Shingles

[JoAnn Purser]

Recently I have been preoccupied taking care of my 23 year old son that was diagnosed with shingles this past week.

It had started out what he thought as an ingrown hair on his head, then to some sort of rash, and finally affecting his vision before we got an accurate diagnosis. His are on the right side of his head. He was placed originally on Bactrim for an infection, then eye drops for pink eye until Friday when we finally received Acyclovir, eye drops (3 types), and then as I shouted from the roof tops....pain relievers. I felt I had a starring role in a Shirley McClaine story...."Just give him the pain pill!" He was in so much pain in his cornea that it broke my heart.

He is much better from reducing the stress and anxiety, he was able to rest and allow the meds to kick in and do their job. Shingles is a nasty painful outbreak. If the patient is stressed they can't get better.

My 82 year old mother also had the shingles last year Jan - Mar 09 and she had a battle trying to recover from them. Hers were on the left side of the trunk of her body and left leg.

[TexMexYum]

Oh JoAnn, I am so sorry. As a parent there is nothing worse than a child's pain....such a helpless feeling. I have heard from adult friends that shingles is very..very painful. Sometimes I wonder what's going on with the medical community. It's like they are de-sensitized to a patient's pain and feelings - both physical and mental.

LOL and I can relate to the Shirley MacLain starring role!

[Janet]

My grandmother had shingles back in 1990 at the age of 90. She was in a lot of pain with it. I know of a few people getting shingles even if they had chicken pox as a child. I know I missed the last 2 weeks of third grade because I had chicken pox. I was sporting and shared them with my brother.