anyone here ever had shingles

well, i've got em! looking for any advice or tips on how to cope with the itching and pain!!

Nope, but my dad did.  He spent 6 weeks out of work.  They had him on Percocet and anti-viral meds.

Didn't your doctor perscribe anything?

Yeah, he gave me anti viral meds and some pain patches for afterwards, i can't use them until the blisters are gone....but this itch is driving me crazy. I sure hope i'm not out for 6 weeks! That's awful! I have it on my neck, wrist and leg....all on the left side.  my doctor spent only 5 mins with me when i went in. I have a ton of questions and have been reading about shingles online, but any personal experiences anyone may have is greatly appreciated. I thought only older folks got this and the blisters were isolated.....I"m 36 and am getting blisters in several different places. and the itch is terrible! i know chicken pox and shingles are about the same, but i have having major flashbacks from when i had chicken pox when i was 5!!!

I got them when I was 15 and 16.  The doctor said it was due to stess. Anyway I took some strong painkillers and couldn't go to school or anything because of the pain.  They were all over the upper part of my stomach and back and hurt like crazy. 

Shingles come from the same virus as Chicken Poxs.  My father treated his just like they were chicken poxs.  You can buy bath products that have oatmeal in it.  He used that.  Then after his bath, he would put Calimine on it.  When that failed He took Benydril.   It will stop the itch of anything.   Cortisone creams might help as well.

 

thanks everyone for the feedback. it's getting better. i've been slathering calamine lotion all over and it helps as well as benedryl. this has not been fun at all!!!!!!!!!

Sorry about your shingles. My mom had them and said there were intensely painful It will pass though so take your meds as the doctor instructed and take care of yourself, take it easy. And they don't only happen in older people as my roommate in college had them too.

Here is some info from Mayo Clinic's website:

http://mayoclinic.com/health/shingles/DS00098

great website! I'm glad to hear that people under 50 get them too, i was beginning to worry that something was terribly wrong with me.....It's strange, I haven't been sick at all in the past year, in fact i have felt great, i've lost 30 lbs since March and I'm eating healthier and getting into better shape. And then i get hit with shingles!!! I have been really stressed out, that must have triggered it, but who knows?? it sucks that i've been too tired to exercise and all this sitting around has got me munching out of boredom....falling into some old bad habits. But it will pass and i will get back on the proverbial horse once again!

Poor you!! I had shingles when I was 12 and I remember it being awful- It was all down my left collarbone and chest area and very itchy with sharp pains. Calamine lotion is the way forward, just keep slathering it on, it cools the itching and blisters. I had to take a couple of weeks of school when I had it and remember listening to all the Harry Potter audiobooks to entertain myself and distract me from the pain. I thought it was weird that I had it too, I wasn't exactly unhealthy or unwell. Anyway, hope you get better soon.

You poor thing. My sister had and 3 people at work got it in may. I was concerned since how do you get 3 people in an office all come dow with it?  stress ?? viral yes.   They gave them pain pills to help sleep.  There is an oatmeal bath powder you can get at walmart or drug store by avenno (sp?)  that helps.  Get well.

I am banned from work until Thursday. The blisters are getting better, but i work in a hospital setting and they don't want me back until my doctor's excuse is up. Nobody wants to catch this!!

 

thanks for the kind words!! it's getting better!

I am currently recovering from shingles...my doctor said it was due to alot of stress and poor nutrition.  I am trying to improve both of those areas.  I use cortizone cream twice a day on the area effected...in the moring and at night and take pain relievers.  I don't have it as bad as some, but it is bad for me.  It is on my back. 

my doctor didn't tell me much of anything!! and i'm seriously considering changing docs after this mess. i think mine was caused by stress....i'm actually eating more nutritiously than i have in my entire life...thanks to cc.....so it can't be poor nutrition. Mine aren't as bad as some of the pics i've seen online, i've been keeping calamine lotion on all the areas and it's drying up. I have it on my neck, both forearms, my side-by my waist and inside my knee. I didn't think shingles was spread out all over like that, i thought it just stayed in one place.

sorry to hear you have it on your back. that would drive me nuts. did your doctor give you prescription pain killers? mine did not. he gave me these pain patch things, but it for afterwards, after the blisters are gone. i'm taking anti viral meds, every 4 hours too. it's not that i want to be doped up, but advil is not helping at all!

suffering hearts...hope you get well soon!

i also had shingles last year at the age of 30.  at the time, i too thought only older people got them.  i didnt even know what it was at first, just noticed something was itchy.  then i looked at it, started to feel the sharp pains with it, went to the dr. and yup!  i was very lucky however and had a mild case and the pain and itching lasted just a few weeks.  dr also said stress was the main cause, and probably my nutrition didnt help (recovering from ed).  my mother got it while on vacation, didnt know what it was until she got back..and by then, was going away already.  my father got it a few months ago and out of the three of us, his was the worst case being on hes forhead and eye.  if gone untreated, it can do some serious damage to the vision.  but since both my mother and i had it, we figured thats what he had and made him go to the dr right away.  he is still taking meds for it, because of the location and the eye part...its been months..poor thing. 

does anyone know, since it is possible to get it again, whether the shingles vaccine is recommended?

Yep

i have had shingles 3 times in the last year

very painful

Thanks...benpen!  I am feeling better.  This is my second time to get it this year.  The first time was in March and now again due to stress I am sure.  I have four deaths in four months and I am sure that is the root of it all

Hey, not to alarm all you guys, but a shingles outbreak at younger than 50 can signal a more serious problem with your immune system, especially if you're having repeat outbreaks. Yes, it could be from being under a ton of stress, poor nutrition, etc, but if you haven't already, you may want to request an HIV test, just to be certain.

Treat them like chickenpox... try not to touch them because they'll scar if you scratch them up too much.

I had shingles twice when I was in my early twenties and under a lot of stress, but they weren't very bad either time. The first time I thought it was my regular dermatitis doing something strange and ignored them, the second time they itched insanely so I went to the doctor and got zovirax. I was very lucky that I didn't have any pain either during or after, just itchiness.

And Benpen, singles usually look like chickenpox but the rash is localised and follows ONE nerve pathway in your body, so you might have it on one arm, or on the left side of your body only, or on one side of your face... if you have the marks in lots of places at once it's probably regular chickenpox. (yes, some people get it twice...)

i'm almost 16 (tomorrow!) and i have them right now. the doctor gave me a topical cream, but they were still kind of uncomfortable.... they feel better today though.

i don't know exactly what caused it.... i haven't been under a lot of stress but i've been working nonstop for 6 weeks and not getting too much sleep. can't it be caused by fatigue or something?

I had them when I was 49 (now 56) and mine was definitely caused by stress, undiagnosed depression and just a general emotional breakdown.  That'll do a number on your immune system!  Then I had the post-herpetic neuralgia afterwards that lasted for a couple of months.  In a way, it was a good thing I got them, because it finally made me seek the treatment I should have gotten long ago.  Now I'm trying to live my life so that I don't ever get them again.  Take care of yourselves, all of you!  Be well.   

I had chicken pox at age 25.  I was lucky they didn't go to shingles... for the itching.. they had me use Aveno and then put me on meds for infection and anti-itch.

It was horrible!

God Bless you.. I hope you feel better soon.