Shingles

JJJ

Active Member
I have Shingles; on my face. The doctor asked if I had any stress, I just looked at him and he laughed and rephrased, "any additional, unusual stress".

The pain is awful :(
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Ouch! Did he give you something for the pain? Because it can be very painful.

My mom had it surface on an arm.......was symptoms other places but the rash came up on the arm. Very painful, and she's not a complainer in that sense.

((hugs))
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
My mom had shingles on her stomach several years ago...Lisa's right about the pain.

Many hugs...hope you're not hurting too badly.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
i am so sorry. It is an incredibly painful thing to endure. PLEASE do not be shy about asking for medications to help with the pain. I remember about the ONLY time my Gma I ever snapped at me (or anyone in my hearing) she was dealing with shingles. You may want to ask about something like lyrica or neurontin to help deal with the nerve pain that it causes. Regular pain medications can also be very helpful. Ask the doctor about lidocaine cream or lidoderm patches. With your face I would think the cream would be best. If the doctor is clueless iether ask the pharmacist for emla or LMX 4% lidocaine cream. If the doctor doesn't help with that, go to the first aid section of Walmart or Walgreens and buy some BurnJel Plus. It has lidocaine, tea tree oil and aloe. In addition to being AWESOME with burns and skin irritation, if any of your kids has acne it works incredibly well at speeding the healing and reducing the pain and irritation.

The medications for shingles used to involve prednisone or another oral steroid. I am sure you are NOT in need of the irritable moods that it can cause, esp at this time of year. The doctor can give you a short rx of xanax if you need it to survive the prednisone. (I won't have it in the house except for the cat unless I get an rx to deal with the steroid moods because no one in my family can be lived with otherwise. At the very least try some tension tamer tea (celestial seasonings) or Calm Tea (Tazo - sold in walmart, other grocery stores and in Starbucks).

Baby yourself!!!!!! Let things slide or let husband and the kids do them if you are not up to it. (((((hugs)))))
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Sooooooooo.........If I sang you a chorus of Shingle Bells..:choir:.....wouldn't help huh? (ducking snowball fight) I'm kidding......I'm KIDDING....sheesh try to make your sister laugh and THIS is the thanks I get?

Take care of you dear!
 

smallworld

Moderator
My friend just had shingles. Her doctor gave her Neurontin for pain and an antiviral so the illness would run its course more quickly. You might want to ask your doctor about medications for your shingles. Hope you feel better soon.
 

timer lady

Queen of Hearts
Triple J, watch this very carefully ~ my acquired brain injury is due to shingles. The infection spread into my eye; from there it I developed meningitis & zoster encephalitis.

Do not hesitate to go to ER if you have any stiffness in your neck (i.e. cannot touch your chin to your chest), trouble with your jaw, & start running a temp.

Did the MDs prescribe a anti viral medication like Acyclovir
(I think that's the name - don't quote me)? With the shingles situated so close to your eye have you been examined by a opthamalogist?

In the meantime, do not be hesitant to ask for pain medications. I was on IV morphine during my 3 week stay in the hospital. Neurontin is the medication for long term treatment of the nerve pain.

by the way, I'm giggling over the stress question. I was asked the same thing at the onset of my shingles & I became almost hysterical with laughter. husband had to leave the room with the MDs to explain our level of stress.

Take care my dear, please.
 

Nancy

Well-Known Member
I understand the pain from shingles is really bad. I'm so sorry. I can imagine your face when the doctor asked you that.

Nancy
 

DaisyFace

Love me...Love me not
O you poor thing - that must really hurt.

Stress? Ha! That's a joke...

The way our lives go - we wouldn't know what to do if we suddenly found ourselves withOUT stress...
 

JJJ

Active Member
Thanks all.

I have an antiviral and steroids. The one good thing about the pain is that I don't forget to take them :)

It started to get close to my eye but I think I got the medications in time as it seems to be getting better. I actually slept through the night last night (first night in almost a week that I wasn't woken up by the pain).

I missed my ONE holiday party last night :(
 
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