I need a kind Jubbers help.

[seven2go]

Is that all you need?
$20 US would give you 12£ and a little change.
I won't accept any "interest" either.
I've had shingles........you have my empathy.......

Do yourself a favor and get a bottle of Solarcaine (that is if anyone the UK EVER gets sunburned....... ) as it contains lidocaine, a gentle topical anesthetic.
It will help control the itching.......it saved me from going bonkers.......

 

[G-Lexington]

I only help JUBbers over a thousand posts, but having been through shingles myself, you have my empathy as well.

Lex

 

[blackbeltninja]

^Er... I believe the OP was quite prolific in his previous incarnation, if that helps...

-d-

 

[palbert]

In any event you should get the vaccine (Zotavax, from Merck). It has not been studied (as of 2011) to prevent recurrences but the feeing is it can't hurt. It is given by injection.

Even if you have had shingles, you can still receive the shingles vaccine to help prevent future occurrences of the disease. There is no specific time that you must wait after having shingles before receiving the shingles vaccine. The decision on when to get vaccinated should be made with your health care provider. Generally, a person should make sure that the shingles rash has disappeared before getting vaccinated.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles/vacc-need-know.htm

 

[rareboy]

Well now that I know that there is a posting limit for helping people, I can't donate either.

I'm a little surprised though that your mother wouldn't be able to be reached in order to help her sick child.

Shingles are a bitch.

 

[medic1]

Here in Scotland, all scripts are free to fill. Mitch i believe that in England, you can obtain an emergency supply from your pharmacist.
Citing, hardship, especially when it is for something as bad as shingles. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[unloadonme]

Michael, if you need £10, I'll give rather than lend you it. I don't have PayPal though, so you'll have to PM me your name and address.

 

[xbuzzerx]

I'm guessing that to help keep NHS costs down, my doctor would probably only recommend getting the vaccination after a second bout.

Its just the left side of my chest running around from below the nipple to the side of my back that is affected. It itches like crazy, its very tender and the pain is uncomfortable. I kinda want to take my t-shirt off so nothing is covering my upper body, but because it curves around my left side, i set it off just by sitting back in my chair. I don't know whether the itching is worse, or the bruised feeling, but together they are driving me up the wall. I think the rash itself looks pretty cool for a rash. It reminds me of poison ivy for some reason. One of my workmates suggested bedbugs to take the piss lol. I hope it clears up sooner rather than later, i've been told it could last up to several months in some cases. Heres hoping i have a moderate case eh.

Bathing sucked too, if I recall. I was so completely convinced in my mind that "only old people got shingles" that I actually didn't even consider that I had it when I got it a couple of years ago. Because they looked like a series of small bumps or bites and hurt so friggin bad I actually was far more concerned they were brown recluse bites I'd received in my sleep or something, and was actually really relieved when the doctor told me it was shingles. Brown recluse bites are scary.

 

[borg69unimatrix]

What's the difference between Shingles, and Hives? ... or is there a difference?

... and is it true that both are stress related?

 

[unloadonme]

What's the difference between Shingles, and Hives? ... or is there a difference?

... and is it true that both are stress related?

Google is your friend!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpes_zoster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urticaria

 

[xbuzzerx]

What's the difference between Shingles, and Hives? ... or is there a difference?

... and is it true that both are stress related?

Shingles is leftover chicken pox in pockets of your body ever since you first had it. It can suddenly go active again, but it will typically do so in certain places-- the back, torso, etc., because there are tissues and areas there where the dormant virus can hide out in clusters.

 

[m1thousand]

This commercial was just on . . .

http://www.zostavax.ca/video.html

 

[xbuzzerx]

This commercial was just on . . .

http://www.zostavax.ca/video.html

Yeah in the past six months or so it seems like there's been a huge glut of commercials about shingles on TV, and whenever I mention I got that people are like "YOU?!" I don't know why people treat it like a disease of 60 and up, but I was certainly under that impression too when I got it, lol.

 

[pat grimshaw]

Google is your friend!..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse_spider

 

[xbuzzerx]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse_spider

If you have bad reactions with their venom, it's pretty serious and scary stuff. My dad had an amount of skin about as wide as a quarter, and nearly 1 inch deep, excised from his back around a bite because of necrotic tissue. You could literally see a "hole" in his back for quite a few years until it ultimately scarred over totally.

If you google image search "Brown recluse bite", you'll see how bad it can get.

 

[G-Lexington]

Yeah in the past six months or so it seems like there's been a huge glut of commercials about shingles on TV, and whenever I mention I got that people are like "YOU?!" I don't know why people treat it like a disease of 60 and up, but I was certainly under that impression too when I got it, lol.

I was in high school when I got it. Not sure why it hit me so early.

Lex

 

[dereperez]

I know it can affect a side of your face and your eye as well and comes up as a bit of a surprise. Hope you get better soon, Michael.

 

[xbuzzerx]

Thanks everybody for your support. I have received the help i need and am waiting to take my first tablet. The packaging on each strip tells you what time to take them in order to keep them apart. Its Aciclover that i'm taking.
I'm told that hot baths WILL aggravate, but lukewarm-slightly cold will have a soothing effect. I'm going to get some calamine lotion which ive used in the past for chicken pox and sunburn. That'll help with the itching at least.

That's exactly right--- with water I had to treat mine like "a bad sunburn" as far as water temperature and such. Someone brushed against me trying to get past me in a store and I remember the sensation was similar to suddenly eating something in the balls.

 

[seven2go]

Valtrex is the brand name drug that was prescribed to me.
At the time there was no generic and it cost a fortune........but my doctor was VERY good to me and gave me loads of "samples".
Here's the difference between Vatrex and Acyclovir >>> http://www.viamedic.com/blog/sexual...s/valtrex-vs-acyclovir-what-is-the-difference

I only hope you get beyond the worst phase faster than I did.......

Everyone reacts differently as to comfort.......I found that heat helped a LOT while others cannot tolerate heat applied to the affected area.
I also found pressure diminished the effects while others can't tolerate ANY pressure at all.
You'll have to discover what works for you.

 

[xbuzzerx]

So i am in day 4 of my prescription. The rash is still with me but noticeably less so. It appears i have developed a side effect of extraordinary tiredness. I have been leaving work early for the past 3 shifts so that i can come home and sleep. Don't know whether this is the shingles or the drugs that are responsible. Only sleeping for a couple of hours at a time until bedtime and then have a full sleep on top, and yet i'm still tired by midday the next day. Tomorrow is a day off and i am going to love my pillow day.

It's your immune system using up your energy. When I got it, it emerged while I already had a really bad cold that was going around, and I was like a zombie. Slept like I had the flu. Get better soon.