Sharing my experience - recurring shingles

hello!

how are you doing with your recurrent shingles ?

i feel i have a similar case and would love to talk to you about your experience

thank you !

hello ,

i am getting used to the idea of recurrent shingles and would live your help please

Thank you so much for sharing. I too have had recurring shingles episodes. This is not something I would wish on anyone but it sure is a comfort to know that I am not alone!!

My area is on my bum cheek. It is way to near my genital and anal areas;. My first episode was a larger area that travelled down to my inner thigh.

After about 5 years, another outbreak hit.

Since then, it has been 25 plus years of always wondering IF another attack would strike. Sure enough, in spite of being told that another occurrence would not happen, IT DID. Then again. At the time, Valtrex was prescribed along with a topical cream. Each outbreak would come after extremelu stressful life events. Thank God I have a phenomenal doctor that helped me. Many years ago she administered a vaccine and it really helped me; I needed less oral medication and the duration was cut dramatically.

No one believed me either but my doctor's confirmation and understanding is all I care about,

This year, I learned of a new, 2-step vaccine. I had the first dose/injection in March and believe the next shot in 4 or 6 months. I am praying this new vaccine helps keep my zoster at bay!!! Could be a benefit to any of you that have had the same experience.

I also benefit from an anti-depressant AND Zanax to keep me chill. This combo may also be playing a part in lessening recurrences.

May others find this of some solace and I pray you all find the relief you need.

Hi, Its very sad to hear of the pain that people are still going through with shingles. I had shingles 2 years ago in my scalp i have never felt pain like it and never want it repeated !! Of course stress is a factor like it is for many things. But, please do not overlook the foods that you eat. Most if not all are full of chemicals and certain ones love to feed viruses. Dairy, eggs, cheese, MSG, meat, chemical sugars that they put in 99.9% of food, cakes, drinks etc....its all down to your body and what it cannot tolerate, not what doesn't bother other people, but what bothers yours! Yes, it means cooking at home mostly and only using whole plant based (organic if poss), non gluten foods. It can be tough but if you want to feel well then its worth it. They have been poisoning our foods and us long enough! And beware of medications for shingles they have what's known as 'the rebound effect', meaning they help it to re occur! Good luck , give it a try you have nothing to lose (only maybe some weight!) 😃)

Hi

I have had recurring shingles on my bum cheek in the same place for the last 4 years reoccurring every 6 months or so, this time its only been 4 months, Its a small circle of blisters but the last time in June this year I had 2 circles that joined together. i am 52 and perimenopause, and also have underactive thyroid and taking levothyroxine 50mcl. I have tried talking to my doctor to do blood tests to see if I am lacking in anything but she wont do it !!

I would be grateful for any help or advice .

Helen

Same here, 42 now with annual recurring shingles for over 12 yrs. Shingles happens around September each year for me and I feel that this has been due to the chronic build up of certain foods (eggs, dairy, gluten, etc), toxins (like cleaning chemicals, etc), and internalization of stress.

When I get shingles for a 2nd time during the year (sometimes), my main trigger is clearly defined as a traumatic event. Emotional Stress.

There is very little support from friends, family, and the medical industry. Every time I would feel shingles coming on, I would just get an antiviral medication and not think twice because that is what a supportive doctor told me to do!

After a couple years I realized that I am just treating the symptoms, what is actually causing the episode? Have fun trying to get that answer from the medical industry! I wanted to PREVENT another outbreak, just not survive through one and that journey has been long and hard. I've spent many years learning plants and herbs with the sole purpose to help my affliction that medical doctors and scientists cannot explain.

Yes, I take antivirals during this journey but most recently, I have successfully staved off and stopped my last shingles from developing into a rash without taking an antiviral. Through the use of plants and herbs along with major lifestyle changes, I have been able to find out what seems to be working for me and I hope that you take solace that you are not alone!

i am so happy i found this i didnt think it was possible to have reoccurring shingles and i was convinced it was herpes. i have the same rash appear every couple of months on my

right butt cheek. It is so depressing and draining.

