shingles sucks.

[SchralphMacchio]

I hope my professor will understand.

I hope so too. If you're on acyclovir, that stuff can have major (mood-altering and thought-processing) side effects in addition to the weakened energy levels you have as your immune system is repairing your body. PS- for me, the weakened energy didn't come until AFTER the pain had passed, so it was a surprise to me.

Seriously, it sucks as a grad student to miss big stuff, but plan now for being out of action for a while so that it's no surprise missing things for the next few weeks. It can be a welcome surprise if you heal quickly, but I had to miss a lot of class for 2-3 weeks because I had no energy and the meds fucked with my quantum mechanics-learning ability

I'd recommend talking to the prof now and let them know what's going on and it might be 1 week or it might be 4. Most will understand and be accommodating. Shingles is the real deal, you've seen what iggy went through with initial neglect of the condition (sorry mate).

Good luck mate, super vibes your way. Rest now so you can ski (and study) later!!!

[palosgrandes]

you could try zostrix ointment or lidocaine gel. both require a prescription

[jbach]

I'm getting over a case of shingles that started about a week and a half ago on the right side of my face and head. Luckily mine were relatively painless, but the virus got in my eye so I'm sentenced to glasses instead of contacts for like a month.

They said it's pretty rare for people in their early 20's and I wasn't really stressed (unless a 2 foot deep powder day is stressful), so I thought it was weird. I also went 3 days before seeing the doctor since I just thought it was some sort of skin rash so I don't think the drugs did much. I was on Valtrex for a week and Prednisone for 2 days plus a bunch of eye drop crap.

I think I ended up paying like $400 just in prescriptions and about $350 in doctor's visits. There went a new pair of skis

[Tippster]

anyone know of any good topical stuff?

Shingles is herpes. Congratulations on your new case of herpes.

You're a real fucking dick, you know that? Cold Sores are Herpes too - you ever get one? Ever kissed a girl who CAN get one? Ever kiss a girl? Likely you've been exposed.

No, it's called Varicella zoster virus.

Heh. Still similar enough that Zovirax (acyclovir) works very well. I've never even heard of the side effects that Schralph described. It's not listed on the scrip bottle as a recognized side effect either. Maybe that's because I normally use the topical ointment, not the pills...?

Brice: Ask your doctor for a scrip for Zovirax cream.

[gbarnum]

Ummm no, nice try, it is officially listed as a herpes virus. It is officially a herpes virus. Don't like it take it up with the medical community not me. I won't debate fact with you. Fair? Thanks for playing.

No one fucking cares what you think. Fuck off would ya?


Why didn't I ignore this one earlier....

Sorry to hear about your Shingles Brice. My Dad got it last year. Hope the pain dies down soon.

[Viva]

Heh. Still similar enough that Zovirax (acyclovir) works very well.

Please, Tipp, Snookums and I will resolve this little spat between ourselves.

[SchralphMacchio]

I've never even heard of the side effects that Schralph described. It's not listed on the scrip bottle as a recognized side effect either. Maybe that's because I normally use the topical ointment, not the pills...?

It's likely he'll be fine. It didn't screw me up royally, but it has the potential to do so. I recall what the pharmacy documentation had to say about the meds, and a quick google search turned up the link below. Some people get big side effects with Acyclovir:

http://shingles.emedtv.com/acyclovir...e-effects.html

Common Acyclovir Side Effects
Acyclovir has been studied thoroughly in clinical trials, in which a group of people taking the drug have side effects documented and compared to another group not taking the medicine. This way, it is possible to see what side effects occur, how often they appear, and how they compare to the group not taking the medicine.

In these studies, the most common side effects of acyclovir included:

* A general ill feeling -- in up to 11.5 percent of people
* Nausea or vomiting -- up to 4.8 percent
* Diarrhea -- up to 2.7 percent
* Headaches -- up to 2.2 percent.

Serious Acyclovir Side Effects
Some side effects with acyclovir, while occurring infrequently, are potentially serious and should be reported immediately to your healthcare provider. These include but are not limited to:

* Aggressiveness or agitation
* Hallucinations
* Unusual bruising or bleeding
* Seizures
* Unusual decrease in urine production
* Signs of an allergic reaction, including unexplained rash, hives, itching, and unexplained swelling.

In my personal experience the drug prevented worsening of the rashes and gave me an empty headed feeling. Combined with vicodin, I wasn't really able to go to class for a while. Not that I had the energy to anyway ...

At worst if your school has good med insurance you can try the drug for a while and if it sucks then don't take it. But if you have the insurance, milk what you can - you're paying for it already so get your benefit from it!

[Tippster]

Schralph: sounds like that's for the pills, which I never took. Good info, tho.


Viva: Our sugarshnookie's coming across as a bit bitchy, isn't he? Maybe he ran out of Cheesypoofs.

[SchralphMacchio]

I'm also really surprised by the amount of relatively young people who have had shingles on this board! Maybe we stress too much about icey greybird days or thin polleny mank days and it kills the immune system ...

[Tippster]

My understanding (and Viva can hopefully clarify) is that just about all Herpes viruses live naturally and normally on our skin. Some people's immune systems are just more prone to "forgetting" about them and you get an occasional outbreak.

