shingles

[carly1]

have any of you ever had shingles? i have had it for 5 days and i can honestly say its the worst illness ever!

[johnizere]

yes I have. and I can only sympathise with you. I had it some 30 years ago, and the memory is still with me now. it truly is an awful illness, the pain was excruciating, every bone in my body hurt, joints especially. and don't those spots scream at you?
they say it never leaves your system, but thankfully it hasn't returned.

[dot.hawkes]

My son has shingles two years ago, the doctor told us it was adult chicken pox.

[pagey]

yeah had measles at 23. the worst. I woke up in a fit of frustration with the incessant itching in the night and just scratched away leaving some bad scars. nice. It was during my first week of new employment too!

[pagey]

sorry, yeah chicken pox not measles

[RATTER15]

Sorry 10Clarion St, I had shingles in the lower half of my body, all over my outer thigh, was in agony for 2 weeks, 20 years later after splitting up with my wife and feeling down and very stressed, I got it again in the same place. Both times it was confirmed by the Doctor.

Very unpleasant Carly, hope you feel better soon.

[bobtheturkey]

i knew a carly once

[sjs]

hi carly
Sorry you are feeling so ill.
you can only get shingles if you have previously had chicken pox.The virus lies dormant in your nerves until reactivated when either you have other infections,you are stressed,you are generally run down or you are taking oteher drugs that affect your immune system.
Regular analgesia may help or sometimes the dr may prescribe an antiviral drug.
You cannot 'catch' shingles but there is sometimes a risk of passing on chicken pox to someone who hasn't had it because the virus is carried in the blister fluid.
You may have further attacks of shingles especially if you are rundown and sometimes they develop in other areas of the body than your first attack.

[naz_nomad]

Big deal ... wait 'til you get cancer.

Shingles will seem like heaven

[dilf]

i caught chcken pox off my son 10 years ago and i swear its the worst ive ever felt . every sq cm of my body was covered incuding my tear ducts , japs eye and dangly bit at the back of me throat. calomine lotion and a wire brush

the spots stay with you for about 2 weeks after you feel better so everyonecan laugh at you

and expect no sympathy off the missus

and you'll get p1ssed off by people telling you you cant catch it twice

[steviep165]

the japs eye? no. no no no no. that must have been horrendous. no, dont want to think about it.

[chrissiekins]

I had it too - during my finals at uni. You want to itch the spots so badly but can't touch them as they're red raw. Nearly went mad!

As I understand it, it is the dormant chickepox virus that stays in your nervous sytem and is triggered by stress/low immune system, and it usually only affects one side of your body - left or right. I feel sorry for those who had it on their faces. I only has it on my back and that was bad enough.

Calamine lotion and LOTS of ccodamol... get well soon :o)

[Carakeel]

poor carly1 hope you get better soon. I only had it mildly many years ago but my mum has had it three times. she was hospitalised for several weeks at one point. Am sending you imaginary bunch of get well flowers, box of chocs and bottle of wine to drown out the pain. Sorry they can't be real, but it's the thought that counts.

[larkin]

Shingles is painful , you are right carly.
Naz nomand , I am sure that the diagnosis of cancer is painful too and know that prognosis for many is even worse. I know that you have been there, as have many of my friends and relatives- none still here unfortunately . I think your reply was a bit unfair. Almost sounded like 'one upmanship' . I think that carly was actually stating that it was the worst that she had experienced - although she didnt state it. I have a friend who has breast cancer at the moment and she is bored of talking about it. Naz - do you ever feel the same ?
Hope you feel batter soon carly . Not nice.

[Solarjunkie]

I did quite a lot of online research when my father was suffering with shingles a few years ago and the general consensus seemed to be to try acupuncture as it works for many people.
It is often said that ordinary painkillers have no effect, but he got reasonable relief from paracetemol.
Good luck, I hope you find something to help you.

[enidblyton]

i had shingles at the age of 15 and never had chicken pox as a child. It attacked the nervous system on the right hand side of my body, it is a myth that you only get shingles if you had chicken pox as a child

[Carakeel]

Sorry enidblyton, you may be mistaken here. Look at this website and you will find that you probably did have chicken pox .http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/Mosby_facts heets/shingles.html

[carly1]

thanks for all yor answers everyone , and to the one who sed try having cancer , well i have had that also 4 yrs ago , breast cancer , was very stressfull and so worrying at the time but not painfull neither were the 2 ops i had for it , i had exellent care during that time , was really trying to say shingles is so painfull and makes you feel so drained and ill .carly xx