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Shingles!!!


NatureBoy
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Maned up and went on rare visit to docs Thursday after feeling rough all week and with what i thought was a bad reaction to an insect bite (again) on back of my shoulder. Turns out i got shingles which has now spread to my arm. Last thing i need in this heat! Got prescribed Aciclovir tabs (5 a day) and pain killers. It really irritates, really sore, painful and i feel cranky and like carp! Anyone got any hints and tips to relieve pain and length of time of infection??? On top of that i have trapped nerve in same shoulder and it my shooting shoulder. What joy!  Ta!  NB

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Not good news all round.  I have had a dose of it around my mid rift and under my left arm.  That was back in the early eighties and I am told there are better drugs available now to help relieve it.  The pain was tolerable, even the sudden sharp hits which made you jump in the chair. The itching as the rash dried up and healed was even worse. 

For those who have not had a dose of it then get down to your Docs and have the jab.  Apparently it works.  Getting shingles when in the late 70s onwards is not fun and can shorten your life.

Edited by Walker570
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Horrible condition.

I had it several years ago brought on by the stress of a poorly dog! Initially thought it was multiple insect bites behind my ear, but after around 4 days I could bear it no longer and went to the docs.

Co-codamol didn’t touch the pain .... you’re just going to have to ride it out.

 

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27 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Not good news all round.  I have had a dose of it around my mid rift and under my left arm.  That was back in the early eighties and I am told there are better drugs available now to help relieve it.  The pain was tolerable, even the sudden sharp hits which made you jump in the chair. The itching as the rash dried up and healed was even worse. 

For those who have not had a dose of it then get down to your Docs and have the jab.  Apparently it works.  Getting shingles when in the late 70s onwards is not fun and can shorten your life.

Yep, If you've not had it yet, get the jab. Had it a few years back and it was not diagnosed in time for treatment so it was just a case of pain killers. I'm not sure which did the ongoing damage, the shingles or the pain killers - they were very strong as my dose was quite severe - I won't bore you with the details, but the aftermath was very unlpeasant mentally and has only recently subsided..

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Thanks for reply's and advice fellas. Felt well old when doc told me that at 54 he thought i was young to be getting it. So didn't like to mention trapped nerve back pain and dodgy nee. He mentioned that there a free jab they really recommend folk over 70 get. He reckoned my immune system low because i had bad reaction to delta fly bite just the other week. They tiny little fly but always affect me bad. Similar symptoms. Your experience of it sound grim Wymberly! Well blistered today. Doc told me if i had left it longer/over weekend it would of been to late for drugs to work.Felt well rough before rash appeared. Well wobbly and sensitive to sun light and heat proper aggravate rash/blisters! Apparently rest really help it! I just hope it not last to long! got a lot on at mo.    NB 

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Just got over my second bout of it. Didn't go to the doctors, just got some Novirox over the counter when it got bad.

The pain isn't terrible but it gets to you and wears you out.

I am 55 and first bout was 20 ish years ago. First lot knocked me about more than this one but too busy to slow down. :D

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ok after the rash has subsided try a light cool damp cloth,defo not ice or heat pad and maybe aloe vera cream .misses has just got over it on her leg and lower back,i had it across my whole back when I was 20

now at 58 I still feel it sometimes when I get a bit low.

NOT FUN

JB

 

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Had a bout of shingles 3 months back. I also thought it was insect bites as I'd been doing some serious garden maintenance but after a few days it was obviously shingles. Doc said they didn't prescribe antiviral for shingles after the first 48 hours so all he could offer was... Nothing... Which I thought was surprising as I'm 73 but it was just go home, take it easy, paracetamol if necessary (it wasn't) and wait for it to go away. So I went on line and ordered tumeric tablets, which are a more effective anti inflammatory than anything the pharmacy can offer, and after a couple of days the tenderness was subsiding. Probably 6 weeks start to finish.

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4 hours ago, NatureBoy said:

Thanks for reply's and advice fellas. Felt well old when doc told me that at 54 he thought i was young to be getting it. So didn't like to mention trapped nerve back pain and dodgy nee. He mentioned that there a free jab they really recommend folk over 70 get. He reckoned my immune system low because i had bad reaction to delta fly bite just the other week. They tiny little fly but always affect me bad. Similar symptoms. Your experience of it sound grim Wymberly! Well blistered today. Doc told me if i had left it longer/over weekend it would of been to late for drugs to work.Felt well rough before rash appeared. Well wobbly and sensitive to sun light and heat proper aggravate rash/blisters! Apparently rest really help it! I just hope it not last to long! got a lot on at mo.    NB 

