description, I would trade cases of this disease with you in a moment – except that you have children to care for and i am happy for you that yours does not become as violently painful as mine does. The first time this put me in the hospital the CDC got involved as they thought I had a strain of some super viral infection. One of the CDC Doc’s believed I may have caught this from a Eastern Brown Pelican as I was involved for a few years in Pelican rescue and apparently, they are affected by and carry this awful disease! I was treated with 1000MG Valtrex twice per days plus a strong antibiotic cefadroxil. after the last outbreak, I took it upon myself to ask the doctor for the 500mg valtrex and started taking one every day as I read that if I did so for a year then my whitlow just may never return. Well after a year on valtrex I did not stop taking it out of fear and the painful memory of the last occurrence. Instead I began cutting the valtrex in half and taking 1/2 or 250MG per day which seemed to have worked. Approximately 60 days ago I had my valtrex refilled but I am now with a new health insurance company and it cost me $50 to refill, so I thought this was a great time to cease taking the medicine and see if my whitlow is gone for good! No such luck! I awoke in the middle of the night last night with a familar pain in my right middle finger! In some ways I feel I must have been a real jerk in my last life to deserve this as it does feel like some sort of punishment is being dealt – although that is probably ridiculous. Needless to say, I’m going back to the valtrex but I also want to ask my doc about this Famvir you are taking. I wish you luck in dealing with this terrible disease and ask that you count your blessings as it could be worse, much worse…
If cost is an issue why not have your doctor switch to acyclovir?
I’m sorry to hear that your herpes whitlow is so severe. I hope it will go away and not come back for a long time.
So normally herpetic whitlow is very painful other than a blister?
I have seen a few doctors, general practitioner, skin specialists, internal medicine doctor. All are told that the blister was not herpetic whitlow. Over in this country, they can’t do a culture test over the blister. The doctors are merely using eyesight to look at the blister to diagnose.
Quite worried.
I seem to be getting it between my fingers, it’s been spreading the last few days up my fingers. I’ve noticed a less serve outbreak in the same areas in my left hand. I don’t have any health insurance, so I gota to work something out to see a doctor about this.
I’ve noticed these small brown spots appearing first them the blisters, then the blisters in clusters. I’ve noticed some brown spots on my palms now.
I’m not asking for a professional medical opinion, but does this sound like herpes whitlow to you?
Whatever it is I’m sure I got it through a cut on my hand as it’s now covered in blisters to and it had been there prior to the outbreaks.
Steve Lee,
Herpes Whitlow
Have you read that page yet?
Why can’t the doctor’s in your country simply culture the sores that you have on your hand so that you will know for sure if you have it or not?
Have you been able to find a doctor who can tell you what is going on for sure beyond attempting to diagnose by sight?
What country do you live in and I will see if I can find somebody that can help you OR at least point you in the right direction.
Akrid,
How do you know that you have herpes whitlow? In order to find out what is going on with your body, you need to find a medical professional that can run proper testing to help you figure this out. You are not going to be able to figure this out via the internet.
I have just found out I have whitilow on my right middle finger and the finger to the right.luckley I am only experienceing a little itching, with three little leasions that are just about healed sense three days ago that I found out of course I keep them clean and bandaids up.The emotional stress has to be the worst and the worry of passing it on.I have spent meny meny hours researching this topic.What I have learned is that be veary carefull when you have open sores, keep the area clean and covered.When you do not have open sores it is unlikey to pass this on through shedding do to the thicker skin on the hand.Of course it is always good to be causes.I sugest taking a natural multi vitimam every day to keep your amune system up. Try to limit stress as it weakens the amune system. Finaly when you do have A breakout break try taking echinacea right away its a super amune system boster after our amune system is our first line of defence.I also take a natural multi-antioxidant formula every day.It is important to not take the echinacea for longer than three weeks at a time simply because your amune system well become amune to it after this period.I guess thats about it so take care and know your not alone and try to get enough rest.
How were you tested? Did your doctor do a culture of the sore within the first 24-48 hours of the sore on your finger appearing?
