I had shingles about 13 years ago. I thought only old people got it - I was only 33 but was under a lot of stress for a long period of time.

I had it on the nerves that wrap around from the lower vertebra around the front from both sides just under the last rib and holy freakin' hell that hurt worse than anything.

I am very sorry you have to deal with shingles and hope its a mild, short-lived case.

YA know, your insistance on facts is really taking the edge off my humor attempts at cheering up Wolf. Just for that, I'm gonna have to type another joke. Let that be a lesson to you.

Wolf: as you no doubt know, if not form your own experience, then from all the attributions given herein, shingles is painful and it sucks and it may or may not be a form of herpes despite its name.
However,
At least you are not like one of my friends who had a patient with only two remaining synapses which were connected by a spirochete and had just been put on pennicylin...

I think beer is still considered a fluid, don't check though, jsut to be sure.

I had chickenpox when I was an infant, along with my older sister and 3 neighbor kids. All 5 of us got shingles at different times in our pre or early teens.

edit: I had it down the length of my spine - still have a small scar and some numbness...

Our back up fencing instructor's little girl got shingles soon after her chicken pox vaccine..... huh whodda thought?... insert theory here.

Be well Wolf.

There is a treatment much better than Zovirex, Wolf. I can highly recommend it since I had my introduction to shingles/herpes more than 30 years ago, when a friend came to visit me for a week and assured me he had been to the doctor about that mysterious and painful eruption and was told it was harmless cold sores. I wish! Pain so bad that I could not stand light, headaches worse than migraines, nausea, it really DID feel like I caught a plague. The best, at least the only half-way good thing about it, is the outbreak that comes first will be the worst one. You'll always be prone to having it pop out again, especially when you are run-down and stressed, but it will be nothing like what you are experiencing now and you will recognize the signs a day in advance and take immediate measures.

The treatment is L-LYSENE. The first day you take three 1,000-unit tabs and 2 each night afterwards until the eruption goes away. Lysene works on other viruses too, for some reason once your body become saturated with this enzyme the virus cannot stay active. The Lysene tabs are horse chokers and taste chalky and horrible, so if I can't get them down I crush them in a mortar and mix them with cheese spread to kill the flavor. Please try it, I swear it works like magic.

And do not eat any chocolate or nuts, that can actually bring on another outbreak for me.

Let's get techincal, technical... I wanna get tecnical, technical...:p

Yes, shingles are a type of herpesvirus. I was under the impression that Spexxvet meant Wolf had 'herpes', meaning the cause of coldsores. Both types of virus, (and 'mono' too, if you've ever had that) are all techinacally herpesviruses, but they are completely different species.

Sorry, miscommunication.


From Here: With color added by me for clarity. (specific species in black)

Taxonomic Structure of the Family
Family 00.031. Herpesviridae

Subfamily 00.031.1. Alphaherpesvirinae
Genus 00.031.1.01. Simplexvirus cause of the infamous coldsore...
031.1.01.003. Human herpesvirus 1 (Herpes simplex virus 1)
00.031.1.01.004. Human herpesvirus 2 (Herpes simplex virus 2)
Genus 00.031.1.02. Varicellovirus
00.031.1.02.015. Human herpesvirus 3 . (Varicella-zoster virus) what people with chickenpox and shingles have
Genus 00.031.1.03. Mardivirus
Genus 00.031.1.04. Iltovirus

Subfamily 00.031.2. Betaherpesvirinae
Genus 00.031.2.01. Cytomegalovirus What preggo moms tested for when pregnant, because can cause troubles in newborns.
Genus 00.031.2.02. Muromegalovirus
Genus 00.031.2.03. Roseolovirus

Subfamily 00.031.3.
Gammaherpesvirinae
Genus 00.031.3.01. Lymphocryptovirus
00.031.3.01.005. Human herpesvirus 4 (Epstein-Barr virus) infectious mononucleosis "mono"
Genus 00.031.3.02. Rhadinovirus
00.031.3.02.011. Human herpesvirus 8 (Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus)

And now, some jokes...:D


Herpes Jokes

TWO LINERS

Q: How does herpes leave the hospital?
A: On crotches

Q: What's the difference between love and herpes?
A: Herpes lasts forever

Q: Which of the following does not belong: AIDS, gonorrhea, herpes, or Bill Clinton?
A: Gonorrhea -- it can be cured.

Q: Why is Michael Irvin (Dallas Cowboys) like herpes?
A: He's embarrassing, goes away for weeks but then comes back, and responds well to drugs.

Q: Why did the dumb blonde name her dog Herpes
A: Because it wouldn't heel

Q: How can you tell if you're staying over at the wrong girl's apartment?
A: The towels in her bathroom are labeled "His" and "Herpes."

Q: What is a nymphomaniac's worst nightmare?
A: Meeting a handsome guy with a real big penis and herpes.

I recall herpes--it was gonna be the scourge of the nation, no? The answer to the sexual revolution, God's revenge.
Lemme tell ya--anyone with a cold sore has herpes.

Just to get technical, just because shingles herpes isn't "that" kind of herpes doesn't mean that Wolf doesn't have "that" kind of herpes. I don't know where her lips have been and who she's been kissin' on.:p

Holy crap, I just read the info on the link from LabRat's post and I think I had shingles!! I thought it was poison ivy at first, but reading about it, I think it was shingles! I have been stressed. Luckily it was only a small patch on my hand.

I know the little patch drove me nuts, I can't imagine having it any worse. Speedy recovery to you, wolf.

You are very wise in the ways of medicine!!

Thanks to everybody else for the information and advice. I will have to try the L-Lysine, but I'm finding the notion of life without chocolate quite depressing.

(oh crap. I had PB on my bagel this morning ... well, maybe I can think of it as the path to another day off of work).

Today's Update: I'm getting into the routine of taking huge pills and squirting goo into my eye.

Unfortunately, my left eyelid decided that it wasn't having enough fun just watching the proceedings from a front row seat and is now swollen, although there are no apparent lesions. The forehead stuff is half scabby, half drippy, so I have decided that this seems better. I am currently waiting to find out if my return to work will be based on assessment by the infection control practitioner, or if I have to get a note from my own doctor (who was of the opinion that I could be at work if I slapped a bandanna over the drippy bits). Overall I am still pretty tired and listless, and spend as much time horizontal as possible.

I'm aiming for Monday, at this point.

On the downside ... I don't think I'll be making the concert that I was looking forward to this weekend. :( (Beru Revue 25th Anniversary Sing-Along.)

I'm giving you a pass on the RFN thread for the next couple days.

Now THAT"S humor.

Oh no!, Is this the event they are taping and plan to release?

Oh man, wolf, that really sucks! I had a shingles breakout once, in my knee--only a small rashy patch, but it hurt like hell. Don't remember what I took for it, but it cleared it up quickly. Hope yours does too.