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i have itching and very painful shingles

Posted , 6 users are following.

charles29460
charles29460

i am confused about my prescription. while my doctor prescribed 800mg aciclovir, a second opinion says 400mg 8hrly. this is my first experience and i am worried. nothing for the sensation and  pain

 

1 like, 19 replies

19 Replies

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  • Merry19451
    Merry19451 charles29460

    Posted

    Charles,

    If you are in excellent health with no kidney or liver disease, and were diagnosed with Herpes Zoster-Shingles, the appropriate dose of Acyclovir is 800 mg orally five times a day for seven days.

    Doses of lesser amounts of Acyclovir are for recurrent Herpes Simplex, not shingles....or maintenance doses.

    If you have any more questions regarding the dose, ask your physician.

    I am sorry that you have this disease and are suffering.

    I am a Nurse Practitioner in the US and have Herpes Zoster-Shingles every three to five weeks for the past twenty years.

    Please let me know if you have any other questions.

    Best regards

    Merry Juliana

    • charles29460
      charles29460 Merry19451

      Posted

      Thanks Merry for your kind and assuring reply. though i do not have a base line LFT and or E/U/C values, i am in no obvious liver or renal involvement. Am glad to inform you i started the 800mg regime. in about a decade of my working in medical laboratory of a tertiary hospital in my country, i have not met this condition. The eruptions are now abating. However i am yet to deal with the concern/fear of my wife (incidfentally a practising Nurse/Midwife) on the retroviral status since her first line of thought is that my condition is seen in immuno compromised. she also remembers losing a colleague as a result of complications opportunistic infections.

      Ouch! I scream to hear you have been experiencing shingles! so must be almost a usual therapy? My heart goes out to you.

      I also got worried about transmissibility to my kids and spouse. How about the scars.

      Furthermore, I dont have a record of haing suffered chicken pox as a child and I am told this shingle also is a recativation in sufferers.

      I appreciate your time and comments please.

      Regards,

      Charles

  • ihavenonickname
    ihavenonickname charles29460

    Posted

    Shingles is awful....I am so sorry you have them...I hate shingles 5 times...hugs

    Typically Acyclovir for shingles is dosed 800 mg taken five times per day. Follow what your physician prescribed.

    Request a prescription for Neurotin-gabapentin for the pain.

    Cool showers can be soothing...the gel packs from the pharmacy are great because they stay cold longer, they do not drip, they are flat without the points of ice. Perhaps 3 of the rectangular ones so that you can keep your shingles iced.

    Less activity is best for shingles. Shingles follow a nerve root. The more you move, the more your brain and nerves communicate. This communication is via electrical impulses. The more you move, the more you activate your nervous system, the more you will hurt.

    After you heal, consider taking the shingles vaccination. The current vaccination is not 100%, but it is better than nothing. Shingrex is before the USA FDA awaiting approval since Octobef...it's efficacy is supposed to be much greater.

    very gentle big hug

    • charles29460
      charles29460 ihavenonickname

      Posted

      hello and thanks for your concern.yeah i am on the 800mg now, though a bit awkward calculating the 5times in 24hrs. For the pains i braved it (painfully) when the prescribed analgesic was not helpful.though pain is subsided now more during lying down and stretching the skin.

      Just imagine I still managed to present to work, increasing my activity and pain, and added a warm bath to soothe pain? Well thanks for your opinion. Will also enquire of availability of the vaccine in my country 

      cheers

    • Merry19451
      Merry19451 charles29460

      Posted

      Charles,

      It is possible to have chickenpox and never feel sick enough to be diagnosed with the chickenpox, especially if you only have one or two to three vesicle-blisters on you.

      You didn't mention where your rash is, but if the vesicle-blisters are covered with clothing or dressings, then it is not transmissible.

      You didn't mention your age, but if you have a case of routine shingles, it does not mean that you are immunocompromised and going to die soon. That is a misnomer.

      Where do you live, Charles.

      Best wishes,

      Charles

      Merry Juliana

    • babs99203
      babs99203 charles29460

      Posted

      I'm new tot his forum, been dealing with my shingles pain in my mid back to mid front for the last month. They've been wonderfully helpful and informative but I thought you may want to here how I've been dealing with it.

      It was too late for the anti-virals, so that first week was very difficult and painful.  However, my doctor prescribed Gabapentin (Neurontin), starting me at a low dose (per my request, as I sometimes have bad reactions to drugs). It was 100 mg 3 times a day, every few days I'd call in with a report, and they'd increase it. He also really stressed I should do as little activity as possible to prevent pain. I KNOW that's hard and I'm extremely lucky that I could follow that. I'm off of work due to the pain, and my husband is taking on the cooking, cleaning, etc.

      However, I AM doing better. I'm up to 800 mgs 3 X a day, but also take 2 extra strength Tylenol every 4-5 waking hour, 4% lidocaine creme in the area of the nerver affected and my previous prescription NSAID. There is definitely a link between my lifting, twisting etc. and the pain. Now that that it's better, I can tell when to stop if it hurts. I'm sorry you're going through this.

      I compare it to living in a bee hive. I DON'T want to stir them up, as once it starts, it can take hours or days to settle down. I learned the hard way, as I felt much better, then lifted a gallon of milk. Bad plan, as it set me back a week. Read again what the others have said, especially no-nick, take care of yourself, this can be a long haul and rest and medication will help.

