Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious.

Apr 20, 18 12:06

Post #1 of 18 (1581 views)

Anybody dealt with shingles? On Tuesday, I had what I thought was a jolt of sciatica down my left leg - lightning bolt of pain from the glute, down the IT band. Stretching seemed to make things worse, and my planned run with the dogs was torpedoed by sharp, stabbing pains in my hip. Went into work anyway and spent the day in agony - constant dull pain in the hip/glute/groin, punctuated by random sharp pains. Woke up Thurs to find my left thigh covered in patches of red welts and the same constant pain mixed with random muscle spasms - another day of misery. Same deal today. Dr. Google says it's likely shingles, albeit an unusual presentation. Got an appointment with a non-virtual doc to check it out but thought I'd ask around here and see if anybody has had the fun of shingles, and maybe get some idea of what I'm in for as far as treatment, duration, etc. Hell, I'm only 51 - didn't see this coming.

_________________________________________________
"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [TiDriver] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 12:11

Post #2 of 18 (1573 views)

Get thyself to doctor today so you can get on Valtrex which can limit the misery. Amount of misery ranges from very little to so bad you have to be on narcotics for the pain. Quite random how bad any individual pt has it. Valtrex only works if you get within 3 days of first symptoms so today is your last chance .

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [len] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 12:31

Post #3 of 18 (1538 views)

Done, and thanks. Got an appointment in about an hour. The pain is bad but manageable/tolerable so far so hopefully I can avoid the heavy duty pain meds - hate that stuff. Will self administer some Rx-strength beverages this evening to help with the pain.

_________________________________________________
"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [TiDriver] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 13:07

Post #4 of 18 (1497 views)

I haven't, but my brother developed it on his neck, scalp and upper back while he was in the process of getting divorced; suspicion was that the stress prompted it (or took a toll on his immune system, which allowed it to develop). It looked miserable, he said it felt miserable, took several weeks to clear up. Hope you get better soon.

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [TiDriver] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 13:11

Post #5 of 18 (1487 views)

Curious.... have you have any trauma in that area recently?

A friend of mine slipped on steps and fell on his butt, and a few days later developed a bad case of shingles in the same place. He was bedridden for 4 days.

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [TiDriver] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 13:30

Post #6 of 18 (1467 views)

TiDriver wrote:

Done, and thanks. Got an appointment in about an hour. The pain is bad but manageable/tolerable so far so hopefully I can avoid the heavy duty pain meds - hate that stuff. Will self administer some Rx-strength beverages this evening to help with the pain.

You might wanna check with tthe doc before mixing alcohol with some medications. I don't know about anti-virals and alcohol, but I'd check first.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [TiDriver] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 13:41

Post #7 of 18 (1452 views)

Shingles is the real deal it will fucking hurt and don't call me Shirley sorry I had to say that :-)
I got the vaccine.

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [Constantine] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 13:48

Post #8 of 18 (1442 views)

Constantine wrote:

Shingles is the real deal it will fucking hurt and don't call me Shirley sorry I had to say that :-)
I got the vaccine.

I got shingles a number of years ago, relatively mild case and pain-wise on the spectrum of things. Had chicken pox as a kid.

My mom sent me an email today on some vaccine for it and said i should get it. I haven't researched it.

She got a case of Bell's Palsy on her face (caused by some form of shingles/herpes strain) and screwed her up royally for a long time. We thought she had had a stroke. She's recovered now.

.

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [TiDriver] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 13:52

Post #9 of 18 (1438 views)

I have had it on my tip of my right ear where only a few of the blisters show up. It hurts for a few days and then the blisters pop and ooze a little and that ooze is contagious. So far I've been lucky and it's been relatively minor, but as others have said it can be ugly.

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [TiDriver] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 15:30

Post #10 of 18 (1404 views)

Sorry to hear, did you have the vaccine beforehand? And to those that got the old one(which I got) I hear they are saying to get the new one regardless? Has anyone done the new one, side affects?

Sorry to hijack your thread here, but seemed a good place to ask a few questions, you know so we dont have to go through what your are going through, ouch!!

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [Kay Serrar] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 16:06

Post #11 of 18 (1374 views)

Damn, that sounds awful. Guess I'm lucky-ish - pain is tolerable so far, just in a bad spot. No trauma to the area lately - however, i am on Cosentyx for psoriasis, which suppresses the immune system and increases succeptibility o things like shingles.

_________________________________________________
"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [Nova] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 16:10

Post #12 of 18 (1369 views)

Dx confirmed as shingles - got a scrip for valacyclovir and read the accompanying info. No caution for alcohol, although it apparently won't knock out herpes. Beer time!

_________________________________________________
"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [monty] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 16:16

Post #13 of 18 (1364 views)

No sweat - as far as hijacks go, this is merely a detour. Haven't had the vaccine - it's usually not recommended until age 60. I'm 51 but since I'm also on Cosentyx for psoriasis, I'm more succeptible to the shingles virus...yay. It's a drag, but from what I've read it could be tons worse.

_________________________________________________
"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [monty] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 16:29

Post #14 of 18 (1354 views)

I’m 54 and got the first shot shingrix vaccine (new one). It’s actually 2 shots and you get the second 2 to 6 months after first. Apparently 2nd is for long term protection.

Even if u had the old zostavax shot they recommend getting shingrix.

As far as side effects my arm hurt really bad for 2 days where I got the shot. I mean bad!

No other side effects for me. My wife is a pharmacist so she went thru the spill that u could have flu like symptoms for 1 to 3 days and maybe some arm pain from shot or maybe a headache for a day. And of course the last thing she tells me is that the manufacturer says it could kill maybe 1 out of 100 million people! What’s funny is that the month before I increased my life insurance!

Oh, My health insurance paid 100% of it.

Rex

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [TiDriver] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 20:09

Post #15 of 18 (1271 views)

I had it several years ago. It was a mild case and the rash lasted a couple weeks.
My wife got it a year ago and still occasionally has some discomfort.

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [TiDriver] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 18 20:14

Post #16 of 18 (1266 views)

TiDriver wrote:

No sweat - as far as hijacks go, this is merely a detour. Haven't had the vaccine - it's usually not recommended until age 60. I'm 51 but since I'm also on Cosentyx for psoriasis, I'm more succeptible to the shingles virus...yay. It's a drag, but from what I've read it could be tons worse.

The CDC is recommending all those over 50 get the new Shingrix vaccine. My insurance company (Independence Blue Cross Phila) thinks they know better than the CDC though, won't pay for it until age 60.

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [TiDriver] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 18 19:20

Post #17 of 18 (1132 views)

bummer, hope you feel better.

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Re: Shingles?! Shirley you can't be serious. [DJFaithful] [ In reply to ]

Apr 23, 18 14:48

Post #18 of 18 (996 views)

My coworker, who is in his 30s, has been off work several weeks as he has shingles that has gone into one of his eyes. He is the 3rd person in my circle of friends/coworkers who are well under 50 and have had it. No idea if he had an illness or stressor that set it off.

My health insurer just does the basics so I doubt it will cover the vaccine, but I'm going to check.

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