Has Anyone Here had Parvovirus as an Adult?

[vejemom]

If so, what were your symptoms? I recently had a weird episode of almost crippling muscle soreness/weakness, nausea and general stomach upset, and sore throat/runny nose. The symptoms lasted 3-4 weeks. At one point, I dropped and broke a glass on the floor. I found that I literally could not kneel down to clean up the glass shards. My legs were too weak to support my bending down, and the heel of my hands was too sore to support my weight on my hands to lower myself to the floor. It was actually harder for me to get up and down the stairs than it was post C-Section.

My first thought was Lyme disease, given where we live. However, the Elisa test for Lyme came back negative. The doctor explained that there is a more precise, but very expensive test for Lyme that he could run if the Elisa came back negative but the symptoms persisted. I asked what else it could be, and he mentioned that Parvovirus sometimes manifests itself with Lyme-like symptoms in adults. The symptoms have finally gone away, so I'm thinking that he is probably right. Has anyone had Parvo as an adult and had weird, Lyme-like symptoms? The whole thing was so strange, but I do finally feel better (and 5 pounds lighter), so Lyme is looking unlikely.

[mom_hanna]

YES! I had it about a year and a half ago - got it from my daughter, who got it at preschool. I went to the dr. because my joints were all so sore and swollen, I couldn't squat down, lean on my wrists, etc. He thought I might have rheumatoid arthritis but the tests came back negative. He then asked if there had been any cases at my dd's school, so I went and asked them, and there had been, so my dr. was pretty sure that was what it was. He said it could last anywhere from a month to a year(!). It lasted about 2 months, and then went away.

Hopefully this is what you had and it is gone for good now.

[ha98ed14]

How come your DD didn't get it? Does it not affect kids?

[andbabymakes3]

My husband got parvovirus around Christmas 2007, we're not even sure how. In retrospect we realized that my father in law probably had it too, before my husband, so I guess he probably got it from him, but how father-in-law got it...who knows! DH had rhumatoid type symptoms; we were totally freaked out as he is usually very healthy. Got really swollen, especially knee and ankle joints, and had a rash. It lasted about a month and slowly got better. He was pretty miserable. His doctor didn't ever figure it out--I forget what his doctor told him other than he wasn't exactly sure--just put him on steroids. Ultimately it was our pediatrician who figured it out when we took DS to her and she diagnosed him with it due to a rash. Seems to me she said it was pretty common in children but the symptoms are generally very mild and often not noticed; in adults it is less common and more likely to cause the rhumatoid type symptoms and more. It's been over a year now--that's what I recall anyway!

[vejemom]

How come your DD didn't get it? Does it not affect kids?

It does, but the symptoms are different. They get the "slapped cheek" look, sometimes a rash, runny nose, etc. The girls may well have had it - they had had cold like symptoms prior to me getting the weird symptoms.

So everyone who has had it had the same weird symptoms. Wow! Crazy. I guess that's what it was. Thanks for the info, ladies. I love this board. I always learn so much!

[MamaMolly]

My BIL had it a few years ago and it hit him like a ton of bricks. About a month ago DD woke up with bright pink cheeks. I called her ped. who suspected parvo and didn't even want us to come in, she said we'd confirm the diagnosis the next day when/if DD had a rash on her torso. She kind of had a few spots, but nothing like I was expecting.

I got a sunburn on my shoulders over the 4th of July and strangely enough ended up with an upper body rash for over a week. I remember the pink cheek thing too, so I suspect I might have had it, but it went undiagnosed and DD got it from me.