Grover's Disease: What works to help find relief?

I have posted on this site several times about my situation, but I will give you a synopsis of my experiences with GD. I am 99% sure it was the shingles shots I got last summer and fall, that prompted my disease. I have a very healthy immune system, and virtually no shot of any kind had any kind of negative effects, swelling, pain, tiredness, etc., in the past. After my first shot, my ears started to itch, after my second, the itching spread and got worse and worse. I waited just two months and two weeks to get the second shot. Possibly, if I had waited longer I might have avoided this. So far I have tried just about EVERYTHING, including over two months of cilantro smoothies, with very little effect. Ironically, Motrin is the most effective itch stopper for me. I don't like taking it due to its negative effect on the kidneys. I never take more than four a day, two early in the day, and two before I go to sleep. I took the Motrin for an elbow problem and realized that, surprisingly, my itching subsided. I have also taken one week of oral steroids which helped. I've been told that one week is not long enough, that two weeks is far more effective, so I am going back to my physician to hopefully get another round. Similar to you, my clothing also can prompt itching. I bought a long sleeve t-shirt at Uniglo a year or two ago that might suit your needs. They also sell the long legged tights. Very light and smooth. I am furious at the Shingrix, the manufacturers of the vaccine, for not warning people about the possible negative side effects of the shots. I have already called the hotline and made my feelings known. I am going to send them an e-mail soon, as I think it's important that we go on the record about this. I really don't have any expectations about a result, but feel it's important, nonetheless. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Good idea. Is Shingix made by one company? Do you have a contact number?

SHINGRIX is made by GlaxoSmithKline. Phone 1 888 825 5249 or 1 800 822 7967

Looks like it's just a matter of time before GSK gets sued by American lawyers.

I'm throwing a line into the water. I was watching the Super Bowl, and there were several ads for the Shingrix vaccine. Given the number of people on this site, myself included, who feel that Shringrix may have played a role in their GD, I was wondering about the possibility of those of us, who feel that this product effected us in a very negative way, wrote to the pharma company, that produces the stuff, and asked them to mention at the least, there might be a risk of contracting GD because of the vaccine. There seem to be quite a few of us. Just a thought.

I am not any type of anti vaxer. Got all my shots during childhood, from tetanus, mumps, measles, diphtheria, pox and whatever was available and offered during the 1960's and 1070's. Back then, there was not shot available against chicken pox or shingles. I did not have chicken pox as a child, but had it as a 20 year old. That was a bad experience, with terrible itches, fevers, misery. I got over that, but some scars from chicken pox are still visible 40 years later. So, when I got my flu shot, the doctor asked about whether I had a
refresher-shot for tetanus, and I said no, so he gave me that. Then he told me about the fact that the chicken pox virus and the shingles virus are similar, or one and the same, and that many people who had chickenpox will later in life get shingles. So, I also opted to get the shingles shot.
It's now about two weeks later, and I had specific side effects from the shingles shot:
1) The old scars from chicken pox started itching again, and there was a tiny red dot showing up in many of them. This is not listed as a possible side effect. Comments by experts are welcome!

2) On the arm which received the shingles shot, I can both see and feel an area of higher temperature, with prickles, itches and or a burning feeling at times, on and off. There are are also some red dots on the skin there, where there were none before.

The itching and burning sensation is showing up on a about 6 inch long and half inch wide area on the wrist, next to the tendons, on the right arm. The skin there has a different feel to it, and shows more little red dots. That burning sensation tends to creep up to the upper right arm, at the site of the shot, and then shows up further up, seemingly alongside or within nerves that go further up to the shoulder, and then towards the spine. The pain and burning is bearable, but it is worse than "when a foot falls asleep", and it impedes my work, because when you type and input data on a computer, your right hand is busy, and it gets interrupted if your whole arm feels like its burning, as with a sunburn. I should add that this is a distinctly different sensation from having tendonitis or fasciitis.
Also, the muscles in that arm appear to be more hard or tight. Is this nerve damage? Is it nerve inflammation? Thoughts from experts, anyone? Why is this side effect not even described in the medical literature?

3) Separate from that, I see now little bumps appearing in other areas of my body, which I have not had before. They are not red or inflamed, but feel as if some kind of lymph fluid is collecting underneath.

