So last Friday, I’m doing my normal stuff when I get a headache near my left eye and my eye starts hurting too. I tend to have some sensitivity there from time to time anyway so I didn’t pay it much attention. Next morning I wake up with the feeling that my left eye is going to explode. Definitely not normal, but it kind of went away to just a dull ache that came and went. I used eye drops and downed some Advil. Didn’t really help but I held out for a couple of days. Then I started getting a little itch on my forehead above my left eye. I scratched it idly, thinking it was a pimple coming in. By yesterday, it and others in the area became big, red, raised welts but at least they stopped itching. Today, I figured I didn’t want to go the weekend without knowing what it was. It looked like I wouldn’t be able to get into my clinic today so I went to the emergency room.
I was pleasantly surprised that I was seen very quickly but, and this is the funny part, I was disappointed that I have shingles. I really had hoped I didn’t have anything but as long as I did, I would have hoped for something more exoctic. Like scurvy. Well, not that I’d really wish for scurvy but it’s a cool, funky, piratey word. I could say, “Arrrghh! I gots scurvy, I does!” “I’ve got shingles” just doesn’t sound as good.
Apparently, I’ve got lesions on the inside of my eye from the shingles too which may or may not cause trouble down the road. I got sent to an eye doctor on the north side of town and now have a prescription for some Lotemax eyedrops (actually the eye doctor had a sample she gave me,) Acyclovir (anti-shingle stuff, I guess) and Vicodin (ahh, the good stuff!) I go in to see her again next Thursday.
The good news is that it isn’t really that bad. The bad news is that the eye doctor says it’s likely to get worse before it gets better. I’ve been getting some stabbing pains in the corner of my eye in the last few hours. The better news is that I could have gotten shingles in the nether regions like an Army buddy of my Dad’s. The bad news is that I have a swollen lymph node that popped up today between my left ear lobe and jaw, which is near the rosacea or dermatitis near the left side of my mouth. Oh, and did I mention that the temple of my glasses broke the other day? Guess which side.
At least I’m not working right now so I can enjoy my misery at home. Darn, but how I hate being broke though. I’m lucky in that my Dad paid for my prescriptions. And he drove me around today. He’s such a nice guy.
How many Dopers have gone through shingles? What do I have to look forward to? Share your stories here. (And I wouldn’t be adverse to a little hug or two.)
The status of shingles is fully as worthy as that of scurvy, in case you wonder. Hurts like hell if you don’t take care of it properly, so it was wise of you to get the meds right away, and TAKE them.
My first husband had shingles in a period of stress (he was defending his doctoral dissertation in Europe) when he had a break-out. Treatment at the time was not as effective as today’s meds, so he was left with some residual pain.
A close friend got them a few years back, also in a stressful period of his life. Luckily, as he was never sick, he reacted immediately to this pain and went immediately to the ER. Happens that he saw a doctor who was doing research on the particular illness, and my friend qualified for a free study with free meds. If he had not reacted within 24 hours of the first symptoms, he would not have qualified for the study. He’s fine now, and had NO residual pain-- the best you can hope for, I guess.
As for a co-worker, she had a full-blown case of shingles, and she refused to see a doctor for the longest time. Really crazy reaction here in Quebec since everyone has medicare. She had surgery recently to cut certain nerves in order to remove the pain and sensation in that part of her body. That may treat the problem of her excruciating pain, but it is inconvenient in many ways in everyday life.
I had shingles almost twenty years ago. I blamed it on the fact that I had very light chicken pox when I was just a baby and then I think I picked up the virus again from my son when he had chicken pox. Anyway, I was lucky enough to have a light case of shingles, too. I had a patch about three (or so) inches in diameter on the back of my leg, which was the worst of it. But I also had a couple of blisters between my toes, a couple on the back of my knee, and one on the back of my head. Same nerve pathway or something, I guess. The spot on the back of my leg hurt so bad I could hardly walk for several days. Every time I so much as moved the leg it felt like the skin was being sliced off. Fortunately it didn’t last more than a few days. I lost feeling in that skin for several months, but it’s fine now.
The important thing is that you caught it early. Three folks in my close circle have had shingles. It’s absolutely no fun at all, but prompt detection and treatment will fend off a whole 'nother world of lingering, hideous hurt.
BTW, none of 'em could identify a “why NOW?” cause. Shingles just seem to crop up in their own time. Don’t beat yourself up trying to figure out if you did something wrong, Tikki.
Best wishes going out to you.
I had shingles on my face at a time of minor stress. Most of the blisters collected aroung the crease around my right nostril but spread onto my cheek. I was told that it’s a form of Herpes, but Herpes Zoster, not genital Herpes or Herpes Simplex (Chicken Pox). I’m not absolutely certain that the connection is true, but that was the tale told to me.
Maybe, with it being concentrated at the eye, you can make it more interesting and buy more sympathy by relating in some fashion to this practice
Mine comes up as a blister about 1 - 11/2 inches wide on my back. The spot is on the left side, just above the waistline.
It’s always exactly the same spot. I get it maybe every couple of years. It started back in '85. I have had chicken pox as a kid but I don’t remember anything in particular that might have set it off. Stress might do it - I’m usually stressed anyway so it’s hard to tell!
Hmmm, I wonder where I put that leftover Acyclovir?
I had shingles in 1985. The main areas affected were my left shoulder, upper left arm and left back. The pain wasn’t too bad. The worst part was that I had great difficulty sleeping for the best part of a month.
And the good news ? I still have very obvious scars and even now, almost 20 years later, I occasionally get slight twinges of pain.
