# Shingles



## KnittyNorah (5 Apr 2022)

No, not the sort you put on a roof ...

I have shingles and won't be cycling for the next several weeks. As I was vaccinated against shingles a few years ago, I'll likely have a faster recovery period and less chance of post-herpetic neuralgia, than if I were not vaxxed, so there is that I suppose ...

Apart from the pain - which is something else! - I don't otherwise feel too bad, but the densest part of the rash is on my inner upper thigh and even if there were no pain associated with it, it would make cycling impossible. 
This is annoying to say the very least as I have come to rely so much on my bike for local errands and for days out by bus or train, and there seems to be hope of some reasonably pleasant weather in the next few weeks. 
Ah well, such is life. 
Off to pick up a prescription and get it dispensed at another pharmacy entirely as someone at the pharmacy associated with the GP practice was SO RUDE to me when I telephoned them yesterday asking about arranging delivery of meds.

Anyone else have the horrid condition , and how long did it take before you were able to be fully active again?


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## vickster (5 Apr 2022)

I had it in my mid 20s - wasn't too bad, patch on my back so I couldn't wear bra for a bit!
Probably took a good month if not longer to get over it. I had a course of famciclovir (pretty new at the time) which probably helped (I did have a bit of PHN but it seems to have gone with the passing of the years).

Friend of mine had a really nasty dose last year in his face...took him at least 6 months to get over it


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## matiz (5 Apr 2022)

I had it in 2019 started on my face and then spread quickly to my eye, I had terrible headaches and was sick and couldn't sleep or eat for a couple of weeks .
The doctor sent me to Dorchester hospital they got me straight on antibiotics and eyedrops and cream for My eyeballs it started to improve fairly quickly with the tablets but I had blurred vision in my left eye for several weeks after and couldn't ride my bike the doc said if I had left it any later for treatment the blurred vision would have been permanent.
The only upside was I lost a stone in weight mainly due to not being able to eat anything for a couple of weeks .


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## KnittyNorah (5 Apr 2022)

matiz said:


> I had it in 2019 started on my face and then spread quickly to my eye, I had terrible headaches and was sick and couldn't sleep or eat for a couple of weeks .
> The doctor sent me to Dorchester hospital they got me straight on antibiotics and eyedrops and cream for My eyeballs it started to improve fairly quickly with the tablets but I had blurred vision in my left eye for several weeks after and couldn't ride my bike the doc said if I had left it any later for treatment the blurred vision would have been permanent.
> The only upside was I lost a stone in weight mainly due to not being able to eat anything for a couple of weeks .


When I had chickenpox (in my 30s - I do NOT recommend it!) my GP was very worried about one of the pocks on/near my eye. Mind you I had pocks EVERYWHERE, those inside my various orifices were the worst. I think the most painful was the one inside my ear canal.


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## KnittyNorah (5 Apr 2022)

According to the Dr, I have an 'unusual' presentation of shingles and they really like my photos. Very useful for putting people off their dinner, is my thought on them. 

I have been feeling unwell for the past couple of weeks. Done a couple of LFTs, negative, no symptoms definitive enough to warrant a PCR, had a 'storm' of pain the weekend before last - I described them as 'cramp-like' - in my groin and left thigh and had an emergency appt to see Dr on the Monday by which time I was feeling a bit better. Pee-stick test was negative for anything; despite the pain described there was _nothing_ to see and after having blood taken I was let go with a warning that if it recurred to call back. I felt better bit by bit all week with only occasional cramp-like pain; Dr called me on Thurs to say that the lab analysis of the blood and urine had come back normal, as well as the pee-stick test. On Friday I went for a walk and felt that I had a sore or raw spot in my groin so when I got home I stood in front of a full length mirror and it was not a pretty sight ... 

A 'florid' presentation of SHINGLES.

