Shingles

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Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

Anyone had them?
Any hints on how to cope with them?

I HATE viruses

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:41 pm

WebMD has an article on shingles treatment.

I have fortunately never had shingles. I've known people who did, and they were in a lot of discomfort. My sympathies. Sad

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:45 pm

I have had shingles! Some of the newer medications work very well - but you must get started quickly after symptoms appear.

Long term solution: there is now an effective vaccine. This won't help with your present outbreak, but will prevent future flareups.

Bruin

Elite Baiter Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 1407

I believe it's the adult equivilent to childrens Chicken Pox. I also know that they SUCK, last a long time, are painful and can leave nasty scars.

Go to a Doctor pronto if you think you have them/are getting it. It's bad.

Good luck.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

You have my sympathies Bruin
It is rather uncomfortable
I'm on Aciclovir, started just after the first blister appeared.
I'd actually gone to the GP as I was feeling unwell and had a pain in my left arm. ( was worried about my heart to be honest )
It felt like sunburn at first Rolling Eyes

So taking Echinacea, extra vitamins, pinkillers and antivirals.
Applied calamine lotion
Had baking soda bath
Basically treating it the same as chicken pox
Was wondering if I should try applying Zovirax cream?
Any advice welcome.

Been told plenty rest, fluids- not so hard
But big thing is I am not allowed to visit my dad in hospital, that's really hard as he doesn't seem to understand why I'm not there and also isnt really able to use the mobile phone I got him

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:31 pm

Sorry to hear this Nanny and I wish that I could help. Sad

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:53 pm

I had the chicken pox when i was very little so can't get it again. Can't remember what it was like so i can't give you any advice Nanny. Good excuse to tell your lads when they ask you to make a WU payment. Very Happy

I hope you recover quickly.

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:12 pm

^^^ other way around apparently mr vampire

Quote:

You can only get shingles (Herpes Zoster) if you have previously had chickenpox. After having chickenpox the virus lies dormant in the nerves, and shingles occurs when it is revitalised in one particular nerve to the skin, thus explaining the way it affects a clearly demarcated band of skin only.

http://www.medinfo.co.uk/conditions/shingles.html

Hope you're feeling better soon Nanny.

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:25 pm

@Sunshine's quote: That's indeed how it works. However, you do want to get the Chicken Pox when you're still a child, because if you get them when you're older they're far worse and can even be dangerous.

Quote:

Pregnant women and those with a suppressed immune system are at highest risk of serious complications.

Wikipedia.

ETA: Hope you get better soon!

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:40 pm

@Nanny Ogg I am so sorry to hear about your shingles pain. For my grandpa it was excruciating. He got some relief from slow-release pads that contained local anesthetic (lidocaine maybe?). I hope the antivirals can keep it at bay.

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:40 pm

Just checked my vaccination booklet and i was vaccinated against the chicken pox so i was misstaken. I had what we call in the Netherlands "de bof" Parotitis epidemica .

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:58 pm

I had shingles when I was about 15. It wasn't very sore. Itchy as hell, but I suppose been so young, it didn't bother me much. Shingles runs along the nerves if I remember it right. Mine went from my naval up my chest around by my shoulder and down my back. On the plus side, I happened to be showing someone in Home Economics. My home ec teacher saw how bad it gotten, went mental and I spent a week out of school.

As for the treatment. My mam, bless her heart, just put a heat lamp on it. It worked. Don't know how, but it was brilliant.

I'm sorry for your suffering. You have a kindred spirit in me.

V

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

The shingles virus is the same as chickenpox one, which has been lying dormant for years in the nerves.
A weakened immune system, other illness or stress can trigger it

The old wives tale was that kids with chicken pox could give an older person shingles but its more the other way around in that someone with shingles could give a child the chicken pox
I'm not sure if exposure to the virus again does trigger shingles

I was wondering if copious amounts of alcohol may help
Do you think I'd get that on the NHS?

