Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Shingles?


Guest BERNESES

Recommended Posts

Guest BERNESES

Hi Everyone- This weekend I developed two small but painful bumps on the scalp behind my right ear. I can't see them but my sister said they looked like bug bites. OK. Hurt to brush my hair in that spot but I figured they'd go away.

Tonight in class I developed a headache and another huge, hard bump behind my right ear. Right on the bone. It hurts!

I called the doctor and he said could be shingles so I'm going in tomorrow to get checked out. Anyone else had this? I did have chicken pox as a child and I know that's a prerequisite. I'm kind of scared. Thanks, Beverly


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Carriefaith Enthusiast

I've never had it, but my grandmother had it and it wasn't too bad for her.

morrigan Newbie

Besides shingles you might want to consider the possibility of DH. I am not familiar with your situation but I have DH and the bumps that I get on my head do not itch even though they are bothersome.

-Morrigan-

Guest BERNESES

That occured to me too. Boo hoo! Don't know which is worse :(

Eliza13 Contributor

If the bumps are directly behind your ear, they could be your lymph nodes. If so, you are likely coming down with a virus (if it is your nodes). I am not a doctor, but I have had my nodes swell in the past and they hurt like heck.

:)

Guest BERNESES

Yeah- it's definitely not a lymph node as it's on my scalp and the bone behind my ear near the hairline.

elonwy Enthusiast

Heres the thing with shingles: if you take care of them, you'll be just fine. If you think you're just gonna deal with it like chicken pox you're screwed.

My grandma was a tough little (4'2") old lady from Ireland who never went to the doctor in her life and had 9 children that lived. She got shingles at around 75, didn't do anything about it and ended up being bed-ridden and half-crippled for 6 months.

That scary admonition out of the way, you're going to the doc, if you have it, just take what they give you, even if it has gluten in it. They have plenty of stuff to deal with it now.

Here's hoping its just DH. I get little bumps behind my ears and on the back of my neck that act like big pimples that never do anything and itch and hurt like hell and that's my DH. The good news is, DH can eventually go away and they have antibiotics to make it go away faster.

Elonwy


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



judy05 Apprentice
Hi Everyone- This weekend I developed two small but painful bumps on the scalp behind my right ear. I can't see them but my sister said they looked like bug bites. OK. Hurt to brush my hair in that spot but I figured they'd go away.

Tonight in class I developed a headache and another huge, hard bump behind my right ear. Right on the bone. It hurts!

I called the doctor and he said could be shingles so I'm going in tomorrow to get checked out. Anyone else had this? I did have chicken pox as a child and I know that's a prerequisite. I'm kind of scared. Thanks, Beverly

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've had shingles several times. Before I break out I get pain on the surface of the skin, weird!. Then I get these real tiny red bumps, very itchy and painful. It usually occurs on my thigh. The skin Dr gave me an Rx for Valtrex to take before the eruptions and Domboro soaks to apply to the skin. They usually dry up in a few days. I agree about getting medical help because they can be very painful and hard to get rid of if you wait too long. Yours don't sound like shingles but get checked out!

skbird Contributor

I got shingles when I was 18 and it was not pleasant nor any walk in the park. I had a pink blotch on my spine at waist level and one on my side and I went to the campus doc and he said "oh, shingles! Take some tylenol and get some calamime lotion - you'll be fine." Two days later I was back in tears and they gave me some codeine. It was rough. Two days after that I went back to my parents house and they took me to a dermatologist who said if I'd been there the first day I noticed the blotches he could have given me a powerful antiviral that would have stopped a lot of the process... well, I guess going to an on-campus doc isn't enough.

Anyway, the whole thing too about a month to get over, and I actually got some scarring on my waist for life. If it's even suspected, don't mess around and get thee to a doctor post haste. It won't kill you but it is really uncomfortable. I just met someone who is recovering from having it on her face - she said every time she gets stressed out now it starts breaking out on her again.

I don't mean to scare you, but I have said this many times - I would not wish shingles on my worst enemy.

Take care -

Stephanie

ponita Newbie

Berneses,

I saw your post and see now it's been 24 hours, were you able to see you doctor? What was decided? I'm curious ...

I want to tell you that for 10 years off and on I've been breaking out behind my ears, then sometimes across my shoulders, in my mouth, on my arms. Some of the doctors said it was shingles, some would say they simply didn't know. When I found out that I have celiac, I researched DH and couldn't believe what I saw.

The only time I break out now is if I ingest something contaminated that I'm not aware of.

