Anybody ever had shingles?

[Brigid]

I suspect I might have a mild case, but want to know what others have experienced.

[NightWatcher]

1. I had Pringles once

[LiberalEsto]

2. My husband had it last year. Mild case.

Uncomfortable, intense pain and itching that kept him from sleeping well at night. We thought it might be bug bites, but the doctor looked at the reddish irritated area at his waist and diagnosed mild shingles. I can't remember what they gave him, or if they gave him anything for it, but it went away within a week or two. We applied diluted apple cider vinegar to it and he said it helped somewhat.

[pipi_k]

3. Is there really

such a thing as mild shingles?

I've never had it myself (should get the vaccine) but a cousin had a particularly nasty case of them this past summer.

She said it was hell.

And that's pretty much the way I've always heard it described by anyone who's ever had them.

I went looking for images, and OMG.

truly horrific!!!

[grilled onions]

4. Spouse Had It

The main thing was not sharing any wash rags or towels. Every case seems to have variations. I believe there is a connection of "if you had chicken pox" you have a greater chance to get shingles. I have beyond moderate psoriasis so I hope I won't face that down the road as well.

[YvonneCa]

5. Yes. Get to doctor...

...for diagnosis. Everyone who ever had chickenpox carries the virus (varicella zoster) that also can cause shingles. There is a medication but you have to take it soon after onset. Good luck!

[eShirl]

10. good advice!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. the "medication " cost me a small fortune and did NOTHING.

I had a massive outbreak from center line in middle of chest to center line in middle of back, below breast, down to lower belly. The entire left side.
What really helped besides large quanitities of a pain med was to wrap the entire area ..to actually swaddle it.in wide snug strips of flannel ( I sacrificed a sheet), since anything brushing against the area was so damn painful, but the swathing kept movement and air off the blisters, and actually helped reduce the pain to some degree.
Took 3 weeks for most of it to go away, left some pretty big scars, and chronic intermittent nerve firings pain.
THAT was stopped, eventually, when I was put on low dose of Elavil..seems 50 mg of Elavil handles some chronic pain issues.
But, the whole area where the blisters are is numb, to this day, to touch. Weird.

btw. my brother called this spring, reporting he too had a break out ( he is 50) in the exact same pattern as mine, so I am wondering about the genetics of where the eruptions are.

to the uniitiated, it feels like your skin is on fire..VERY intense nerve pain.

[csziggy]

27. Valtrex generic is not that expensive

Herpes zoster, the virus that causes chicken pox and shingles, lives in the nerves so it's not surprising that it affected the feeling in the affected area.

I have herpes zoster living in my left hand have had for forty years. For years the doctor thought it was an antibiotic resistant infection but when there was a test for the herpes it was finally diagnosed. It flares up every so often, feels like someone is holding a lit cigarette to the area. Now I keep Valtrex on hand and as soon as I feel the crawling sensation that comes before a flare, I take that and it stops the flare.

I recently got a shingles vaccination. The doctor hopes that will control the infection in my hand. Between having chicken pox as a child and the resident infection in my hand, I am a prime candidate for shingles. If genes have anything to do with I have an even better chance - my Dad has had it.

Be prepared if you go for a shingles vaccination - it is VERY expensive. Over $200 even at Walgreen's. I paid about $100 at my doctor's office. Apparently my insurance doesn't cover it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. Shingles Vaccination very expensive indeed, plus only works for about 2 years.

Plus a chance it can GIVE you shingles..I read the small print carefully.

Valtrex was not the med the dr. proscribed, unfortunately I do not remember the name of the med, I was at pharmacy in a state of pretty bad pain to get it and the pain meds.

Would not wish shingles on my worst enemy.

I DO have a small list of war criminals that I would not mind if they got it, tho.

[csziggy]

37. I didn't know the 2 year part!

But even so, if it will knock out this recurrent infection in my hand and stop me from getting shingles, I'll do it! I already have the virus living in me, so the possibility of getting it from a vaccination is moot.

OOOhhhh - great torture idea. I know even with the virus working on one small area, I'd do anything to make it stop. I shudder to imagine it all over my back, like my Dad had.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Hubby did. It was miserable. Pain and itching all around his torso for months.

