Shingles

[lubbing5cherubs]

HI I am presently suffering with shingles and not feeling too bad not 100% either but I was wondering how long can I expect these blister before they clear off and I am no longer contagious does anyone know?
Toni

[wheelinround]

Sorry to hear that Toni hope it heals soon

Ex--brother inlaw had it was off for months 6 I think

what did the quack say

[lubbing5cherubs]

Depends on the case. Prescribed me these pills taht cost $147.90. I nearly fell over backwards how can tablets be so expensive. THey have also prescibed some panadeine forte for the pains but I have not used them
Toni

[nick_b00]

blisters (actually they're called vesicles) will last around 5-10 days (unless there is a complicating factor that has caused the shingles eg immunosuppressed). like chickenpox (its the same virus) you are contagious until the last vesicle has disappeared ie no fluid in the vesicles. the fluid contains virus.

if you saw your GP within 72 hours of the rash starting then you should pay less than that for the antivirals.....the GP just has to ring Canberra for approval on the pharamceutical benefits scheme (PBS)

pain (neuralgia - nerve pain) may last for up to a week sometimes longer, and there is a small chance the pain it will come back over the coming years.

[nick_b00]

particularly you need to avoid pregnant women - if they get varicella the consequences can be very serious to the baby

[BobL]

I had it in 2004,

It started with 3 weeks of sporadic stomach pains with me ending up in hospital with a heap of tests including gastroscopy and cat scans. - nothing. A few days later I was telling all this to my 80 year old MIL and I said I just started to get an itchy back - she immediately diagnosed shingles over the phone and I raced off to the GP who prescribed the VEP (very expensive pills) and I was OK within 5 days. One thing that stayed with me for about 6 months was I was permanently tired and eventually developed a condition known as restless legs which destroyed my fragile sleep pattern for ages - I have still not fully recovered from it.

A mate a work developed shingles last year but he got them in one of the worse places possible - the inner ear! He was bed ridden for months and has a partially paralysed face, serious hearing difficulties and his facial nerves are badly damaged so he cries when he eats and his mouth waters when he is sad!

[lubbing5cherubs]

ok thank you very much. I have been trying to avoid everyone as much as possible but saying htat sometimes that is very hard you still got some errands that are evitable like getting kids foods etc. but I am trying to keep it to a minimum
bye Toni

[jonesy007]

I just had the chicken pox last week i am 24yo and never had them. I went to bed on Saturday feeling like i had the flu woke up on Tuesday to my misus crying wiping my head with a face washer thinking a was dying. She had called the doctor to do a house call i was so sick and he came and said you are having a reaction to the timber i was playing with before i got sick, (i didn't ware a face mask while sanding so i thought fair enough) the next day i woke up t this pain all over my face and i was covered in them, Doc came back and because they didn't look like chicken pox he thought i has been bitten by a white tipped spider and my face was being eatten by the venoum. I had them for a week and they just got worse in the end the doctor told my misus to go stay at her mums as she is preagent with our first and due in 5 weeks, and he said don't leave the house ( bit hard when you can't get out of bed), He took blood, swabs and slides and it came back to be an acute dose of the chicken pox. They had made it down my throat and where nearly in my lungs and that would have been good night shows over for me. The itch was unbearable the only thing that helped was Phenergan tablets 25mg they put you to sleep as well which helps. Hope you do get better soon but once the blisters turn to scabs your in the clear.:)

[Andy Mac]

eventually developed a condition known as restless legs

Hi Bob,
That's an interesting connection...I've had shingles a couple of times, on the line of the sciatic nerve, and also suffer from restless leg syndrome. Have always put the latter down to dietary input, too much salycilate (sp?) or even caffeine, but might be caused by the dreaded virus? The shingles seems to reappear when I'm stressed or run-down, and stays for a couple of painful weeks.


Cheers,

[BobL]

Hi Bob,
That's an interesting connection...I've had shingles a couple of times, on the line of the sciatic nerve, and also suffer from restless leg syndrome. Have always put the latter down to dietary input, too much salycilate (sp?) or even caffeine, but might be caused by the dreaded virus? The shingles seems to reappear when I'm stressed or run-down, and stays for a couple of painful weeks. ,

Thankfully I have only had the shingles the one and the restless legs (RL) condition comes and goes. I went to a seminar at a local hospital on RL and the 100 seater seminar was overflowing with people, there must have been 150 people (mainly with grey hair) there. The fellow running the seminar couldn't really tell me something I didn't know about out it after I visited www.restlesslegs.org - he also didn't know if it was shingles related. I have a friend who is an internationally recognised sleep expert and she says that a lot of older people have restless legs but don't even know it.

