Shingles

thermalben's picture
thermalben started the topic in Monday, 14 Nov 2022 at 3:09pm

Anyone had 'em before?

Had a bit of a crook neck last Monday, persisted into Tuesday then migrated to a headache that night and into Wednesday (headaches are rare for me, too). Felt a smidge worse Thursday, then Friday noticed a few small red marks appearing near my shoulder. That night it developed into a full blown rash across my shoulder and chest.

Yep, I've got Shingles.

Gotta say, the pain is bad, but in a weird way. I've got a permanent dull ache across my shoulder, as if the collarbone has been broken. There are occasional sharp shooting pains from my shoulder up into my neck. The rash should be itchy, but it isn't (yet!). So right now I'm feeling the opposite of what I thought it'd be like.

Not looking forward to the scabs falling off, either.

I'm on antibiotics, but the pain relief medication isn't doing much (apparently this is common, for nerve pain?). Not keen to go higher than Panadeine Forte either.

So, at the risk of scaring the crap out of myself, has anyone else had this? I've already heard a few stories, from "worst pain of my life, for a month" through to "moderate annoyance for a week". Apparently Shingles can re-occur down the track too, though there is a vaccine available (I'm outside of the eligible rebate age bracket, so apparently it costs $280).

Either way, I'm not looking forward to the next fortnight. Already had four terrible nights of sleep.

Only good news is that my kids won't have to go through this, as they've been vaccinated against Chicken Pox.

burleigh's picture
burleigh's picture
burleigh Wednesday, 28 Aug 2024 at 7:36pm
old-dog wrote:

I bet you 10k its true if you like, I can easily prove it.

We use AUD here old-dog. Not Rupiah

seeds's picture
seeds's picture
seeds Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 8:15am
thermalben wrote:
seeds wrote:

What’d it cost Ben?

Two doses at $300 a pop. Yeah, not cheap. But I weighed the options, discussed it with the doc and decided the benefits were worth it.

Bloody hell. None the less sounds like it was a good idea to get the vax.

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 8:25am
AlfredWallace wrote:

Shingles. It’s a Herpes species, zoster in fact.

We also have well known species such as Herpes simplex and Herpes complex.

Chicken pox virus is the main cause. AW

My daughter's school had a confirmed case of Chicken Pox this week.

Pop Down's picture
Pop Down's picture
Pop Down Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 8:35am

My mother somehow knew the cost of the shots .

Guessing it's an old disease , that I had forgotten about , but my mum hadn't .

Wonderful we have new treatments !!!

She said you can also have a shot , IF U catch the disease Early , which stops Shingles .

Maybe an Old Wives Tale ?

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 9:12am

My understanding is that once you've got shingles, it's too late to get any shot that'll stop it (you can take antiviral medication to try and lessen the effects - which I did, though it didn't really work). Preventative action is your only option.

The vaccine is free for over 65's.

old-dog's picture
old-dog's picture
old-dog Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 9:43am

The wife says when she was a little kid one of her siblings got chicken pox, so mum put the other 5 kids in the same room so they would all get it over with at once.
I remember having it when I was about 7 years old, red itchy bumps all over, but I liked it as I got to spend the whole week at home alone watching combat on the black and white 20" TV and eating still warm bread and buns from the horse drawn bakers cart.
My sister in law was told to get the jab in between episodes of shingles to lessen the chance of it returning, which it appears to have done. She even had blisters inside her mouth making it hard to eat.

blackers's picture
blackers's picture
blackers Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 6:08pm
thermalben wrote:

My understanding is that once you've got shingles, it's too late to get any shot that'll stop it (you can take antiviral medication to try and lessen the effects - which I did, though it didn't really work)..

Get onto it early enough and acyclovir or similar shut down symptoms.

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 6:27pm
blackers wrote:
thermalben wrote:

My understanding is that once you've got shingles, it's too late to get any shot that'll stop it (you can take antiviral medication to try and lessen the effects - which I did, though it didn't really work)..

Get onto it early enough and acyclovir or similar shut down symptoms.

Didn't work for me, unfortunately (was on to it within 48 hours of the red spots appearing).

velocityjohnno's picture
velocityjohnno's picture
velocityjohnno Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 6:30pm

Mum always says 'Shingles for singles' - she's had it and reckons she never wants it again.

I know that doesn't help, hope you stay without symptoms Ben.

indo-dreaming's picture
indo-dreaming's picture
indo-dreaming Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 6:58pm

Every time i see this thread topic on the front page for a split second i read it as Singles, such a great soundtrack

BTW. I never realised shingles was so serious i always assumed it was just a rash...hmmm.

zenagain's picture
zenagain's picture
zenagain Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 7:06pm

I really like Alish in Chains.

Roker's picture
Roker's picture
Roker Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 7:31pm

Ha ha. Took me a while. But then again, I've got a dyshlexic heart.

andy-mac's picture
andy-mac's picture
andy-mac Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 8:06pm
blackers wrote:
thermalben wrote:

My understanding is that once you've got shingles, it's too late to get any shot that'll stop it (you can take antiviral medication to try and lessen the effects - which I did, though it didn't really work)..

Get onto it early enough and acyclovir or similar shut down symptoms.

Acyclovir cheap as chips in Indo. I used it for cold sores, always bring back a stash.
Here prescription needed and ext.

andy-mac's picture
andy-mac's picture
andy-mac Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 8:07pm
indo-dreaming wrote:

Every time i see this thread topic on the front page for a split second i read it as Singles, such a great soundtrack

BTW. I never realised shingles was so serious i always assumed it was just a rash...hmmm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7i6lA5Hdak

What a great film of a great music era.....

blackers's picture
blackers's picture
blackers Thursday, 29 Aug 2024 at 9:11pm
thermalben wrote:

....
Didn't work for me, unfortunately (was on to it within 48 hours of the red spots appearing).

Bad luck.