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To: RegulatorCountry
The swollen lymph nodes bug me, though. Why would a viral nerve inflammation cause that? There’s infection somewhere, and a pretty good sized one, judging from the size and tenderness of the nodes in front of my left ear, below my left ear and adjacent to the jaw.

Did your husband have this with his case of shingles?

First off, this is a guess so take it for what it's worth. I don't really think swollen nymph lodes would necessarily mean there's an infection. Lymph nodes act as filters to clean out any infection. Because your body is inflamed due to the shingles it could be they're responding to your body being out of whack.

Are you running a fever? Also did the doc on the box prescribe an antibiotic? Because if he did then unless there's a secondary infection which is bacterial in nature, the actibiotics won't work on viruses.

Unfortunately for my husband he had very few lymph nodes which weren't swollen. Leukemia keeps the body's infection fighters, in this case white blood cells, at a high count so his lymph nodes worked overtime even when he said he felt fine. One of the things they used on him was prednisone, in addition to chemotherapy. There was a time when he was getting 2 units of platelets every day. We could tell when he'd had an an infusion because his energy level would go up some.

The best advice I can give you is to keep a close watch on your break out and if need be, get to the ER (today) or to your regular doctor first thing tomorrow.

71 posted on 01/03/2010 10:19:25 AM PST by Sally'sConcerns (I'M A TAGLINE!)
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To: Sally'sConcerns

I’ve been on acyclovir and gabapentin going on a week, now. The rash appears to be receding somewhat, never did spread beyond the quarter sized area on my left temple, behind the hairline. The nerve pain did spread, though. The hair in my left eyebrow hurts, lol.

The swollen glands are gone down. Pain in general is not as bad overall as it was, just different, more spread out to areas that, at least visually, weren’t affected. Something’s making me lightheaded for half the day, I suspect the gabapentin since it comes on an hour or two after I take it, and only take it once a day.

Been putting tea tree oil on the rash, which seems to have been of benefit. Strong stuff, like turbocharged camphor or something.

Thanks for replying, btw. It helps to understand what to expect, and what others have experienced.


73 posted on 01/03/2010 1:02:22 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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