Shingles Support Group

Herpes zoster, colloquially known as shingles, is the reactivation of varicella zoster virus, leading to a crop of painful blisters over the area of a dermatome. It occurs very rarely in children and adults, but its incidence is high in the elderly (over 60), as well as in any age group of immunocompromised patients.

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JoanMack 07/19/2008

it took almost a year to get my shingles pain under control. i am 63 now and came down with the shingles june 2007. it was a horrible painful problem.

do you have any thoughts? i have been worried about this and hope to discuss it with my doctor in September. how common is it to come down with this awful virus more than once?

deleted_user 07/21/2008

I get shingles at least 2-4 times a year. I have them right now and they are driving me crazy...Any suggestions!

deleted_user 07/27/2008

Hello
From what I can read, the shingles will come back multiple times for some folks. One doctor told me that after the pain had gone into remission for some three months that you could take the shingles vacine which even though it does not work for everyone is to me sure worth the money.

Good Luck

Jim

JoanMack 07/27/2008

thanks...i will definitely discuss this with my doctor. the vaccine is covered by insurance so that is not a problem for me. the thing is that you have to be careful that the vaccine has left your system or the vaccine could cause it to act up again. it is a tickleish, tricky business. take care all!

JoanMack 07/27/2008

i meant to say you have to make sure that the shingles virus has left your system before you try to get the vaccine.

deleted_user 08/19/2008

Just make sure you keep up on your check ups to be sure you don't have an underlying cause for the drop in immunity. Also, stress is a big factor. That is what brought on my shingles and even though it was caught within 8 hours of the rash appearing I have had the post herpetic neuralgia for weeks. Even though it is getting better my doc says it will be most likely a few more months before I feel normal again.

JoanMack 08/19/2008

yes i will check up on it and discuss with the doc. the problem with me is that my immune system is not 100%. i have allergies which misinterprets things like pollen to be a virus. i don't feel stressed out because i am retired now and live a pretty simple and pleasant life but there is something wrong with my immune system irregardless.

best of luck to all...you are all in my thoughts and hope you all do better.

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