Posted on 03/25/2016 4:20:04 PM PDT by Hostage
A very close friend of mine has had a bout of Shingles for several weeks and finally went to the VA Hospital to get help.
Shingles is a reactivation of the Chicken Pox that one might have had as a kid. It is the Herpes Zoster virus and it can damage nerves causing severe pain.
He is 61 years old and he told me November last year that a visit to the VA for shoulder pain had him diagnosed for tendonitis. So he followed steps for gently exercising to restore his movement and he took Ibuprofen for the pain.
He said that while at the clinic late last year, he was told he should have a Shingles vaccination but he declined as he did not know what it was and he was skeptical of vaccines in general. He said he was going to read up on it but got so busy that he forgot about it.
I drove him to the VA Hospital week before last because his pain was so severe and he hadn't been able to sleep for a week. I walked with him into the ER and he was nonstop apologizing to the staff that he didn't follow the advice to get a Shingles vaccination. A Nurse Practitioner saw him in the exam room and told him it was Ok that he skipped the Shingles Vaccination because it didn't always 'hit' anyways. He also said that likely his tendonitis was likely the Herpes Zoster virus emerging and not tendonitis. So it wouldn't have mattered whether he got a Shingles vaccine or not.
I thought the Nurse Practitioner did a great job calming him down. He was prescribed a 7-day course of Valtrez (an anti-viral) and Oxycodone. He took the Valtrex immediately while in the hospital but wouldn't take the Oxy because another vet who was waiting in the lobby had told him they were habit forming (which as a narcotic pain killer they are).
The NP told him to follow up with his primary in a week if the pain persisted. The appointment with the primary was more than a month out (talking VA here) so the NP suggested he do a walk-in to the primary clinic and tell them he was in pain.
Walking with him down to the hospital pharmacy, he seemed calmer. He said he had always been tough as an Ox and was never one to rush for medical help. He said he did not want to take the Oxy but he was so deprived of sleep he might have to. At the pharmacy dispensary, the pharmacy assistant assured him that the Oxy was only for one week and there was no danger of it becoming habit forming. She said it would take about a month before habit forming tolerance would be seen. He told her he would only take them if he could not get to sleep.
So I drove him home. The next day he told me he had taken the Oxy and it worked like a charm, barely felt any pain but he would continue with the Valtrex as his rash breakout had been worsening. He vowed to not take any more Oxy but he did. He told me several days later that after stopping the Oxy, the pain came back with a vengeance and so he took the Oxy again along with Ibuprofen.
Now he said he was deeply concerned that he was going to fall into the category of being addicted to painkillers and that distressed him greatly.
After one week he was finished with his Valtrex and his Oxy but was still having a lot of pain. I drove him back to the hospital and dropped him off. He wasn't supposed to drive while on Oxy and he had just taken his last pill a few hours before. He said he was sure the pain would return and that he best get to the clinic.
He called me after returning home and was relieved that he had been prescribed a non-habit forming painkiller called Gabapentin. Last week he told me that the Gabapentin was working but not always. One day he would be relatively painfree and the next day in a lot of pain.
Had shingles a few years ago and it lasted a couple of months. Unrelenting pain that was relieved by nothing. Finally, my doctor decided on gabapentin and the pain started to diminish. Horrific experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone. It was around my waist area and lower back, very little rash. I did have chicken pox when I was a child.
The risk of addiction similarly led me to avoid opioid pain killers, but I found that three or four aspirin and a benadryl helped with the pain, along with hot tea. Lemon oil also helped when applied topically to areas of pain and permitted to absorb into the skin, with care to avoid the eyes and any blisters, cuts, or sores.
Gabapentin was recommended against by my doctor due to his patients' experience of minimal benefit and often unpleasant side effects. My doctor ran a test though for vitamin D deficiency and it proved that I was greatly depleted. I have therefore been taking vitamin D3 supplements at a rate of 2,000 i.u. a day.
Paradoxically, the vitamin D supplements consistently trigger new attacks about four hours later, but the long term effect is restorative as the attacks have gradually become less severe and my energy and well-being have improved. Most likely, your friend also has a vitamin D deficiency and it has played a key role in his experience of shingles.
2000 is per day is like nothing
I take 50,000iu per day for other things
50,00 is is 1.2 milligrams or about 1/1000 of the dose of vitamin c
Pregnant women in the 1940’s were given 1 million in per day for 9 months with no side effects
Look up vitamin D on PubMed
How long did the pain stay?
