Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Shingles.....uugh!

Hey good to see both of you on here!! Sorry to here about the shingles Cristina, those suck. Zzyzx its been forever. Pete and I were talking water skis a while back and your name popped up. Glad you are doing well.

Don't stay away so long, us oldtimers are few and far between...
Keep Kickin'AS
Chris

Ohh! so sorry to hear about the shingles!!!

I've had them twice, once while pregnant with my 5th child and this past June. The first time didn't itch but the prickling pain. Didn't have it too bad because I was on grapefruitseed extract & just upped my dose a bit. I only got 10 spots, but the pain was my whole side & back. It lasted about 2 weeks.

My recent episode (2 yrs later) was no real pain, but SEVERE itch everywhere. Spots everywhere! Lasted 3 weeks before starting to go away. It came out after I started a new med and figured it was maybe a reaction. Tried 2x to get the VA doc to see me but he wouldn't. Told me to take lotsa benadryl. Sorry dude, but with 5 kids, I can't be on that!!

I think stress is more of a cause than lowered immune system, although this last time I wasn't stressed! (That's why I think it was a rxn to the meds). I went to the health foods store & bought several homeopathic remedies for shingles & it seemed to relieve it.

Monolaurin is supposed to help break thru the zoster virus coating & kill it. So my daughter & I are currently taking it for cold sores too. We'll see what happens!