Can barely sit....

[OakLeaf]

yeah - my dad had an outbreak of shingles when we were all in Vienna. He had excellent care from an English-speaking doctor (and unbelievably inexpensive, to an American). They gave him some ointment for his eye and impressed on him how serious it could've been. He did cut the trip short because of the pain and sick feeling, but had no damage to his eye.



Zoom-zoom, is the vaccine any use for someone who's had multiple outbreaks?

[Possegal]

Zoom-zoom, is the vaccine any use for someone who's had multiple outbreaks?

From the FDA's Q and A on the herpes zoster vaccine.
The effectiveness of Zostavax in preventing repeated episodes of shingles has not been demonstrated in clinical studies.

Which sometimes just means it is an endpoint that wasn't looked at. But the Q and A also comments that having an outbreak of shingles boosts immunity to the virus and that most people who have an outbreak of shingles usually don't have another. So I'm thinking that maybe they didn't look at that as an endpoint under the assumption that people with multiple outbreaks don't seem to benefit (or have) the immunity boost from the outbreak that most people have, so they maybe won't have that from the vaccine either? Just wildly speculating there.

[emily_in_nc]

Crankin, hope you are better soon, and very glad you wasted no time in getting to the doc. Sure does sound like shingles, given your years of issues. Not fun. I don't know a whole lot about it except that a guy at work a couple of years ago had a pretty serious case and missed a lot of work. He eventually recovered, but it was nasty and painful for him.

[Crankin]

The "thing" is definitely drying up, getting darker and darker and scaly. Not smaller, though, but hurts less. The muscle aches, etc. are less. I am so used to feeling all of this, that it's not hard to ignore. I read a very little bit on line, just glad it's not near my eyes... while the rest of it is annoying and maybe painful, it's not life threatening. I just want it to feel better before next Friday, as we are flying to AZ, for a memorial gathering for my MIL.
On a different note, I had my 2nd appointment with the MacKenzie pt yesterday, and that is going great. My SI joints were also messed up, along with my hip, so he worked on that. And I was happy to hear him say my "form" while doing the exercises was perfect. It's nice to have a medical provider that's 1) in good shape 2) doesn't tell me to do less, and 3) I can talk to about his x country skiing last weekend.

[redrhodie]

Crankin, is the shingles diagnosis the one you've been looking for for all these years? Does this explain other symptoms you've had, that have been thought to be caused by fibromyalgia?

[Crankin]

It could be. I am thinking it is, mostly because the pain I have had is only on one side, which is consistent with shingles. They are both made worse by intense exercise... of course I don't hear that (hands over ears). Interestingly, both are treated with low doses of Amyltriptiline (sp), which I took for a couple of months in 2008. It worked, but when I started gaining weight, I went off of it. Plus, it makes you sleepy, so you have to take it at night, early enough to get enough time to sleep. I goto bed later now, so it would be hard. But, it broke the cycle.
We shall see. The only exercise i did today was a 12 minute warm up on the treadmill and the stuff the PT has me doing. I felt a little worse after getting off of the treadmill, but I often feel worse in the morning and then it disappears as the day goes on. I really want to go nordic skiing tomorrow, so I am headed off to finish the paper I am working on.