Shingles

[Zoomie1]

Has anyone had shingles and not taken the meds? Got prescribed anti-virals and some cream (which the chemist said they didn't have in stock and not likely to in the next few weeks). The thing is I'm on so many meds I don't want to take more if I don't have to. It looks mild to my eyes although I do feel a little unwell. I have had a massive tooth infection and I wonder if that's what kicked it off.

I did take the meds and it was fucking miserable, even with them. I'd strongly recommend you take them. Hopefully they'll make it stay mild and not get too much worse.

They're only effective in a very short window once the rash appears so you can't delay and then decide to take them if it gets worse, they won't do anything at that stage.

I would also recommend the Virasoothe spray gel stuff for chicken pox. It was an absolute lifesaver for when I couldn't bear anything touching the rash and it was very very painful (understatement!).

My DH has currently got shingles and has taken the meds but to be honest they haven't made much difference to the pain. He's taking paracetamol alongside. I also know someone else who has shingles at the moment although it is not supposed to be contagious.

God I'd take the medication, shingles is horrible and you can be left with life long nerve damage. Surely your GP who prescribed them looked to see if there were any contraindications?

That's just daft saying that, he could be far worse without the medication obviously?

@Lbsnged obviously I don't know whether the pain would be worse but it appears to be horrendous with or without the anti virals. The doctor said the anti virals were to contain the virus and the paracetamol were for the pain.

But obviously i would advise to take the prescribed meds.

First time I got it I didn't have any medication as I didn't realise what it was until it was too late. Went on for a long time but wasn't too painful. Second time I recognised the signs really early and the medication definitely helped make it milder than the first.

My understanding is that you have to take the meds very soon after symptoms show, in order for them to be effective.

I get shingles repeatedly, frequently and sometimes have overlapping cases, this has been going on for several years now due to stress, getting run down, overdoing things, other illnesses etc.

the meds if taken promptly speed up the recovery. Without them I can be looking at two weeks or more of symptoms. With them I can more or less halt thing in their track if taken at the very first tingle prior to the blisters developing - in these cases I may have 3-5 days of symptoms.

If not treated properly - and sometimes with treatment you can be prone to neuralgia - I have spinal and facial neuralgia due to the shingles location. The medication for this is awful on my stomach and takes several days to kick in. This is worse than the shingles for me.

You are contagious until the last blister has dried and scabbed over. You can’t spread shingles but you could give chickenpox to folks.

Not treating them to me is akin to letting pests run rampant through your home until
they due out rather than exterminating them It lengthens the time your immune system is in a flare up fighting them possibly making you prone to other issues.

As for those saying the treatment did nothing - how can you tell?? Did you do a laboratory grade scientific test? How do you know that without the tablets you would have been sicker for another week or had more severe pain etc?

That said - not everyone has the same severity. Some cases are mild etc. some aren’t.

@Zoomie1 good luck with this and fingers crossed you are feeling hunky dory soon.

My mum recently had shingles and struggled to get an actual GP to check her over. It was in one of her eyes as well as her face and neck and because she didn't get the right meds in time she has extremely poor vision in that eye now. Don't underestimate this virus!

It's essential that you take the Acyclovir. It may not make you feel better immediately but it will stop the virus replicating in your body. It's a horrible virus and can be very damaging. Please take the medication, there is nothing else that will do the same job.