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Shingles (zoster) And The Immune System

UR Groovy

By UR Groovy
in Related Issues & Disorders

Recommended Posts

UR Groovy Explorer
UR Groovy
Posted

Hi,

I'm a little concerned, but not freaking out by any means. I believe I'm having another shingles outbreak. I'm going to see my PCP tomorrow, so there's no urgency for an answer - I'm just wondering if anyone has experience with this:

Does one need to be immunosuppressed in order for this virus to crop up again, or can it just happen?

When I was 2 years old, I contracted the Herpes virus (not genital). It spread to my lungs & I was on life support and in a "steril room" for 2 weeks. My family had to wear hazardous materials clothes and masks to visit me. I actually have a slight suspicion that's one of the reasons my body rejects so many things - gluten, for example.

I haven't had so much as a cold sore until 2 years ago when I was on a 7 month course of "treatment" with steroids (Prednisone). I had a major outbreak - though, not near as bad as when I was a toddler.

For the last couple days, I've had pain near my spine & I have a wrap-around rash like I did when I was on the steroid. I'm almost certain it is shingles. The problem is: I'm not immunosuppressed right now. I'm not sick - in fact, in general, I feel great.

I understand we're not doctors here - I'm not looking for a diagnosis. I'm almost certain this is what it is. Just wondering if my immune system is crashing. I've heard that once you've had herpes, the zoster can crop up whenever. Maybe I'm just venting - another month with wrappings around my waist & pain.

I'm not sure which category this would go into. I'll try this one, since it's not gluten related, but is related to the immune system.

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dlp252 Apprentice
dlp252
Posted

I got shingles when I was healthy, BUT I was under a lot of stress at the time. I was told that stress can cause a break out as well.

I've not had another breakout of the rash, but I am having neuralgia of my skin (wide areas of my arms, back and abdomen and a little on my neck). A naturopathic practitioner has said she thinks it's related to the shingles that I had, but like you I only had the rash on a band on my back around my waist (like a belt) and this is over a much wider area.

I had chicken pox as a child, so that's where my shingles came from originally. :(

Fiddle-Faddle Community Regular
Fiddle-Faddle
Posted
I got shingles when I was healthy, BUT I was under a lot of stress at the time. I was told that stress can cause a break out as well.

I've not had another breakout of the rash, but I am having neuralgia of my skin (wide areas of my arms, back and abdomen and a little on my neck). A naturopathic practitioner has said she thinks it's related to the shingles that I had, but like you I only had the rash on a band on my back around my waist (like a belt) and this is over a much wider area.

I had chicken pox as a child, so that's where my shingles came from originally. :(

Same with me--I was majorly stressed when I had shingles, but otherwise healthy.

What may have also contributed, in my case, was thimerosal-preserved inoculations I received 5 weeks before coming down with the shingles, but I'll probably never know for sure.

Shingles are the pits, aren't they? Hang in there, eat lots of sweet red peppers (if you are not sensitive to them, that is), or hot r edpeppers if you like'em, and try to find things that make you laugh as much as possible (old Groucho Marx movies, etc)!

UR Groovy Explorer
UR Groovy
Posted
  • Author
I got shingles when I was healthy, BUT I was under a lot of stress at the time. I was told that stress can cause a break out as well.

You know, I ruled that out at first, but just remembered that I had a very stressful event Thursday night. Maybe it triggered something. Thank You

Shingles are the pits, aren't they? Hang in there, eat lots of sweet red peppers (if you are not sensitive to them, that is), or hot r edpeppers if you like'em, and try to find things that make you laugh as much as possible (old Groucho Marx movies, etc)!

Awww - You're sweet ! I do have red bells. I just started Acyclovir, so, hopefully, that'll stop any progression.

Anyway, it's good to know that I'm probably not falling apart at the seems. Shingles are the pits !

dlp252 Apprentice
dlp252
Posted

You're welcome! Yes, it's unanimous, shingles are the pits, lol!

UR Groovy Explorer
UR Groovy
Posted
  • Author
Shingles are the pits, aren't they? Hang in there, eat lots of sweet red peppers (if you are not sensitive to them, that is), or hot r edpeppers if you like'em, and try to find things that make you laugh as much as possible (old Groucho Marx movies, etc)!

And, while shingles are the pits, I hope they don't go into the pits. That would really suck ! :lol:

You said something about laughing - thanks Fiddle-Faddle. A little comic relief goes a long way, even if it's only funny to me.

Fiddle-Faddle Community Regular
Fiddle-Faddle
Posted
You said something about laughing - thanks Fiddle-Faddle. A little comic relief goes a long way, even if it's only funny to me.

In that case, check this out:

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kbabe1968 Enthusiast
kbabe1968
Posted

UGH! I had shingles on my face and in my hair when I was pregnant with my 2nd child. I was MISERABLE!! they are the WORST!!!

I still have scars from them and the "shadow pain" and he's now 5 years old!

I HATE SHINGLES.

I have heard that stress brings them on as well.

