Who's had Shingles?

Jules said:
Thanks. Years from now I hope I never have to think back to ‘what did Gary O do’.
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Yeah, it worked for me.
I was quite liberal with it.
But..... it doesn't work for everyone, as @Ronni attested, it didn't do much for her.

Shingles is weird
Some folks break out like crazy, but not so much discomfort
Some don't break out so much, but experience deep pain
I think, after a few weeks, we all itch
Not a fun thing
 
Had chicken pox at about age 30,,sons bought it home from school.

Must have been 50 + when I developed an itchy rash on upper part of my left breast.
Light pain like rug burn in left arm.
Thought for sure I gotten in to poison ivy.
Eventually it went away.

Later talking it with my doctor she thought I may have had mild case of shingles.

Know several folks who had shingles worst than mine,, so got both shots.
Hubby got one & says he won't get another because he thought he was charged too much for the first one. :rolleyes:
 
Gary O' said:
Yeah, it worked for me.
I was quite liberal with it.
But..... it doesn't work for everyone, as @Ronni attested, it didn't do much for her.

Shingles is weird
Some folks break out like crazy, but not so much discomfort
Some don't break out so much, but experience deep pain
I think, after a few weeks, we all itch
Not a fun thing
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Exactly all of this jist as @Gary O' said! I now have 5 separate breakout areas. All below my waist. Two on my lower right back. One area right on my side. Two on my belly right side below my navel. They’re all separate areas and range in size from a dime to a silver dollar.

They look like not much of anything/no big deal/not a problem. WRONG. 😡

I asked my doc how something so innocuous looking could produce such deep, relentless, stabbing pain?

But of course it’s not the rash so much. It will get itchy and the skin can be very sensitive. It’s the nerves and nerve endings that are affected by the shingles virus. That path from virus to nerve endings is totally random and capricious and will produce a little to a lot of pain just depending on how many nerves and nerve endings are compromised.
 
I just got the cooties all over my left shoulder, back, breast area, neck area, and scalp. I took valacyclovir for 7 days of moderate pain and they went away by day 12. But, the bitch of it is more pain now than when I had scabs and blisters. Post Herpetic Neuralgia, I'm in the 20% that gets it. Any ideas other than Pregabalin? They attack every night around 7PM. Boy, do they burn!
 

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Mrs. Robinson said:
No,it is NOT fun! Wouldn`t wish Shingles on my worst enemy. I had it when I was 55 so the vaccine hadn`t even been discussed yet. But I could never get an answer as to whether or not I should get one after. None of the docs I asked seemed to know. Now I hear that they do recommend that you do but I am not going to get it-mostly due to things I have read here lol.

By the time I saw a doc,he said it was too late to give me anything to help,so he just gave me pain pills and sleeping pills. It took a month for it to go away.

I did do one really stupid thing,which I have shared here before. My daughter told me that she read that applying Aspercreme to the rash would help with the pain.So off to the store I go. And what do I buy? Not Aspercreme,but Capsacian.Made from chili peppers. I applied it and OMG! The pain was horrific! So then what did I do? Got in the shower to wash it off. Opened those pores right up and I thought for sure I was gonna die. Felt like such a dummy....
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God bless you. Capsacian is a med from hell. Open your pores with exercise or a hot shower and you'll feel like you are on fire, literally.
 
Skyking said:
I just got the cooties all over my left shoulder, back, breast area, neck area, and scalp. I took valacyclovir for 7 days of moderate pain and they went away by day 12. But, the bitch of it is more pain now than when I had scabs and blisters. Post Herpetic Neuralgia, I'm in the 20% that gets it. Any ideas other than Pregabalin? They attack every night around 7PM. Boy, do they burn!
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I am not sure what is worse, the shingles itself or the Post Herpetic Neuralgia. I was prescribed Lidoderm Patch (prescription only). I think in my earlier post I wrote Lidocaine patch. That is OTC and did nothing. Lidoderm Patch was sufficient during the day with Aleve. At night I needed the patch and Dilaudid pain medication in order to get any sleep. Ask your doctor about Lidoderm patch. It is specifically for Post Herpetic Neuralgia and also for diabetic neuropathy. It worked for me. I used to cut the patches in half because mine was over a much smaller area than yours and I wanted them to last longer. I wish you luck. I had it for just about a year.
 
I haven't personally had Shingles but I had a boss that did and he was out of commission for at least a week. He said it was excruciating. We got our Shingles vaccine soon after to avoid it.
 
I have not had shingles...although I did wonder if the pain I have in back that happens about every 6 months was shingles but symptoms do not match....anyway after reading all the post here, I'm thinking I need to reconsider getting the vaccine, even tho my insurance does not pay for it.
 