I am 32 years old and i have been dealing with this for the last two years around 4 times a year on left buttcheek same spot every time) to find similar stories is truly a blessing. I was even misdiagnosed last year and they performed a surgery for cyst removal so now i have a scar to and now the shingles outbreak is right above the scar.

I am almost 69 years old now and I have had a small shingles spot show up so often I have forgotten. Sadly, it all stared after I received my first shingles shot. It was the older shot and I even received the latest 2 part shot thinking that would help. However, I still have the reoccurrence every other month or so. (sometimes more often) I find that Acyclovir (a 7 day regimen) helps to heal it up quickly if I catch it as soon as I feel an itch or hard spot. Mine is always at the base of my spine and seems to take turns with being on either one side or the other. I keep a prescription on hand so I can take it immediately. As soon as it flairs up, I can start taking the regimen and I place an order for the next prescription. That way, I never have to wait too long to start the regimen. After reading all the remarks, I'm thinking this may be a lifelong problem. I had a severe case of chickenpox as a young child and I do have Hashimoto hypothyroid. The only good thing is that the spot seems to get smaller every time. I think catching it as soon as it flairs up by starting the prescription helps. I also made the mistake of taking L-Arginine supplement a couple of years ago thinking it was good for me. That was before I read these responses a couple of years ago. That may have added to the problem but I do avoid Arginine as much as possible. The Almonds are the hardest to avoid. Hopefully this will help others feeling alone having shingles constantly reoccurring. You are definitely not alone.

I am a 53 year old female, but when I started getting shingles I was also about 36 or 37. I get shingles anywhere from 6 - 9 times a year and always in the same place...across my hip and onto my butt cheek. I've seen several doctors, and have been tested to confirm shingles.

It is absolutely miserable getting shingles once, but my body has taken it overboard! I too, like the original post, have no health issues at all. I have a great immune system, never a cold or flu, never anything really....just shingles.

I had gastric bypass many years ago which prevents me from taking any of the prescribed anti-virals; they make me sick to my stomach. I had the "latest and greatest" shingles vaccines (series of 2) and was shingle free for about 6 months...but they returned worse than ever before. I have shingles right now, and this is the worse case I think I've ever had....I'm miserable. The pain I can deal with, it's the itching that makes me crazy. I've found if I go a couple nights without sleeping much, if I am really stressed out, or if I get really hot and cant cool off...I will get shingles within a week. I use any kind of cream that contains menthol such as icy hot....it seems to dull the itch.

As I read some of the other posts about getting no sympathy anymore from anyone....Yep, me either!

Thanks for sharing your experience.Sorry,

I am on my fifth attack at present and wonder whether you notice a degree of scepticism from medical practitioners as what we have is unusual.I am now retired but during career treated several hundred patients with shingles but rarely saw recurrent ones....so one continues to learn!

This is advice I have found useful and may not be applicable:

If you have had basic tests and nothing found,it would be worth having your CD4 lymphocytes checked-these are the "Natural Killer Cells".While about that, get Vit D levels done.

Don't accept "normal " as a result as that is based on a population data set .Aim for a level of at least 90 nMol/L.There is also a large range of dosages that may be needed to achieve this levels-with most 2000IU daily are needed but some need many times this level.

There are other simple things that can help :

Acute:cool face washers /icebags over the affected area.This reduces complement activation

Sleeper such as Temazepam at night

stay out of the sun

You may lose your appetite so keep up nutrition-eggs,fish etc and don't worry about going sugar free as immune cells work on glucose,

Chronic:.....and this is the point that may help you most: consider staying on a low dose of antiviral long term. Because it is a single virus that doesn't create resistances like bacteria, this is reasonable.

Recurrence is relatively rare so don't expect a trial anytime soon -but from my own practice, recurrence had a high morbidity rate, it seemed worthwhile and appeared to work in a couple.

Like myself,from what I can pick up here, recurrence usually equals spread.

As a new poster,don't want to hog,but happy for feedback on what others have found.