My skin hurts **update it's shingles

[Pea-n-Me]

No, I have not had covid at all. Have all the shots except for the last one.

Interesting! Shingles definitely seems to be on the rise, somehow. We’ve seen it in the hospital, too. I will have to get my vaccine next time I go to the doctor’s.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Sorry to hear the diagnosis, 79. Glad you went to the doctor to get checked out and get the snt=viral. Wishing you well in the days ahead.

 

[MrsPete]

Thank you. He has had them for a month. He’s going back to the doctor today to try to manage the pain. He can’t sleep and is struggling to work.

A month of that!
Anyone who hasn't had the Shingles vaxx, this is your warning!

I had it about two years ago (the vaccine, not Shingles), and it was a bit of trouble: I had the shots at the Target Pharmacy. They don't always keep it in stock, so they might have to order it for you. It's a two-part vaccine: you take one shot, then you take the second one two months later -- so plan carefully! But that's a whole lot less trouble than having Shingles!

You can have a shingles outbreak literally anywhere on your body, even in your eyes. It follows nerve pathways which are all over.

Yes, my 20-something co-worker had Shingles up her back and under her hair -- she was terrified it'd move into her eye. I was afraid for her. That sounds horrible.

I believe it can be quite nasty, even dangerous on the head.
My dad had it there and had one droopy eyelid for the rest of his life.

For life!
Again, if you're not vaxxed, why are you waiting?

• • You can get chickenpox from someone who has shingles if you have never had chickenpox or never received the chickenpox vaccine.

If you have shingles, direct contact with the fluid from your rash blisters can spread VZV to people who have never had chickenpox or never received the chickenpox vaccine. If they get infected, they will develop chickenpox, not shingles. They could then develop shingles later in life.

I never heard that someone with Shingles could transmit Chickenpox to someone without immunity; however, after reading that it requires direct contact with the rash, I'm not so worried -- who goes around rubbing themselves on someone else's rash?

 

[focusondisney]

Got a rash on my back yesterday. Then on my arm. Went to doctor today and it is shingles. Gave me anti viral medication to help. Says it should clear in about 1 week. Not really having any pain, it is just annoying and itchy.

Sorry, hope you aren’t too uncomfortable & the med works quickly.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

A month of that!
Anyone who hasn't had the Shingles vaxx, this is your warning!

I had it about two years ago (the vaccine, not Shingles), and it was a bit of trouble: I had the shots at the Target Pharmacy. They don't always keep it in stock, so they might have to order it for you. It's a two-part vaccine: you take one shot, then you take the second one two months later -- so plan carefully! But that's a whole lot less trouble than having Shingles!

Yes, my 20-something co-worker had Shingles up her back and under her hair -- she was terrified it'd move into her eye. I was afraid for her. That sounds horrible.

For life!
Again, if you're not vaxxed, why are you waiting?

I never heard that someone with Shingles could transmit Chickenpox to someone without immunity; however, after reading that it requires direct contact with the rash, I'm not so worried -- who goes around rubbing themselves on someone else's rash?

It does happen easier than you might think. When my son was 6 months old, we went to my in laws house for Thanksgiving. My MIL was complaining about a spider bite she got on the back of her neck while she was cleaning the basement in preparation for company. None of us thought much of it at the time. She loved all over her grandbaby the whole weekend. After the holiday, she went to the doctor because the spider bite got worse. Turns out it was actually singles. My son came down with chicken pox a few days later. Luckily it was a mild case even though he hadn’t been vaccinated yet. Then when he was 17, he got shingles!!! It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

 

[MrsPete]

It does happen easier than you might think. When my son was 6 months old, we went to my in laws house for Thanksgiving. My MIL was complaining about a spider bite she got on the back of her neck while she was cleaning the basement in preparation for company. None of us thought much of it at the time. She loved all over her grandbaby the whole weekend. After the holiday, she went to the doctor because the spider bite got worse. Turns out it was actually singles. My son came down with chicken pox a few days later. Luckily it was a mild case even though he hadn’t been vaccinated yet. Then when he was 17, he got shingles!!! It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

I can see that happening with a baby.

But ... my niece had Chickenpox when she was less than a year old, and her doctor said she wouldn't "keep" her immunity ... that she would be able to get the virus again later. Her mom had her vaccinated, so she never had Chickenpox again.

Clearly, though, Chickenpox "registered" in your son; if it hadn't, he couldn't have caught Shingles!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

You also have to remember that the time someone is most contagious is before the lesions appear, sort of like mrsstats. If people are intimate in that time (not just that way, but something like holding a baby or child, or sitting next to someone and touching them on a long car ride, for instance) it might be transmissible then.

