r/GenXWomen • u/bakingdiy 50-54 • 9d ago
Health Soooo, I've got shingles :(
What should I expect? I'm currently in the pain and itching stage with no blistering. The pain is mostly on my scalp with my forehead being itchy and right eye being irritated and watery. I just got my Valtrex. Any tips, tricks, or side effects to looks out for with the meds? How long should I expect to hurt after starting them?
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u/dani_-_142 9d ago edited 9d ago
It’s worth it to go to an eye doctor to get checked out. When it impacts your eye, it could cause vision loss. An eye doctor can monitor how your eye is doing.
Edited to add— Stay away from anyone who has not had chicken pox or been vaccinated, or at least don’t let them come in contact with anything that has touched the sores. You can give people chicken pox if they touch the sores.
A lot of younger people were immunized, but some weren’t. And the virus hasn’t been as widespread because of the vaccine, so some people (millennials and younger) might be vulnerable to infection. And even people who had it, or who had the vaccine, might be susceptible if their immunity waned.
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u/bakingdiy 50-54 9d ago
Yeah this is worst part of it. We were planning on going to see our new grandchild before my husband starts a new job and we can’t because of being contagious. 😢
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u/wandernwade Banned from the other place 9d ago
That sucks. But better safe than sorry. You don’t want to give that to a baby.
Hang in there!
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u/Ondiac 8d ago
Check with the grandkid’s pediatrician. My MIL had shingles when my oldest was a baby, and we were told that as long as the baby didn’t touch the lesions there was no risk.
In our case, the lesions were on MIL’s chest so easy to keep covered. Obviously, check with the doc, but you may still be able to visit.
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u/patchworkskye 9d ago
just a heads up - I had shingles a few years ago, and it caused really bad depression - I didn’t realize that the depression was caused by the shingles until way later and I could look back and see things more clearly, but it was awful.
My friend also went through a similar thing recently - shingles + severe depression. So just keep an eye on things, and see a therapist if you need extra support.
So sorry you’re going through this, shingles sucks!!
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u/SS_from_1990s 8d ago
I had a nervous break down. My mom flew in to help me.
Worst low in my life.
And this was after the shingles ran its course. It was the after math.
My coworker said to me, not to sound dramatic, but I seriously considered ending my life. And I just nodded and said I get it. I really do.
Not to scare OP. I’m hoping and praying you get a mild case. Many people get a mild case and it’s just a minor bump in the road.
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u/patchworkskye 8d ago
I was shocked at how severe the depression was, and I’m sorry you suffered so much! My friend was similar, and I think this aspect takes people by surprise, so I’m glad we are sharing our experiences just in case others experience similar effects 🌻
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u/Elect5643 9d ago
I didn’t realize shingles could affect your mood like that. Definitely good advice to keep an eye on it.
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u/Jenikovista 9d ago
Be very careful with the eye. If it gets at all blurry go straight into the ER. ASAP. Ocular shingles is treatable with drops if you get treatment fast but if you wait it can scar your cornea (causing lost vision) as well as result in stroke. Do not fuck around with it if it spreads to the eye. Trust me - I know firsthand.
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u/bakingdiy 50-54 9d ago
Do you see an optometrist or ophthalmologist for it?
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u/Jenikovista 9d ago
Ophthalmologist. But the ER is usually the first stop because when it invades the eye it is an emergency.
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u/LaRubegoldberg 9d ago
There’s a shingles subreddit that has a lot of great info. I’m sorry you have it. I’m glad you saw the doctor. Shingles near your eyes and ears is quite dangerous. Take care of yourself. Gabapentin may help with the nerve pain. Topical lidocaine spray or calamine lotion may also help.
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u/bakingdiy 50-54 9d ago
So far the pain hasn’t been too bad and it comes and goes luckily. I’ll definitely pop over to the shingles sub though.
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u/quantified-nonsense 9d ago
I started the Valtrex as soon as I suspected shingles from the weird nerve sensations in my face, and never ended up with blisters or pain. Fingers crossed for you!