I have a friend going on 2-months. It is not pretty.
Opiate painkillers are there for the pain that you can’t handle. He should not avoid them to the extent he is. Being “a hero” raises stress and slows healing.
Take the least you can that works, and aim for the end of your day. If at all possible try to go without in the morning, IF YOU CAN. If not, not. By afternoon, ask yourself where you are on the pain scale (1 is it hurts a little and 10 is excruciating). Over 5-6 treat. Especially for evenings and nights, people are tired and pain seems to increase. Don’t be a hero.
Having had a few brain surgeries and 4 c sections, I know the point that separates the patient getting pain relief from the addict. There will come a day when you will tell yourself, well, it really doesn’t hurt that bad, but it might, later, so I should take one now. THAT IS WHEN YOU STOP TAKING THEM. It always happens. And it is NOT hard to stop at that point. It’s only as hard as not getting another piece of chocolate cake you know is in the fridge. That is when you stop. The next day is 20x easier to not take the opiate. I’ve gone on them for severe pain and off them, including morphine, and it isn’t that hard to get off if you do it fast enough.
He will be ok getting more pain relief than he is allowing himself.
Uncomfortable is a medical term for screaming and clutching the ceiling.
Got the shingles vaccination 2 years ago. Best price was at Costco pharmacy, about $60. Had a few friends that got shingles, not something one wants to risk getting.
For the cost of the shingles vaccine I thought it was life-time. But I thought I heard somewhere it needed to be done every year? Any comments?
I’m 55 but have met folks my age that had it. Doesn’t sound like fun.
They told me it would be over $200 and that insurance would not cover it until I am 60.
Sorry to LOL but your endin qualifier was brilliant
I am blessed
Had my first outbreak in 1994, appeared behind my L ear and back of my neck...Maddening burning pain and constant unrelenting itch...I was like a bear with a sore tooth for months, and nothing relieved it...
Docs gave me Famcyclovir which finaly reduced the outbreak, and diphenhydramine/Benadryl for the itch...No pain meds, although the Benadryl did help with that, too.
22 years later, I still have occasional small eruptions, and neuralgia is for life...Lots of scarring on the back of my neck, but I got burned there a few years later so doesn’t matter...Docs also think my hearing loss on L side may be Shingles related...Damage to auditory nerve...Nobody knows for sure...
Get him some OTC Benadryl like the Equate brand at Wally World...Added benefits of Benadryl is may well help him sleep as drowsiness is a side effect...And I concur on mega-dosing on Vitamin D...Started back then, and still take 3-5000 IUs/day depending on how I feel...
Good luck to your buddy...I feel his pain...
Mike
he’s not using any names...nothing whatsoever wrong with discussing a health issue that would be knowledge helpful to many....
Had shingles starting in mid October 2015 in the nerve which is based in the right side of the face. The nerve wraps up around the right ear and to the back of the head, down the right jaw and down the throat. Every bit of it was transmitting the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. In my case the facial lesions were bad, but nothing compared to that nerve pain.
After the lesions went away I started having even worse pain attacks in my face every few hours. Pain so bad I’d have to go into a closet and scream at the top of my lungs. Very scary for my family to hear that.
Eventually I learned to just stay calm during the pain attacks and pray. The screaming and writhing was actually making the pain worse. Was VERY difficult to stay calm. The pain attacks were way worse than the shingles, and shingles felt like my face was on fire.
Turns out I have post-herpetic neuralgia, which is (in my case) permanent nerve damage caused by the herpes zoster virus. My neurologist finally found the right combination of drugs to lessen the pain (gabapentin and amitryptaline), but the side effects of both drugs were unpleasant enough where I’ve weaned myself off of both of them.
I call shingles the “Devil’s Disease”. Worst illness ever.
After reading this, I’d think twice about getting the vaccine, and anyone suffering should definitely get some manuka honey right away! And the rest of us, keep up our vitamin D intake.
do not take massive amts of anything including vitamins until you at least talk to your doctor.....
bkmk
I am familiar with all that. The problem is that 2,000 to 5,000 i.u. per day marks the limit of my capacity for shingles pain.
I would love to get the shingles shot, but you can’t get it until a year after a bout with the damn thing.
I’ve had a case of shingles every winter for the past 5 years.
I’m just now getting over my most recent case now.
I can take the burning pain, because it only lasts a week or tow, but the itching goes on for months.
This has been the most frightening thread I have ever seen.
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