Mine was like an ice pick in the ear. It affected only the right side of my face. I had to drive with my ice pick to and from the ER. The majority was about 3 weeks. I ended with a slight reduction (uncorrectable) in vision in the right eye even with glasses.
The only nice thing is when the pain diminishes and you think “Heh, its gone from a 23 to a 21! This feels great!” – well… not all that great :rolleyes:
Oh - well, thats not good news. I’ll have to chat with my doctor about the vaccination next time I’m in.
Glad to hear you’re feeling better.
You must really be hurting, you don’t sound like yourself. I hope you are feeling better soon and back on your path to world domination.
I have this paranoia that getting the shot will somehow trigger shingles. Is that complete paranoia?
I have the same fear that it will be like getting a flu shot and you get flu like symptoms afterwards. I don’t wan to get shingles like symptoms. once was enough for me.
Mine were on my left shoulder blade about 25 years ago. Move even slightly, shirt rubs on them, PAIN.
Nothing to sneeze at. I wish you the best and a speedy recovery.
I had a couple of small outbreaks in my early 30’s according to my Dr. It was just a couple of pimple looking things along a nerve line on the left side of my head. It was disproportionately painful to how it looked.
Yes, paranoia. Widespread paranoia, you’re not alone in that fear, but that’s not a realistic concern unless you are immunocompromised. Ask your doctor about you in particular, based on your medical history and your medications, but generally speaking, healthy people don’t get shingles from the shingles shot.
Thanks, WhyNot!
So the last time we heard from Skald was 11 days ago. I hope he’s doing ok.
He’s been posting plenty on other threads. Either he is doing fine or his ghost is haunting the internets.
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Good, thanks. Hadn’t seen him.
I’ve posted in other threads.
I’m not at my best, to be honest. This is another one of those nights when the pain is keeping me awake. I wasn’t able to do much on Christmas Eve and Day.
Good reminder that I really should have that test to find out if I have had Chicken Pox.
Hope you get better soon.
no polls yet. clearly not at your best.
Missed this earlier somehow - but sympathy, Skald. One of my cousin’s suffered from a bout that lingered for a month and sounded absolutely horrible. Hope you are feeling better soon.
I’ve been having trouble sitting at the computer for long. When I’ve posted its been via the phone. Polls seem too much trouble.
Skald- so sorry to hear this. If you haven’t already got them, ask your doc for Lidocaine patches. They do help (and are actually FDA approved for post-herpetic neuralgia).
There is also an herbal (ducking woo pitches) remedy that is pretty effective- it’s St John’s Wort OIL. Like the Lidocaine, it’s topical and temporary, and a nervine.
It’s anecdotal but extending the acyclovir for 30 days helps with pain reduction.
The vaccine would be appropriate later, and will reduce if not prevent further occurrences. My spouse had a three dermatome case in 2002, was vaccinated in 2009 while hospitaized for a stroke, and had a small recurrence in 2013 that was pretty painful but managed well with 30 days acyclovir and minimal narcotics, and the Lidocaine patches.
We use the SJW foil or diabetic foot neuropathy with qualified success (nothing really is perfect) along with gabapentin. It also helped the PHN after about three weeks, when things had subsided to a dull roar.
He said he had already had the shot.