I never had it but my brothers and sister have. I never had the chicken pox so..
You just have to let it run its course and follow Dr orders.
I know of guys who have had the gout and the shingles. They said the gout is WAY worse.
No thanks for either of them.
I have internal shingles and have suffered from it for decades. It is an utterly miserable experience.
I’m sorry to hear of your problem. As you noted, shingles is a very unpleasant experience. When I had it, I found that a cloth dipped in cold water helped.
Once I recovered, I went for a shingles vaccination. My insurance didn’t cover it it. I got the vaccination anyway.
One more thing. If you have it near the eyes, see an ophthalmologist ASAP.
I just had it a month ago. It took about six days for the medication to take effect. I had it in my mouth.
Shingles one month after my Mom passed away.
Left side of head.
Every time I combed my hair or even touched my hair it felt like the skin was shredding or dripping off.
Left side of face looked like I’d run into brush and brambles.
Left side forehead was on fire.
Left eyebrow felt like it was burning
Left eye socket felt like I had been punched in the eye
extraordinary pain behind my left eye.
Took the medication made famous by Jessica Alba and Alyssa Milano: Valtrex for 10 days.
Apparently Shingles is a form of herpes.
Today I have Post Hepartic pain mostly around my eye and behind it.
Some days it hurts so bad I have to stop what I am doing and when I get home I just turn out the lights and lay down.
If I put myself under pressure, which I like, it can be pretty painful and forces me to touch my phantom pain.
Phantom in that it’s not the skin, it’s not the muscle, it’s not the bone which you would touch or rub to soothe.
There is zero possibility to touch the pain or area and soothe it, hence it is my phantom.
I take Lyrica and have no idea if it works but, won’t stop taking as I think the pain would be worse.
Two years now...
Happy?
I had SARS 22 years ago. 28 days in ICU, lost 30 lbs even though intubated, last rites, etc. my immune system was compromised for two years. Laryngitis of unknown cause for four months and... shingles. Not a horrible case in my scalp and head . lots of pain and jumbling of the nerves for a while. I could run my finger along my eyebrow and feel it on the top of my head.
I had an out break on my back. I thought it was poison ivy. Washed it with rubbing alcohol, this was where a soft cotton tee shirt rubbing while I walked made my knees shake. I finally went to my doctor. He said you’ve had chicken pox. I said yes he told me it wasn’t a question. It’s back as shingles. The virus lives in us, when we get run down and our immune system is low the virus comes back as shingles. I work hard to get rest vitamins and stay healthy. Sorry for your tough time. God bless all who’ve had to endure it. Once is enough for anyone.
I replaced my roof recently. Cost me 18 Thousand dollars. Bought the house 18 years ago and local insurance regs state to keep the home insurable the roof must be replaced by the time the shingles are 19 years old.
The builder used 30-year warrantied shingles. What was the point? To give peace of mind? I guess it was probably a Marketing thing.
I got the shingles vaccine and so far so good.
Hubby had it, several years ago.
Said it was the worst pain, ever.
He took several supplements/used certain topical treatments, along with the Valtrex, that seemed to make it go away faster than most cases we’ve heard about...and, thankfully, he’s had no residual pain.
Wishing you the best.
I am so sorry for your severe pain, Mariner. It sounds horrible.
My wife got it on Christmas Day. We immediately went to an open (!) Urgent Care and she immediately diagnosed it as such.
She got an antiviral and a strong pain killer and it subsided. She got it again a few years later and treated it the same.
No lingering issues. However, my poor grandmother got it and had it chronically until her death. It sucks when you are alone and can’t see issues in a timely fashion through another set of eyes.
Just insane pain that lasted 2 months. I’d go to work in the morning and hit the bed right after lunch and try to sleep. I lost all my muscle tone from lack of activity and even after the pain subsided I had no energy for months.
i have a friend who has the post-herpetic pain that has never subsided, she lives in misery.
I was 35 when I had shingles on my torso. My dad had it at the same time. We had visited my mom in the hospital. Later we found out her hospital roommate had chicken pox. My dr said I was the youngest patient he ever had with shingles. So painful even wearing the softest t shirt.
I’ve had it twice on my back. It hurt to stand up, it hurt to sit down or lie down, it hurt to laugh, cough, sneeze, or breathe. It hurt to eat. It hurt to wear clothes. The first time the treatment was cortisone shots in the affected area and some pain meds. The second time, I took some antiviral drug the doctor gave me.
Acyclovir.
From experience: It will defeat shingles.
If you go this route get back to me for dosage.
Ah, those damn shingles. It’s a long, hard, hot day on that roof nailing them all down. I got sunburn.
I had it when I was heavily immune suppressed in high school. I had it all over my forearms, and it was awful.
When the drugs were reduced, I haven’t had it since. It was awful, but I was a lot younger and able to deal with the pain. I kept my arms wrapped up and slathered in lidocaine cream and antibiotic ointment.
I haven’t had shingles, but my sister recently got it. She said it was very painful.
The fact that shingles is very curable by large doses of vitamin C has been known for over 70 years. As early as 1943, I. Dainow reported success in 14 of 14 cases of shingles with intravenous vitamin C. In 1950 Mohammed Zureick, M.D., reported that 327 cases of shingles were treated with intravenous vitamin C with resolution of all symptoms and signs in three days in all cases. Here’s a 2013 article by Dr Thomas Levy on the subject : https://www.peakenergy.com/articles/nh20131003/Reverse-shingles-with-vitamin-C
My sister decided on taking a moderately low dose of vitamin C (4 grams a day orally), and her shingles slowly got better and are now gone, or so she tells me.