I had chicken pox when I was a baby, again when I was four and shingles when I was six or so. I don’t remember much but the pain. I have scars in my armpits (makes shaving a bitch and a half) and serious memories of the pain.
I can’t say much for treatment, as I was too young to really remember anything but misery and my brother being sent to play with me when I had pox and kept scrupulously away from me when I had shingles, so good luck there. I didn’t see my father much there, as he’s never had chicken pox and infecting him at 35 probably wasn’t too good of an idea.
I did give him mumps later that same year, though.
I know what you are going through, I first got mine about 6 years ago, during a bout of stress and strep throat. Started out on my chin and spread up the nerve along my cheek on the right side. Horribly ugly sores, such an attractive look on one’s face.
The thing was, I was living in Japan at the time, and the meds they gave me never seemed to work on it (some sort of ointment). Now I use Valtrex, one big blue pill when the pain first starts, and another 12 hours later. Works wonders!
I’ve had a couple more outbreaks in the same place over the years. It is almost always stress at work that triggers it, though once it was caused by a bad sunburn. Wear your sunblock, people!!
If saying “I’ve got Shingles” doesn’t sound gnarly enough, you could always say “I have an inflamation of the central nervous system.”
well, another bit of good news is that the welts are covered by my bangs. If I get scars, now one will likely notice. In fact, even I probably would have noticed them sooner if they’d been elsewhere. I kept looking at my eye in the mirror noting that it wasn’t red at all (that’s changed now) but it felt very sore and dry. I kept wondering if it was pinkeye even though, obviously, my eye wasn’t pink.
A bit more good news is that the achyness that I’ve been experiencing hasn’t been any worse that what I’ve gotten with the flu. The bad news is that most of the weird pain is in that little pink puffy thing in the corner of my eye. It feels desert-dry and gritty even though I know it isn’t. I’ve been getting these sudden needle-stabbing pains there that makes me slam my eye shut in hopes of making it stop. And when I woke up this morning, it itched so bad that I finally had to lightly scratch it. Then I thoroughly washed my hands right away.
Thanks for all your kind words and experiences, everyone. And I’ve got some cool new ways to say “Shingles.”
**Cisco/b] hope your bout with it is over soon. For future bout of my own, I’m going to keep in mind Leafrog’s Valtrex. Bosda, I think I’ve got it. Heat bad. Cold good. Very, very good.
And Sisyphus’, ain’t no way I’m letting anyone lick my eyeballs in the best of times! Now, if they’d care to nibble my earlobes and nape of my neck, then we can negotiate!
Hi Tikki, I was blessed with shingles just last fall (and at 21 years old! Strange). My rash was on half my stomach and half my back. One day my skin was painfully sensitive, the next night some tiny red dots started appearing, the next day a pinkish welt had formed in splotches on my skin. The next day it had turned from pink to darker red, and if I recall correctly, that was the day I got myself to a doctor and shingles was diagnosed.
I was put on Valtrex right away, and I also got prescription painkillers and calamine lotion. The lotion did absolutely nothing to combat the itching. The only way I found to relieve it was to soak a towel in warm water and rest it on my skin. The trouble was that the water cooled right away, and I’d have to re-wet the towel because my skin was still painfully sensitive to touch and to cold.
I hope the experience is different for you because it was really difficult for me. I spent two sleepless nights where I couldn’t fall asleep because I had to keep twitching to relieve the itching. When I was up and about, it wasn’t difficult to just fidget every couple seconds, but when I was lying in bed, it was maddening and distracting and kept me up. And what’s more, it wasn’t exactly itching that I felt. It was more a mixture of itching and pricks of pain.
I’m guessing I had about five uncomfortable days after the rash appeared, but after a couple days when I was able to sleep through the night again, I felt relieved and almost comfortable with shingles because I knew I was over the worst of it. I still have the marks on my back (where the rash was the worst), but it’s been fading and is barely visible now.
Here’s the thread I started last fall when I was just coming down with shingles. It has some other people’s anecdotes and advice.
I wish you a speedy recovery! It’s rough, but hopefully it won’t last too long.
Hi again. My computer monitor died on Monday. I missed all you wonderful Dopers and I’ve discovered that without the internet, there isn’t much for a semi-sick person to do at home. Whatever did we all do before it came along?
Anyway, I thought I’d update you all on my condition. That is to say, I think I got off way, way easy! (Knock wood.) The rash is noticibly better and the swelling is gone. Still some red spots but they are going away. Only one little bit got pus built up in it and there’s a bit of a crater there now but I don’t think it will scar. It’s right next to the hair line so it won’t matter anyway. And for the first time in a week, my eyelid goes all the way up.
I went to the eye doctor today and she said the lesion on my cornea is much better. I don’t have to go back to see her, though I have to keep up with the Lotemax drops for another couple of weeks.
I still get some itching and some stabbing pains, especially when I lay down. What’s odd is this crawly feeling I sometimes get on my eyebrow and scalp. That would really freak me out if I was scared of bugs. I feel sorry for anyone who experiences it and is. :eek:
I hadn’t expected to feel so tired though. Long afternoon naps are a good thing but it can make it hard to sleep at night. Or I can get to sleep at night, only to be wide awake a 6 AM.
Thanks for all your good thoughts. I’m glad to be in the welcoming arms of you Dopers once again. You are so cool!
I had shingles about 4 years ago. It was a patch about the size of your palm on my back. They didn’t give me anything for it except some cream. The worst part was that it was right where my bra strap went, and unfortunately being busty I couldn’t go without. I had to wear a sports bra with a hole cut out until it went away. No scars, just a weird painful itchy feeling once in a great while.