Ronni said:
Since I first posted the above, the area around my belly that had been both tingly and numb has now broken out in the rash in two different areas, one around my belly button, the other further down, with a resulting increase in the pain. And there are a couple light dots right on my side that I'm expecting to spread and break out into a rash too. Time will tell.

I was up and down all night, for the bed to the couch to the guest bed, trying to find some way to get comfortable enough to sleep, in spite of heating pad, cold packs, OTC pain meds. Tomorrow I'll talk to my doctor and see if there's something stronger I can take. I HAVE to be able to sleep at least!

This ain't fun, people! :(
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You poor thing!!! My father passed away in 1987 and not long after that, my mother got shingles so bad, I had to give her shots of Demerol. However, that didn't even touch her pain and she ended up in the hospital. It was really bad. I felt so helpless. That's one of the reasons I wanted to be vaccinated but was so angry with the pharmacy (who also filled a wrong RX for me!) for giving us the old stuff and it cost us almost $600. I know the insurance doesn't cover it, but I think that pharmacy marked it way up. Never did business with them again.

I sure hope you get over this soon.
 
I've said this before I'll say it again. Go to the ER and get on anti-virals i
Kika said:
I am not sure what is worse, the shingles itself or the Post Herpetic Neuralgia. I was prescribed Lidoderm Patch (prescription only). I think in my earlier post I wrote Lidocaine patch. That is OTC and did nothing. Lidoderm Patch was sufficient during the day with Aleve. At night I needed the patch and Dilaudid pain medication in order to get any sleep. Ask your doctor about Lidoderm patch. It is specifically for Post Herpetic Neuralgia and also for diabetic neuropathy. It worked for me. I used to cut the patches in half because mine was over a much smaller area than yours and I wanted them to last longer. I wish you luck. I had it for just about a year.
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Thanks and will do it. But, a year??? Oh crap. My Doc gave me Nortriptyline. Along with pregabalin before bedtime and now I'm tired dizzy and still tired and doped by noon the next day. Prescription-strength of 800 mg Ibuprofen helps me too. For the rest of you, I've said this before when you get a nasty rash, immediately go to the ER. Get on ANTI-VIRALS like valacyclovir 1G 3X a day, 7 days. It worked for me, at least for the blister to scab stage. NO home remedies at that stage. And then get the 2 vaccine shots when it's all over.
Mr. Ed said:
I have a metal roof.
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ME TOO!
 

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Well it’s been 3 weeks. The pain is finally beginning to back off. It still hurts like a bitch but by comparison with its peak this is mostly bearable without pain meds.

it probably would feel even better, but by Saturday I felt somewhat functional for the first time in 3 weeks so like an idiot I immediately moved into high gear and spent the entire day outside working. Did stuff in the yard, got our back porch set up for function after its shutdown of the winter months, moved the plants back outside…In other words, WAY overdoing! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Id already told the family I wasn’t going to be able to host our Easter get together, so
My daughter took that over. Predictably though, I worked way too hard at her house, in spite of her urging for me to just sit. <sigh> WHEN WILL I LEARN???

Full work day today. I’m already looking forward to the end of the day when I can come home and put my feet up. 😖
 
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Ronni said:
Well it’s been 3 weeks. The pain is finally beginning to back off. It still hurts like a bitch but by comparison with its pea this is mostly bearable without pain meds.

it probably would feel even better, but by Saturday I felt somewhat functional for the first time in 3 weeks so like an idiot I immediately moved into high gear and spent the entire day outside working. Did stuff in the yard, got our back porch set up for function after its shutdown of the winter months, moved the plants back outside…In other words, WAY overdoing! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Id already told the family I wasn’t going to be able to host our Easter get together, so
My daughter took that over. Predictably though, I worked way too hard at her house, in spite or her urging for me to just sit. <sigh> WHEN WILL I LEARN???

Full work day today. I’m already looking forward to the end of the day when I can come home and put my feet up. 😖
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Yes, you did overdo it! I'm so happy that you are feeling a lot better. Shingles is so unpredictable so please do only what it necessary and give your body time to rest and regenerate.
 
I have found that, unlike childbirth, shingles pain doesn't fade from your memory. If asked about it years later, you can relate in perfect detail what it was like (as witnessed in this thread!). :rolleyes:
 
I had the Chicken Pox real bad growing up.

Our son had Shingles as a adult and it was bad and severe - very hard on him. He had Chicken Pox as a little boy.

ms gamboolgal and I got the 2 X Shingles Series a year or two ago.

We have known several folks who had the Shingles and it sounds terrible and painful.
 
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