[Ad de Crom]

Hi Toni, just now I saw that you are suffering of shingles, in the first place my thoughts were, I read that before so I had to make first myself clear what shingles means.
You know it's always the same for this Dutchman, I have always to translate my Dutch thoughts into English, and that's sometimes not so easy, but know I realise what you have, in Dutch it's ''gordelroos''.
Hope you get rid of this very soon, the father of my daughter-in-low had the same last year. Than you are feeling yourself not ill, but it's for sure not so pleasant.
Medicine treatment is something you need, but I read you are already on that road.
Only I realise medicines are not so cheap.
Wish you all the best, and hope you can tell us soon something better.

Ad

[lubbing5cherubs]

Thanks Ad I spoke to soon it has gone into my chest and I am feeling pretty crappy. but I am ok I refuse to be any other way. with 5 kids lying down and dying even if I want to is not an option so I must keep going.
bye Toni

[Ad de Crom]

Thanks Ad I spoke to soon it has gone into my chest and I am feeling pretty crappy. but I am ok I refuse to be any other way. with 5 kids lying down and dying even if I want to is not an option so I must keep going.
bye Toni

Yes Toni, I'm aware of that fact that you are feeling yourself pretty crappy, you have anyway the right attitude, keep up girl !!
bye Ad

[Sebastiaan56]

A mate a work developed shingles last year but he got them in one of the worse places possible - the inner ear! He was bed ridden for months and has a partially paralysed face, serious hearing difficulties and his facial nerves are badly damaged so he cries when he eats and his mouth waters when he is sad!

Thats exactly what I had, I still get dizzy every time i get up or lay down, tinnitus is constant, worst bit was when i asked the quack he told the time frame for the symptoms was indefinite.

Get better Toni, this thread is a bit old, how are you now?

[wheelinround]

Yes Toni especially your heading down to Sydney this coming Friday Hope your ok to still receive your presentation/award. :2tsup:

[prozac]

Yes Toni especially your heading down to Sydney this coming Friday Hope your ok to still receive your presentation/award. :2tsup:

Is Toni receiving an award??? Congratulations Toni! What's it for?

Shingles and chicken-pox are part of the herpes family of viruses and I think are nerve related...manifest themselves in the nerve endings. Shingles is generally a stress related condition. I think that sufferers of cold sores (also herpes virus) display sores when stressed or run-down, or have had too much sun exposure.

Toni, maybe it is a good idea to stay out of the sun when you have shingles? Look into a medication called L-lycine also.

Sebastiaan that must be terrible contracting shingles in the ear. Good luck.

[prozac]

Ad, I think that ''gordelroos'' is the Dutch equivalent word for shingles.

[wheelinround]

Good info

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/BHCV2/bhcArticles.nsf/pages/Shingles?OpenDocument

[Sebastiaan56]

Toni,

How are you going with this Shingles thingy...

Im seeing a Kinesiologist / Homeopath and finally making some progress,

[robyn2839]

i got them under the top of one arm ,just below the underarm,that was five years ago ,felt like crap for 4 months,the dear pills and cream did nothing much more than make my wallet lighter,and as stated by someone else the restless leg started and i still get it ,still have the scars/marks,at least i dont think you get it again,for a 4''x3'' of shingles i had they make you feel crook ,am glad i dont have them like some larger infections people get , hope you feel better soon ....bob
ps i found if i used cornflour rubbed on them it helped

[lubbing5cherubs]

Hi Guys, Yes I am better with the shingles. I been struggling with a sick girl lately but thankfully she is on the mend so now I am able to get things in the lathe room again. The award I went down to was I was commended for loosing 25kg of weight. I still got that much and more to loose but the first place co-ordinator wanted me to come and share my journey with other because most that share there stories were woman that only lost 5-10 kilos but not a person that has come back from 135kg. This story is still a work in progress but it is happening bit by bit and with prayer I will get there because I refuse to be fat and forty. Something in me does not want that at all
bye Toni

[wheelinround]

Good to know the Shingles have been shaken Toni :2tsup:

Well done with the weight loss congrat's................I wish I could loose 15k's

[tea lady]

Hi Guys, Yes I am better with the shingles. I been struggling with a sick girl lately but thankfully she is on the mend so now I am able to get things in the lathe room again. The award I went down to was I was commended for loosing 25kg of weight. I still got that much and more to loose but the first place co-ordinator wanted me to come and share my journey with other because most that share there stories were woman that only lost 5-10 kilos but not a person that has come back from 135kg. This story is still a work in progress but it is happening bit by bit and with prayer I will get there because I refuse to be fat and forty. Something in me does not want that at all
bye Toni

That IS worth an award.:2tsup::hooray:

[prozac]

Congratulations Toni, that is a real achievement!!! I tell people that I am not fat, just my legs are too short. Wish I had your determination.