Been away, Sick with Shingles in eye
tdlivings
Posts: 437
I post this not that I think my friends here need to know I have been sick but to
advise those over 50 to seriously consider getting the Shingles Vacine to prevent
what I have gone through since Mar 31.
It got my right side of my face and my right eye and is the most disabling think I have
ever had. Early on sitting still and watching TV was all I could do. It effected my vision
so any reading or close work was out of the question.
The sadistic thing about shingles is it is a many months ordeal and I am in my 4th now.
Because sensitivity to light was part of the ordeal even looking at a computer screen with a
white background window was painful I am just now getting over that part and starting to
return to any hobby micro controller projects.
Last checkup my eye got an excellent no virus seen but still has many more months of healing
nerves to go, next appointment is Oct. Right now I am 90 percent back to normal where I was
before March but it is a slow process
If by posting this someone gets the Shingles Vacine and avoids what I am going through then it
was worth it to post .
Tom
advise those over 50 to seriously consider getting the Shingles Vacine to prevent
what I have gone through since Mar 31.
It got my right side of my face and my right eye and is the most disabling think I have
ever had. Early on sitting still and watching TV was all I could do. It effected my vision
so any reading or close work was out of the question.
The sadistic thing about shingles is it is a many months ordeal and I am in my 4th now.
Because sensitivity to light was part of the ordeal even looking at a computer screen with a
white background window was painful I am just now getting over that part and starting to
return to any hobby micro controller projects.
Last checkup my eye got an excellent no virus seen but still has many more months of healing
nerves to go, next appointment is Oct. Right now I am 90 percent back to normal where I was
before March but it is a slow process
If by posting this someone gets the Shingles Vacine and avoids what I am going through then it
was worth it to post .
Tom
Comments
Hope things get back to normal soon. I've missed you.
I will also heed your advise to get checked out. Being self employed, it hard to spend money on medical, (if there is any money left over to do that).
I have my first exam in 15 years scheduled next week.
Jim
Jim
I did a little research on what it meant to my overall health and there was some mention of it leading to chronic Shingles. Until your post, I just dismissed that factoid as interesting. Thanks for mentioning this.
I was given a course of anti-viral medications. These are getting better and better and should be looked into for control.
@RS_Jim Sorry to hear about your wife's eye, was this awhile back before the anti-viral meds were available. Also your
another person mentioning repeated events, which does not thrill me at all LOL.
The meds I was one were an anti-viral pill 1000mg a big blue pill, an anti-viral eye drop and two steroid eye drops. Did them
3x then 2x, then 1x per day over April thru half of June. At times I was not sure what symptoms were the shingles and which
were cause by the meds.
The symptoms to watch for and run do not walk to an eye doctor, not the one that does glasses a eye doctor, are
You see little blisters around the eye and eye feels like you got an eye lash in it.
It is only one side so it is not spring allergy or sinus.
A big one is if you have a blister on tip of nose means it is in the eye nerves.
I say run to doc as there is a window of a couple of days where if you get on anti-viral meds you can prevent it from
getting into thje eye. I missed, Murphy's law symptoms started on Friday night did not seem like a big deal and then
weekend doc offices closed made appointment first thing Monday.
Tom
Yes, my chicken pox started with blisters everywhere. So I would say that is a big enough concern to visit an ER immediately.... which is what I did and they quarenteened me immediately.
And so...
I will see a doctor ASAP for a Shingles immunization. It may or may not work, but doing nothing is unwise. Taiwan has the vacination available, but usually only given to children. I guess I need to ask for it.
It was obvious with the Chicken Pox that I had a virus that was cycling through several regenerations in my body and attacking everywhere. It is not just skin eruptions. At least I was put on the anti-viral meds rather than just letting it run its course.
My finger nails and toe nails are still growing out with a ring on each where all growth ceased during my infection.
And so...
Thanks for posting this thread. Obviously way out of the Forum guidelines, but I just may be the guy that really needed to read it.
