Seeking Relief from Shingles

Hi Grandma T M,

I don't really know if this will work for shingles but it has worked for EVERYTHING else. But I get this stuff called MaxGXL. I get mine from the internet from www.maxgxl.com/maxmagic. It has worked great for me and for everyone else who has tried it. So I'm spreading the word.

Hi Grandma TM,
I have had shingles myself and there is little you can do for the lasting nerve pain that comes with the rash. Even after the rash has disappeared the pain can continue for weeks after. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news! I found a heating pad on low to be soothing, but he is right when he says that Tylenol and Advil don't help much. He could certainly call his doctor and ask about something stronger for the pain. Good luck!

I worked for a chiropractor and she always prescribed St. John's Wort by Standard Process Medi-Herb.

Try Shingles Soothe Wellness Oil, you can find it at:
http://www.herbalremedies.com/herpes-zoster-shingles-soot...

Also, if the pain is really that bad, maybe your husband should talk to his doctor about getting some time off from work. It is really hard for the body to heal if he is working hard, that and I am sure that he is not being as productive since he is in so much pain. I know you mentioned that "he can not get time off from work", but he should be able to. Does he have sick leave? If his employment hassles him about it, contact the Better Business Bureaus. http://welcome.bbb.org/

Good Luck!

M. *~

Shingles could be easily treated with homeopathy. However, this is a highly individualized treatment and should be done by a professional homeopath.

There are a couple of herbal remedies that can be helpful during shingles:

Melissa Officionalis 30 drops in a glas of water before bedtime nightly
St. John's Wort 30 drops in a glass of water 3 times a day
Also, apply Melissa Officionalis on the lesions 2-4 times a day to dry them out.

I hope this helps.

M..

I have suffered from them all my life. I know what he means, the pain is almost to the bone and hurts and aches at times. My main relief is from soaking in tubs with sitz (sp?) bath, in tepid water. Hot water actually feels really good sometimes, but it can cause a reaction. I also put calamine lotion on top to help with the blisters.
Good luck

Hi--I had shingles too, but luckily the antiviral seemed to keep my case to a much less severe level. I did find relief with a licorice based cream that I got from the health food store. I recall though hearing about a cure using aspirin ground up in nail polish remover that was supposed to be very effective. I found a link on line to the Rodale folks and am pasting it here.
http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/48/17...

I hope that this resolves quickly and has no long lasting pain. Best wishes.
D.

I had shingles over the summer and just plain old advil (every 4 hours on the nose) really helped. I went to two doctors and both said that was about all there was to take and just ride it out. Tell him it will get better, hang in there.

I agree with Lenore, being an internist myself. There are medicines that work generally on nerve pain. Gabapentin is one of these. It can cause drowsiness, so it is usually started at a low dose and the dose is gradually increased quite a bit.

Other medicines used for nerve pain (there are numerous ) belong to a class of medicines that previously were used as anti-depressants. At very low doses that also can gradually be increased slowly, they can help with shingles/neuropathic pain. One that tends to be less sedating (though as a class, they tend to cause sedation) includes nortriptyline. They frequently have "starter packs" that include smaller dose pills that you gradually escalate to the highest tolerated dose and call that in to the pharmacist when you need refills (if you do, hopefully not).

Yes, if you have not hand the shingles vaccine yourself, you should consider it.

My best to you and your husband.

Ask your doctor for a prescription for a lidocaine patch. It may help.

Has he tried Tiger Balm? It smells really strong but works for most of my ailments.

Hi, I am a nutritional consultant.... shingles comes from the chicken pox virus that has stayed in the body and become active. There is a toxicity component to the body.. called body burden which interferes with the immune system response.
The skin is the biggest detox organ thus the rashes.

The best way to deal with this once and for all is to
lower the toxic body burden and remove the viral particles.

Please take 10 minutes of your time to go to:

www.sharethecause.com/live

This is a 10 minute documentary that really outlines the challenges we are up against along with the children. There is a BioChemist and a triple board certified M.D. sharing with you.

If you would like further information with how to "deal" with this issue... please take the time to indicate you thoughts in the comment section and it will go straight to my email for contact.

