Re: If ... shingles, get thee to thy doctor!

[Guest guest]

I second your advice, Loralee.

My shingles pain began Dec. 23, 2003. The ER doc

on Christmas eve didn't dx shingles because there was

no rash, yet. By the time the rash appeared, I recognized

the rash, and revisited the hospital ER during the Christmas

season, it was past the 3-day window to begin effective

antiviral med.

The subsequent PHN (postherpetic neuralgia) erased 3

months from my life. Finally, epidural injections & lidocaine

patches brought some relief. (Oxycodone did not.)

I still have discomfort in the affected back & abdominal

muscles after exertion.

Oh, the price of ignorance...

wayne

From: LoraleeLLS@... <LoraleeLLS@...>Subject: Shingles AND hives! Date: Sunday, November 30, 2008, 2:36 PM

Sorry this is long, but it might help someone else.

I recently had an unusual case of shingles which landed me in the hospital for two days of heavy duty IV antibiotics. I had an outbreak once before, three years ago, when I was undergoing chemo....one tiny patch, I knew exactly what it was and was on antibiotics within 24 hours and it cleared up quickly.

This time there were three small dots in a row on my back that seemed like bug bites. Very itchy, but shingles never occurred to me. Almost a week later I broke out in spots all over my body....not just on one side. I showed it to my oncologist and he put me on an antibiotic, but didn't think it was shingles. I followed up with a visit to the dermatologist who was also stymied, but did two biopsies and put me on Valtrex. Within 24 hours an unofficial pathology report came back with a Herpes Simplex/Shingles diagnosis and I was ordered into the hospital immediately. Two days of IV Acylovir, which did the trick. I was released and put on high test Valtrex for about five days followed by a prophylactic dose of Valtrex for what they thought would be three months.

In about two weeks I broke out in hives...all over my body. Extreme itchiness came in waves, but it was always in an isolated area. Crazy. More biopsies and a very strong oral anti-itch medication (a God send)....10 times stronger than Benadryl. Nothing was revealed as a result of the biopsies and they didn't think it was a reaction to the Valtrex, but I stopped taking it anyway under the direction of my oncologist. The hives went away, but it took weeks for the spots to fade.

The moral of this story? If there is the remotest possibility that you have shingles, get thee to thy doctor! I am very lucky in that I don't seem to have any residual nerve pain and I hope that I haven't developed an allergy to Valtrex in case I need it down the road since I will be starting up with another round of chemo (Sub Q Campath) in the next week or two.

Loralee Strauss, age 60

ton, SC

Life should be easier. So should your homepage. Try the NEW AOL.com.