Shingles....OMG.....I'm a senior citizen and did NOT KNOW ABOUT

[onecent]

shingles.

I DO NOW. My God they are painful.

Any tips....ANYTHING....Going on 3rd week.
In the hospital for 5 days in isolation. PAINFUL. Percocet is worthless. Vicodin is a little better.
I hear there is a shot for Around $160.00..does anyone know anything about this?
The heat of the day (sweating is painful)
Everything is a chore....
Cannot sleep at night, sleep in the daytime...
When will this *##&@&#*$%*#&$#@*^$*#^( go away????????????

You know my biggest gripe in life....
They can't manufacture a pill to take away nerve pain...or anxiety pain without bad side effects...

but they sure as hell can manufacture a pill to give a man an erection for 36 hours.

If anyone has any relief ideas,,.... please share.
Thanks

[murielm99]

1. I am so sorry.

I don't know what to do to help.

[Warpy]

2. The good news is that the attack eventually goes away

as your immune system starts to fight back. Antivirals can help a little, but time and narcotics are your best allies.

The bad news is that varicella lurks beyond the blood brain barrier and that you might have another attack some day.

Here's an information page for you, no medicalese: http://www.medicinenet.com/shingles/article.htm

[lizerdbits]

3. Will your insurance cover the vaccine?

It might help to do that later (I don't know how effective it is) but I don't know what will help now. :hug: I'll be dealing with this in later years since they didn't have the VZV vaccine when I was a kid that my lucky ass nephews are getting.

[Chalco]

4. Where are your shingles?

Mine were on the right upper quadrant of my head.

I didn't know what it was and was in denial and so didn't get to the doc within 48 hours which is necessary to get rid of them with the proper meds. So he put me on gabapentin and some pain meds (I think Tramadol?). These didn't work plus I had serious side effects from the gabapentin which I'll get to later.

What I did that worked was I went to an acupuncturist. It was fantastic. I went everyday for 10 days straight including the weekends. He came in the office just for me because this was the treatment. So, I went in for a session a day for 10 days and then once a week for a couple of months.

I continued to take gabapentin at nite telling myself that it was helping me sleep. It wasn't really. But, what did happen and I didn't know that it was related, I started thinking about suicide 24 hours a day. I would never do that, but I thought about it all the time. After about a year of this and trying to rid myself of it by writing in my journal, doing artwork, etc I finally told my doc who said to get off the gabapentin and put me on lexapro, an antidepressant. I didn't like the lexapro and stopped taking it but what I noticed was that within 48 hours of getting off the gabapentin the suicidal ideation stopped completely. So, I went on the internet and did a search for gabapentin and side effects and bingo found out about a class action lawsuit from families of people who had killed themselves from taking gabapentin from thinking about it 24 hours a day! My doc must have known about that when he told me to get off it. I stopped seeing him and I'm not depressed.

Long story short, go to an acupuncturist.

[onecent]

6. My shingles are from my belly button above and below the waist,

mostly above (on midrif) going to the left on to the back).
I was hopitalizee in isolation for 5 days (not knowing about the shingles at that time) - I believe I was isolated because they thought I had samonella from the tomato scare.
Of course the shingles were addressed..and I had every antiobiotic known to man pumped into iv's for 4 days.

I am going to a pain specialist tomorrow...praying for a shot of something at this time.
Have to send a note to the person talking about a shot...becasue i can find very little about a shot...EXCEPT for the pain.

I am in unbelievable pain today..cannot wear clothes...can barely walk sharp sharp pains in the front middrift, and in the back...stabbiing.

I had heard about the suicide thoughts, and one med i am taking now -- that is one of the side effects (in fact the first one noted) The med is Lyrica...but I'm not showing any signs of thinking that way.

I am not crazy aobut a shot in the spineal area..but right now I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY do...just take away this pain.

thanks for your note. I go to a chiropractor, in fact my 2 sons are Chiropractors. They don't live near.

Thanks for the info!

[Chalco]

8. Last week's New Yorker

had an article about shingles as well. It was about the itching that sometimes lingers, which I still have, but have managed. In the article one woman who had shingles in the same place as me compulsively itched and dug a hole down to her brain, ie through her skull! It's quite an article.