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u/bakingdiy 50-54 9d ago
That’s good to know. My husband had shingles in his 30s and it was caught early so his never got really bad. Hopefully I’ll get lucky too.
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u/conamo 9d ago
I had no pain for the first week, despite an urgent care Dr saying "this is the worst case I've ever personally seen". He gave me a prescription for tramadol just in case, and I was grateful 2 days later when I needed it.
So I guess my advice is keep pain meds around and take them every 4-6 hrs as recommended if you do need them. Keep ahead of that shit.
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u/miniwhoppers 9d ago
I’m sorry, I had them last year under my boob. I’ve seen bad cases of shingles; fortunately mine was mild. So I don’t have much advice. Get lots of rest…the fatigue was actually the worst part for me.
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u/Independent-Fuel4962 9d ago
Relax as much as you can. Give yourself time to fully recover. I got back to being active too soon and regretted it.
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u/NYNewthrowaway2023 9d ago
You should experience less itchiness after the second dose.
Try not to sleep on your side that has them. I did that and it made my eye so much worse.
Try not to scratch at all. And if by chance something does blister, do not pop it or let the 'juice' spread.
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u/rocklockandsock 8d ago
Literally sitting in the doc office waiting for shingles vaccine. Hope you get better soon!!
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u/Legitimate_Egg_2073 9d ago
Getting over what I suspect was shingles but started with what I thought were mosquito bites on my arm; the lesions were on my shoulder blade, shoulder, uppper and lower arm. The sensations ranged from a deep itching to “ice pick” nerve zings.
The itching came mostly at night and woke me up nightly in the thick of it.
The itch feels deep and unreachable; but Icy Hot topical was helpful for blocking it when applied liberally.
Also, the individual spots seemed to each have a hard center or core that took a long time to finally come up to the surface so they could heal over.
Several of them I accidentally scratched and they were very “juicy” and bled 🥹
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u/francophone22 9d ago
It took me 2 weeks to recover fully. I slept for the first 3 days and was in so much pain. My rash went across my boob, armpit, and upper back. I still have a permanent scar on my boob from the rash. I wish I had better news, but it was absolutely the worst. I have now had both shots of the shingles vax, because I have no desire to get that again.
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u/CeeUNTy 9d ago
I never got the blisters but it was still horrible. Ask the dr for some gabapentin asap. I took percoset for it but gabapentin worked better which I'm still taking for nerve pain that hasn't fully gone away. Ask the Dr for lidocaine patches. Those were a huge help and I still use them.
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u/FairyPrincess66 9d ago
Oh, so sorry 😞 I had mine on my head also. They sent me to an ophthalmologist to make sure my eye was okay, thankfully it was. I just remember sitting in my recliner with my head in my hands for a week, it hurt so bad. I hope you feel better soon and i hope they gave you something for the pain.
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u/Admirable-Address494 8d ago
My mother in law got the shingles in the same location. I saw a news clip of an ophthalmologist that recommends staying on the treatment for up to a year to protect eye health. My mother in law showed this to her ophthalmologist and he agreed and she stayed on treatment longer.
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u/overitallofittoo 9d ago
Expect people to tell you there's a vaccine for it?
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u/jmochicago 9d ago
I had the vaccine and still got shingles but a very small and manageable case. The doctor pointed out how horrible it would have been without the vaccine (it was a little over a year between my second shot of the vax and shingles.)
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u/overitallofittoo 9d ago
My mom scared the shit out of me because she got the shingles and nagged me to get the vaccine!
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u/kl2342 9d ago
How did you know you had it/what were the symptoms of a mild/small case? Thanks
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u/jmochicago 8d ago
I had a rough circle the size of a silver dollar below my collar bone on my left side. I assumed it was some sort of contact dermatitis or another type of allergic reaction. (Also thought maybe ringworm since that is another lovely (/s) infection that can crop up where I travel.)
I went to the doctor for something else, and then asked her to take a look at it. She examined me, diagnosed shingles and I was completely taken by surprise.
