Posted on 03/03/2019 3:26:27 AM PST by LibWhacker
With its burning grip, shingles can do lasting damage When varicella zoster reawakens, it wreaks a surprising amount of havoc in the body
At age 37, Hope Hartman developed a painful, burning rash in her right ear, in the part “you would clean with a Q-tip,” the Denver resident says. The pain got so bad she went to a local emergency room, where the staff was flummoxed. Hartman was admitted to the hospital, where she started to lose sensation on the right side of her face.
During that 2013 health crisis, Hartman’s husband, Mike, sent a picture of the ear to his mom, a nurse. She said it looked like zoster, better known as shingles, which is caused by the varicella zoster virus. She “diagnosed it from an iPhone photo,” Hartman recalls.
Antiviral treatment didn’t fully clear the infection. For about two weeks after her release from the hospital, Hartman coped with severe pain, hearing loss and difficulty eating. Her right eye wouldn’t fully open or close. Following an appointment with neurologist Maria Nagel of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Hartman was admitted to the university’s hospital to get another antiviral drug intravenously. The pain subsided, and Hartman regained her hearing and the feeling in her face.
To spare others the same trauma of a delayed diagnosis, Hartman arranged for Nagel to give a talk on the virus at the local hospital where staff missed the signs of the illness, known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome. That’s the name for a shingles infection that strikes the facial nerve important to facial movement. As Hartman experienced, varicella zoster virus can cause a grab bag of symptoms that go beyond the typical torso rash.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
I’ve had a case of shingles every year since 2006. Yes, this is my 13th year with shingles.
I got a shingles shot 3 years ago and it did nothing.
I got the new shingles shots this past summer (two $300 shots with 3 months between injections), and I currently have shingles. I’m really tired of shingles. The burning phase and blisters are bad enough, but the itching afterward is the worst.
When people say that it burns, they mean that it feels like someone is pouring a pot of boiling water on you; and it does cause blisters.
I had a very similar experience, except shingles DID get into my eyebrow—AND my eye. It caused Iritis, for which a series of prescriptions was recommended. Prednisolone caused several days of terrible sleeplessness. My ophthalmologist sent me to Bascom-Palmer Eye Institute to make sure my eye was saved. Fortunately, I had four clip-on sunglass to put on my prescription sunglasses to make the trip. (In the 3-hours of driving in the darkness of early morning).
As for pain, I only experienced one painful episode that lasted a few minutes. I'd hit the area accidentally with a belt buckle, folded over at the waist, and couldn't help the tears and saliva that silently flowed to the floor due to the pain. The pain was "right up there" with kidney stone pain—which I've also had to endure!
It remains the "10" I've since used to weight other pain descriptors against.
Your doc should have given you anti-virals, not just steroids.
Is that the new one, where you have to get two shots, the Shingrix?
I was not aware of a second anything here. I got a shingles shot ($15 copay through retiree medical) a few years ago. When did this Shingrix come out. This new, news is a shocker to me.
Shingles.
I really don't like getting on a roof, especially not a pitched one with snow & ice.
shingles, shingles, shingles
Alright!, I'm going, I'm going.
Well, as a Christian woman, I understand your stance, but as a healthcare provider, I find it foolish.
I have patients who come into our office at least once weekly with shingles. Many we treat appropriately on the same day the rash breaks out, but they continue to suffer significant pain for six months or longer, usually leading to more medication. For many, the rash is highly painful and also unsightly and takes weeks or longer to heal. Had one woman with it all over her right breast. Talk about upsetting for this poor lady. Another 90 year old came in on another day ...a little frail 90 year old suffering in this type of pain is a sad sight.
The shots are easy, and relatively inexpensive as compared to a hospital stay.
God also gives us the wisdom to do what is right to take care of ourselves, with the resources we have available at the time. The Shingrix vaccine is available now and very effective — I advise it to anyone at risk. I’ve had to put several patients on gabapentin for weeks to months after they had shingles due to post-rash pain.
Here is a link to the side effects associated with Shingrix.
https://www.drugs.com/sfx/shingrix-side-effects.html
“Is it true that you feel like you have the flu after receiving the shingles vaccination?”
Not for either of us. The shoulder where we were injected was sore more so than a flu shot.
“Is it true that you feel like you have the flu after receiving the shingles vaccination?”
First shot, no problem. Second shot, developed fever and fatigue exactly like flu about 6 hours later. Back to normal about 24 hours after getting the shot. Plan accordingly.
It’s shocking that the ER crew couldn’t diagnose shingles. Not a single competent practitioner in the place? It’s not like this is some exotic third world disease.
If you had chicken pox as a kid, you can get shingles. If you have an outbreak of shingles, you can transmit it as chicken pox to someone who has not had chicken pox.
I had a case of shingles and it’s extremely painful. I am also not old enough for the vaccine. My dog said have to be 62. We’ll see how that evolves over the coming years.
Shingrix, the new vaccine, is 97% effective. There is no place to go after that.
My experience may be helpful for you.
I have had two severe outbreaks of shingles, both related to sun exposure.
At the time, my work schedule, and my geography (Seattle), meant I got almost no sun exposure at all for like a year, or even more.
Then, when I suddenly got a full day of sun exposure - BAM! - my face, neck, and hands would just erupt with shingles.
I discovered if I made a point of getting 10-15 minutes of spring time sun, a couple days a week, for about a month, the problem stopped.
I have had two dermatologists who claim that sunshine has nothing to do with shingles.
Don't believe them if they tell you that!
a combination of prednisone, flexeril, and ibuprofin eliminated zoster pain in my patients in 1-2 days every time I tried it. It always worked. No side effects.
Two shots. The first didn’t bother me. The second one left me with a perpetual burning rash that started almost immediately after the shot.
When I mentioned my skin condition following the second shot to my allergist, he told me he’s seen another of other cases where that happened.
I have two friends who are nurses who said they wouldn’t get the vaccination because of the new vaccine. I didn’t get into to details with them why they feel this way.
I’m just telling people my experience with it. I wish I hadn’t gotten the darn thing. I’ve been miserable ever since.
The pharmacist who gave me my shot told me they don't know yet.
For me the itching is insane! Ice packs are the one way I can control it. Had them 3 times in 10 years.
I had shingles on the right side of my face in 2015. Started with what I thought was a toothache. My dentist diagnosed it as shingles and put me on Valtrex. When the pain got really bad my neurologist put me on Gabbapentin (sp?).
But 2 weeks of shingles was NOTHING compared to the post-herpetic neuralgia that followed. Shingles x10. I’d get pain attacks on the right side of my face that had me going into a closet to scream for 2 minutes at a time, about every couple of hours. After 5 days of this my neurologist finally put me on Amitryptalene (sp?), which put an immediate stop to the pain attacks. There were some unfortunate side effects with that medicine, but I didn’t care.
Still suffer with PHN to this day, though the pain is manageable.
Side effects or not, I took the Shingrix shots last year. I’m not going through that again.
I had it a few weeks ago. Used Resinol.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.