[siligut]

7. Cut out nuts, especially peanuts

Buy some Lysine/L-Lysine and take 2,000 mgs every 4 hrs while awake. No booze and cut back on meat too, but peanuts are the worst. You might also try applying vitamin E over the area and then an occlusive gauze.

Don't use body building powders during this time either, Arginine is your enemy now, if this is shingles.

[hay rick]

12. Used lysine for canker sores. It worked.

I wouldn't recommend it for shingles, however. Had shingles about 20 years ago- went to the doctor.

[dixiegrrrrl]

30. Damn..wish I had thought to increase my Lysine dose.

I know about the lysine/arginine issue, just never crossed my mind to think of singles as herpes virus...duh.

[siligut]

32. Lysine is a good thing to keep on hand

Inexpensive, it keeps well and really will diminish an outbreak. If people could look at the events and their diet preceding an outbreak, they would be better prepared to prevent future pain. Shingles are just awful.

[LeftofObama]

8. I had them a few years ago.

On the right side just above my butt. You will have usually horizontal red stripes that will get blisters. They're itchy and hurt like hell. I think they had to give me a herpes drug to get rid of them.

[eShirl]

9. do NOT fuck with shingles!!! get to a doctor

mild case my ass! That's what my husband thought.. AT FIRST.
If you get started on anti-viral medication ASAP it can help keep it from getting really bad.


edited to add: he ended up staying at the hospital for almost a week with intravenous anti-viral medication, but he is on immune suppressant drugs (so as not to reject a transplanted organ) so he got extra-special treatment and attention

[eShirl]

13. oh ALSO, his docs said you can give people chicken pox

so they really don't want people with shingles showing up at the ER to spread it around

[Generic Brad]

11. I have shingles right now

They are on my roof and they work just fine.

[mcar]

14. Had them 2 years ago

I concur with the advice to see a doctor. Get diagnosed, get on antivirals and pain medication. You need to know cause you are contagious.

Good luck. The pain sucks.

[UTUSN]

15. I had a mild case, & yes there can be mild cases, cause the BAD ones are horrible

The trouble with mine was that I didn't know what was happening during the onset, had no clue what was happening, so I waited too long and did what is NOT to be done (burst the blisters).

Mine was a little circle of blisters at the top of the shoulder and the nerve the thing/virus chose to travel the highway of went down to end up in the thumb. Getting the late start to diagnosis and meds probably prolonged things, but I had zero idea that anything was happening, just some lethargy, little fever, just not feeling well. I just didn't know it was anything more than whatever.

As for the severity, I've heard people describe TERRIFIC (from root word "terror&quot pain, with the thing latching onto an extended nerve/highway round and round the torso, them not able to lean back in chair or bed.

Oh, my final outcome was that after it was over, a numbness/neuropathy settled into the thumb, in my dominant thumb that I use for turning the house or car key, and it ain't bad but a nuisance.

[applegrove]

16. I had squiggly lines on my hips when I was a teen. My mom said that was shingles. It only

mildly hurt when I ran my hand over the skin.

[Brigid]

17. The more I research, the more I don't think it's shingles.

No pain, no blisters--just a rash on my hands that itches a little and doesn't seem to want to go away.

[MissMillie]

34. if it's on both hands, I'm gonna to guess that it isn't

but of course, you shouldn't take my word on it because I'm not a doctor.

[meti57b]

18. My understanding is that you have 72 hours to start treatment,

to avoid getting a bad case of shingles.

I turned up with shingles, last summer. I felt the small itchy spots at about 9:00pm. ... a little late to get to "Urgent Care". Early the next morning, I got over to Urgent Care. I had no visible sign of shingles, but they took my word for it and gave me a prescription. I got the prescription filled at 9:00am, and started taking the stuff. This was 12 hours after it started.

Over the next several days, I got more symptoms of a very mild case of shingles ... raised, itchy pink spots, in a "band" front to back, on one side only. It went away in about three weeks.

Starting treatment right away also avoids severe recurrences.

[grasswire]

20. yes and I was sick for a month

Really sick.

[Brigid]

22. Wow, that's got to be the worst case I've heard of.

I'm sorry you went through all that, grass wire.