Stress is but one way to suppress your immune system temporarily. I seem to get a cold sore every time I get really sunburnt....

[SchralphMacchio]

Actually, my stress was caused by not taking care of my body in my senior year of college. Lack of sleep and irregular sleep patterns, chilicheese burgers and taco truck at 3 am, beers every night of the week, irregular exercise, etc. Peeps take care of yourselves! You're not all invincible like Pechelman!

[Brock Landers]

Actually, my stress was caused by not taking care of my body in my senior year of college. Lack of sleep and irregular sleep patterns, chilicheese burgers and taco truck at 3 am, beers every night of the week, irregular exercise, etc. Peeps take care of yourselves! You're not all invincible like Pechelman!

Same here- lack of sleep. Was working maintenance at a golf course over the summer and my girlfriend from college came to visit for 10 days- so I went from work at 530 am to entertaining her until the wee hours. This went on for about 2 weeks...combine with working in the heat...and it just wore me out. Beers dont help either, and shitty eating habits dont either.

[Tye 1on]

vibes mang, never had it, but have never heard one good thing about it. An NPR story a while back stated it, and the pain, is now the #1 driver of elderly suicide . Hope ya fix up quick!

[brice618]

Thanks for all the well wishes guys! I didn't sleep well at all, but then I found my heating pad on my back where I have a giant knot from all the muscle stress helped me sleep some.

[YourSupremeExcellency]

sorry yse, you have the "herpes" too. unless you've never had chicken pox. didn't you ever see that south park episode. you have also most likely had roseola. another herpes virus that almost all kids get when they are infants or toddlers.

I've never said that I haven't had chickenpox. My sole statement was that shingles is in fact herpes and then Viva wanted to disagree. I never once said that chickenpox was not herpes. I never once said that cold sores was not herpes. I never once denied that virtually every single person in the world has had chickenpox and still has that virus in their bodies or that virtually every person in the world also has the cold sore virus in their bodies even though many people think they do not since over %50 of people's immune systems are capable of permenantly suppressing the virus. All I said is that shingles is herpes, that is it. And some misinformed, or we could probably just go out on a limb and say really fucking stupid, people like Viva wanted to argue that FACT.

[Alpine Dreams]

Their is a vaccine for Shingles http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/...s/vac-faqs.htm

[Dobish]

i got it last year on spring break... kind of feels like someone was stabbing me through the armpit into my heart with an ice pick

unlike chicken pox, which mostly affects the skin itself, herpes zoster (shingles) affects the central nervous bands in generally one area.... you have 6 large nerve bands (right side, left side, head/eyes,ears/neck, around the lungs (heart/armpit/clavicles), abdomen/crotch/lower back. Once you get shingles in one particular spot, you will not get it anywhere else. there are now a lot of people saying that the onset is not caused by stress at all, but by the physiological changes in the body.

if you do notice symptoms coming back, start taking the drugs right away, because once you have it, it can come back at any time

[Viva]

All I said is that shingles is herpes, that is it. And some misinformed, or we could probably just go out on a limb and say really fucking stupid, people like Viva wanted to argue that FACT.

It's about context and intent, Cupcake.

You were trying (successfully) to be a jerk, so don't backtrack and say that you were simply stating a matter of fact. You weren't.

Conversely, your tail-chasing antics still provide a source of amusement to me and others here. Carry on.

[sfotex]

Ugh. Thought I got into some poison oak last week, but turned out it was shingles. Arg, these things suck. My back has been killing me, luckily the rash isn't as bad as poison oak. Dear god, last week was sucky.

[Brock Landers]

dont scratch it, itll scar real easily

[Lexi-Bell]

dont scratch it, itll scar real easily

Yeah, what he said. I've got a SWEET scar on my forehead to prove it.

[sfotex]

dont scratch it, itll scar real easily

I got it on my side/back which is already scared up good from Poison Oak, so I'm good to go. The rash isn't killing me, but I had some horrible lower back pain and nausea for the last week.

[rideit]

OK, I'll share one of my worst pre-adolescent/adolescent moments...

I had shingles when I was 14.
All over my tender bits.

Local hospital had never seen such a case, and proceeded to use me as a case study for 12 mixed gender medical students at John's Hopkins. So there I am, barely with pubes, and covered in a painful, humiliating rash. Being 'studied' by girls.

That ranks as one of my life's worser moments.

[smitchell333]

A colleague of mine got it in her eyes. Supposedly one of the most painful things around. She was out for the better part of 2 months.

[Brock Landers]

I got it on my side/back which is already scared up good from Poison Oak, so I'm good to go. The rash isn't killing me, but I had some horrible lower back pain and nausea for the last week.

From what I remember, it runs aloong your nervous system, so lower back and sides/groin area is common. Thats where I had it- stomach, hips. Scarred a bit now but not bad, just looks like stretch marks. And the rash doesnt itch real bad like poison ivy, its just a feeling of uncomfort and pain along those nerves that the shingles is part of.

Old people get it on their scalp and its extremely painful, even requiring morphine. I was 21 when I got it...doc said no to the morphine