So I'm hoping that I've already been through most of the 'unwell' phase before the rash 'broke' - certainly I'm feeling better in myself today than I have done for a couple of weeks. My appetite has improved and apart from the pain I feel OK in myself. I have nerve pain meds to take at night; one of the lead GPs has done some research and informed me that there seems no point in my taking anti-virals as it would appear that the 'true' time of onset of my shingles was well over a week ago. If I'd taken them then - if anyone had realised that what had happened was indeed shingles, as is now clear! - they may well have helped significantly but at this point in time, it's simply too late. 

Ah well. This too shall pass.
I spoke with a pharmacist this morning too, she has given me some useful information about self-care and warmth vs cold, and agrees with my GP about the ineffectiveness of shingles anti-virals at this stage.


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## presta (5 Apr 2022)

KnittyNorah said:


> When I had chickenpox (in my 30s


Oh don't say that.  I was in my 30s before I had chicken pox, and I was hoping that it might be late enough not to get shingles.


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## KnittyNorah (5 Apr 2022)

presta said:


> Oh don't say that.  I was in my 30s before I had chicken pox, and I was hoping that it might be late enough not to get shingles.


Once you've had a chicken pox infection, the potential is always there for shingles to emerge ... I don't think it makes any difference how old you were when you caught it.


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## Ajax Bay (5 Apr 2022)

Hope it clears up without undue delay, Norah.
If you take Ivermectin for it, that appears (latest study in Brazil) also to give you 16% reduction in likelihood of admission to hospital through COVID-19.
Study (link), "as part of the TOGETHER trial, 3,515 patients from clinics in Brazil were randomly assigned to receive Ivermectin (679 patients) or placebo (679)."


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## KnittyNorah (5 Apr 2022)

Ajax Bay said:


> Hope it clears up without undue delay, Norah.
> If you take Ivermectin for it, that appears (latest study in Brazil) also to give you 16% reduction in likelihood of admission to hospital through COVID-19.
> Study (link), "as part of the TOGETHER trial, 3,515 patients from clinics in Brazil were randomly assigned to receive Ivermectin (679 patients) or placebo (679)."



Perhaps open the link you provided and actually read it; delve a little further into 'conclusions' and you will see that it is clearly stated 
*Treatment with ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital due to progression of Covid-19*

The figure of 16% quoted above is a number that did, indeed, appear in the abstract - but in reference to the _placebo_ group of patients ... and not as a % reduction of anything either.


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## Stephenite (6 Apr 2022)

@KnittyNorah
I came down with a bout of shingles a few years ago on the lower neck and chest. It was bloomin painful i remember. In fact they call it Hell's Fire (translated from helvetesild*) here in Norway. You have my full sympathy having it in a much worse location. I used Lidocaine/Xylocaine cream and after a couple of weeks the rash turned to scabs which, in turn, disappeared after a few days. Get well soon.

*could also be translated as Mackerel From Hell - that's the problem with closed compounds for you.


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## KnittyNorah (6 Apr 2022)

Stephenite said:


> @KnittyNorah
> I came down with a bout of shingles a few years ago on the lower neck and chest. It was bloomin painful i remember. In fact they call it Hell's Fire (translated from helvetesild*) here in Norway. You have my full sympathy having it in a much worse location. I used Lidocaine/Xylocaine cream and after a couple of weeks the rash turned to scabs which, in turn, disappeared after a few days. Get well soon.
> 
> *could also be translated as Mackerel From Hell - that's the problem with closed compounds for you.


Thanks for your good wishes.
I like the Norwegian names - either are suitable, the skin surface all blistered does look something like fish scales with a bit of imagination, or the variegated colours of the mackerel. 

Apparently conventional research in the US and elsewhere has shown that oatmeal baths and topical application of Aloe Vera are as effective as 'more conventional pharmaceuticals' for shingles rash skin pain so I'll see how things go in the next week or so - I have aloe vera here at home, and porridge oats to put in a bag and swish around in the water; if it doesn't get any worse they'll probably be sufficient. The deep nerve pain is another matter entirely though, and I've already started a drug for that, to hopefully reduce the current pain and lessen the chances of it persisting in the longer term. I'm mostly upset that this is clearly going to stop me riding my bike for weeks if not months ...