Hoping you heal quickly....:(

MGoers37 Rookie
MGoers37
Posted

Yeah shingles occurs when the immune system is being suppressed in some way. Normally when infected with the virus, your body fights it off and the virus lays dormant, while the immune system periodically prevents it from coming back. Most people that get the chicken pox never get shingles until they are elderly and their immune systems are suppressed. Unfortunately some people aren't as good at fighting off the virus and if there's some weakness to the immune system there's a chance of it coming back. The immune system can be weakened by stress quite easily, so i guess the best advice would be to not worry about it/chill.

I got the vaccine for the pox as i hadn't gotten chicken pox up till i was ten years old. at that point the docs decided it would be a good idea to get the vaccine so i don't get a more serious version of pox, like shingles. to this date i've never gotten chicken pox or shingles (knock on wood) but I wouldn't be surprised if i got it later. viruses mutate so often the strain i was vaccinated against is probably long gone.

oh and for further reading

Open Original Shared Link

everyone knocks wikipedia, but i haven't really found anything wrong with it yet...

MGoers37 Rookie
MGoers37
Posted

i've noticed the shingles rash/blisters look a lot like what happens in dermatitis herpetiformis, another disorder from eating wheat (which i have...joy).

so maybe get tested for that too?

Fiddle-Faddle Community Regular
Fiddle-Faddle
Posted
i've noticed the shingles rash/blisters look a lot like what happens in dermatitis herpetiformis, another disorder from eating wheat (which i have...joy).

so maybe get tested for that too?

I noticed that, too!

In my case, the differences were that DH (on me, at least) was on both arms, and perfectly symmetrical, and there was no nerve inflammation or nerve pain. The shingles were only on one arm (going from my spine all the way to my hand, terrible place for a violinist), and the nerve pain was unbearable.

And I had the post-herpetic neuralgia, too, but only for about a year.

UR Groovy Explorer
UR Groovy
Posted
  • Author

Well, it's not shingles. It's actually really embarassing, as I shot up all the alarms and people were really concerned. I was thinking that the pain wasn't nearly as bad as it was when I did have shingles. I think that I had two coinciding problems. I think the pain was probably a gallstone that I pitched - probably into the bile duct. I remember having the phantom pains also for about 6 months after my actual outbreak a few years ago - and scars for a long time.

So, I'm now going to fess up and tell you all what really happened, at the risk of lookiing like a complete idiot. So, I go to the doctor Thursday morning. My doctor is completely perplexed. That's not shingles The rash is on both sides - uniformly. Sends me to the dermatologist. I say "Call Doctor House - we need to solve this mystery" . She says "Doctor House can't help us ... he's in New Jersey". So the derm, after 20 minutes of perplexed looks and concern says, "Have you been in a Hot Tub?" Bingo ! I have been in a hot tub. She tells me - you probably have Hot Tub Folliculitis - it's caused by an improper mix of chemicals that cause a staph bacteria to lodge in your follicles. Nice!

Sorry to have caused concern needlessly - I do feel like a complete idiot !

I have to say, however, that "hot tub folliculitis" :huh: really does suck, but not nearly the horror of shingles. Well, at least maybe some people may have seen this thread and will be more aware if they develop shingles of the progression and such.

Take Care - I'll try and not do this to you guys needlessly again.

dlp252 Apprentice
dlp252
Posted

Not to worry...I always enjoy talking about my pain no matter what the cause, lol. :lol: We've had a nice discussion about shingles anyway. :P

gf4life Enthusiast
gf4life
Posted

I'm glad it wasn't shingles, and I hope you feel better soon. I did have something to add about shingles though.

Both my boys have had shingles. They had the chicken pox when they were 3 & 1 1/2 (oldest got it and gave it to the younger...) and my youngest son got a mild case of shingles when he was about 3. They looked like individual blisters and he only had a couple, but the pain was horrible. The doctors just said it's shingle, but because it was so mild (really only about half a dozen blisters) they did nothing. He had pain where the blisters had been for over a year.

My older boy got a bad patch of shingles that covered one side of his belly when he was experiencing a lot of stress near the end of 4th grade. I took him to the doctor the same day he broke out and they were glad I did. I was told that you have to get medication for the nerve pain within the first 24-48 hours after breaking out or else there is no way of stopping the long term effects of the nerve pain. He was on the meds for a month and he had little to no long term pain. I was very glad I rushed him into the doctor. I knew it was shingles as soon as I had seen it. My nephew used to get it quite often ever since he was a small child because my sister had chicken pox when she was pregnant with him. He would break out at least once a year!

kbabe1968, you might want to watch your child for breakouts. He could have been exposed to the herpes zoster virus before he was born and most likely has it in his system. Not sure if it is only bad for the baby for the initial chicken pox breakout or if having a shingles attack affects the baby the same. What did the doctors say when you were pregnant?

Also my daughter, who was due to go in for her inmmunizations for kindergarten, was exposed to the virus from my son's shingles two weeks earlier and so they would not give her the immunization. She did get the chicken pox from his shingles (broke out a few days after her doctor's appointment). They said the shot would have made her case of chicken pox worse, since she already had it in her system.

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