Shingles Anybody???

[HerMajesty]

So guess what folks, my newest neurologic adventure is...SHINGLES!!!!
I've heard it's really painful but I'm on so much nerve meds already it barely aches
Just curious, is this just my personal issue, or are those of us who are prone to neuropathy also generally more sensitive to varicella and / or other herpes-type viruses?
I had chicken pox twice which is practically unheard of: a typical moderate case as a child, and then a second, quite severe case when I was 23. Now that I'm "elderly" (40 next month, LOL) my old friend varicella is back in the form of shingles.
So is this considered an "associated disorder" or is it just me?

[nyt]

You poor thing!!! Interesting questions you ask. I'll have to do some reading. But wanted you to know I feel you pain. I'll send you coupons for Aveena Oatmeal Baths

[Amanda]

Im sorry HM to hear that you have shingles yet again...you are not elderly.....Im in my latter stages of the forties...and still consider myself young.
I hope that you are not too sore and in extra pain because of shingles. I know of many people who take a remedy to stave off the worst of this condition....go to your GP and get it please.

[HerMajesty]

Thanks gals I am really feeling no pain because I am already on an elephant's dose of Neurontin - 2400mg daily- which I tolerate because I built up to that dose slowly. Neurontin is the drug of choice for shingles pain so I am set up
Amanda I got on antivirals, oral and topical, immediately, within hours of the rash showing up. My big freak out is that my daughter's 7th bday party is this Sunday and I don't want to ruin it by being a possible source of chicken pox. All the kids over 1 year are vaccinated, but she has a number of friends with baby siblings. So the Doc tells me if my rash drys and crusts instead of spreading, then on Friday he will declare me non-contagious. Otherwise I'll probably bow out and leave my husband to host and my BFF to hostess, so that at least all my daughter's friends can come

[Lernica]

I get recurrent cold sores on my lips but no shingles yet (knock on wood)! I hope you recover soon, HM! Glad to hear that the gabapentin serves another useful purpose!

BTW, the lidocaine patch that I apply to my sacrum daily was originally designed to address shingles pain. Maybe I have shingles in my sacral plexus and don't know it!

[HerMajesty]

Lernica,

My Mom used to get recurrent cold sores and totally got rid of them forever by mega-dosing on the amino acid L-Lysine (in any vitamin aisle). Then a dentist gave me oral herpes a couple of years ago and I had a sore throat for 5 months straight without being properly diagnosed. As soon as i got the right diagnosis I started mega-dosing L-Lysine and have not got an outbreak since. By mega-dosing I mean take 9,000mg per day initially until the cold sore is gone, then maintain on 2,000 or 3,000mg daily.
I got lazy after awhile and quit taking it because the oral herpes stayed totally suppressed...if I hadn't gotten so lazy maybe I wouldn't have shingles now! You had better believe I am popping the stuff like candy again today!
But really, try the L-Lysine for the cold sores. It is harmless and for some of us at least it really works.

[A's Mommy]

HM,

The world is not fair. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE SHINGLES!!! YOU POOR THING!!! ARGGGGH.... i am praying for you.

Hey, while i'm at it... should i ditch lyrica and go back to neurontin? lyrica almost caused me to crash my car, vision blurred, sever side effects....

A's M

[Lernica]

Thanks for the tip, HM! I will look for L-Lysine during my next "drugstore run" (which happens too often these days )

[HerMajesty]

HM,

The world is not fair. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE SHINGLES!!! YOU POOR THING!!! ARGGGGH.... i am praying for you.

Hey, while i'm at it... should i ditch lyrica and go back to neurontin? lyrica almost caused me to crash my car, vision blurred, sever side effects....

A's M

A's M I really don't know about the Lyrica because I never tried it...my Doc made it sound like it was pretty much the same as Neurontin except taken once a day instead of in divided doses...so then when I went to fill the RX and found it would require an authorization form and $50 copay I said forget it and stayed on the neurontin. I know some people really have trouble tolerating neurontin and I do not have any trouble with it except for the generally befuddled, forgetful "moron-tin brain". So it depends on you. Crashing the car is not good especially for mommies. So if you can drive in a straight line on neurontin it's probably a better choice for you than Lyrica.

Thanks for the prayers I always love them much but definitely focus your prayers on the PN because this shingles stuff is for amaeuters! Compared to what we all are going through daily it is a total cake walk. I suppose however it would be really dumb of me to start taunting satan and shouting, "c'mon is this the best you can do?!"

Praying for you too my sis!

[Karyn]

Oh, HM - so sorry about the shingles! How are you feeling today? Very interesting that the pain was reduced because you've already been taking the neurontin. At the onset of my PN symptoms, after my uterus swelled to the size of a bowling ball, I got this one spot on the bottom of my right labia that was extremely painful. It was raised, buldging through my skin and I thought it was a blood blister or something from all of the intense pressure. When I described this to Dr. Conway, he was of the opinion that it may have been a shingle. Is it possible to get ONE shingle?
I hope this clears up quickly for you. Where on your body do you have them, or "it"?

I suppose however it would be really dumb of me to start taunting satan and shouting, "c'mon is this the best you can do?!"

Really, I now have a whole new set of definitions for what I consider "pain" to be. Everything pales in comparisson to nerve pain!

Hugs,
Karyn