@ the vampire I'm glad you've been vaccinated against the chicken pox
I had one child with it who was vaguely unwell, had a few spots/blisters and was well again ina couple of days
and the other was so ill she nearly ended up in hospital.
She had blisters everywhere , I mean that literally, couldn't walk for them on the soles of her feet, hallucinations, poor wean looked scalded.
Oh and she came down with it Xmas Day.

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:07 pm

Not good Nanny. Hope it subsides quickly. I would think retrovirals plus immune boosters would be the shot.
I don't know anything about Dr Pronto. Is he any good? Smile

(Feeble attempt to lighten the load)

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:30 pm

Sorry to hear that, Nanny. Sad

I feel for you, it's no fun.

I had shingles many years ago, before any of the modern drugs were available (and even those are of limited help, from what I've read). There was nothing to take for it besides pain medication (Percoset) and sleeping pills (to help sleep despite the pain). It was horrific, the worst pain I ever endured.

I'm urging my wife to get the vaccine now. She keeps putting it off but I tell her she does not want to get shingles if she can possibly avoid it....

Good luck.

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 11:25 pm

Nanny wrote:

Quote:

I was wondering if copious amounts of alcohol may help

There is only one way to find out!! Report the results of the experiment after you sober up.

Bruin

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 1:04 am

You have my sympathies Nanny re the pain. Keep up with all the medication as shingles can cause some nasty permanent side effects like peripheral neuropathy Crying or Very sad

Peripheral neuropathy is something you would only wish upon your favourite lad it's so excruciatingly painful. I know as I have it in both feet.

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 3:24 am

We had cedar shingles on a house, they needed re-oiling every few years to stop them warping and leakin...........

oh

those shingles

Silly me

Sorry

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 3:28 am

Hope this passes quickly Nanny. My wife is going thru a severe episode of this affliction as I type and all we can do is treat the symptoms and wait. I wish I could do more for both of you.

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 5:12 am

Hi Nanny Ogg
I'm really sorry to hear about your shingles. My husband had a small patch of them a few years ago. I made a paste with baking soda and water and put it directly on the spots. It really worked to take the itch away, much better than putting it in the bath.
I hope you recover rapidly!

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:36 am

Poor Nanny Ogg. Sad

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:52 am

That's bad Nanny O, I've known a few people that have had shingles over the years. From what I remember, the first attack is the worst.

Make sure you eat well and look after your general health during and after a spell. Try and avoid stress (easy these days I know Rolling Eyes

) and don't get over tired as that brings on flareups. It's worse if you are run down.

I don't know if scratching or rubbing can spread it, but be very careful not to touch your face or rub your eyes. I know someone that got it on the face and that caused all sorts of problems.

Take care.

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 12:57 pm

Hi Nanny, Sorry to hear of your problem.

The only effective treatment is for a lad to take a pilgrimage on your behalf to the temple of Zaphod (which he would have to build when he gets there), with a suitable offering (maybe a cup of tea), and to offer a prayer to the Virgin Vogon for your salvation. Photographic evidence would of course be needed.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

^ great idea
If someone else want to try that out for me go ahead, I've not got much energy at present

@ Irish
Terrible pun, almost as bad as my pal's Shingle Bells comment

Funny enough I've had a line from Joni Mitchell's Roses Blue going through my head
" I think of tears, I think of rain on shingles, I think of rain , I think of roses blue"

Thanks for all the sympathy folks

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 2:33 pm

Nanny Ogg wrote:

Anyone had them?
Any hints on how to cope with them?

I HATE viruses

Avast Anti Virus works very well for me.

I had an elderly Aunty who got regular grief from her shingles. Go see what the doctor can give you, if only to help you with the symptoms, you have to wait for it to get bored and go away. Or try whiskey.

ETA: looling at the pics on Wiki, I may have had a mild dose of that a couple of years ago, I had a very sore patch down my inner arm, that itched like guggery (a swear word used by ventriloquists). It went away after a while, I'd forgotten all about it.