Shingles

[BearBio]

I had it as a kid=6th grade I think. I still remember the pain. I hadn't cried for several years until I got that.

I'm diabetic, so they approved the shot early for me. Blue Cross covered it with a prescription. When the wife turns 60 in January, it's first on her list of things to do.

 

[Krell1]

Mine was extremely painful. Constant pain that allowed very little sleep for three days. Ended up, after trying a couple of narcotic pain killers, getting an epidural. A little scary getting an injection in the spine but it worked wonders. The rash, at least for me, was not as much a problem. Everybody is affected differently. Knowing what I know now, even if I had to pay full price for the vaccine, I would have done so. I waited almost a year after the shingles and got the shot. I do not want to experience that ever again.

 

[rwsmith]

Oh my gosh......

put me on anti-viral medication (one of the -cyclovirs, don't remember which), and prednisone as an anti-inflammatory.

I'd better get the shot, I'm 61 in a few days. And I can't tolerate prednisone at all. Runs my blood sugar up over 400 (regardless of how much insulin I take) and bloats me like a water balloon that ain't healthy either.

 

[goldenlight]

I have heard that shingles pain can be so bad, they have to hospitalize people just to give them morphine and other really strong opiates for the pain.

I hope the pain decreases QUICKLY for you. And gets no worse!

 

[Doug627]

Acyclovir and Benadryl has worked very well. I am recovering fast. Thank God. And I mean thank God. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[yaktamer]

What do you mean, no cure? When I had itching from shingles I just switched from fiberglass to asphalt and I was fine.

 

[vito]

All it takes is seeing someone you know who contracts shingles to make you get the vaccine, even if you have to pay out of pocket. A woman I worked with years ago came down with it, and she missed over a month of work and said it was the most painful thing she ever went through. I opened my wallet and paid for the shot. It took me a couple of years to get my wife to get the shot, but she did it after one of her friends came down with an attack. It is nothing to scoff at, and I assure you once you have it you would pay twice what the shot costs to get rid of it.

 

[WardenRoss]

Mine started with a weird, strong headache. The hangover type. Bunker-buster. On a Saturday afternoon.

Then at lunchtime Wednesday, the rash started on the left rear of my scalp. Went to Doctor. Prescribed the Valtrex and Prednisone and Hydrocodone for pain. Doctor said that we probably got it early and the Valtrex should really help.

God help you if you get this!

It's spread around my neck and inside my mouth, throat and tongue. Worst part is the "frozen" stiff neck. Can't move, sleep, turn, eat, chew, yawn or blink my eyes without excruciating pain.

And then there's the headache.

................

 

[Onomea]

Like Vito, above, says, all it takes is to see a friend get it. My wife and I got the shots a coupla years ago. Paid out of pocket, but what the heck.

 

[S&WIowegan]

Like Vito, above, says, all it takes is to see a friend get it. My wife and I got the shots a coupla years ago. Paid out of pocket, but what the heck.

I paid too after seeing my wife and a friend at my office suffer. We lowered the risk but no full immunity. We need a Presidential pardon.

 

[BONDOBOB]

Yet the BIG P put me in the Hospital also BS over 600, took my sight away for two weeks from mild stroke

 

[ron_c]

I'm waiting now for insurance approval for the shingles shot and will get it as soon as approved. I was told it's about $200 bucks.

My doctor told me the singles shot is about $200, however, the VA gives these out for nothing if your a vet. I was told that the shot does not prevent singles, it greatly reduces the chance of getting them.

 

[Onomea]

Seems to me my doc said that the shot won't prevent you from catching shingles, but it will make it a whole lot less painful if you do...

 

[mtelkhntr]

I had the shot yet came down with shingles. They said that catching it early and having the shot helped keep it from being real bad. Only spoken by someone who hasn't had them. It took over a month for the pain to subside

 

[Smoke]

There's a medical textbook out there with a picture of me the last time I had Shingle (Herpes Varicella Zoster). Apparently I literally had a textbook perfect case.

So when I was in College I did a term paper on Herpes Zoster. There are a couple of misconceptions in this thread I'd like to clear up.

Shingles does not ever encircle the body. It occurs along a single dermatome and only affects on side of the body.

Depending on where you get it shingle absolutely can blind you. If it gets into your eyes it can damage your sight for life it it gets into your auditory nerves it can make you deaf.

Shingles normally resolves in 3 to 5 weeks BUT if you're older (65+) you can develop a condition called postherpatic neuralgia that can last for an indefinite period of time.

Bottom line if you can get the vaccine you should

 

[OLDSTER]

I enjoyed a bout with shingles 4 years ago Mine was on my right side. Get your butt to the DR. immediately !!

 

[Tom S.]

My wife had a relatively light case several years back, which prompted me to get the vaccine. When I found out it was only 50% effective, I asked if I could get another shot to cover the other 50%.

 

[ol777gunnerz]

One of the youngest shingles cases

I had the shingles back in 1955-56 when I was 4-5 yrs. old, not something I will ever forget. The only thing they had back then for them was Calamine lotion, within a day it would start peeling off so my mother would have me lay in bathtub so it would finish peeling off, leaving her a mess in the tub. Many times the scabs on my back would be stuck to my shirt. Luckily my Dad had built a bathroom onto our house shortly before I got them, just had outhouse up until then. I have had several doctors & other medical professionals who did not believe I had them, I still have the scars on my left side of torso, especially on my back that are still visible, made believers of them.

 

[NYlakesider]

Shingles will get you attention. I had it a few years ago and I like to describe the experience as "it feels like your skin is on fire and they use a ice pick to put it out! Mine was over my chest area. I had it a couple days before I (the tough guy) got smart enough to see my doctor.

My doctor gave me Tylenol 3s. I only took them at bed time so I could get some sleep and toughed it out through the day hours. (that was the only way I could get some sleep)

Then found out about the shingles shots but at that time they said if you already had shingles they would not pay for the shot. They they changed that and I was given a shot.

If you have not had shingles and are offered the shot through insurance get it. If your insurance will not pay for it pay for it yourself, you get attacked by shingles you will understand what I said.

I have also been luck enough to get hit by Gout, but there are drugs that seem to work well and I have not been hit again. The reason I mention Gout is its a toss up to which one hurts the worse Gout or shingles.

Like I said above get the Shingles shot wither or not insurance pays for it, its money well spent!

 

[Iggy]

I have a friend that got shingles on the side of his face. It got into his eye. He has been in agony for about 3 months.. He's in assisted living now..

That stuff ain't no joke.. GET THE SHOT!!

I got the shot and having dealt with it with my Dad, I recognized the little blisters when I got it. Called the Dr for an appt. She said "No appointment, Get in here now!!" She gave me a cream to put on the sores and they went away in two days.

GET THE SHOT!!