Opthalmic Shingles and Viral Meningitis - has anyone else had this combination?I
Posted , 5 users are following.
I had been working all hours god sends and became run down yet still carried on working until 11pm each night and taking conference calls etc. It started when I was at an awards lunch. I started to develop a stye in my eye and the music they were playing and the lights were overwhelming. I'm normally very outgoing yet I couldn't talk to anyone and had no appetite. My eye became sorer, i had a fever and I left. I developed a terrible headache but took paracetamol and carried on working when I got him. By the next day, I felt really odd and had strange bumps on my eye, above and on my forehead. The headache increased through the day and by 7pm I was sobbing with pain. By 10pm I was on the floor writhing in agony and my husband found me at 12.30 at night screaming in pain on the bathroom floor. He drove me to A&E where I was fast tracked to a cubicle where I spent the next 18 hours having CT scans of my brain, chest, Lumber puncture, blood tests etc. I was diagnosed with Ophthalmic Shingles and, most likely, Viral Meningitis. Confined to isolation as I was contagious, I spent a miserable 7 days in a room hooked up to IV bags of Antibiotics and Acyclovir. I couldn't bear sound or light, i lost my appetite, couldn't concentrate, and was incredibly dizzy with unbearable head pain. I saw an eye specialist as my vision was blurred in the eye with the Shingles and the nerve pain was severe.
After 7 days I was transferred to the noisiest ward possible which had bright lights and my bed was by the entrance/toilets and every door bang and buzzer was amplified a hundred times and was utterly unbearable. I spent seven days sleeping with a towel over my eyes and ear plugs to block the noise out. I had no sleep and was a wreck. I was still having IV anti viral treatment. One night the pain was so bad I was screaming and i had morphine to cut through the pain.
14 days later and very little sleep, I was finally allowed to go home. Today is the first day I went outside for 3 weeks since I was sick. My husband took me for a gentle walk and it was so nice to get fresh air!! I am trying to balance a bit of work in the morning in bed on my laptop with every afternoon I nap for 4 hours. It seems to be working and I'm getting stronger. I've no idea how long it will take to recover. I just had to cancel my holiday as I'm not strong enough to fly.
Has anyone else had this combination of Ophthalmic Shingles and VM? How long does it take to recover? What about diet and exercise? Any advice to build my immune system?
Thank you in advance for your advice.
1 like, 8 replies
babs99203 niki04026
Posted
I'm so sorry Niki, no I have not had it. Your symptoms do point to shingles affecting the eye, brain face etc. I can't comment on the "possible viral meningitis" diagnosis. REST and MORE REST is the most important thing. I hate to tell you, it may be weeks or longer before your are truly better or back to normal. It's good you got the anti-virals, but as you had already progressed to that level of pain, the virus is having a huge impact on your body. Be kind to yourself, don't push it, You will sleep a lot, accept it, don't try and do too much at all. People under-estimate what this takes out of a person. I'm glad you could enjoy the fresh air, I remember going on my porch in the middle of winter, just to feel fresh air and like myself again for a few minutes.
Find other diversions which interest you, such as reading, music, movies, don't tax yourself yet. If you're up to it, take short walks. I'll leave the diet and immune system info to others. Take care, Babs
niki04026 babs99203
Posted
Take care of you and have a lovely restful weekend. Xx
joseph34465 niki04026
Posted
I'm not sure what VM is but I had Shingles a year ago last Labor Day. I got post nerve pain and it sure changed my life. It killed the nerves in my left eye brow and it got into my scalp. It was the most painful thing I ever experienced and thats saying a lot because I have rode a motorcycle all my life and I have had many exsperiences with pain. The depression was terrible so don't let it get to you. Remember it's the Shingles causing the depression and I hope you don't get the post nerve pain. They gave me pills for the depression but they didn't help so l stopped taking them. There's only a small percentage of people that get the post pain and I just had to be the one that got it. Regardless it will pass God bless you and keep you husband close. I know I find myself apologizing all the time to my wife for being such an ass. By the way I tried all kinds of creams for the pain but not much help. I use Biofreese jell and it seem to help a little. Good luck
niki04026 joseph34465
Posted
Thank you Joseph for your lovely reply. I'm so sorry you went through the pain and depression it is such a horrid virus. They gave me huge amounts of aciclovir cream when I left the hospital which has really helped my eye, face and scalp and also Gabapentin for the pain (which targets the nerve). Also, I have changed my diet which is helping. Cut out caffeine and dairy. I had shingles with viral meningitis so a double whammy. Definitely don't want to experience that again! My husband is a keen motorcyclist like you and he saw he pain I was in and felt so helpless.
