Shingles

I think it’s different for everyone some have it much more severe than others Didn't your doctor give you medication ? I haven’t had it because I had the vaccination, but when my Dad had it they gave him medication

I had shingles 2 months ago. It wasnt nice but it wasn't awful either.

Over the counter painkillers were enough to deal with it.

I woke up one Sunday morning with lot pain in my middle of my side ,just where bra straps go , then , when looked in the mirror I found were largish pink rash forming , I immediately thought reminded me of photos I’d seen of shingles . I phoned 111 , I were then asked to take photo and email to them , next thing doctor rang me to confirm it were shingles. Doctor then immediately issued me with prescription for antihistamine pills ( at least I think they were antihistamine tablets , but I know that the worked ) which I then picked up from chemist . It were caught before it became a real problem , thank goodness. Shingles can be a very serious and painful condition ,and can last for many months , so please have it checked out as soon as you can . There is now a shingles jab you can have at surgery for over 70s .

The GP can prescribe anti-viral medication which works well if taken early enough.

Even the same person can have it more severely one time than another.

Remember not to have a shower or bath as it can spread the rash. And keep the area dry and wear soft clothes against the effected area so as not to rub it. My son had it in his 20's and was in agony. Has large scar back of his neck from it.

Whiff

Remember not to have a shower or bath as it can spread the rash. And keep the area dry and wear soft clothes against the effected area so as not to rub it. My son had it in his 20's and was in agony. Has large scar back of his neck from it.

Thats likely an old wives tale....not current advice....maybe keep the water a bit cooler to avoid irritation

I had shingles of the head just before xmas - it was horrendous. I've never known pain like it - it was like electric shocks shooting through my skull. Nothing touched the pain at all.

1. Antiviral medication can help with shingles. There are also medications available that can help with nerve pain if it becomes severe. See your primary care provider if you want/need these.

2. Remember that someone who has not had chickenpox can get it from a shingles rash. Make sure not to be around someone who isn't immune to chickenpox.

3. If you get shingles on your face, especially around your eye, let your primary care provider know IMMEDIATELY. You may need an ophthalmologist referral. Shingles can affect the optic nerve and some people can actually go blind because of it.

Thankfully I had the shingles vaccine yesterday… hopefully it won’t be too severe for you JN…

LOUSIA that was what my son's GP told him. A friend of my husband's had a small patch of shingles on his back and when he went to see he's GP as it had spread over his back his GP asked if he showered. And was told that's why it spread. And you need to keep the area dry as getting it wet can spread it. Only saying what 2 different GPs said in different parts of the country.

People are free to believe it or not.

I has shingles a few years ago, I went to GP to late for anti virals I was given strong painkillers and initially told I could go to work. It was around my midriff, no way could I go to work, I couldn’t bear anything touching my skin and for days kept perfectly still as any movement caused pain. I was off work for 2 weeks but pain and rash stayed for months,
Years later if I am run down and under stress ( like recently since husband died) the pain, no rash, returns in the same place.

Having the vaccine does not prevent shingles, my neighbour has just had a really nasty bout in a place you would never wish to have it.
I am having shingles type pain down my right side at present which is following the line of a previous infection. I have not developed the rash which may be as a result of being vaccinated.
I would agree that keeping the rash dry is a sensible thing to do and if you can get anti-viral drugs within 72 hours of onset it should help.

My 91 years old neighbour has shingles, her GP saying it was the worst case he had seen. She is now on week 6 and still in pain and very weak. The rash has dried up and is pulling. At this stage does anyone think E45 or similar would soften it? She has kept it dry so far.

I've read on several NHS websites that bathing in warm water is soothing. Of course it's important to launder towels etc and not to share them. This is 2023 information.

Few years ago I had shingles right next to my eye. Managed to get antiviral medication and luckily didn’t suffer really. At aged 70 in England you get offered a shingles injection which I took without hesitation.

These sad tales are reminder that anyone in their 70s can (and I suggest, "should") get a jab to prevent shingles from the GP. If the GP doesn't offer, just ask! There are now two sorts, most of us will have Zostavax. People with health conditions will have another sort.
It's Shingles Awareness week 27 Feb t 5th March, so do your bit to tell any friends in their 70s about the jab.
(I got my jab early by taking part in a medical study.)

If anyone does suspect that they have shingles please try to get anti virals from a GP asap. And if you’re given a prescription get it and start on it as quickly as possible.

MayBee70

If anyone does suspect that they have shingles please try to get anti virals from a GP asap. And if you’re given a prescription get it and start on it as quickly as possible.

I wasn't taken seriously when I suggested it might be shingles I had. The pains in my head were so severe that I had to go into A&E twice in the space of a couple of days, but when I asked if it might be shingles, I was told no and told to take paracetamol (which did absolutely nothing to help at all). By the time my own doctor finally agreed that yes, it did sound like shingles, it was too late to have anti virals and I basically had to put up with the pain for weeks on end until it finally subsided just a week or so ago.

My dose started on a Good Friday, so I couldn’t see the GP until the Tuesday. I had achey, throbbing pain in the kidney area - didn’t notice a rash until I was actually at the GP - she took one look and said shingles. TBH it was something of a relief - I’d been imagining kidney cancer.

She gave me anti virals and told me to get co-codamol from the chemist - didn’t give me a prescription.
I felt rough, achey and tender for a couple of weeks, but it was generally a pretty mild case, thank goodness.

Might add that I still put my dose of shingles down to being very tired and run down, after a week of emergency childcare for an under 2 while the small baby was in ICU, followed immediately by a stinking cold. So my immune system was hardly up to scratch.

Sounds awful. DH recently had his vaccination against it but I'm not old enough yet. Fingers crossed I keep avoiding it. You all seem to have had a rotten time with it.

Also, many people think that you can catch shingles from shingles or shingles from chickenpox. This is not true, as my gp told me. You can, however, catch chickenpox from shingles. I had shingles in my twenties after my first child was born. My middle child, believe it or not, had shingles when he was six, having had chickenpox when he was a year old. My daughter, our youngest child, caught chickenpox from her brother’s shingles. She was three at the time and had not been born when her older brothers had chickenpox.

I had chickenpox twice. Once when I was a child and again when I was 23. Shouldn't have been possible but it happened. Verified by doctors.

i'm going to look up getting the jab privately.
i knew several people who had it, very badly affected, one had nerve pain for months, nothing really eased it, and her health nosedived thereafter.

i've no idea if i ever had chicken pox, how would i know.
unless blood samples were taken.
and they weren't. didn't go doctor.
had one childhood disease that i can remember, but no one knew which. probably measles.