Akrid
you might have Eczema not herpes becuse i get that too in between you finger find out if any of you family has it becuse it might be a family thing my dad and sister have it too dose your blister have a black dot in the middle if it dose then you know its not herpes i was miss diagnose wit herpetic whitlow and after doing research and taking to people that have herpes on there finger and taking to my dad i realize that i dint have herpes
That’s why it’s so important to see a doctor instead of trying to figure this out on your own.
Have you made an appointment to see a doctor yet?
maria
I’m pretty sure it was some kind of Eczema and the outbreak was triggered by an allergic reaction to garlic.
The way it spread and looked was nothing like herpes.
Angela
Screw getting it looked at by a doctor, their morons.
Angela
can you please post a page about herpetic wthlow vs eczema ( pictures of herpetic withlow and eczema and link to topics of eczema because Manny doctors tell people they have herpes on there finger but in reality they have Eczema so we need a page to clear this miss conception up
No. I will not post pictures of any condition out there. People need to find a doctor that knows what they are doing and get tested. That’s the only way to know what is going on with your body.
All the pictures out there on the internet pertaining to symptoms of things, are always the worst case scenarios anyway. What does this mean? That you should see a doctor.
I disagree. Not everybody can get to a doctor. There are enough tell tale signs to self diagnose if you have Eczema or not. maria’s idea is fine, but somebody with real knowledge on the matter woudl have to post the guide. I wouldn’t doubt that the knowledge would come from the people who experience the symptoms as well as medical professionals.
and manny doctor like mine tell people its herpes and people think it is herpes when its dyshidrotic eczema and they get on the herpes medicine and some time it dose work and some time it doesnt ( in my case Famvir work for my dyshidrotic eczema i don’t know why ) and they get telling people that they have herpes when they don’t and take unnecessary action like using a condom every time they have sex when they don’t need too you now how Manny time I’ve been to this web site looking for info on herpetic whitlow and it dint add up all the symptoms becuse mine never hurt or trund red and telling that i had herpes was not Essy to my husband when i dint even have herpes we need to find some ting that will help people in this matter
Anybody out there is perfectly capable of taking a guess as to what it is they might have. However, what will guessing do if you are unable to aliviate your systems? What then? Also, not all the pictures that you see on the internet of symptoms point to everybody that has similar symptoms. Sometimes people have things that look like other things, what then? Your job is to find somebody that knows what they are doing who doesn’t want you to be in pain that will do whatever it takes to get you the real answers of what is going on with your body. I suppose misery loves company.. so if you like living in misery.. go ahead and keep trying to figure it out on your own.
I did figure it out and I cured my problem.
I hope you are right about your self diagnosis.
I am,I made a hypothesis that was falsifiable and I tested it.
The Eczema symptoms went away on their own. To test if they were caused by the garlic i ate more and that same day the symptoms returned. I will also test this in the future just to ensure the results are accurate and not a coincidence.
You don’t have to be a doctor to use the scientific method.
I personally prefer to let things work themselves out. Before I go assuming that I have something that could potentially change my life, instead of freaking out, I see a doctor.
I’m glad you were able to figure it out. But, just because your hypothesis worked for you doesn’t mean that you can begin diagnosing others, etc.
I never said I alone could, but a community of people exchanging information and resources can make a more comprehensive network of helpful information.
You are entitled to share your experiences.
We already have a community of people exchanging information and resources. It’s what this site is about.
What we don’t have is folks attempting to diagnose themselves or others.
If in doubt it’s always best to see the advice of a medical professional.
Looking at and comparing photographs on the internet is not a way to figure out what is going on with your body.
You will not know for sure what is going on until you are able to determine beyond a reasonable doubt what is happening to you body.
I hope you do have it figured out. If not, see a doctor.
If you can see a doctor then that is a good thing to do, but it alone might not be the magic bullet you need.
That is why it’s important to persevere.
There is an anti viral medication called Acyclovir. My Daughter has this. We have used this and it worked great. You have to be very consistent with taking it. They will only give this out if you promise to take it as directed and don’t stop until the course is completed. They don’t want the medicine to become useless from resistence. There are very few anti-virals out there. Also no chewing of the nails.
