Good morning, @denip. Shingles is an opportunist. It tends to emerge from dormancy when the body’s immune system has weakened or is compromised. In the case of your husband he has cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. It’s not at all uncommon for cancer patients to develop shingles.

When I was going through all my cancer treatments and bone marrow transplant I was taking an antiviral med for several years until I could get the Shingrix vaccine. So your husband may not need to adjust his treatment plan because of this.

I’m so sorry your husband is having to deal with this on top of everything else. The antiviral should get him through the worst of it.

There is a discussion in the forum with other members who have also gone through this same scenario while on chemotherapy.

Anyone gotten shingles while undergoing chemo?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/shingles-7/

The side effects from the chemo can be the most disruptive. You mentioned he’s experiencing constipation from the anti-nausea meds. One thing that helped me the most is daily, I’d eat a cup of Activia yogurt with a spoonful of ground flax seeds mixed in. I know he may not feel like eating but this helped keep my stomach/intestines soothed, the gut biome happy and ‘things moving’. It’s also very important for him to drink a lot of water during the day. Room temperature water worked the best for me in terms of being able to drink 8 ounces at a time. It’s easier on the body.

Does he still have an appetite?

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