[slutticus]

21. yep. herpes zoster

wouldn't have known except my doc noticed some rashy patches on my side. I had been really sick with a respiratory infection, he said it probably flared due to a weakened immune system (i was stressed at the time due to work)

Gave me some antivirals and it went away after a week or so. I would occasionally have some shooting electrical pain in the area (all the way up my spine :O ) but it went away. If you think you have it you should go to a doctor. You could give someone chicken pox (if they haven't had it)

[a kennedy]

23. I received a shot for shingles when I had my annual physical. eom

[LWolf]

24. Yes. A year ago.

If you think you have a mild case, get to a doctor and get some antivirals before it becomes more than mild.

It started like a backache at the bra strap region. My back always hurts, so I thought it was just a little more extreme than normal. It increased to burning, and a painful itchy rash. That rash and pain spread horizontally around my right side and onto the front; it was blistery.

The pain was bad enough that I couldn't sleep, couldn't concentrate, and couldn't move freely. When I finally got to a doctor, after 4 days, he prescribed me antivirals and pain meds. Percocet to go with the milder pain meds for the first couple of days. Due to the percocet, I lost 2 days of work (and ability to function much at all), and was operating at half speed and function after that. Calling in subs, writing sub plans, and watching the rest of the work pile up is usually more trouble than it's worth, so after 2 days I forced myself back.

It was another couple of weeks before the pain was completely gone, and about 9 months before the lesions finally subsided.

[patricia92243]

25. There is a vaccination available. I don't think you can have it until you are over this

bout of shingles. But, you can have them over and over, so be sure to get the vaccination as soon as you can.

My sister had shingles for TWO YEARS. The minute the vaccine came on the market, I got it. So did she.

[begin_within]

26. Get to a doctor right away, and

ask if you can get an anti-viral drug such as acyclovir, famciclovir, valacyclovir, etc. Those interrupt the repductive process of viruses and can slow down or reduce the case. It worked well for my Mom when she had a mild case of it.

[Silver Swan]

28. I had shingles on the left side of my scalp, neck and lower face.

My doctor prescribed an anti-viral med, and a steroid dose pack.

The pain and itching on my scalp was horrible. Wrapping my head tightly in a towel helped a little. I didn't sleep at all for two days, so I asked my doctor for something to help me sleep. He prescribed Ambien.

I have a large pale patch on my neck which is a scar from the largest lesion area.

[HereSince1628]

42. Same location for me...terribly painful...

At about 3 in the morning I couldn't take it anymore and went to an ER.

Got told to go home and take over the counter pain killers that didn't touch it...I had some percocet left over from heart surgery and got a doc at primary care to give enough to get through 5 days.

[RiffRandell]

31. No, but my husband had it twice.

Rash, pain. Got meds from the dr but man, they suck.

[UTUSN]

39. That has been my question: So it can REoccur?

I've had it only once (so far), 12 yrs ago. So can the reoccurances be varied in severity? Or does each person have their own "type" of incidence, like will mine be similar/mild. Are they triggered by something specific?

[MissMillie]

33. Yes. I was 13.

clumps of blisters that HURT, rather than burn or itch.

They mostly stick to one side or the other of your body, so I'm told. And that was the case w/ me. Left side of my neck, shoulder and halfway down my left arm and back.

[Loryn]

35. By all means go to your doctor.

The can be mild or very severe. I have known several elderly people who got them, and they never really got rid of them. Not that you are elderly

My mom had them, and I believe they used Gabapenten for the pain.

I hope they clear up for you very soon.

[sinkingfeeling]

36. Yes, back in April. Only symptom I had was the rash. Since it 'hurt', I guessed I had shingles

and the doctor said I was right. Took the medicine and it went away. Still have some scars from the rash.

[geardaddy]

38. I've had them once.

They suck. Painful as fuck.

[cordelia]

40. Yes, back in the 80s

From the stories I heard, my case was very mild, limited to the left side, the largest patch under the left breast with a smaller patch below.

Can't describe the pain. It's like something I've not felt before or since.

Please get to a doctor and get some relief.

Best of luck to you.

[Still Blue in PDX]

41. I didn't know there was such a thing as a mild case.

I've had shingles. It was worse than 38 hours of back labor and delivery of an occiput-posterior baby that resulted in a broken tailbone and a third-degree tear.

Just sayin'.