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## gbb (6 Apr 2022)

My sincere sympathies, its something you would wish in your worst enemy. My last bout (of 3 over the decades) was on the crook of my arm where you'd normally have injections. Like little volcanoes, sat there waiting to erupt...and when they do, they'll have you bent over in intense pain. I used to liken it to the nerves being exposed and every little breath of air, every movement causes an instant outbreak of pain .
Mine pock mark scarred, really embarrassing when I was having regular bloods taken years later, they must have thought I was a former drug user .
Mine tended to last up to a week of pain, then maybe another week of healing. Nasty nasty stuff.


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## RoubaixCube (6 Apr 2022)

My dad had a nasty bout of it on his face about 2 months ago. Patch on the top of his head and on the side of his face which made his face swell up like the elephant man. He's made a full recovery since then thankfully. The doctor gave him some antibiotics and he took ibuprofen for the swelling


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## Ajax Bay (6 Apr 2022)

I did scan the paper, Norah: my post on the side benefits of Ivermectin was meant in a spirit of jest (16% ).
Discussion (my emboldening): We did not find a *significantly or clinically meaningful* lower risk of medical admission to a hospital or prolonged emergency department observation with ivermectin . . ."
"In this randomized trial, the administration of ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital or prolonged emergency department observation for Covid-19 *among outpatients at high risk for serious illness*."
They have banged a few caveats there to get the summary you have quoted. But see my first sentence.
I assume the "conventional research in the US and elsewhere [showing] that oatmeal baths and topical application of Aloe Vera are as effective as 'more conventional pharmaceuticals" is similarly robust.


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## KnittyNorah (6 Apr 2022)

Ajax Bay said:


> I did scan the paper, Norah: my post on the side benefits of Ivermectin was meant in a spirit of jest (16% ).
> Discussion (my emboldening): We did not find a *significantly or clinically meaningful* lower risk of medical admission to a hospital or prolonged emergency department observation with ivermectin . . ."
> "In this randomized trial, the administration of ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital or prolonged emergency department observation for Covid-19 *among outpatients at high risk for serious illness*."
> They have banged a few caveats there to get the summary you have quoted. But see my first sentence.
> I assume the "conventional research in the US and elsewhere [showing] that oatmeal baths and topical application of Aloe Vera are as effective as 'more conventional pharmaceuticals" is similarly robust.


I didn't get that it was meant as a joke ... probably got shingles brain! but I do think the research about the effectiveness of oatmeal baths and Aloe vera in soothing the shingles rash is both robust and has been significantly more long-term than any studies into C-19. 

But I'm not in a fit condition to dig up any papers atm - I remember reading several in major US and European journals when I was living in the Middle East because at the time we didn't have a dermatology department, or any dermatologists, and although we had a full-scale Nuclear Medicine department set up with equipment, there was no supply of radiopharmaceuticals - so guess which department was landed with dermatology for a few months? In a bizarre way it was quite entertaining - it was certainly very interesting and educational! - and I suspect that our (fortunately few) patients for those first few months actually got excellent, cutting-edge treatment. When a derm was eventually recruited, he was surprised to find the dermatology clinic was being run by a radiologist, a medical physicist and a theatre nurse (who had worked at a large skin hospital for several years), but quite complimentary about our work.


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## Ajax Bay (6 Apr 2022)

All good. As I said, "Hope it clears up without undue delay, Norah."


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## KnittyNorah (6 Apr 2022)

Ajax Bay said:


> All good. As I said, "Hope it clears up without undue delay, Norah."


Thanks - and so do I! 
The nerve pain, at least, seems to be following some weird sort of circadian rhythm. I will be more certain about that when I have suffered for a few more days.


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