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"A bout of shingles may increase your risk for other serious health conditions — namely, a stroke or a heart attack — a new study finds.
People in the study who had shingles, a disease caused by the herpes zoster virus, faced a 2.4-fold increased risk of stroke, and a 1.7-fold increased risk of heart attack during the first week following their shingles diagnosis, according to the findings published today (Dec. 15) in the journal PLOS Medicine."
Interesting, but all my relatives die of strokes eventually, so I figure I will too..shingles or no shingles. All I can do is keep watch on cholesterol and blood pressure and hope for the best.
Interesting, but all my relatives die of strokes eventually, so I figure I will too..shingles or no shingles. All I can do is keep watch on cholesterol and blood pressure and hope for the best.
That's my family history, too. i'll do everything I can to postpone it as long as possible, though!
I've never had the shingles, I'm 77 and the pox as a kid. I'm counting on my grape seed extract to keep my immune system in GOOD SHAPE. I'm into my 21st year of taking this OPC and just a few months ago decided to start taking 500mg Lysine daily as I had herpes maybe 30 yrs ago.
Keeping stress down is KEY. I have no plans to get the vaccine..
Just got shingles in my early 40s. I am taking acyclovir. I had pox when I was very young and it was a very mild case. I would call this a medium case. I don't need to be hospitalized, but it sure hurts a lot. And I have the rash. I didn't start the acyclovir until the rash appeared as no one thought it could be shingles until it appeared.
I hope this goes away FAST. At least it is just a band on one side between the bottom of my rib cage and my pelvis. So a shirt covers it all up.
This past fall, I had a single shingles blister, that I thought was a spider bite, on my forehead. It took months to be properly diagnosed, during which it traveled into my right eye, and I lost most of my vision. After weeks and weeks of acyclovir, and steroid drops, I've regained about 75% of my vision, but have been told I may need drops for life. Yes, I'll get the vaccine, as soon as I convince the insurance company to pay for it. I'm not 60 yet.
This past fall, I had a single shingles blister, that I thought was a spider bite, on my forehead. It took months to be properly diagnosed, during which it traveled into my right eye, and I lost most of my vision. After weeks and weeks of acyclovir, and steroid drops, I've regained about 75% of my vision, but have been told I may need drops for life. Yes, I'll get the vaccine, as soon as I convince the insurance company to pay for it. I'm not 60 yet.
That's an unfortunate story. I'm glad you got most of your vision back but still, having to take drops for the rest of your life and what you've gone through sounds awful.
I was so scared of getting shingles that I went and paid for the shot the minute I heard about it on tv. I had an aunt who had a terrible case of shingles. It was so painful that all she could do was lie on the couch with a sheet draped above her, not touching her. It totally ruined her life.
Even though this vaccine isn't supposed to be 100% effective and even though I couldn't really afford the shot, I went ahead and got it anyway. If I ever do get shingles I think it would be a less severe case due to the vaccine. Hoping you continue to improve.
Last edited by in_newengland; 02-15-2016 at 03:18 PM..
This past fall, I had a single shingles blister, that I thought was a spider bite, on my forehead. It took months to be properly diagnosed, during which it traveled into my right eye, and I lost most of my vision. After weeks and weeks of acyclovir, and steroid drops, I've regained about 75% of my vision, but have been told I may need drops for life. Yes, I'll get the vaccine, as soon as I convince the insurance company to pay for it. I'm not 60 yet.
This past fall, I had a single shingles blister, that I thought was a spider bite, on my forehead. It took months to be properly diagnosed, during which it traveled into my right eye, and I lost most of my vision. After weeks and weeks of acyclovir, and steroid drops, I've regained about 75% of my vision, but have been told I may need drops for life. Yes, I'll get the vaccine, as soon as I convince the insurance company to pay for it. I'm not 60 yet.
I had a similar blister. One blister, on my left breast. It was intensely painful and itchy, it felt like a burn. I happened to have an appointment with my doctor then, and showed it to her. She said it was probably just an ant or insect bite. I asked if it could be shingles, she almost laughed at me. If it were shingles, it would be a diffuse rash, not just one blister. About a week later I developed another single blister, again on my left breast. I looked it up, both blisters looked exactly like the chicken pox blister, and I have had chicken pox as a child.
It so happens I take steroids, prednisone, for rheumatoid, so they probably suppressed any major flare up. Otherwise it could be much worse. I will probably go ahead and get the shingles vaccine, but I will see a dermatologist first.
The doctor I saw was my PCP, an internal medicine doctor. She all but implied my blister was due to a lack of hygiene. I have 3 cats, and picked up a few cat hairs on my black pants just before I left the house. She keyed on the cat hairs, and said perhaps it was a flea bite from my cat. Probably she was trying to belittle me to cover up her own lack of knowledge. It seems all she cares about is "checklist" medicine, but has no real idea WTH she is doing---
Actually, I can get the shingles vaccine at any drugstore, and since I'm 62 insurance will cover it. That's not my concern. It appears that I have an active case of shingles,, albeit very minor. I wonder if the shingles vaccine would worsen an active case? Of course, ask the doctor. This doctor doesn't seem to know squat, all she does is go by a checklist. Why do I still go to her? I'm looking for a new doc, but none of them seem to know squat, anyways
Last edited by MaryleeII; 02-15-2016 at 11:40 PM..
I documented my experience with the shingles vaccine earlier in this forum...it made me pretty sick for a week, but I didn't want to have happen to me what poor Mattie experienced. Also, my husband had an episode of shingles along his clavicle during a highly stressful period at work...it was able to be calmed down with valacyclovir but was still pretty bad. He has since been vaccinated, with no reaction to the vaccine. And, I remember my mother having shingles on her back many years ago, before treatment was available, it was awful. So, I'll take the shot.
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