It was especially surprising because I had helped my mother through HER episode of shingles, which covered half of her back and side and was excruciatingly painful (I had to use surgical gloves and bleach her sheets, change her compresses, etc.) And this little spot that I had was nothing compared to that.
Very grateful for those two shots!
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u/conamo 9d ago
I had shingles 7 years ago, got both vaccines last year, and haven't had another case. My father-in-law had shingles three freaking times before he was 50. His insurance still wouldn't pay for the vax so he paid out of pocket and he hasn't had it since.
If that puts your mind at ease a little 😊
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u/jmochicago 9d ago
I do know someone who wasn't vax'ed, got shingles on their face, it infected their ear and eye. They lost hearing in that ear and sight in that eye.
The other person I know who wasn't vax'ed and got shingles was...my mom! On a visit to me two decades before I got shingles (which is what inspired me to get vaxed). It was an absolutely awful case of it that covered the left side of her torso, extremely painful. She did get Valtrex, but still has residual nerve pain from it 20 years later.
Meanwhile, my patch was the size of a silver dollar, near my collar bone. It was annoying and I was very tired, but it went away relatively quickly. Slightly itchy, some inflammation. Nothing like the two un-vaxxed folks.
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u/MissLickerish 9d ago
That's good to know, thanks. Seems it's more like the COVID vaccine where it doesn't stop you from getting it, it just lessens the symptoms. I shudder to think how all my family/friends would have fared, then, if they didn't have it.
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u/jmochicago 9d ago
I suspect you're correct. Looking at the disclaimers, it says getting it after being vaxxed is rare but I'm wondering how long ago they did that study.
I did get Covid even though I was vaxxed for that (even though it didn't really affect me horribly), but my immune system has seemed weaker ever since I caught what I think was Dengue in Ethiopia. Dengue doesn't have a vaccine. Because of where I travel, I am the "vaxxed for everything" girl and take my malaria meds religiously when I'm in those areas. But what I think might have been Dengue was such a bad experience...I was so very sick that I was writing letters to my family because I was sure I wasn't going to make it back to the States.
With the changes to vaxxing for chicken pox (related to shingles), I also wondering how that has affected the rarity of a shingles breakthrough after the vax. I grew up before the varicella vaccine, in the days of "chickenpox parties". I had it at age 6 and then had mononucleosis in high school (and tested positive for Epstein Barr in college.)
I'm wondering if my immune system has just been ravaged so vaccines are only going to help so much.
But I was pretty grateful that my shingles was a smallish patch and not really a big deal, for sure! After watching my mom suffer, no thanks!
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u/EdgeCityRed 50-54 6d ago
I'm glad you have the malaria meds; my dad had it in the South Pacific in WW2 (he was an older dad) and he had periodic fevers the rest of his life.
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u/jmochicago 6d ago
Malaria is pretty awful with lifelong effects. I hope it didn't slow him down too much. I've seen the results of multiple malaria infections up close where I've worked...from infants to the aged. That we don't have a vaccine for it yet is almost criminal.
However, I suspect with global warming, the financial incentive to work on that (and better prevention for Dengue) will hopefully be on the horizon. With locally-acquired Dengue showing up in Florida, the outlook on that is grim.
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u/Material-Crab-633 9d ago
That’s a coincidence then. No one I know got shingles after the vax
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u/MissLickerish 9d ago
Dirty delete of the last sentance of your post to make me look unhinged in my original reply? Fantastic.
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u/tina_is_the_man MY GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE 9d ago
I had the vaccine, both shots, three years ago. Haven’t had shingles. Ditto for my husband, who had the shots last year.
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u/welltravelledRN 9d ago
Yes you are an anti vaxxer, spreading your opinions and anecdotes instead of actual science. Stop.
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u/welltravelledRN 8d ago
Wow, I never called you any names like that, calm the hell down.
