Please can anyone help me understand why I feel so unwell with shingles

hey! i feel ya ❤ im entering week 4 all i want is to be in bed. ive oddly found though that working and staying upright has made me feel better mentally and overall with pain (plus lots of coffee to get through it) but once I’m gone all I want is to lay still in bed. From all my research this is normal. Your body is fighting off a virus even with having taken antivirals. I did too and it seemed to help how bad the rash was but man the pain is still like nothing I’ve felt before. I feel like I broke a rib or punctured a lung or have cancer. Today is probably the best I’ve felt but I think it’s because I’ve mastered a pain management regime finally. I’ll give you all the details of what I’ve found to be helpful. Everything online says the same thing. Oatmeal and calamine lotion. That did not bring any relief. These things have…

1.) OTC pain medicine. It sucks to be taking so much but without it I could not function. Period. So I’ve started rotating through ibuprofen (Advil), acetaminophen (Tylenol), and naproxen sodium (Aleve) ***make sure you are not allergic to these or on blood thinners and follow the instruction. Limit drinking alcohol as much as possible and if you do drink only take ibuprofen (it’s processed in the kidneys instead of the liver like the others. You can do some damage so follow all instructions and space things out and take the smaller dose) you can also talk to a doctor about pain management. I’m going tomorrow. I just added the naproxen yesterday and that seems to be a game changer as far as being effective. I hate taking this much medicine. I’m hoping to get some Rx pain med for sleep.

There are other medicines for nerve pain that your doctor can take. I know I have more pain than just the experience of the rash.

As far as the rash get Emuaid maxx if you can afford it. If not get pro-emu emu oil from Amazon. It’s cheaper. Emu oil will soothe you better than anything. It also acts as a carrier to let other meds get through your skin to your nerves. I use that first. Then I use Wise Men healing balm. It’s very soothing too. I got it on Amazon. It’s coconut oil, Frankincense and myrrh. If you are low on money emu oil is the better to get but I get max comfort when I use both. (It’s important to only use things that can go on broken skin or an open wound. Some products may not be good for that so read labels)

I then slather on lidocaine cream. I have both 4% and the max 5% (I got that on Amazon. Big tube that was cheap and has lasted a long time. I think it’s for hemorrhoids lol so you may be able to find something similar at a drug store)

I let all that dry or absorb a little if I have time. Sometimes I just go right to the next step which is Walgreen Homeopathic Nerve spray. (This was one of the first products that I tried and it is AMAZING for the pain that radiates beyond the actual rashes. I have no idea why it’s so good but it is and it last a long time)

I then spray all the areas of my body and rash that hurt with lidocaine (dry) spray. Sometimes I’ll use an anti-itch spray too. My stuff tends to burn and ache more than itch most of the time.

All this has helped me function and have moments of joy. There have been many tears also but it has kept me sane knowing there are ways to at least ease the pain at times and experience life and or fall asleep. Mentally I feel foggy a lot. Very emotional. Slow. Bloated. Gaining weight because I can’t work out. A little off balance. But from what I understand that’s normal.

I’ve also been taking L-lysine 1000mg 2x a day. Also Oil of Oregano and Echinacea supplements and sometimes vitamin C, D, E, & zinc when I think too. It’s a lot of pills so I just spread it out as I can. Basically look into anything that you feel comfortable taking to boost your immune system daily. Don’t feel bad for sleeping a lot. You need to sleep a lot. It will also reduce stress. Try and minimize stress. That’s hard to do with having shingles but stress and a distressed immune system are the triggers for it.

I hope some of this helps. Good luck. I know it made feel a little better knowing others are dealing with this hell too (and make it through it) know you are not alone in this.

i have read that Postherpetic neuralgia can occur after the rash is gone however to be diagnosed with that you have to still have the pain after 3 months so there is still hope that you are just in a normal experience of shingles it usually takes 5 weeks for everything to stop and thats if you are lucky some people take less time but i would not be worried at this point

im going to see my GP tomorrow ill let yiu know what she says

Hey! Ive just been diagnosed with Shingles today (female 36yrs) My rash just appeared day 3 of the pain, the pain is uncomfortable with blisters, rash and tender to touch but not unbearable so im worried will it get worse? from what im hearing from people its supposed to be extremely painful, should i be feeling it now? the creams and oils you have suggested will be helpful, i will look into it thank you.

x