I pray you will feel so much better and your depression disappears. Please take care and god bless.
babs99203 niki04026
Posted
I'm glad to hear you're on Gab, as it does help with the pain. However (boy, I keep giving your upsetting news, sorry), Gab has a number of side effects (all of which I had) but I was at 2700 mgs as the pain was so bad. I'm finally down to 1500 mgs, but I'm one of those lucky (??) people that as I slowly taper down, as you can't stop abruptly, I have a number of nasty side effects. Stay on as low a dose as you can for as short a time as you can. However, you need to try and keep the pain under control, to the extent you can. If that pain is too bad, the nerves are more likely to continue to mis-fire and PHN will be the outcome.
I also use Aspercreme with 4% lidocaine, two extra strength Tylenol every six hours and a previously prescribed NSAID. The NSAID can help the Gab to be more effective or vice-versa.
Merry19451 niki04026
Posted
Hi Niki,
I am so sorry for your suffering.
I can relate to your pain as I have had Herpes Zoster-Shingles in my right ear every three to five weeks for the past twenty-one years and twice in my right eye.. I did have one acute illness of viral meningitis with the right ear and eye Shingles, combined, and I was in bad shape, but milder than you as I was already on the oral Antivirals. It took me a longer time to recover from it than the usual episodes.I was in my fifties. I am 65 years, now.
Regarding activity & exercise. You need to rest and sleep. You are a workaholic, needless to say. That needs to stop. A gentle walk with your husband is fine, but do not think about work right now.
You have been assaulted by a nasty virus, and it can take months to recover.
You didn't say how your pain level is currently, but I know it isn't great.
I know you still feel weak, fatigued, and exhausted.
If you overdo it one day, you pay double for it and more the next day. Think of the disease like a horrible loan shark. It sucks you dry.
Regarding diet:. Eat nutritious fruits, vegetables, protein. The next is very important.....
Google High Lysine Low Arginine Herpes.This diet has helped me tremendously in decreasing the frequency and severity of painful episodes. I can only thank "Old Shoe Lady" on this site for this insight.
I don't bother with Lysine supplements as it is really about the ratio of Lysine to Arginine that counts.
Hopefully, your pain is being managed well. My pain in the beginning episodes was not managed at all as I received nothing for the agonizing pain, hence, the recurring episodes.
Please let us know how I can help you. I know my usual lesions are in my ear, but I had it spread to my eye twice, and had a milder case of VM. I did recover fully.
Best Wishes
Merry Juliana
niki04026 Merry19451
Posted
Thank you so much Merry, your advice is much appreciated and I will google those things as you suggest.
I guess patience is required as with all illnesses, so I just won't expect to be back to normal working capacity for a while.
I hope your recurring bouts of Shingles stop and you are fit and well and build up your immune system. It must be terrible to go through what you've had to put up with.
Please take care and look after yourself.
Niki xx
beth97678 niki04026
Posted
Hi Niki04026,
Gosh you're having a rough time .What everyone has said is very pertinent.You won't get better if you push your body to work harder than it is able.You've had the antivirals for the shingles.Now you might be on the nerve pain meds for a few months.Don't worry-this is normal.Having shingles anywhere on the head is serious and probably the most painful place to get it.I can appreciate the writhing in agony bit,but be careful not to accidentally overdose because the pain is too bad ,or the gabapentin fogs your brain.I kept a written record of my meds and ticked them off when I'd taken them.Pregabalin is the modern version of gabapentin>Costs a bit more,but fewer side effects.It's important to reduce dose slowly,not stop dead with any of these drugs.I took Tegretol(carbamazepine) too-the combination seemed to work better.You will need to titrate the doses of each till it suits you and brings the pain down to a manageable level.I also had a morphine patch that worked over a week and Tramadol (small doses,as this can be addictive.).As Merry says,check out the dietary help for shingles online.I got some L-Lysine supplement online and each tablet I could feel working.(they're big,so I chewed them from each end-but they made a noticeable difference in reducing pain,and later the intense itching that comes with post herpetic neuralgia.)I suspect that viral meningitis takes a long time to leave the body-or its effects do.Please take it easy.You will want to sleep quite often.Please do so.You could also try some high dose Vitamin D (like Calcichew or Adcal D3,) as this will help the body to heal .
X Beth