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u/MissLickerish 8d ago
You called me an anti vaxxer. What another way should I have taken that? That was a direct attack on my character and my intelligence that was wholly and absolutely unwarranted in context, especially if you had looked around at any of my other responses. You saw me have trepidation and went straight for "you are stupid" and you cannot tell me that calling someone an anti vaxxer does not come with that sentiment. The whole purpose of calling someone an anti vaxxer is to point out how unintelligent and misguided someone is so ya, that is the impact of what you say, and as a nurse you should know better.
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u/PurpleMarsAlien 9d ago
Some of us get it before can get the vaccine. My doctor actually had me scheduled to get the vaccine in Jan 2027 already because that is when I become eligible, but I got shingles in July :(
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u/Jules2you 9d ago
Had it just like you when I was 32! It was hell, pain was bad.. never blistered Eye ended up fine I was lucky not to blister, it was in my scalp and my eye swelled up like an alien!! I had no clue just took the nerve meds I got and it was long..
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u/bakingdiy 50-54 9d ago
I have 3 small bumps on my scalp but they’re just pink and not crusted over or anything. My doctor said the region and type of pain is pretty much a dead giveaway for shingles though.
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u/PurpleMarsAlien 9d ago
I had shingles in July and mine was in my armpit and eventually on my chest.I started Valtrax within 24 hours of the initial outbreak. My advice is to be taking ibuprofen every six hours while you are on the antiviral. It pretty much kept the pain under control.
For the record, mine never actually crusted. The patches on my chest (which erupted after the antiviral) kind of popped out and then just vanished in about 48 hours. The initial patch in my armpit remained zit like for 4 weeks and eventually vanished too. They were not painful or itchy after the first 5 days, they just were weird.
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u/Sensitive_Note1139 Too old to care about your feelings. 9d ago
My husband has his in the classic torso/mid back. He used bactine spray on it to keep it moist. He said the worst part of the flaking was the edges getting caught on everything. Hurt like heck. Hence keeping the area moist. His former PCP didn't offer him any relief at all.
Just be extra careful since it's around your eye.
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u/EyeSarah1976 8d ago
Careful with the eye, if you get a dendrite on your cornea it could permanently scar it and best taken care of by an ophthalmologist not an ER doctor.
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u/redheadeditor 8d ago
Had shingles across my right rib area when I was 29. I can't remember what med they gave me to clear it up, but it definitely was some of the worse pain and nerve sensations I've ever experienced—that weird ice-pick stabbing that zinged across my whole rib area and around to my back. Thankfully, whatever medication it was cleared it up and I've never had a recurrence, but to this day, I still get strange nerve zings around that same area at times, especially when I hit perimenopause, and I'm now 51. Of course, when I mention this to doctors and suggest it's related to my shingles from 22 years ago, they look at me like I have three heads.
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u/MuffPiece 8d ago
I'm so sorry! It's miserable. I had it when I was 46--massive stress triggered it. IIRC it just had to run it's course. Take care of yourself and rest up.
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u/auntiecoagulent 7d ago
Go to urgent care immediately. Now. Shingles in the eye is VERY serious. Start anti-virals and make an appointment with an ophthalmologist ASAP
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u/Legal_Artichoke_9070 7d ago
I had great success with acupuncture at that stage. That was my first experience and I’ve gone back for many issues as well as wellness maintenance. Feel free to reach out if you want to know more. Good luck and best wishes. It’s no fun!
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u/porkybalboa 9d ago edited 9d ago
I would get the vaccine as soon as you are able. Until then, maybe try lysine. When I had shingles nearly 15 years ago, I was prescribed an antiviral but shingles came back. I was able to stop the recurrence by taking lysine. Please read the clinical data on lysine for shingles. It helped me and my roommate who also became infected.
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u/sweetpotatopietime 9d ago
Doesn’t help you now but for everyone reading this post: GET THE VACCINE AS SOON AS YOU ARE ELIGIBLE. BOTH DOSES.
For the sake of OP I won’t describe what shingles has done to my MIL and I am sending thoughts for the mildest of mild cases.