Ken:
Hi Anne, I posted the message below in another forum on this site. What treatments have you found that help? I am just starting to figure this all out myself. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I found this forum while trying to find more information about Fifths disease in adults. I was interested to find that others are also getting severe wrist/hand arthritic pain as I have been. Here is my experience with the disease, sorry if I mention everything, but I thought it would be good to give a play by play so other’s can relate their experience. I feel pretty positive that what I have is Fifths. About 2 weeks ago (5/5), I felt tired and had some muscle ache around my eyes and some body fatigue. Three days later (5/8), I woke up on Monday with a mottled rash all over my body. I did not notice/check-for the rash the next day Tuesday, probably because I became preoccupied with an increase fatigue in my wrists, arms, and shoulders that began to flare up to a point that it was severely painful to push up to get myself off the couch (I’m not over weight). The following day (5/10) was worse and Wednesday night I didn’t sleep more than a couple hours because the pain in my wrists (mainly), arms, and shoulders were so bad – I have had viral fatigue in my body several times, and this was/is way beyond anything I had ever experienced: aspirin, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, nothing seemed to work. I had low grade fevers of ~100 degrees both Tuesday and Wednesday nights (normally around 97.8 for me) I saw my family physician Thursday morning who announced to me that I had Reiter’s Syndrome without tests or even touching me. He made no comment about the rash and discounted the fever as being a normal temp. elevation that occurs at night - I guess it was possible; however, being a molecular virologist, I had to learn everything about Reiter’s that I could….. and the diagnosis seemed far fetched after I learned more about it (arthritic inflammation believed to be caused by bacteria infection). He prescribed Diclofenac sodium (75mg). I immediately made an appointment to see a rheumatologist to confirm his diagnosis ( a one week wait). Three days after starting the meds, some of the pain was gone, but there was still a lot of numbness, and stiffness. Yesterday (5/17) I did some work in the yard for the first time since this all started, and the pain has increased so what ever the infection did seems to be still lingering. II have not stopped taking the Diclofenac since it was first prescribed to me. Today 10 days after I had the rash, my wife came down with the same rash. She has felt tired the last few days. Her fingers and hands ache a bit. The incubation period for Fifths (4 days to 2 weeks) matches the span of time between my rash and my wife’s rash. It was at this point that I realized it was probably Fifths that my wife and I have contracted. I see the rheumatoligist tomorrow. I will ask about the ozone treatment as noted in an earlier message. If Fifth’s disease is so prevalent and there is a good chance that we should all have had it as a child…. Could there be a re-occurrence of the parvovirus in adults as the immune protection wanes with age just as chicken pox does when it manifests it self through painful neuropathy? …just a thought.