Shingles!

[reefer]

Anyone ever had it...feeling like shite...3weeks in...did the course of Ezovir and Lyrica...which really didn't do anything much for the pain...so just Inquiring as to other peoples symptoms if any one has had this POX!

 

[aussiefarmer]

My mum and grandmother has had them and it can make them very ill, not something to take lightly. Avoid anyone with chicken pox in future as the shingles will come back.

 

[xcvator]

My wife had it about 5 years ago, she was very lucky that we went to the doctors quickly. She had it in her head , down the side of her face and in her eye.I forget what the treatment was , but if she had gone another week the doctors said she would have gone blind in her eye. Bit like a nerve pain, excruciatingly painful, then can be gone in a matter of minutes, then back again. She also had severe neck pain, like massive cramps, and sometimes still gets them, just not as bad.

 

[nucopia]

Never had shingles but I suffer from Psoriasis which causes me a lot of problems .. :8

 

[Mike678]

I had it on my back , takes about 6 weeks to go away . I put that pink stuff on , Calamine Lotion ? , cheap and did help .

 

[nightscale2011]

Never had shingles but I suffer from Psoriasis which causes me a lot of problems .. :8

Yep sucks I have it too

 

[davent]

Few years ago I was bitten by a brown widow on my hand. Was in my letter box. Went to ER and the doc told me I had shingles even though I identified the spider by the egg sack, and took a photo on my phone and showed him.
He wrote script for meds to treat shingles and I threw it in the bin on the way out.
Later that night it had swollen to about the size of a golf ball, and had all the classic signs of a widow bite, ring of blisters around the swelling, really painful to touch and felt like I had a hang over. Next morning went local GP, who told me I had shingles. I went home with a headache and then threw up in the funny. Really felt like a hang over. Later that day I felt fine , but the swelling persisted. Couple of days later I went to another doctor who also said I had shingles....I asked why I only had one, in the same place that a brown widow bit me. He then lectured me about self diagnosis via google, and assured me I had shingles. The red lump stayed at the bite site for about two weeks. No pain and I felt fine. The lump did look painful and it was ugly, but there was no pain and I felt normal.
I guess what Im saying is Despite being diagnosed by 3 doctors that I had shingles, I did not. I knew I didnt. They all said the same thing about how dangerous self diagnosing is and to leave it to the pros.....lol
I lost a lot of confidence in doctors over that.

Sorry for the long and some what irrelevant yarn.

 

[nucopia]

Never had shingles but I suffer from Psoriasis which causes me a lot of problems .. :8

Yep sucks I have it too

Tell me about it .. increased incidents of arthritis blocked coronary arteries Alzheimer strokes depression digestive disorders circulatory disorders ..nasty stuff.
I started taking Tumeric tablets for it about a week ago as its supposed to be effective in treating it..
Also diet is important ..drives me crazy with the itching

 

[Black-Pete]

Yep I had it about 5 years ago down my back,arm pit and chest and shoulder. It has never really gone away and if I have the shower too hot it flares up again. I found that Stop Itch helped a lot if put on just before bed it helped me sleep most nights but sometimes nothing seemed to help.
Black-Pete

 

[user 4386]

Anyone over 60 who has had Chicken Pox should get the shingles shot (I have after seeing a friend with it). It is a miserable thing....

 

[grubstake]

Also, the shingles vaccination is free to the over-70's.

 

[OzzieAu]

Anyone over 60 who has had Chicken Pox should get the shingles shot (I have after seeing a friend with it). It is a miserable thing....

Thats right... if youve had Chicken Pox as a child, the virus (herpes zoster) can remain dormant in your body, ready to re attack you as shingles when your immunity is compromised.
I got it after going through a stressful time with a cancer operation a few years back. Its truly a pox of a thing.
I found the best relief from the pain and itching was to swab the skin with good old apple cider vinegar. It also sped up the healing time and left no scarring.... cheap too!
Google ACV for shingles reefer, it may work for you too..... wishing you well :goldnugget:

 

[Mackka]

Highly contagious I am told , best wishes mate.
Mackka

 

[grubstake]

Highly contagious I am told

Sort of:

Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area.
Exposure to the virus in the blisters can cause chickenpox in someone who has not had it, but will not trigger shingles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingles

 

[Nightjar]

My wife had it about 5 years ago, she was very lucky that we went to the doctors quickly. She had it in her head , down the side of her face and in her eye.I forget what the treatment was , but if she had gone another week the doctors said she would have gone blind in her eye. Bit like a nerve pain, excruciatingly painful, then can be gone in a matter of minutes, then back again. She also had severe neck pain, like massive cramps, and sometimes still gets them, just not as bad.

I would be getting a second opinion.
My partners mother has been getting the symptoms you mention including a feeling she needed to blow her nose but no mucus. Up until yesterday she was being treated for shingles. Yesterdays specialist visit he did more tests and she is now on a short list for either a stent or carotid artery bypass. The specialist says she is very close to having a stroke.

 

[Windar]

Had it just above my eye. First doc thought it was an infected mossie bite, second picked it before i had sat down. Got the anti-virals and it cleared up in a week but i still remember the burning pain. Even an ice pack direct on it did not reduce the pain. Good luck and look after yourself!

 

[reefer]

Thanks all for your helpful comments...my characteristic rash all over my left... ...bicep...has cleared up, as has that which was around the rib-cage on that side.It's all still a little tender to touch but the pain I suffered in it's early progression was almost intolerable!..doc had me on EZOVIR for the first 3weeks and I think I dodged a bullet actually if some of your comments are taken into account.
Nucopia,and others. I too suffer occasionally with psoriasis oop: but only on my elbow :8 ..Euomovate is really good for it...clears mine up in quick time if applied 3-4 times a day...after less than a week it's usually cleared up. layful:

 

[user 4386]

Highly contagious I am told , best wishes mate.
Mackka

Actually I don't think you can catch it from someone else - it needs to already be in your body. However you can catch chicken pox from someone with shingles. Weird.....

"Shingles occurs only in people who have been previously infected with VZV" "Shingles is due to a reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV) in a person's body.[1] The disease chickenpox is caused by the initial infection with VZV.[1] Once chickenpox has resolved, the virus may remain inactive in nerve cells.[1] When it reactivates, it travels from the nerve body to the endings in the skin, producing blisters.[7] Risk factors for reactivation include old age, poor immune function, and having had chickenpox before 18 months of age.[1]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingles

And yes, it is a real bugger of a virus.

 

[reynard]

Feel sorry for you reefer, my wife had it about 4.5 years ago and although the shingles has gone the nerve pain never has. The only help the doctors can offer is lyrica , and unless you want to walk around like a zombie and kill off your brain cells you just have to put up with the pain. I had it 25 years ago and fortunately have had no after effects, lucky me. I was put on lyrica a few years ago for scyatica , one at night and one in the morning . I was only taking one a day and was still stumbling around and tripping over my own feet, bad shite.
Jim 8.(

 

[bigdog]

My wife had a bad case of shingles doctor put her on some drugs that turned her in to a zombie a friend told us to try St. Johns wort and lemon balm works wonders for the itch and pain she could,t believe how much better it felt stopped having to take the drugs. Most health food stores sell it or can make it up for you.