Overall, I do not know whether the combination of several shots all at once, (tetanus, mumps, measles, diphtheria, flu shot and shingles
shot) has something to do with this. I do not know whether taking Zoloft has something to do with these side effects. If I were to call my doctor, get an appointment, and ask all these questions, then not only will I be out $300.00, but the odds of the doctor saying "I don't know what's wrong here, and I can't fix it" are somewhere in the 95% to 100% range. I am not saying that doctors don't care, I merely see that too many times they do not know, and modern diagnostic equipment like MRI, Ultrasound, etc. does not improve their knowledge. It's sad to acknowledge that with many ailments modern western medicine has not progressed any further than 14th century medical knowledge. Faced with that, it is no wonder that people will try all sorts of herbal products, even if the effects of these are not provable, and even if some hurt or kill themselves with implausible or harmful ideas.

Something that gets me every time is the pharma ad statement: "If you are allergic to Bippetybappetiblubberymumabicatonesiladidamiladiphen, please call your doctor right away!".

The problem with that is
a) One cannot ever call a doctor right away!, and
b) one cannot possibly know whether one is allergic to an unknown new medicine! (Think, please!) and

c) that problem could be avoided, if the medical profession were DECENT enough to provide a small sample of the new medicine to the patient, so that the patient can bring it to the allergy clinic for tests to see whether a tiny amount causes an allergic reaction.

Item c) does sound like a reasonable request to me, but western medicine has an attitude problem, just like me. They might care, but maybe not enough.

As a result, I will not take the second shingles shot. I will of course take the Covid-19 shot, as soon as I am old or rich enough, because
it's the right thing to do, even if it makes me sick or kills me. Being dead, I will try to join the Greek God Zeus up in the clouds, and amuse myself with throwing thunderous lightning bolts onto the medical/pharmaceutical industrial complex. I am sorry that I started out serious and fact-based, but in due course I got off the rails, off a tangent, slightly unprofessional.

Legal disclaimer: If any part of this writing is considered illegal, wrongheaded or stupid, you are free to take the offensive parts out,
and leave the remaining sentiment intact. Thank You!

I think I’ll avoid this vaccine.
Having enough issues with random triggers and I think stress and anxiety contribute to my outbreaks.
Sometimes I’m convinced they are insect bites or I’m allergic to certain fabrics. And all my cats don’t help matters. So mysterious and debilitating.

I am not any type of anti vaxer. Got all my shots during childhood, from tetanus, mumps, measles, diphtheria, pox and whatever was available and offered during the 1960's and 1070's. Back then, there was not shot available against chicken pox or shingles. I did not have chicken pox as a child, but had it as a 20 year old. That was a bad experience, with terrible itches, fevers, misery. I got over that, but some scars from chicken pox are still visible 40 years later. So, when I got my flu shot, the doctor asked about whether I had a
refresher-shot for tetanus, and I said no, so he gave me that. Then he told me about the fact that the chicken pox virus and the shingles virus are similar, or one and the same, and that many people who had chickenpox will later in life get shingles. So, I also opted to get the shingles shot.
It's now about two weeks later, and I had specific side effects from the shingles shot:
1) The old scars from chicken pox started itching again, and there was a tiny red dot showing up in many of them. This is not listed as a possible side effect. Comments by experts are welcome!

2) On the arm which received the shingles shot, I can both see and feel an area of higher temperature, with prickles, itches and or a burning feeling at times, on and off. There are are also some red dots on the skin there, where there were none before.

The itching and burning sensation is showing up on a about 6 inch long and half inch wide area on the wrist, next to the tendons, on the right arm. The skin there has a different feel to it, and shows more little red dots. That burning sensation tends to creep up to the upper right arm, at the site of the shot, and then shows up further up, seemingly alongside or within nerves that go further up to the shoulder, and then towards the spine. The pain and burning is bearable, but it is worse than "when a foot falls asleep", and it impedes my work, because when you type and input data on a computer, your right hand is busy, and it gets interrupted if your whole arm feels like its burning, as with a sunburn. I should add that this is a distinctly different sensation from having tendonitis or fasciitis.
Also, the muscles in that arm appear to be more hard or tight. Is this nerve damage? Is it nerve inflammation? Thoughts from experts, anyone? Why is this side effect not even described in the medical literature?

3) Separate from that, I see now little bumps appearing in other areas of my body, which I have not had before. They are not red or inflamed, but feel as if some kind of lymph fluid is collecting underneath.

