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Shingles & nausea?

Posted , 14 users are following.

Betty475
Betty475

I have recently been diagnosed with a mild case of shingles.  The dr did not give me an anti-viral due to the outbreak being more than 72 hours old.  I did have a steroid pack.   The spots have dried up & are fading away.  However, I have severe nausea & headache, & sweat outbreaks.   The nausea is almost constant. Could this be from the shingles virus?   I do still have some pain (though not constant) & itching.  Sometimes I think I’m breaking out with more lesions due to the pain & itching.  Thankfully, I haven’t had any new lesions.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I’ve talked to others & no one else seems to have nausea with theirs.  

1 like, 23 replies

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  • Adldiane
    Adldiane Betty475

    Posted

    Hi Betty I had nausea and it was terrible for weeks I have had shingles three times and the last time the nausea was the worst. I'm going to ask my doctor for some nausea meds if I get them again before I get the new shingles shot. I feel for you. Diane. 

    • Betty475
      Betty475 Adldiane

      Posted

      Thank you for your reply.  What you say makes sense.   It surprises me how many people say they had no nausea or headaches.  I guess we are all different.  It’s good to know that others have had the same symptoms I have.  
    • Adldiane
      Adldiane Betty475

      Posted

      Betty I forgot to mention the headaches. I have migraines and at first I thought that I was having those but figured out it was the shingles. This illness is a piece of work. 
  • hope4cure
    hope4cure Betty475

    Posted

    Slid octane can numb the lie sons and hydroxyzine Hcl for the itching. Sometimes various over the counter.antihistamines. Once the breakout has cleared the vaccine for shingles is recommended . This will he'll control future out breaks to be less severe and shorten the breakout area. There are some sprays and creams to help OAsk your pharmacist for more advice including the new vaccine for shingles. 

    I sympathize with your struggle to find what helps this itchy crawly rash and nip it in the bud get the vaccine as soon s you can!

    • Betty475
      Betty475 hope4cure

      Posted

      Thank you for your reply.  It’s very much appreciated.  
  • babs99203
    babs99203 Betty475

    Posted

    WHere are your shingles?  It no matter where they are you can have nausea and headaches. The rash often is the visual symptom, but you have a virus so you’ll also feel ill, you may likely have fatigue. I don’t know if steroids can cause nausea, but they’re powerful drugs. Rest and take care of yourself. It’s also something you should let your doctor know about too. I hope you’re one of the lucky ones who gets over this quickly. It doesn’t happen often, but it can happen.
    • Betty475
      Betty475 babs99203

      Posted

      The rash is right side of waist going around to back at waist & thigh.  I do have fatigue too.  I contributed that to working so many extra hours the month of January.  Thank you for your reply. 

    • sheila24138
      sheila24138 Betty475

      Posted

      Hi Betty. I too had shingles around my back. Groin and thigh. I got them last July/17. I was so nauseous and couldn’t eat. I lost ten pounds in about four weeks. I sucked on ginger nausea lozenges and that helped. I had a lot of pain also. I used aloe Vera gel on the burning pain.  After 8 weeks I finally went back to my doctor because of the burning and numbing pain in my thigh. She gave me pregabalin (Lyrica) which helped. I took 50g three times a day for one month then weaned myself down to one at bedtime. I have PHN which is pain that follows the outbreak of the shingles virus, it has been 7 months now with still lingering effects which I can live with.  Hope you have a speedy recovery and get lots of rest as this virus weakens your whole system.  You have probably heard it said before but you can not power through this, you need lots of rest. Taking extra vit is important also. I took vit C , VitD , vit B12 and Lysine.  
    • Betty475
      Betty475 sheila24138

      Posted

      Thank you for your reply.  I never thought of adding the extra vitamins.  I have been getting more rest.  The nausea is the worst.  I hope you feel better soon.  
  • melody_45491
    melody_45491 Betty475

    Posted

    I had some nausea my doctor said it had nothing do with the shingles .. mine have all cleared up but still have very low pain when touching the spots and a little itching .. so not sure if your is but that what I was told 
    • andrea43257
      andrea43257 melody_45491

      Posted

      It was the shingles.  I discovered during my shingles adventure that most docs and most medical websites are ignorant of all that can go on with shingles.  All they know is the “classic” case.  If you spend any time on this forum, you’ll see that most people don’t have that!
    • babs99203
      babs99203 andrea43257

      Posted

      Andrea, you are absolutely correct. I worked in healthcare for 30 years as a medical secretary so I can sort my way thru this miserable shingles/PHN mess pretty well, thank heavens. But so MANY doctors or healthcare professionals are totally clueless about shingles. I've learned a lot her, you still have to be a bit cautious about some of the comments, but people mean well and I'd say 90% of us have a better handle on it than some doctors.

      Betty, symptoms can vary from person to person, which makes it hard to treat and deal with, but that's why these forums are so helpful. You may think that you're the only one with Fill-In-The-Blank, but when you find others who say, hey I had that also! it helps. There will be ups and downs, good days and bad. I've had PHN for over a year now and I still get discouraged when I have bad stretches, but it's part of the virus.

      Take good care of yourself now, and you may lessen your symptoms in the future. Be prepared for almost anything. Sometimes, the symptoms can get worse two weeks later, so rest and trying to stay as pain-free as possible to keep the nerves from over-activating is very important.  We're here for you.

  • andrea43257
    andrea43257 Betty475

    Posted

    I had persistent nausea for 2 weeks.  Finally had to ask my doc for an anti-nausea med.  They gave me Phenergan.  It worked for the nausea, but knocked me out.  I was so sick at that point, I didn’t mind being zonked.  It did finally go away.
  • andrea43257
    andrea43257 Betty475

    Posted

    Also, forgot to mention that I had a severe headache also.  Worst headache I’ve had in my life and it went on for over a week.
  • sandra31121
    sandra31121 Betty475

    Posted

    Hi I was just diagnosed with  shingles  a few days ago and I am  confused because on top of the rash , itching and pain I also started feeling exceptionally tired constant headaches and so nauseous...,is this all from the shingles? And how long is this going to last?
    • sheila24138
      sheila24138 sandra31121

      Posted

      Sandra, unfortunately this is all to do with shingles. Exhaustion , and nauseous on top of the pain. Everyone is different in the length of time. I was a  couple of months with no appetite and I lived in boost nutritional drinks for awhile. You need to be on antiviral meds and something for pain.  You need lots of rest to get through this. Eating healthy and taking vitamins. I took multi, vitamin D3 2000 ,vit B 12, vit c 500 and Lysine tablets. This is a mean virus and can take time to get over it.  Some get over it in four to six weeks and others take longer.  Wishing you a speedy recovery! 
    • sandra31121
      sandra31121 sheila24138

      Posted

      Thanks Sheila, I appreciate the response. We’re you able to go to work during that time? 2 months or so is a long time to be unwell! 
    • sheila24138
      sheila24138 sandra31121

      Posted

      Fortunately I am retired and didn’t have to work but would not have been able to work as I had discomfort in my groin where some of my rash was.  I could barely walk and still felt tired. Hopefully you won’t be as long but you definitely need to rest as much as possible to fight this off. Best wishes for you 
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