Keeps me motivated to stay as pure as possible!

gluten-free since June 2004,

The day of my dx is like a new birthday for me as I feel WONDERFUL.

Let me know how you're doing.

Melissa

BRCoats Enthusiast

I got shingles for the first time.....RIGHT after I went gluten-free. Weird, huh? I went for months, thinking it was eczema, so I didn't go to the doc. Then, when I went in for a checkup, I told him about it. He kinda freaked, spent a whole lot of time examining it, and finally decided it was shingles (it looked pretty nasty - and it was on my forearm, below my wrist). He prescribed me Valtrex, and a cream (basically a topical Valtrex). I didn't apply it until months later, because I didn't think going to get the expensive meds outweighed haing the rash (but it did burn and itch and hurt like crazy!!!). I'm stubborn, what can I say! Anyway....then I had someone tell me that it can go to your brain, if you don't get it taken care of. She had a friend that actually died of herpes encephalitis (shingles on the brain, basically). SO....needless to say, I ran out and filled that prescription! <_< I never filled the oral, I just got the cream. And it worked like a CHARM!!! Great stuff. The bad news is that it cost me eighty bucks AFTER my insurance paid their part. And I have good insurance. :angry:

Anyway....the shingles are painful. Just get treated, and all will be well. I agree that you need to get it taken care of if it is indeed shingles.

HTH,

~Brenda

Guest BERNESES

Thanks everryone for your support! Saw the doctor today and she is 99% sure it's not shingles. It looks like Scarlet was right- it is some kind of pimple or bug bite rash that got infected and the hard lump behind my right ear actually is a swollen lymph node so they gave me Augmentin but I haven't filled it yet because I'm trying to find out if it's gluten-free. I'm so relieved that it's not shingles as I've heard horror stories! I'm still wondering about the DH thing though. I've had these bumps appear on my scalp before.

So, does anyone know if Augmentin is gluten-free? And how do I go about getting a DH diagnosis? I went to a derm recently who diagnosed me with dermatitis without even examining me (no lie! ). I used the stuff she gave me for my ears (which itch, crack and bleed) and it made them worse so I just stopped using it and went back to OTC hydrocortisone. Her quote, without even looking at my ears, was "It's definitely not related to Celiac's" Arrrgh!

Kasey'sMom Enthusiast

I had something like this and it was scary as well. My dh had the shingles and I've never seem him so sick. I'm glad an anti-biotic will take care of it for you. :)

I checked out Augmentin on this website and it looks like the tabs & liquid are gluten-free. Here's the website I got the information from

Open Original Shared Link

Healing Wishes!!!! :)

Guest BERNESES

Thanks so much- I started the Augmentin last night. Hope it does the trick- this hurts (but I'm sure nothing like Shingles!! Thank you all for your help, B

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,109
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    AbbyGh
    Newest Member
    AbbyGh
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Roses8721
      Two months. In extreme situations like this where it’s clearly a smoking gun? I’m in LA so went to a very big hospital for pcp and gi and nutritionist 
    • rei.b
      So far 3 months in - worsening symptoms. I have had the worst constipation in my life and I am primarily eating naturally gluten-free foods like potatoes, eggs, salad with homemade dressing, corn tortillas, etc. I hate gluten-free bread and pasta so I don't eat it. Occasionally I eat gluten-free almond flour crackers. As stated in the post, I don't have any vitamin deficiency. I was already tested.
    • rei.b
      As I said, I do not have any vitamin deficiency. I was already tested.
    • Wheatwacked
      Talk to your  Talk to your provider about testing for vitamin and mineral deficiency.  celiac disease causes malabsorption and eventually malnutrition.  Especially vitamin D. Having the gallbladder removed seems to be a common step on the way to a Celiac Disease Diagnosis,  Gallbladder is a sympton of deficient Choline. Eggs and red meat are the primary source..Choline makes up a majority of the bile salts.  The bile gets thick, doesn't get enough into intestine to digest fats well.  Can eventually back up into gallbladder, cause gallstones.  Without bile, bowel movements can become hard. Try to avoid all processed foods while you are healing, The gluten-free foods are not fortified with vitamins and use various ingredients to mimic fat that bothers many Celiacs.  Choose vegatables with low omega 6.  Optimum omega 6 to omega 3 ratio is less than 3:1.  Wheat flour is 22:1.  Grass fed milk is 1:1.   Commercial Dairies milk is 5:1.  They feed wheat, rye and barley Gluten as part of the food mix.  
    • trents
      Your DGP-G is also high. The thing to do now would be to trial the gluten-free diet for a few months to see if there is improvement in symptoms.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.