Shingles (I think) - possible TMI

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I need input from nurses, epidemiologists (Hi JillG), physicians, others who have had shingles, anyone! I always thought shingles came with an outbreak of lesions. Over the years I have had episodes of pain and tingling on one side of my face, which seems to coincide with a crusty sore at the corner of my lips on that side of my face. It ranges from a hot sensation, almost like a sunburn, to a blistering numbness that extends into my scalp. Right now, I cannot even put the left side of my face down on a soft pillow. The only lesion I ever notice is the mouth sore. Being an idiot, I generally scrub off the crust with a tissue, allowing millions of viral cells loose into the general vicinity. It is also interesting to note that I am just recovering from an upper respiratory infection (self diagnosed and treated with fluids and Tylenol only).

This facial pain has recurred several times over the past few years, generally when I am under a heap of stress. And come to think of it, it’s always the left side of my face and scalp.

Could this be a shingles event?

2

I’m not a doctor, but I do work in a dermatology office. AFAIK, you only get shingles once, but the pain (post-herpetic neuralgia) can last a lifetime. You may just have Herpes Simplex. It would be uncommon for it to only be in one place, and have pain in other than that one spot, though. At the time, I can’t think of anything else it could be. When the lesion presents, is it a red area that at first is tingly and itchy then develops a white pus-filled center? That would be typical of Herpes Simplex. You can also have swollen glands and fever before the outbreak.
Maybe you could google it and compare with pictures of it.
If it is that, a way to resolve it quicker would be: use hot compresses on it (for only 20 minutes at a time) until the head comes up, then pop it- that seems to make it go through it’s cycle quicker and heal faster. A great over-the counter ointment is Abreva. If you can apply it often at the first sign (i.e. tingling and itching but before the outbreak) you can often avoid the outbreak of it.

3

FWIW I’ve had shingles 3 times; once diagnosed by a doctor, once self-diagnosed and then confirmed by a doctor while I was seeing him for something else, and by the third time it was like an old friend coming to visit.

All three were in different places (hand, hip, thigh), but on the same side of my body.

4

I’ll have to ask on Monday, but it seems like a few weeks back I heard a couple of the derms expressing great surprise that a patient had suffered from shingles twice. I would search it right now but it’s very late and I’m going to bed.
Is it just one lesion? That surely doesn’t sound like shingles.

5

FWIW, you can get Herpes Simplex lesions on other body parts like trunk or thighs. They can look similiar to shingles.

6

I knew a kid that got chickenpox every year like clockwork from kindergarten all the way up until about the 6th grade, even though “everybody knows” you only get chickenpox once. It’s rare, but it happens. I’m pretty sure my mom’s dad had recurring shingles, so maybe it could be a genetic predisposition.

7

You also have to remember that when people self-diagnose, there’s a high probability that they’re wrong. I’ve taken back lots of people whose “shingles” turned out to be staph infections, whose “drug reaction” turned out to be scabies, and whose “cysts” turned out to be thrombosed hemorrhoids. Dermatology is very complex, and difficult to diagnose if you’re not a dermatologist. Even other doctors, like primary care physicians, misdiagnose skin conditions. Happens all the time.

8

Well, I self-diagnosed for the second time and had it confirmed by a nurse practitioner and a doc. When I got the EXACT same thing a third time it was pretty obvious what it was.

And now that I think about it, two different doctors told me not to be surprised if I had a flare-up within 6 months. The third time was about 3-4 months after the second time.

9

Shingles can most definitely occure more than once. cite. “Shingles is caused by a reactivation of the dormant virus in the nerves of people who have previously had chickenpox. As as a result shingles can unfortunately occur more than once.” This is actually the first time I’ve ever heard it suggested otherwise.

Yes, it does sound as if you could have shingles. The difference between shingles and Herpes I, symptom-wise, is that shingles pain travels along the nerve pathway, whereas Herpes I hurts, but only right around the sore. So if the pain is following the path of one of your facial nerves, shingles is a likely bet.

One of the other significant things about shingles is it is always one-sided. It does not cross the midline of the body in one outbreak, because the nerves don’t cross the midline. While you could end up with an outbreak on the other side of your body in the future, it would be from a different sore(s), on different nerve pathways.

Stop scrubbing at that crusty stuff. There may be active viruses in the puss, and you don’t want to spread it to other nerves. You also don’t want to be around older people (above the age of 12), who have never had the chicken pox or the chicken pox vaccine, because your shingles goo has the same virus in it that causes chicken pox. (I would encourage parents of littles to bring them around you, myself, as having pox as a little is generally not dangerous, and the immunity conferred by having the disease is longer lasting than the immunity from the vaccine, but that’s just me. IANAD) Don’t let others drink from your cup, use the same washcloth or towel as you, and for Og’s sake, don’t kiss anyone.

(Can you tell I grew up in a household with herpes? Mom has it from her mother kissing her goodnight with a sore. None of us kids nor my dad caught it, because we were all careful.)

Because it’s on your face, you should go see a dermatologist. She can tell you whether it’s on a nerve pathway which leads to your eye, which could be potentially dangerous. If it is, she will probably prescribe anti-viral eyedrops.

Of course, she can also tell you if it’s not shingles, and give you some good information on minimizing outbreaks in the future.

10

My wife suffers from recurrent shingles. She finds that chocolate and gelatin can trigger an outbreak when she is stressed, but finds that taking lysine capsules help tone it down a lot.

11

Thanks for all the info. I would be 100% sure that it was shingles if I had more lesions, but it’s just the one sore on my mouth. Today I woke up with pain in my left eye, it hurts to close it and it hurts to open it. I don’t know if it’s worth my time and money to go to an urgent care center or just try to ride it out til Monday, when I can see my regular doc. Since I’m a nurse, he tends to listen to me and gets me involved in the planning of my own care. I don’t know about you other nurses out there, but I am terrible about my own health. I take care of others just fine, but I let myself get very run down before I do anything about it.

Mr. Beckwall drank from the same straw yesterday. :eek:

12

Jesus, do you *want *to lose your sight? Really woman, get to an urgent care center NOW. Stop reading the message board and go. Now! Right Now!

And yes, you’re right, nurses and doctors both suck at watching their own health. So listen to me. GO TO AN URGENT CARE CENTER OR EMERGENCY ROOM RIGHT THE F*CK NOW!

(Sorry for the yelling, folks, but this is very important.)

13

Contact your doctor for guidance. Someone should be reachable, even on the weekend. Otherwise strongly consider urgent evaluation, since you say you are having symptoms in your eye.

And please ignore diagnostic and treatment recommendations made to you by people on message boards who have not taken a proper history, nor done an appropriate examination on you.

Primum non nocere, people!!!

QtM, MD