Shingles

Have you put shingles in the search bar? I had them a decade ago but i went through the cycle that is described. By week four I was nearly healed. It likely depends too on where your shingles are.

A week before my shingles rash appeared, I had all kinds of aches and pains. I was at the lab which is in the same building as my doctor and the lab tech said to just go try to see a doctor. I did and lucked out and when the doc started looking at me to prepare for an EKG, he saw my chest and said "you've got shingles". Sure enough, i had red welts halfway around my chest and back that weren't there that morning. He prescribed Valtrex which I started taking that evening. The rash turned to blisters and I used Gold Bond Medicated lotion which helped a lot. That part wasn't too bad, probably due to the Valtrex. After the blisters dried up, the postherpetic neuralgia set in and was more painful. I took Gabapentin for a couple months, which seemed to help a lot. It finally just went away. All in all, Shingles wasn't nearly as bad as my Grover's Disease.

It wasn't as bad because it was caught early. Very early.

I remember those “pre-shingles” aches and pains. Mine were in my chest.

This is some of the worst pain I’ve experienced, which includes herniated discs in lumbar and cervical areas. No good sleep the last two nights. Sleep until midnight then wake up in extreme pain, which goes on for 5 hours. I am using heat, cold pack and tried hydrocodone. As this is nerve related, I’m sure that’s why it hasn’t helped. I am on Valtrex but this doesn’t deal with pain. I’m hoping that I don’t continue with extended neuralgia pain. Contacted Dr today for follow up. Why didn’t I get vaccine???????