Yep, the Doc was right. I really did think that I was having a heart attack so got myself to the local cottage  hospital. One nurse strapped me to the ECG thingy while another called a duty Doc. No, you're fine was the prognosis, take some paracetamol and if you still don't feel right, go to your own doctor on Monday - this being early on Saturday PM. So I did. Before I got my shirt over my head, my Doc said 'shingles' - the rash had now appeared. I do not know whether it was the shingles (nervous system) or the painkillers which caused the nightmares which we'll just describe as horrendous and leave it there. These did stop shortly after the shingles cleared up and the pain relief was stopped. I am a retired aircraft technician - a rigger - and have spent countless hours working inside airframes where many would think it impossible for a human being to get into let alone work. Consequently, claustrophobia was obviously not a problem, but certainly became one - big time - after the shingles. Initially, even turning off the bedroom light and the room becoming dark put me into panic mode. Used to crawl down the intake of the Hunters (engine still in place) to check for loose rivets as one did. A visiting family member wanted to go to the air museum at Yeovilton. This some three years after the bout. I was OK until we got to the Hunter and I made the mistake of looking down the intake. Had to leave PDQ using the need to pee as an excuse to go find a quiet corner to have a breather. All seems OK now, thank goodness.

So, again, as said, if you qualify or can fiddle it even, have the jab.

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Had my first bout on the right side of my head when I was 18. Felt like a mechanical grab trying to tear the back of my head off. That was long time ago and I ended up begging the nurse to give me something to knock me out. In those days I was given DF118 which I could only take for 3 days then had to have 3 days off it.

Over the past ten years I've had three more bouts of it round the left side of my head. Aciclovir definitely reduced the rash.

Bad news is that the neuralgia from it can twinge now and then for up to ten years after the attack.

Not a nice affliction.

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1 hour ago, wymberley said:

Yep, the Doc was right. I really did think that I was having a heart attack so got myself to the local cottage  hospital. One nurse strapped me to the ECG thingy while another called a duty Doc. No, you're fine was the prognosis, take some paracetamol and if you still don't feel right, go to your own doctor on Monday - this being early on Saturday PM. So I did. Before I got my shirt over my head, my Doc said 'shingles' - the rash had now appeared. I do not know whether it was the shingles (nervous system) or the painkillers which caused the nightmares which we'll just describe as horrendous and leave it there. These did stop shortly after the shingles cleared up and the pain relief was stopped. I am a retired aircraft technician - a rigger - and have spent countless hours working inside airframes where many would think it impossible for a human being to get into let alone work. Consequently, claustrophobia was obviously not a problem, but certainly became one - big time - after the shingles. Initially, even turning off the bedroom light and the room becoming dark put me into panic mode. Used to crawl down the intake of the Hunters (engine still in place) to check for loose rivets as one did. A visiting family member wanted to go to the air museum at Yeovilton. This some three years after the bout. I was OK until we got to the Hunter and I made the mistake of looking down the intake. Had to leave PDQ using the need to pee as an excuse to go find a quiet corner to have a breather. All seems OK now, thank goodness.

So, again, as said, if you qualify or can fiddle it even, have the jab.

Glad to hear you OK now Wymberley!  Your experience of it sounds horrendous! Doc gave me the impression that the aciclovir tabs and pain killers would clear it up in seven days. Went back to work and  yesterday to finish job! Proper struggled and defiantly shouldn't of been on ladders! Didn't realise it  can affect folk so bad and for so long! Apparently jab only free if you over 70. I'll pay for one if i can get one. What i have read since that the jab don't stop you get'n it . just lessens symptoms. Well rough today! This on top of bad reaction to insect bite has really pulled me down! Told not to put anything on it while it at the weeping blisters stage.  Old gal in village recon laying in the sea (salt water) helps. Be another restless hot night.  NB

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18 hours ago, ditchman said:

isnt shingles related or a sort of mutated version of chicken pox ?.....................ive never had it but i hear it is /can be really painful and sore.........has anyone tried the old stuff .....calomine lotion...?

Yes it is. My daughter is covered in chicken pox at the moment, and we’re plastering her with calomine lotion as much as possible. She not scratching now., but is very much not herself today. 

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A few years ago I started to have terrible shooting pain in my head and by tea time I was totally floored.

My wife is a nurse and spotted small blisters developing on my forehead and knew what it was.

As it was out of hours I went to A&E and the on call GP gave me meds to take every 4hrs and pain killers to follow.

Thankfully I caught it in time but still felt rough for a few days.

 

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