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Anyone ever had shingles?

  • Thread starter PlantAKiss
  • Start date

PlantAKiss

Moderator Schmoderator Fluorescent fluorite, Engl
Well I got whacked with a case of shingles. Dang! I never knew exactly what it was but I do now. :( It chose my FACE as the location. I don't look too pretty but then again, I didn't to begin with. :-)) First I got blisters on my lip...then under my eye...then other spots on the right side of my face. Apparently it only erupts on one side of the body. If you've ever had chicken pox, you can get shingles. Its related to chicken pox. Its painful...I get sharp stabbing pains like needles being jammed into my face. OWIE! The pain can remain long after the shingles are gone...sometimes for years (hopefully that won't happen to me).

The stuff around my eye was the worst case scenario for shingles. It can get IN your eye and you can go blind. I've been seeing an eye dr. and he thinks my eye is safe now.

I've been meeting lots of people who have had shingles or a family member or friend. So I was wondering if anyone here has ever had it?
 
My grandma had shingles, she is OK now.
I'm sure you'll be fine!
 
my ex had it once. i heard it can be brought on/ aggravated by excessive stress also. he was relatively young at the time and it was on his back.

said it was painful and stuff.

hope you feel better and do your best to relax.
 
I have shingles on my roof.:bigthumpup:
 
Well I got whacked with a case of shingles. Dang!
i was thinking the same thing as you likeAstone76 i was thinking "oh! poor PAK those darn construction workers better watch what they are doing!" then i kept reading :D

i hope you get better soon!
Alex
 
PAK, I understand that if anyone has had chicken pox and did not develop an immunity against it...then the person becomes prone to shingles later on in life. A colleague of mine had chicken pox once, followed with 4 times of shingles spaced over two decades.

That is why over here in Singapore, we still have the belief that when a child has chicken pox we should not use medication to treat it but instead allow the body to develop its immunity against the virus.

Do you have chicken pox party over in the States?
 
VZV is a type of herpies virus and, like all members of that family, it goes dormant in a specific cell type, basal ganglion in this case IIRC. Reactivation can be caused by any number of stimuli so there is no real true trigger that you can avoid. Whether or not you have developed an immunity to chicken pox is actually moot as the virus activates a different set of genes to revive from latency which your body is naive too, hence the reason it manifests differently.

PAK, you might want to talk to your Dr about antivirals (acyclovir, Valtrex, etc) which might help to limit the duration of the outbreak.

Cindy, Pox parties used to occur here but not so much any more. Most parents now are diehard for the vaccine (which does not protect as well as a typical infection) I actually had to get in a rather heated argument with my pediatrician about not vaccinating my daughter.
 
I heard you get "shingles" from partying too much...drinking, carousing, going to clubs and staying out all night. Slow down Suzanne.
 
My grandma also had shingles and I know it is definitely not fun! Other than being totally annoying and painful sometimes, it's no big deal. I mean, if my grandma can make it through case after case of shingles you'll do just fine!

Do you have chicken pox party over in the States?

Yes! At least 18 years ago when my mom sent me to a friends house and told me to drink out of my friends drink to catch it.

xvart.
 
  • #10
Yes, shingles is Herpes zoster but its related to the chicken pox virus. Anyone who's had chicken pox can get shingles. If you have not had chicken pox, you won't get shingles. You don't "catch" shingles through kissing or other intimate activities. Its possible to infect someone if they touched a blister and then touched a break in their skin, but they would get chicken pox, not shingles. Typically, healthy people will not get more than one episode of shingles. Usually its people with weak immune systems (elderly, AIDs patient, etc.) who may have additional outbreaks of shingles.

Of course my doctor put me on medication...Famvir and prednisone. I've had two eye exams as well since there is concern about it showing up in my eye. Unfortunately I'm having some eye problems this morning so I've got another appointment later today. :(
 
  • #11
Yes, shingles is Herpes zoster but its related to the chicken pox virus.

It is not related to the chicken pox virus, it is the chicken pox virus. :) One beast with two heads as it were. Hence the reason you can not get shingles unless you have had chicken pox and doubly hence the reason naive people exposed to someone with shingles run the risk of getting chicken pox.

So speaketh the microbiologist :-D
 
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