    • charles29460
      charles29460 Merry19451

      Posted

      Hello Merry,

      hope this meets you well.

      Thank you for your clarification.

      I am in my mid forties and experiencing the rashes on the left hand side of body.precisely under the left breast through the lower side of the axilla to the posterior, not crossing mid line.

      rashes hae now abated but the tingling sensation still there with some blisters bursting and giing pains of fresh wound.

      I will note that all  my growing up, i've had some brief sharp sensation across my chest mostly also the left, leaing me with some kind of pain that am also experiencing now. i wonder if it's a connection or what?

      i am currently residing in my country Nigeria.Am yet to ascertain availability of the vaccine.

      Stay Great!,

      Charles

    • charles29460
      charles29460 babs99203

      Posted

      Good day babs,

      good to hear from you and you experience. am glad you are on top of it.

      thank you for sharing, i am informed now, and trying what i can do to take care of myself. was so scared of transmitting to my kids who continue doting over me as i could not get far from them from the time i was diagnosed. i aso had to bear some pain without medication.was bothered of what could be allowed or not, in this case with antivirals.

      Take care!

    • babs99203
      babs99203 charles29460

      Posted

      Are they prescribing either Lyrica or Gabapentin? The Gab has definitely helped me and those drugs are the recommended ones to deal with the pain. Also, many doctors prescribe drugs only during waking hours. I hope you're getting your sleep.

      One of the hardest things for me about this illness is the not knowinig. Not knowing much about it, or how to treat it or how it will affect you. That feeling of being out of control is very hard. I found some of the best information on this website, both from the knowledgable posters such as Merry and the other regulars. I'm new, so this is just from my personal experience. Keep reading. I found the US National Institiute of Health info very good, but much of the other stuff is the same thing over and over, and sometimes isn't helpful.

      One thing I've learned, it varies from person to person as to the symptoms and it's duration. I believe I'm improving, after an initial outbreak 6 weeks ago, and additional vessicles a few weeks later. But they can't say how long it will be. I too had chest pain, but more so, back pain. Take it easy!! If it hurts, try not to do it. I know this isn't always possible but this does take weeks, not days.

    • thinsport
      thinsport babs99203

      Posted

      Babs99203,

      I can totally relate and empathize with everything you said. Well done!

      Sincerely, Terry

  • thinsport
    thinsport charles29460

    Posted

    Hello Charles29460,

    I sent a message to you in your private message box and I saw that you had not read it yet. I only sent it that way because I have posted that message so many times and I think that everone in this discussion has seen it. I was afraid that everyone might become irritated if they had to see it again so soon. So i was just posting to let you know that you have a message waiting for you.

  • charles29460
    charles29460

    Posted

    I was alo going to ask for more info on Herpe simplex and zooster.

    Also any quantitative test on shingles to determine probability of recurrence orpresence in a system.

    thanks

    • thinsport
      thinsport charles29460

      Posted

      I was just on my sisters (the physician) computer researching journal articles. I use her computer when she is here because I don't have to pay for reading them. She has access to all sorts of journals from the hospital's account. Unfortunately she is only in Denver (which is where I live) once a month for three days for a job she does here. Otherwise my sister and her computer are in San Diego and in LA area. Anyway I just read an article about your question. I will have to see if I emailed the information to myself or if I can get it for my sister.  It may take a while but I'll get back with you soon as I find it and if I do not I'll let you know too.

       

    • ihavenonickname
      ihavenonickname charles29460

      Posted

      forget probabilities...have the shubgles vaccination...the current vaccine is not 199% but better than nothing.

      Do not despair, Glaxo Smith Klein applied to USA FDA in October for approval of Shingrex which is supposed to be quite efficacious.

    • thinsport
      thinsport ihavenonickname

      Posted

      ihavenonickname,

      I agree having the vaccine is better than nothing and it is very effective for a lot of people. Also, there is some research that suggest it could reduce the severity when you have a reoccurrence. My apologies if my last comment in the discussion rubbed you the wrong way. I appreciate and value all the information that you put out there (I see your name quite frequently). I personally like having probabilities so that I may better understand the likelihood of a particular thing happening. It provides me some comfort when I quantify (or reason) uncertainty regarding the occurrence of an event. I need that comfort unfortunately because, I am so ignorant when it comes to comprehending why the virus (herpes zoster) can affect certain people so differently.

      I am also not for sure if Charles even has access (because of where he lives) to the current vaccine that is available in the United States. So I wonder how long it will take him to get the new vaccine that is coming out (hopefully) in 2017 in the US.

      I must say this whole shingles issue for me is very depressing.

      I hope this finds you well, Thinsport

    • ihavenonickname
      ihavenonickname thinsport

      Posted

      I HATE SHINGLES 5 TIMES!!!

      Charles, many pharmacies will administer vaccines without a prescription...including shingles and flu.

      Fast track USA FDA is six months without guarantee...applied end of October.

      After five go arounds, I can say stress definitely plays a factor.

      Probability...I have no idea. That said my first shingles were 1962 and my last go around was 2012...chuckle, that is once a decade...moan

      So, on the bright side, we will all have a vaccination before the next decade arrives...I am on chemo so no live vaccines allowed...the current vaccination is live vaccine.

      DOWN WITH SHINGLES!

      May you prosper shingles free...hugs

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