shingles vaccine

[Guest guest]

Anne, do you have the chicken pox-like rash in the same place each time? It could be shingles. Shingles is usually extremely painful. Anyone who had chicken pox as a child can develop shingles as an adult. I read recently that nearly all people over 80 develop it & it can cause complications, including long-term pain, called post-herpetic neuralgia. There is a vaccine out now to prevent shingles or lessen the effect. It's recommended for anyone over 60. I remember my dad having shingles near his eye years ago. It was very painful & the doctor was worried about his vision, but it never actually got into the eye. Dr. Baughman in Cincinnati, a top sarc specialist, told me, "You will get shingles. It's not if, it's when." So as soon as I'm 60 (2 years), I plan to get the vaccine. Folks will sarc, especially on immune suppressants, have a very high risk of developing shingles. But you don't catch shingles from someone else. Once you've had chicken pox, the virus hides in the nervous system. Many years later, for various reasons, it can reactivate into shingles. One bout of shingles is bad enough, but if you develop the long-term pain, it can be debilitating. There is one drug that is approved for both diabetic neuropathy pain & shingles pain--that's Lyrica. I take it for my neuropathic pain, which is caused by the sarc, but the Lyrica helps a lot. The other night I got involved in some stuff & forgot to take my nighttime meds. I didn't think of it until about 3am. I didn't want to take the Lyrica then, because it makes me sleepy. But by that afternoon, my feet were hurting much worse than usual and it took two nights of taking the Lyrica before they were back to the regular pain.

One thing I don't know is if you can take the vaccine once you have had shingles. Anyway, y'all might want to consider discussing this with your doctor. I doubt Medicare or insurance would cover it before age 60, and my guess is that it's pretty expensive, so I'm going to wait & hope I don't get shingles before then.

Ramblin' Rose

Moderator

Reply-To: Neurosarcoidosis To: Neurosarcoidosis Subject: Re: numbness and painDate: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:32:00 -0000

>I agree, that numbness will be the start of a flare-up and the PAIN I also avoid pain killers i donot want anymore meds in my system. And I refuse presc. pain killers. I am in a flare up now and i also find a chickenpox type of rash. does anyone else experience this? Anne> Marla, numbness is usually a sign for me that a flare-up is on the> way. If not controlled (steroids are what work for me) then paralysis> of something is on the way. Pain is a constant. It's the hardest part> for me. Coping with pain every day. I am loath to take pills and tend> to put up with it, rather than be doped up. I am so sorry you are> having to go through this. It is very hard when every day activities> are made so difficult by disease. Hugs to you.>

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