Follow the Informative Posts RSS Feeds
Register Now  or login (User|Pass) ->

Attn: 50 and Over Shingles

 Over the years there seems to be more and more out breaks of Shingles. You do not even realize that that is what you have. In most cases it looks like you have been bitten by a spider. It can start out with just little red spots that soon look like pimples that have not come to a head yet. You may have uncontrollable itching and extreme discomfort or pain. The pain is at your nerve endings, so it intensifies the pain. The pimples then start to look like blisters and fill with liquid and sometimes pus. These will eventually break open and the liquid causes more shingles to spread. Once you begin the medication to help stop the shingles which takes about a week, then the areas will start to dry up. It will take a good 6 to 8 weeks to recover from the initial shingles outbreak. It make take months or even years before the nerve damage, neuropathy, or pain goes away. In many cases the damage is permanent and the pain, neuropathy or nerve damage will not go away. That is why it is important to get to the doctor as soon as possible to get medications to stop the shingles, and medication to help prevent neuropathy.

Years ago there were no medications for Shingles, but now they do have medications that they can give you. The sooner you get to the doctor if you think you have shingles, heck go even if you think it is a spider bite. As shingles is misdiagnosed a lot. There is also a shot for shingles that they are giving to age 60 and older. It is expensive.

Shingles is highly contagious. So if you know anyone that is pregnant, please stay away from them and small children. As they will not get Shingles but they will get the Chicken Pox.

You can end up with permanent nerve damage, pain, or neuropathy from having shingles. So the sooner you get to the doctor and get the medication the sooner it will take affect.
By:
Published: 06/19/08


Related Articles:

Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Article Sponsors:


8 Posted Comments:

@ 5:02 pm 06/21/08 by wasted18
This is a good article and a good way of breaking the fallacy that once you had chicken pox when you were young, you'll never have it again. Literally, you may not have "chicken pox" again but you got shingles. The same virus Varicella Zoster virus causes this which stays in our spines even after chicken pox subsides for years or decades for that matter. We still have about 20-25% chance of having it.
Reply to this Comment

Shingles

@ 5:58 pm 06/21/08 by MaryLynn321
Thank you for your comment. I thought why not put it in easy terms cause sometimes, medical terms throw people off. Just put it the way it happens. It definitely is something to be aware of as I have had it and the side affects. I would say the shingles are much worse then when I had the chicken pox as a kid. But, both Shingles and Chicken Pox can be deadly.

shingles

@ 2:21 pm 08/01/08 by MaryLynn321
The only way you can get shingles is if you have had the Chicken Pox.

Reply to this Comment

@ 7:00 pm 08/27/08 by R. Elizabeth C. Kitchen
Scary stuff. I had chicken pox when I was little and I also thought that once you had it you couldn't get it again. I have never had Shingles and I hope I never get them. I hear the pain can be unbearable. Super job on this. It was easy to read and understand and it flowed well.
Reply to this Comment

Shingles

@ 12:15 am 08/29/08 by MaryLynn321
Thank you Elizabeth for all of your comments. Yes Shingles is truly a very painful and debilitating disease. It is almost 16 months since I came down with Shingles, and I still have a spot in my leg that causes pain, and has a sore spot, and at times it itches, I also still get a feeling like something is crawling on my leg on top of the skin and also the feeling that something is crawling under the skin.

You can get Chicken Pox again, if you had a light case of them. Which I had a light case when I was young, so my Shingles out break was bad. Thank God it wasn't a really severe case. But, with all of the pain, I really would have hated to know what a severe case was like. There was no pain let up, it was almost constant, they even had to up the pain meds to Oxycodone, and then I finally had a bit of rest. For 6 months I did not sleep for over 2 hours at a time. I don't know if my nerve damage is permanent, or if it will go away in a few years. I guess I will find out then. If you have the chance to get the shot. I highly recommend it, and so would my husband as he had it the month before I did, but he had a very mild case.

Unbearable is not the word for the pain. I had mine across the lower right side of my waist, around the right side of my hip which came around the top of the thigh and stopped at the knee. My thigh went numb from above my knee to 3/4 the way up my thigh. I thought I would never get the feeling back. But after several months it slowly started coming back.

Thank you for your comment. Anything you want to know about Shingles, I will be more than happy to answer your questions.

@ 7:54 pm 09/09/08 by yourstrulyisabel
So its just a hearsay that you can never get a chicken pox twice. My belief is that when you had chicken pox at a young age and as you grow old you will never be infected again even if you come in contact with someone who have it. After reading your post, I will be very careful from now. Also, maybe adults who had bilsters twice has mistaken them to be chicken pox again when in fact it is shingles. Sometimes people don't bother to go to the doctor if infected with chicken pox especially the adults. It is really good to know about shingles. Good post!
Reply to this Comment

Shingles or bite?

@ 5:18 pm 09/19/08 by mickey
I thought mine was a spider bite and then I went to urgent care where the Doctor said it was Shingles. He did a culture - but it wasnt a very deep culture and he just lightly touched the area. The culture came back with only the strep bacteria that we all have on our skin. there were three spots only on my chest. The did come out just like you discribed. Pimple, blister that drained and then healed. Itched and very red. I got on excellent meds right away and within a week they are now only 3 small almost scar like bumps on my chest.
Do you think they were shingles with just that tiny amount or is it possible it was something else? Everyone seems to sound so debilitated by shingles and I didnt feel good/ they were annoying but I wasnt on my back in god awful pain.
Can they just come in that small of amount?
Reply to this Comment

Shingles

@ 12:34 pm 10/09/08 by Mary Dvorachek
Yes they can come in a small amount as you said. That is the way my husband got them. They itched and were uncomfortable, but not debilitating for him.

Add Your Own Comment:

  • Top Commentor Note: For comments to be counted towards a Top Commentor spot, please provide the same email for all comments with the website you wish us to link.