The commercials on tv make shingles sound pretty bad and I know a couple of folks who've gone through the ordeal. So when my doctor said I might think about the vaccine, I told her "Yep, I've thought about it... you can use this arm!!"
Thanks for posting the heads up!
Amanda
'Sorry you had to suffer so much, 'glad you're feeling better, and thanks for the heads-up. Because I had the pox as a kid (everyone did back then: it was a rite of passage), I got the vaccine a few months ago. I've known people like you who've suffered grievously, and it was a real wake-up call. Although the vaccine isn't 100% effective, it's still definitely worth getting.
-Phil
I don't wear contact lens and have always been wary of them as all sort of contaminants can get under the lens. But I hadn't previously considered that a virus might also.
http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/about/overview.html
http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/about/transmission.html
I've always thought that once you have gotten a virus, you simply develop an immunity.
So it seems that the vaccination would be against both Chicken Pox and Shingles.
But I am unclear on why that will develop an immunity against Shingles and having Chicken Pox will develop a susceptibility. Seems nobody knows.
And I am also unclear about when blisters are present. Can one prevent an eye infection by being careful about the blisters they have elsewhere or is it just a random risk?
I do keep a physician's desk reference to answer these things, but it seem not enough. It looks as though the visit to the doctor will be more than a shot... lots of Q&A.
I did not take away from the information that the rash could be spread about (like poison ivy rash can be.)
People who have not had chicken pox but then come in contact with shingles rash will get chicken pox.
(Thereafter they would be at potential risk for shingles in the future.)
The shingles just manifests, the rash presents, one fine day. Like the man said, if noticed early enough it may be somewhat treatable, but like the pox it has to run its course.
Having chicken pox leaves the shingles dormant in the ganglia, like a by-product.
The shingles rash can erupt anywhere, more severely in some than others, but it's unrestricted and "random" in that way. So a lot about that much is, I think, not well understood.
http://www.patient.co.uk/health/shingles-herpes-zoster-leaflet
Well I am just learning. It never crossed my mind that I would have to deal with Shingles until I actually got Chicken Pox in February. The doctors in Tawian made no mention of future Shingles flareups and this is the first I've hear of a vaccine. Nor was I aware that it could lodge in one's eyes.
Taiwan does vaccinate children for Chicken Pox and since it is the same virus, I just presumed the same vaccine would be used to immunize for Shingles.
But it is all new me. I am certainly not trying to practise medicine (without training or license) here. I guess I got the Chicken Pox due to living next to a major medical center in Taiwan... luck of the draw.
Having some anti-viral meds on hand would certainly be very comforting as the blisters to come on fast and furious.
I am certainly not trying to be dramatic or become morbid about the possibilities involved. It just seems that since Shingles blisters appear to give Chicken Pox to children, pregnant women, and elderly, I do want to know how and when to isolate myself to avoid passing it on.
Taiwanese are extremely fearful of contagious diseases on any sort and passing this on could cause huge resentments and loss of friendships.
My mother never had Chicken Pox, but she was given a vaccine when she immigrated to the USA. Approximately 40 years later, she had Shingles.
I see this thread talking about two different vaccine's and maybe thinking there is only one.
One vaccine is to prevent you from getting the chicken pox.
The other vaccine is given to you if you had the chicken pox to reduce your chances of getting shingles.
You have to have had the chicken pox to get shingles, as it is caused by the chicken pox virus still in your
body from when you had chicken pox way back when.
If you never had chicken pox and you get the shingles vaccine it will give you chicken pox is my
understanding.
I am not sure if, like me , you had shingles if you should also get the shingles vaccine to prevent future outbreaks
For sure not now while I am in the middle of it but something I need to ask Doc on next appointment.
Tom
http://www.thelibertybeacon.com/2013/03/06/shingles-goes-epidemic-chicken-pox-vax-to-blame/