What does chewing nails have to do with it? Acyclovir is a clinically proven herpes antiviral so of course it will work. As for your body building up a resistance to it, I have not heard of that before with herpes antivirals and I’ve been reading up about herpes since 1995. That’s a long time to know your viruses, don’t you think?
With herpes whitlow you say that there is no shedding with in-tact skin. Is this true and, if so, why doesn’t herpes whitlow have asymptomatic shedding like with genital herpes?
Who are you talking to?
I was just diagnosed with whitlow last night. The pain got so bad that i checked myself into emergency room. The blisters arent open sores yet…but over the last 4 days, with finger pain, I have used my hand do do many things. Is this very infectious during the period without open sores?
Thank, this is the best whitlow forum string on the net…
What did your doctors tell you about herpes whitlow? What did the doctors at the ER tell you? Did they give you any herpes antivirals to try and help combat this problem for you? What about Advil?
the doctors gave me acyclovir, and i have been taking it, and i think the finger is getting better…but still very painful….they also gave me vicodin for the pain…im more interested in the recurrence of whitlow, and how infectious i am. it looks like the blisters are going down and wont scab over…when can i begin to touch things normally…is this something that will change my life????
thanks everyone!!
Hello all,
My name is Scott, I’m 23 and last night I was told that I could possibly have this by a doctor in my local ER. I scraped my finger in a minor way last week, and the symptoms of HW began to set in, my index finger feels very numb and the associated vacuoles have coalesced into a subcutaneous pus filled blister. What is most devastating for me is that I am a Border Patrol Agent, and probably contracted the infection through abbreviated contact with illegal aliens, although I was always sure to wear latex gloves. I am terrified of the possibility of auto-infecting myself, finding a wife who will accept this condition, and the possible eventuality of raising healthy kids. On top of this I am still uncertain now as to whether I can even continue my job, or begin to look elsewhere. I can’t in good faith work to help people knowing my good intentions might end in infecting others. Anyways, this has fortunately been documented as a work related injury and I go to Dallas tomorrow for actual clinical diagnosis. But all the same this has easily become the most unsettling experience in my life. Is HW a gateway disease to more serious infections? does it permanently compromise your body’s immune system? For men, is the disease as easily transmissible when the woman conceives a child, such as the early formative period of an embryo, or does the risk of infection begin later? Will I have to take anti viral medication every day for the rest of my life? Not to complain much more but I can’t help but dwell on the fact that conventional wisdom is that this disease is the natural offspring of sexual irresponsibility, yet my transmission was asexual. Increasingly more problematic than that, though is the sense I’m initially getting that I am such a minority as an HW in comparison to oral and genital herpes. I apologize for this lengthy article, but I’m still struck with fear and anxiety over my likely infection with an incurable plague, having only been told this six hours ago.
i am learning more and more about HW….first and foremost keep your finger away from your mouth. it is possible that i have already spread it to my toungue and that is what i am most upset oabout….keep the infection to your finger…from what i understand the first outbreak is the worst, and recurrences are never nearly as bad. as long as you get over the initial outbreak the virus wont be a life changing affliction. would love to hear more info if people have it….best HW string on the web….
Why don’t you guys make an appointment to see an infectious disease specialist and see if they can help you deal with the pain as well as your fears?
ok well i don’t know where to start but i’ve been going crazy, I have a red bump on my hands, it isn’t painful a all but I think it may be whitlow(for 8 years gh) anyway it doesn’t blister up or anything, i am away now so i can’t see my doc, anyway, I keep it bandaged it’s just one red bump ( it is very small i can’t even compare it to a pea) but my question is I am a mom of two beatuful kids having this fear about giving it to them by accident, They are 6 and 7 boy and girl. I really miss touching them and holding their hands( i guess that will never happen again. Anyway any input would be helpful. I’ve been wearing gloves when i bathe them and anything i touch with my bare hands they r not allowed to touch my phone, the tv remote, faucets ( i turn them on and off for them) Please help this is really takig over my life.
