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F*cking Shingles

3K views 33 replies 30 participants last post by  TG7060 
#1 ·
I woke up yesterday feeling a bunch of heat on my chest, check it out and its red and swollen, no pain at that time. Went the rest of the day not to concerned, Wife came home and talked me into seeing the Dr., mine stays late so ... off we went.

Ends up its Shingles and the first symptoms might've started last weekend when I ( and the Dr. ) thought came down with the crud ( flu, allergy's etc. ), seems thats one of the symptoms. I started on the meds last night.

Bad part of this is that I am scheduled for a Total Knee Replacement in 2 weeks and all the info I have found online says that it will likely take 3-5 weeks for this Shingle deal to run its course.

The affected area is on my right chest and ( after 1 1/2 days ) is about the size of my palm. No pain at all & its just started getting itchy a couple of hours ago.

Of course if it doesnt heal up quickly ...its going to put off the Knee surgery which friggen sucks .....

Anyone out there have ithis shit clear up in 2 weeks or less ?

tia
 
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#2 ·
Mine took a little over a month(after starting treatment). I had it all over my chest shoulders & arms. It started small, it didn't think nothing of it. Waited a week before going to the doctor. He said if I had went sooner it could have cleared in 3 weeks.

You will have to reschedule your surgery.
 
#4 ·
I'm having my problems with shingles also, I think I'm gonna put steel on this time! Just kidding hopefully you get this taken care of!

lol .... i've been making those jokes. Whats funny is that for the last 2-3 weeks the TV has been bombarded with commercials about Shingles. They say if you had chicken pox the virus is dormant inside of you just waiting to wake up.

Mine were dormant for 46 YEARS !!!!!!


Ohhh and Thanks !!!!! not a big deal ( so far ) except for the terrible timing !!!!!
 
#5 ·
Do not take them lightly. My dad had a case of shingles, and he now has permanent damage. Growing up, my dad was a typical "invincible dad." I literally do no remember him ever missing a day of work. When he got shingles, he didn't go to work a single day for a full 3 months. They gave him Demerol and told him to take it as needed. Shingles to the severity that he had them lead to an incredibly high suicide rate, and they said they'd rather have to break a pain pill addiction, than him kill himself.

He sat in his recliner, and hallucinated for 3 solid months, while he was on multiple medications. After going to a pain management therapist for a while, they eventually surgically implanted a box into his body that has 12 wires that go into his spinal cord. It sends electrical signal that disrupt the pain signals from the permanent damaged caused by the shingles. He can turn it up and down with a remote that he places on hip. He actually has to charge the implanted box with the remote, the same way. He will have these problems the rest of his life, along with taking lyrica to help control it, and he wears lidocaine patches over the scars that are left on his body from the shingles.

I have never in my life seen anything like what he went thru. They said it was in the top 2% of the worst cases they've ever seen. He will never fully recover, and he's never been the same.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I still have scars on my side from that shit. I thought it was something that happened to older people, I got it when I was only 22. Good rest and no picking at it or scratching. Mine lasted for over two weeks but the pain went away before then. It was also the second most painful thing I've ever went through. The 1st worst was the 5.5 mm kidney stone lol.
 
#11 · (Edited)
That shit sucks!! Had it on my lower right side rib cage, had no idea what it was, just knew my side hurt. Went on for a few days with each day hurting a little more than the last. Finally one night in bed with my wife, I took a breath and it felt like I had just had a knife slid between my ribs, and I couldn't inhale deep at all. She looked and I had the tell tale rash irritation. Went to the doc. Got some meds for it and luckily mine cleared in just a few days. To answer the guy who asked what it is, it's dormant chicken pox virus that flares up later in life and it's very painful because it affects the nerves.
 
#15 ·
If a lot of folks in your area are afflicted,
make money, open a shingles bar!

J/K, good luck, don't sound fun.
 
#20 ·
I've always been in great shape, healthy and thought pretty much invincible...then when I was 42 noticed a rash on my side...was going through a bad time at home and work, went to the doctor and was told "shingles"...was like "whaaaa?"lol isn't that an old persons' thing?...Doctor gave me prescription for Valtrex...had to try and explain to pharmacist it was for shingles and NOT anything else....:rolleyes:Good luck to the OP...
 
#24 ·
I got the shot.....
 
#25 ·
I woke up yesterday feeling a bunch of heat on my chest, check it out and its red and swollen, no pain at that time. Went the rest of the day not to concerned, Wife came home and talked me into seeing the Dr., mine stays late so ... off we went.

Ends up its Shingles and the first symptoms might've started last weekend when I ( and the Dr. ) thought came down with the crud ( flu, allergy's etc. ), seems thats one of the symptoms. I started on the meds last night.

Bad part of this is that I am scheduled for a Total Knee Replacement in 2 weeks and all the info I have found online says that it will likely take 3-5 weeks for this Shingle deal to run its course.

The affected area is on my right chest and ( after 1 1/2 days ) is about the size of my palm. No pain at all & its just started getting itchy a couple of hours ago.

Of course if it doesnt heal up quickly ...its going to put off the Knee surgery which friggen sucks .....

Anyone out there have ithis shit clear up in 2 weeks or less ?

tia



A guy that works with me had the shingles. He had it really bad where it took him almost 3 months to recover.
 
#26 ·
i have seen some bad cases from it-i am supposed to get my shot Mon or Tues-the shots were like $200 bucks, but my ins Co said they would cover it
orig i had to order the med from the drug store, then take it to the doctor to adm it, but Safeway pharm. now does them
 
#27 · (Edited)
I had a big red spot the size of a quarter on my forehead right before I went to Nassau 3 weeks ago, but it didn't hurt, but my hairline was getting super sensitive/sore as well as the side of my head every time the wind blew my hair or when I put on or took off a cap. After 2 days, it kinda dried up & got itchy, looked scab like, and I also got a dry/scab spot on my eyelid during the vacation. My eye felt like there was something in there, like a contact lens backward etc.. Went to the Dr, said it was shingles, but because it was 2 weeks out nothing could be done, but he insisted I see the eye Dr to make sure the virus wasn't "in" my eye, which could be very serious. All clear there, but got perscribed Valtrex, which if taken on the 1st or 2nd day helps speed up the healing process.. Took it anyway, not sure if it was the time or the Valtrex, but once taking it,
(1000mg 3x a day for 7 days), the soreness/sensitivity seemed to slowly go away. Still have remants of the spot on my forehead, I'm like WTF, am I scarred for life with this dot/patch?
 
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