Shingles remedies?

[FizzyPink]

I’m on day 4 of the rash, the blisters aren’t starting to weep yet but oh my god the pain is crazy!
I’m also one of the few lucky people to have it right across my body rather than just on one side.

I’ve got anti vitals, painkillers and a bag of peas but is there anything else I can do to ease the pain? It seems particularly bad at night and I can’t seem to sleep at all.

[FigDate]

No more advice. Just sympathy As I know how it feels. Sounds like you have all the right meds. Just rest. Hope you feel better soon.

[Skyecat]

Maybe you could apply something topical, like lidocaine.

[Babdoc]

You could look at the Shingles Support Society online, OP. They have all the info on treatment options. Topical Lidocaine can be helpful for post herpetic neuralgia (persistent pain for weeks or months after the blisters have healed). Amitryptiline can also help with that.

[AllPlayedOut]

Antihistamines can help.

[FizzyPink]

Thank you everyone. Off to see if I can upgrade my frozen peas to something a bit more effective!

[Lilao]

How are you getting on Turnedout? I had the rash start on Saturday but no blisters formed yet. Just wondering when the pain starts to subside (and hoping I am over the worst)

[FizzyPink]

Ahhh @Lilao I really feel for you and hope your experience is better than mine. From reading online it seems timelines vary massively but this is what mine has been like.

Day 1-2 small rash under my chest that was mildly itchy but okay
Day 3 rash spread all over my chest and under my arms and was super painful
Day 4 - 5 rash was all over my chest, stomach and under my arms. This was also when I started to feel really unwell and sick
Day 6 rash started to weep and sticking to my T-shirt/bedding. I could barely eat and the pain was unbearable
Day 7 - 9 pain started to die down and is more constant low level pain now rather than being so intense. I’m also starting to notice the aches in the rest of my body a lot more and feel absolutely exhausted

Day 6 was when I broke down in tears in the pharmacy and started to religiously alternate cocodamol with ibuprofen which has helped with the pain a lot. Also not sure how much the anti-virals have helped as I only started them on day 3 but I’ve almost finished now and the rash is a lot less “angry”

I definitely felt like it wasn’t too bad in the early days and tried to do too much which made me feel worse. The only advice I have is cold compresses, oat baths, painkillers and rest

Really hope you feel better soon

[FizzyPink]

Also forgot to say mine seems much worse at night. DP is sleeping on the sofa and asked me how I slept last night. I said “really well actually. I only woke up 3 times” 😂

Up until Monday I wasn’t sleeping at all and kept having to get into a cold shower or apply my frozen peas to stop the burning. The doctor said it’s quite normal when your body goes into sleep/relax mode.

[Lilao]

Glad to hear you are over the worst and thank you for sharing, very useful! I think I am at day 4-5 at the minute, it's looking very angry and red but no blisters as of yet. It sounds like I'm in for a rough few days!

It's been strange as I've felt fine in myself and it's just the rash that's been itchy and painful. I started an antiviral from the doctor yesterday but practically had to fight for it as they were reluctant to prescribe and said they would only after 72 hours but everything online says to do it before!

I'm supposed to be meeting my boyfriends parents on Saturday

[BashfulClam]

Calamine lotion helped a lot.

[YoureRight]

A lot of people seem to think that shingles is like chicken pox and so treat the itchy rash the same, whereas in reality it’s nerve pain, the nerve group is being attacked, heavy duty painkillers and staying in bed is the only helpful advice. Usually by the time a sufferer gets antivirals it’s too late for them to have any impact whatsoever

[fuckweasel]

Aloe vera gel. Did wonders for mine.