Your pain will go away. Please try acupuncture.

[Warpy]

10. You were on isolation precautions because you were contagious

something covered in the link I posted upthread.

[elleng]

5. ATTENTION:

vaccine available.

Shingles arises from poxes!

Dad had it (so did Nixon and lots of others.)

[onecent]

7. Why hasn't my doctor told me of an available vaccine?

I would take it. Maybe the pain center tomorrow (the pain center is at North Kansas City Hospital in Kansas City, MO)...maybe they will come up with it.

ANYTHING....I cannot endure this much longer.
I am on pain meds, percocet (which does nothing), vicodin, somewhat..helps for about 2 houros,
ibuprofin, stomach problems...

nice way to lose weight...no appetite...going to write a book and call it the
"roofing diet"..
for shingles.....ha ha Making myself laugh.....
Thanks for the info

[elleng]

9. It may or may not help at this point, I dunno.

But it should help those of us who have not yet contracted the awful malady!

and WE ALL should take it!

[onecent]

12. I put a husband through Chiropractic college (he left me then) and I

have 2 sons who are Chiropractors..so you can pretty much tell what I think about vaccines.

But I would get on the largest soap box around and beg people to think about this one.

This pain in HORRENDOUS. My God, I've had this pain now since Friday the 13th...and it is excruciating. Got an epidural last Tues...looking forward to my one NEXT Tuesday.
I can't function. Great for losing weight, I'm chewing Vicodin like M & M's...(I don't like pills either).
My boys are pretty understanding though about the medical field.... They have a good balance of when medicine has it's place...so they are very supportive...and I do take the organic minerals and vitamins that they recommend. (Mainly magnesium and fish oil) and such.

The shot in my spine is helping...but it is a S-L-O-W process.

I told the nurse, the older I am the less I know.

HOW DO older people (75 and 80) endure this HORRRIBBBLLLE pain? My doctor said most of her patients with shingles are in their 80's.
Lordy

[hedgehog]

11. If you posted about getting the vaccine in GD, a lot of people might

benefit. Be prepared though, for the onslaught from those who think vaccines are just a money making scheme of Big Pharma.

BTW - have you been vaccinated for pneumonia? That's another vaccine people over 60 should get routinely. Not to mention your Tetanus and whooping cough boosters.

[elleng]

16. VERY sorry to hear this.

May be too late for vaccine for you, but you certainly should have been informed some time ago. Its not cheap, and availability was somewhat difficult a few years ago, but imo all GPs should inform their patients about this.

[LaurenG]

13. The vaccine is called Zostavax

I am so sorry that you are in so much pain. Hopefully it will subside soon. Here is some information about the vaccine.


The CDC recommends the following immunization schedule for adults

Age 50, tetanus and influenza (flu vaccine every years and tetanus every 10 years)
Age 60, zoster vaccine
Age 65, pneumococcal vaccine.


... Only about 2% of the eligible people at this point have been vaccinated against zoster. If you vaccinated everybody in the United States who was immunocompetent and 60 and older, you would reduce the number of new cases of shingles every year by at least 280,000. More importantly, you'd reduce the number of new cases of postherpetic neuralgia by more than 46,000. So there's a long way to go to get there from that 2%, and one of the challenges, I think, is the issue of how do you pay for it?


It's covered by Part D of Medicare, which is a reimbursement for medications. It's not covered by Part B, the way pneumococcal vaccine and influenza vaccines are. That's an impediment because it really means that the doctor orders the vaccine, and then only thereafter gives it. This is the particular problem with the zoster vaccine because it's very, very sensitive to temperature. It's a live vaccine, and it has to be kept frozen until it's administered.

In the case of the shingles vaccine, one of the alternative settings that I think is increasingly playing an important role is the drug store or the local pharmacist where people may be able to go and actually have the vaccine administered at that site. It addresses issues of convenience, and also addresses some of the stability issues, but I think for all of the vaccines for adults, and especially older adults, thinking very creatively about strategies -- including the potential for alternative settings...