Overall, I do not know whether the combination of several shots all at once, (tetanus, mumps, measles, diphtheria, flu shot and shingles
shot) has something to do with this. I do not know whether taking Zoloft has something to do with these side effects. If I were to call my doctor, get an appointment, and ask all these questions, then not only will I be out $300.00, but the odds of the doctor saying "I don't know what's wrong here, and I can't fix it" are somewhere in the 95% to 100% range. I am not saying that doctors don't care, I merely see that too many times they do not know, and modern diagnostic equipment like MRI, Ultrasound, etc. does not improve their knowledge. It's sad to acknowledge that with many ailments modern western medicine has not progressed any further than 14th century medical knowledge. Faced with that, it is no wonder that people will try all sorts of herbal products, even if the effects of these are not provable, and even if some hurt or kill themselves with implausible or harmful ideas.

Something that gets me every time is the pharma ad statement: "If you are allergic to Bippetybappetiblubberymumabicatonesiladidamiladiphen, please call your doctor right away!".

The problem with that is
a) One cannot ever call a doctor right away!, and
b) one cannot possibly know whether one is allergic to an unknown new medicine! (Think, please!) and

c) that problem could be avoided, if the medical profession were DECENT enough to provide a small sample of the new medicine to the patient, so that the patient can bring it to the allergy clinic for tests to see whether a tiny amount causes an allergic reaction.

Item c) does sound like a reasonable request to me, but western medicine has an attitude problem, just like me. They might care, but maybe not enough.

As a result, I will not take the second shingles shot. I will of course take the Covid-19 shot, as soon as I am old or rich enough, because
it's the right thing to do, even if it makes me sick or kills me. Being dead, I will try to join the Greek God Zeus up in the clouds, and amuse myself with throwing thunderous lightning bolts onto the medical/pharmaceutical industrial complex. I am sorry that I started out serious and fact-based, but in due course I got off the rails, off a tangent, slightly unprofessional.

Legal disclaimer: If any part of this writing is considered illegal, wrongheaded or stupid, you are free to take the offensive parts out,
and leave the remaining sentiment intact. Thank You!

I have never had the gut test you referred to. I never discussed this with a naturopath. I simply did some reading.
Yet I did get dramatic results which stopped my internal stinging, burning and zapping inside my skin by giving up processed sugar and limiting gluten. Yet this was not my GD pain and itching, this was head to toe 24/7 misery. This I believe was related to my Allergic Contact Dermatitis inflammation that even with Patch test results and contact control was still present. My diet starved out the yeast living in my gut which pass their waste products though my aging intestinal linings and thus raise inflammation. I read The Yeast Connection Handbook by William Crooke, MD a pioneer promoting gut health to control our internal inflammation which leads to many diseases, not only eczema. I do eat a processed sugar free, unflavored probiotic yogurt whole milk daily to help keep the good bacteria healthy to control the bad bacteria. You are on a strict diet which I assume also includes zero processed sugar, ever. I never overdid sugar like some, but I believe killing the yeast off totally was the key. Yeast doesn't die willingly and it takes months of misery, actual withdrawal because starving yeast sends screaming messages to our brains to be fed- sugar, sugar, sugar! Plus if you reintroduce certain foods it will grown back and live happily in your intestines. It took me 2 months to be certain it was helping. I've been on the maintenance plan now for 2 years and am so happy to be pain free inside my skin I will never go back to "normal" eating. Now I can have a few serving of fruit and gluten a few times a week. Plus certain non gluten carbs. How long have you been on this anti-inflation diet?
If chelation didn't help your GD it may be unrelated to heavy metals, which sadly is the case for half of us from reading these blogs. It seems from these blogs if we get relief and begin going into GD remission it happens fairly fast. I was certain I was going into remission within a month. It still took over 6 months or longer for all the no longer active papuales to release. If you find more about the dysbiotic bacteria please share what you learn.
How did you know you had mercury and other heavy metal poisoning? I never was tested for mercury, but I had a blood test for metals and learned I am allergic to: aluminum, nickel, chromium and 2-3 others I never heard of. My test was to find out it I could have a knee implant and there are no metal ones on the market I would not react to because even titanium, which I didn't react to has traces of other metals in it.

Good idea. Is Shingix made by one company? Do you have a contact number?