Sharing my experience - recurring shingles

Having read up on shingles it would appear that it is stress related and when your immune system is at a low level so to this end I taken up what I have been told, that MANUKA honey is good for your immune system and this would seem to be the case according to my local Holland & Barratt shop. So I am giving it a try, certainly the pain seems to be a little less and my arm is at last showing signs of improvement so its worth a try. I have a tea spoon of honey in hot water at bed time each night, I have just started my 3rd week

Be wary of where you purchase it from as prices can vary considerably, best price I have found is Aldi for the +10 strength

Im 35 and I just got shingles for the 21st time since 2013. Its always around my eye. Im so tired of it that it makes me cry. Im sick of the pain, sick of feeling sick and sick of having nasty blisters around my eye justabout every month.

I have battle shingles for more than 27 years. This year did get the vaccine and have had several outbreaks, but they seem to have subsided for now. I know that my insurance Blue Cross has changed their policy about the shingles vaccine and now covers it 100% regardless of age

I need to check into that. I dont have insurance yet and the county health program sucks.

18 years of several outbreaks of shingles a year, three since December 2013, has been quite a trail. I can relate to every single post here.

For the last three months I was treated with osteopathy against the pain and it certainly has helped.

I found the posts with dietary tips very interesting, especially the ones on lysin. I´m going to try that.

Good luck. I hope it works for you!

I had my first bout of shingles at age 15. I will be 55 next month and have had 3-6 outbreaks a year ever since. So WELL over 100 outbreaks. Almost always on my right upper eye lid, although it has occurred once on my spine and a few times on my forehead. I'm on day two of the latest outbreak--so wish I could put a stop to this 40 year saga.

I have had shingles too many times to count, the more I get them the worse they get and the last 3 times they have become infected. I haven't found any remedies though vitamin b12 injections daily do help clear them up, my doctor won't give them but someone may have some luck. I have had immunoglobulin tests to see if there is any deficiency, they are all within normal parameters it may be an idea for some of you if you haven't had any tests. My doctor is really good but confused at the same time I am his only patient that has recurrent shingles so I think he would like to find a reason. There is some sort of link between rheumatoid arthiritis and shingles as they are both autoimmune, this increases if you are being treated for RA as the drugs depress your immune system further. My doctor is definitely on the case so I will keep posting if he finds anything that helps us, he is meeting with haematologists this week.

I just turned 37 and have been experiencing recurring shingles for just under 2 years. My first experience was 2 days before my wedding. I felt a sharp pain and noticed a few clustered bumps, within hours more tiny blisters popped up. Since then, I've had 6 more times. I've been to three different doctors and they have done skin samples (ouch) and blood tests. I've come up positive for herpes 1 (the cold sore virus) but my blood tests came back negative for zoster - but looks and acts just like zoster and I've never had cold sores of any kind. None of the doctors can explain or really know what to do. I have been given acicyclovir but I don't really think it helps. Each time I feel like I'm coming down with a cold or feel rundown, it ends up an outbreak. Each time this occurs on the lower left back in the size of a quarter and luckily hasn't spread, just might be a little to the left/right. Currently I have a new cluster right next to one that has recently cleared up from the beginning of the month. I had a very severe case of chickenpox as a child, so doctors think that that contributes. I've tried to think of anything/everything and am baffled as I exercise regularly, am rarely sick, eat healthy, etc. My job is stressful, but my life is pretty "normal" otherwise. I try to think of anything that could be a factor (I did tan before my wedding in a tanning bed) and have gone a couple times since, but don't think that is the cause? I get sharp pains followed by tingling skin and at times it's hot to touch. I think I've become accustomed to the pain but it's very depressing and I've gotten to the point where I don't talk about it with friends or family anymore because they just tell me I need to reduce stress, take vitamins- everything I already know. I just take the pain and keep my mouth shut. I'm sorry to see I'm not the only one dealing with this, but am glad that others have shared their experiences because many are quite close to mine. I continue to take pics of the progress to track and hope to find a doctor that can help me. Otherwise I'm very healthy, but am getting down on myself and have stopped sharing my concern with most, even my husband. I also have experienced sore pain, then sharp shooting pains with mild itch. I haven't tried any creams (one doctor said it won't help) and I've kind of given up. Took a couple acicyclovirs last night but never really notice a difference either way. I hope that you all find a remedy that works for you and can sympathize with your pain, confusion, etc. I'll keep pushing through and hope they will stop one day. Thanks for reading my story.