It’s taking over your life because you’re not handling it very well. You need to see a doctor. For all you know it might not even be herpes whitlow.
what r signs of whitlow? Is it painful, I just wanna know because I am trying to rationalize things. Does it sound like whitlow to anyone that\\\’s had it? I am not tryinng to diagnose myself or get a diagnose but just would like some info on whitlow from people who have had it. I hope u can understand where i come from because I am a mom of two. Even if it is whitlow do u think i can ever touch my kids again?
I have recently been told I have herpes whitlow by a dermatologist. the problem is, two doctors did a viral culture and they came back negetive. I’ve had 2 blood tests also come back negetive. (I’ve been to several doctors cause no one is able to give me a definitive answer as to what’s going on). I’ve never had cold sores or genital herpes. In fact I had my yearly gynecology check up a few months ago and had a screening for all stds. With all this commotion I called my doctor to double check that I had been screened for herpes. She said that I had and that test was also negetive for both herpes simplex 1 and 2.
I can’t help but feel the docotors don’t really know what’s going on with my finger and feel a need to diagnose me with something. Is it even possible to have herpes simplex 1 or 2 and turn up false negetives in blood tests? Not to mention both viral cutlures come back negetive…
Plus it doesn’t hurt, and I’ve had none of the associated symptoms of herepes whitlow other than this nasty rash. It began as what looked like a spider bite, then I thought it was posion ivy; it was even itchy. Then it started looking like a chemical burn and was sort of tingly.
Anyway, any thoughts? Should i continue to seek more opionons? What ever it is seems to be healing.
Any input is appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read this!
sleeplessworried – you keep saying “if this” and “if that” — you need to see a doctor so that you can find out for sure and deal with strictly the facts and not base everything on how you are “feeling.”
lee – did the dermatologist diagnosed you by site OR did he tell you that is what you have w/out bothering to run proper testing?
well angela i was coming here mainly for an opinion maybe also some comforting words, to ease my mind a bit until I get to the bottom of this, well thnx anyway
sleeplessworried – don’t you want to know for sure what is going on? Please go see the doctor so you can find out for sure.
angela- i do wanna know what’s going on but i wanted to know first hand what symptoms are and what i should ask the doctor and i thought the best people to ask was here but anyway you are the only one responding to me and i wanted to know what other people experienced with whitlow, believe it or not that’s what i thought this place was about. Thnx anyway
The symptoms that people experience will vary from person to person. So just because somebody shares their experience doesn’t mean it will be the same for you. I don’t have herpes whitlow so I can’t tell you what it feels like to have herpes on my hand. I just know that if you are getting sores on your hand you should see a doctor and have the sores cultured so you will know for sure what is going on.
Angels u are crazy..ll, u put up a site and obviously people come online to compare and get info on the matter. Not to be diagnosed or to diagnose, like u snap at people about. Calm down and dont answer then…we all know if we want for sure answers to go to a dr and get tested, but i is nice to be bale to share experiences we have had with it, and yes u studied it, but never had……so let those you can give info from a real experience tlel thier story and stop telling the same thing….to go see a dr. We all know that much,lol. Good luck to everyone else searching for help to ease there minds until they can see a doctor and possibly second opinions.
I agree. But does anyone have real experiences on here with this issue. I just got a few spots…and yes i do intend on seeing a ocotr, but this is the first time I broke out wiht this and heard of disease long ago in dental school, so the thought came ot mind I may have this due to fact I do suffer form cold sores on my lips. Possibility I may have cross contaminated myself and now have on hands. I will pray that no the case and will see how it progresses and if it returns to go to the doctor and get myself all worried for nothing. If it is somehting I for now on suffer from on a consistant basis, I will definately get it seen and hopefully swabbed to get a really good and definate diagnoses. Le me know what you have experienced, if you have been diagnosed, and what were evident signs you seen. Thnak you and God bless.
Hypochondria does not suit you. If you want to share your experiences, knock yourself out.