Shingles

[Guest guest]

I developed what I now know was a mild case of shingles. I thought I had an ear

infection or swollen glands - had mild fever so I went to my doc and she said

she thought it was shingles. Other than the pain, I was not showing symptoms.

Well, the next morning I woke up and there were tiny little pin-head blisters in

my mouth along the gums where teeth had once been. I researched this on the

internet and what I found was that three of the drugs designed to treat PA

(Humira, Kineat? and Remicade). Enbrel is not in the class of drugs so anyone

taking Enbrel should feel very very lucky. It was very painful and it seemed

like 5 or 6 days after starting a week's dosage of valtrex to actually feel

relief. So I read all the paperwork provided with my Humira injections and

there it is, in black & white, that patients with PA taking Humira are 80% more

likely to contract shingles - that this will be ongoing. I spoke with my doc

about it and he told me that I should not even bother with the vaccine - and as

we all know, PA sufferers are so susceptible to infection - we have no immune

system to fight off colds, let alone all the other illnesses even relatively

" healthy " people are finding difficulty overcoming. I was in a car accident on

6/14 so my spine doc put me on a steroid dexa something or other - not

prednisone though. I was rearended and since my seatbelt locked me in, I

immediately began with pelvic pain, back pain - so my spine doc wanted me to go

on a short steroid treatment so my body would have time to adjust - then he

followed that with the drawback of the steroid would bring the shingles back on

- " with a vengeance. " 5 days after I stopped the steroids I got shingles in my

mouth but this time these sores that looked all infected and bruised covered the

entire part of my tongue on both sides. These shingles are so severe, my joints

have turned red with little blisters then they turn purple, crack and bleed -

same thing with my feet. I can barely walk - it feels like all the toes (right

and left) are on fire, same with my fingers and on top of that I have retained

so much water my calves have swollen - it looks like I have club feet! I want

to know if anyone else has experienced the shingles. I'm 59 and prior to Ma

26th, I've never had anything like this. The Valtrex makes you dizzy, so after

I took it, I went face first - so now I have a black eye and swollen left cheek

that's now going from purple green & yellow. My vision is blurry so I think I

might have had a concussion. Seems that the trauma of the accident has brought

on another flare. My doc at least sympathizes with the level of pain I'm in so

he's adjusted stronger meds to help me get through this. I would love to hear

anyone's experience regarding the shingles - so please respond when you have

some time. Thanks, Kathy