 

[kymom99]

Husband is still in a lot of pain. He went back to the doctor and got gabapentin. It helps just a little.

I don’t think it can be a coincidence that he had a lump removed from his back a week or so before the shingles broke out. The incision is on his spine. The rash radiates from the incision.

 

[Earstou]

I had shingles earlier this year. Found out that Biofreeze was my friend! You can't use it on open sores so wait until after the rash has scabbed over.

 

[barkley]

When I was young, my sister (7 years old) had shingles. At the same time our youngest sibling (5 years old) and I (9 years old) had chicken pox.

It's logical to think that the middle child had had chicken pox (VERY mild case) sometime prior to that. Possibly just prior. But there's no record that she had it.

my mom told the story of getting into an argument over the phone with my pediatrician when i was a young infant. my brother had come home from kindergarten with chicken pox, been diagnosed by the doctor and now i was showing legions. doctor kept insisting that it was 'impossible' for a 3 month old to get them-that baby immunities protected from it. my mom gave up fighting him on it so i never had an official diagnosis but responded to the same treatment he had prescribed my brother. mom did say that if you have to have 2 kids with chicken pox at the same time that having one that wasn't capable of coordinating their movements to scratch made things allot easier.

op (and all others) with shingles-so sorry, hope you feel better soon.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Got a rash on my back yesterday. Then on my arm. Went to doctor today and it is shingles. Gave me anti viral medication to help. Says it should clear in about 1 week. Not really having any pain, it is just annoying and itchy.

Glad you went right in and got the anti-viral!

I had a mild case a few years and that did work for me.

 

[jo-jo]

To the posts of people having shingles before 30......wow, I never heard of that before. I thought it was a post 50 problem.....joys of getting older.

 

[georgina]

My second attack I spotted (or at least suspected) the early symptoms and got to the doc pronto. He have me some pills which if given early enough significantly mitigate the effects, which was good.

That's good to know - I didn't realize there was a treatment.

Again, if you're not vaxxed, why are you waiting?

This may have changed with the latest Medicare updates for free vaccines, but my DH got his Shingrix at CVS and each shot cost him $188. That could be a barrier for some. I got mine for free at my doc's office under my regular non-medicare health plan

 

[WDWJDS]

To the posts of people having shingles before 30......wow, I never heard of that before. I thought it was a post 50 problem.....joys of getting older.

I had chicken pox as a child and got shingles in college (doc said it was due to stress. And I was very stressed).

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Husband is still in a lot of pain. He went back to the doctor and got gabapentin. It helps just a little.

I don’t think it can be a coincidence that he had a lump removed from his back a week or so before the shingles broke out. The incision is on his spine. The rash radiates from the incision.

Someone just brought up stress. The stress of having a lump, having pain, going through a medical crisis or surgery, etc., can cause a latent virus to make a reappearance because immunity is lowered. Are you thinking he “picked it up” in the hospital?

 

[kymom99]

Someone just brought up stress. The stress of having a lump, having pain, going through a medical crisis or surgery, etc., can cause a latent virus to make a reappearance because immunity is lowered. Are you thinking he “picked it up” in the hospital?

No I just figured the surgery, even though it was minor, probably triggered the virus.

 

[shh]

Take it away again Andy.

Call the doctor.

I use this ALL the time...glad I'm not the only one.

 

[shh]

I had chicken pox as a child and got shingles in college (doc said it was due to stress. And I was very stressed).

agreed. stress is definitely a risk/trigger if you've ever had chickenpox. The virus still lives inside the body. A family member had a lot of job stress and got it - only 28

 

[Plague]

doc said it was due to stress

From what I've heard they don't understand exactly why/when shingles occurs but the prevailing theory is that it's when your immune system is a bit sideways. So stress, sickness (eg. covid, surgery), getting old, etc, can all create possible 'gaps' for the virus to escape through.
That said, neither of the times I had it do I recall being under the weather or particularly stressed, so it could be more complex.

 

[ronandannette]

Interesting! Shingles definitely seems to be on the rise, somehow. We’ve seen it in the hospital, too. I will have to get my vaccine next time I go to the doctor’s.

I was JOYFUL when I finally aged into a Shingrex prescription. The side effects were harsh (so bad that I self-reported for Covid after the first one, only to have the PCR test come up negative), but I still wouldn't have missed it for the world. I've got a real fear of shingles - I'd take those shots again in a minute, to be protected from it.