...all but 2 states permit the administration of vaccine by licensed pharmacists, and there are many places: department stores that have pharmacy divisions, large discount houses that are, in fact, doing that. Not only does it deal with the issue of this temperature stability and convenience, it's also cheaper.

[Digit]

14. I never had chickenpox, but isn't it true you can get shingles if you had the pox as a child?

I am going to find out where I can get the vaccine since my daughter is starting a job working in a daycare and brings all sorts of cooties home to me.

Oh gosh, I just realized I never had German Measles, either.

I have heard of the incredible pain that can be associated with shingles. Something to do with the nerves, and not just an itching sensation.

You have my sympathy and I want to thank you for bringing this to our attention.

[vim876]

15. I'm so sorry.

I had shingles in college, and it hurt, but I can't even imagine how much worse it must be to get it when you're older. Sending good vibes your way. On the plus side, apparently it's pretty rare to get it twice, so once it's over, it's probably over. The vaccine, as I understand, is only useful for prevention, not for treatment, unfortunately.

[trud]

17. nerve pain

There are meds for nerve pain. I've had good luck with Cymbalta, although it is very sedating, and Desipramine.

Tramadol sucks, imho.

[trud]

22. self deleted.

[ohheckyeah]

18. I had a very long bout with shingles

and yes, it can be quite painful. Lidocaine patches helped my pain and also capsaicin cream.

I had shingles for months but that's not typical.

[HereSince1628]

19. I had them on the left side of my head in my hair...

Very painful...It was an awful week. Oxycodone either took away the pain or took away the caring about the pain.

[rainbow4321]

20. Just had a case of it myself

Left side of head/eye. And, yes, the pain is enough to make you wanna crawl under the bed covers and block out the world. Which is what I did for a while.

I know there are worse places to have it (back, waist, etc..) but my God the head pain...and then it went into my eye.

I was on Vicodin, also, and it took the edge off the head pain, barely. Finally the Valtrex kicked in and the pain started to subside after a few days.

So NOW, now I am pretty sure I have post-shingles Bell's Palsey. I have had numbness and pressure from my scalp down to my cheek area, my eye lid is numb as is my left eye. I went to the eye doc today who said my vision is perfect as is the eye itself. But then he stood back and looked at me and said "Bell's Palsey, I think". He gave me some steroid/antibiotic eye drops just in case.

So I started researching on the 'net. Textbook symptoms. Left inner ear pain, neck pain, and tonight, when I was eating, my left eye started to tear up. It's one of the symptoms I had read about earlier today and just kinda went "huh, that's weird". I went out to eat tonight and as I started to eat, I felt something weird thru the numbness. I reached up and my left eye was dripping with some tears. Shit.

So I am gonna go to back to the clinic that first treated med for shingles and see about getting some meds to make the numbness/tightness a little more tolerable. Sometimes, it is OK and I feel semi normal. Other times, it is like having a tight, numb band around the left side of my head/face and the eye pressure from the numb lid is horrible.


And, yep, the DAY I went to pick up my Valtrex when I was first diagnosed with Shingles, what did I see ALL over the frigging pharmacy "get your shingles shots TODAY". Yeah, thanks, too late for meeeee!

[HereSince1628]

21. Happened to me last year just before Christmas...

In my scalp, and incredibly painful. One of the oxycodone related drugs did help. Thankfully it was over in a week.

[nilram]

23. nerve pain treatment

Ask your doctor about using Gabapentin (aka, Neurontin) or Lyrica. These are anti-seizure medications that have been found to be effective against nerve pain. If you don't get enough relief from them initially, ask about increasing the dose. General Practitioners aren't necessarily as familiar with these meds and don't prescribe them at as high of doses as they could. Starting off low is fine (e.g., 300mg/day), but Gabapentin can be used safely at pretty high doses (e.g., 3600mg/day). CAN be, depending on factors you and your doctor can take into account. You and/or your doctor can consult with a neurologist to find the right doses of these drugs, or to find other things that could be helpful. You can also ask your doctor about using Nortryptaline or Cymbalta along with the above. These are antidepressants that have been found to be effective against nerve pain.

You can also ask your doctor for a referral to a pain specialist. He or she can suggest medications or other therapies that can helpful in dealing with pain.

Hang in there, good luck.