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 ...
My doctor says that having the chickenpox vaccine gives you immunity from shingles but that it can become very weak as you get older. I just wondered how important it was to get the shingles shot now that I’m older, given that I had the chickenpox vaccine when I was entering school for the first time at the age of 6.
Perhaps the nurse meant to say that having chickenpox itself makes you more susceptible to shingles later on. I’ve never read or heard from any doctor or nurse that having the chickenpox vaccine makes you more likely to get shingles.
Yikes, that's very unfortunate!
And cancer. And a stroke...
I had to pay a $68 co-pay for the 2nd Shingrix shot with Part D, but I imagine that varies with which part D plan you have. Never had the Zostavax so I don’t know about Medicare paying or not paying for the newer and more effective vaccine.
On the other hand, I imagine if you ask someone who is afflicted with shingles if they’d pay $300 to make it go away, they’d find the money!
A note I keep for times like this:
Some years ago, my Mother was having another outbreak of shingles. I didn’t know a thing about shingles, so researched it. From places like WebMD, naturopath groups, and Free Republic (!), this is what I found (keep in mind this was some years ago on the Zostavax reference):
- Shingles is caused by the Herpes Zoster virus which is the same virus as Chicken Pox.
- Shingles around your eyes can blind you.
- There is a vaccine for shingles, called Zostavax. Ask your doctor about a shot. Vaccinated people can still get shingles, but they suffer far less pain and the bout is far shorter.
- A non-immune person can get Chicken Pox from you when you have a shingles outbreak.
To help, L-Lysine clobbers the herpes zoster virus and props up the immune system. Vitamin D3 boosts your immune system, wards off viruses.
When you have an outbreak, take 6000-8000 milligrams of L-Lysine a day. Also up your dose of Vitamin D to 4000 milligrams.
Once your outbreak is all cleared up, take 2000 milligrams of L-Lysine and Vitamin D as a maintenance dose each day.
I bought my Mother the two vitamins, and her shingles were completely gone in about two weeks. She did not have another outbreak before she passed, about 2 years later, where she had been having an outbreak every 6-9 months.
When, last year, my Daughter sent me a picture of a horrible outbreak and told me it was shingles, I sent her the same info as I’d provided my Mom. Daughter’s outbreak was healing in about 3 days after she started the L-Lysine and went from not being able to wear clothing to healing well.
I know you could label this info as anecdotal, but you never know!
My son failed to get chickenpox when he was young, and the pox can be nasty when you're older. I figured better get him the shots.
She walked me through this very carefully.
She said if he never got the pox, he would never have to worry about shingles.
Since the shots contained weakened but live virus, he would now have to worry about shingles.
I asked about the shingles vaccine. She said it's the same shot, but a higher dose.
I said that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
She said, "I know, right?"
Anyone over 50 can get Shingrex, the new shingles shot. Over 97% protection. I just finished my 2 shot protocol this Friday.
There’s a nationwide shortage, so you are going to have to do a lot of legwork getting a hold of the shot.
“Sounds hereditary. What are the chances of a person getting this?”
shingles is caused by the re-activation in adults of the virus that causes childhood chickenpox, and rarely from contact with the fluid from blisters of someone with shingles
the chickenpox virus isn’t really cured in childhood, but instead burrows into the nerves and goes dormant ...
if you’ve never had chickenpox, then you’re extremely unlikely to come down with shingles ...
if you have had chickenpox, then your chances of the virus reactivating are a function of the health of your immune system plus injuring the skin above a surface nerve that contains the dormant virus ...
It’s a virus Kill it with silver
, worrying that all the ailments they are going to learn about just may be festering in their own bod
The same mindset is doubly present in psychological training. We all have a little bit of what’s being discussed and the tendency to latch onto most everything is always there. That’s why psychologists are so neurotic, I think. It’s because they ignore the real maladies they have, thinking they are fantasies.
. My dog said have to be 62.
What I was told by medical professionals is that it’s caused by stress.
And that stress and be any kind: illness, fatigue, physical exertion, emotional stress, whatever puts your body under stress.
Interesting. Who knows for sure about anything medical these days?
Got it just before Thanksgiving could not go to Thanksgiving dinner at my daughters as she just had a new baby. It started on the top of my head and worked down to my right eyebrow and near the corner of my right eye. Saw my eye doctor twice to make sure there were no eye problems. Had the vaccine shot about 5 years ago. If it lessened the the experience I’m glad but It sure hurt.
Lol. Doc. Meant doc.
I contracted it 3 years ago (and yes had the shot). It was a terrible ordeal for a month.. but that was just the start
I have had continual chronic severe pain in the chest area since then. continual. severe. And it affects other organ systems. terrible pain when I eat, move, breath. Residual neuralgia is the term I think. There is the normal awful regular pain and then now and then have the social treat of knife jabs to the chest area.
I know everyone has different experiences. Wish mine were better. On top of my other health issues, this is the pits.
Re: “I imagine if you ask someone who is afflicted with shingles if they’d pay $300 to make it go away, they’d find the money!”
Yes they would - including this old boy!
“You can do what ever you want.”
That’s ironic, unfortunately. People will do what they’re conditioned to do. Now that propaganda has supplanted logical debate on vaccines, people are fearful of being labeled “anti-vaxxers.”
To be clear, I’m not anti-vaccine: I’m all about vaccine safety (the schedule is harmful as well) and, since there’s no debate (and no liability on big pharma), there is literally NO SAFETY.
Now the establishment demonized all critique of safety. Children & adults alike are affected. Russian Roulette, literally.
I think what the nurse meant is that it is currently unknown how long the chickenpox vaccine is effective - in other words - for life? - or will you need chickenpox boosters as you get older?
Someone who has not had chickenpox can be infected with chickenpox if they come in contact with someone who has shingles.
On the other hand, I don't believe it is possible for someone who has chickenpox or shingles to re-infect someone who has already had chickenpox or shingles.
In the USA, chickenpox vaccinations began in 1995, so almost everyone over the age of 25 has had chickenpox.
I got the earlier version a couple of years back. People are strange - when I told my mother, she said she’d had shingles and she just dealt with it. You don’t know where this will show up and what kind of lasting damage you can have. No way would I just ‘deal with it.’
I am on the waiting list for the new version.
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