L. M.

B vitamins. I have, as does my mom and gramma did too, shingles. When I am having an outbreak (mine are all under the skin and very painful) I take tons of Shaklee B complex. Shaklee is 100% natural whole reduced foods so your body is used to the elements of the vitamin, it's just concentrated. Shaklee has a 100% money back guarantee of satisfaction. If you use the whole bottle and it doesn't help, send it in for a refund. You cant use too much (since it's just reduced foods) so I take several of them several times a day. Look in the yellow pages for your closest distributor, or go to Shaklee.com

You might try Capsaicin cream (OTC). It gets kind of hot, and burns a little, but definitely helped with the pain I experienced when I had shingles. Just use is sparingly until you find the right amount, and do not put anything hot (i.e.-hot pad, hot shower/water) on the area where you've applied the cream. It did take a few weeks for my case to fully clear. I wish your husband a quick recovery.

They've been seeing outbreaks of shingles in unusual groups - younger, healthier people - since the chicken pox vaccine came out.

Normally we all used to get periodic 'boosters' to our immunity by being exposed to kids, grandkids etc with chicken pox. Now most of the wild type virus is gone because of the vaccine, so our immunity wanes and the virus we carry in our nerve roots from our original chicken pox exposure as kids is able to reactivate. Presto - shingles.

There's yet another vaccine for shingles now.

I thought it was better when we all just got chicken pox as kids, quite frankly.

My husband had this years ago & he also was in severe pain. I remember one time he explained the pain as someone stabbing him with a knife and twisting and turning. The course of the shingles did run around 3 to 5 weeks. As for the pain he just lived with it. We tried tylenol and that didn't seem to work at all, then we read somewhere that shingles and tylenol are not a good mix. I'm not sure if that holds true still today, but now my husband takes motrin only, no more tylenol for him. My husband like yours had to continue to work also. We wish your husband a speedy recovery and tell him to hang in there, they'll go away eventually.

I empathise with your husband and would not wish this pain on anyone. I had a very painful case of shingles last January. The pain lasted for 5-6 weeks. Sometimes it drove me to tears. My pain felt like a tightened rope burning around my body that never let up. Anything touching my skin was awful, even clothing. Tylenol and Advil did nothing for this pain. A friend of mine who had also had a severe case told me to stay away from coffee and all caffine. I did, and It lessened my pain by half, which brought me some welcomed relief. If your husband is a coffee drinker, suggest that he avoid it while he is affected by shingles. It really helped me.

Please look into acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatments. These have much to offer in treating your husband's condition.

There is much on the web that discusses this. Here is only one link to start you off:

http://www.acupuncture-services.com/health-az/shingles/ac...

My husband had a bad case of shingles that was mostly on the inside, he never had any exterior blisters on his torso and only a few on his head. After a few weeks of Vicodin, which quicky lost its effectiveness, he sought relief through acupuncture. It was the best treatment for a medical condition that he has ever received!

I represent a wellness company that sells all-natural, non-toxic products. After I read your post I looked in the guidebook to see if there was any advice for shingles. There is a regimen of products that will help, and I also noticed they said there is an increased need for B vitamins for sufferers.
If you are interested in more information, feel free to contact me, or go to my website and request information and I will contact you. www.SwitchingStores.info
Hope this helps,
J.

I am currently dealing with shingles - on my face! I also have a postherpetic neuralgia - shingles damages the nerves and they can cause intense pain, itching, tingling and numbness for months to years. You might want to have your doctor determine if this has developed in your husband's case. There anti convulsant drugs that help but they have to be prescribed.

M. H

Please remember that shingles is contagious (while you have the rash or open blisters)to people who have never had chicken pox or have not been vaccinated (babies or young children). That means if there is someone he comes in contact with that has never had chicken pox, that person could get chicken pox as an adult which can be worse than getting them as a child! Older people have actually died from chicken pox so please have him be very careful around other people!

Grandma,

Yes, I do know of a great product for you to use for your husband... give me a call. It will help build his immune system, get rid of the pain and keep the shingles from coming back.

M. ###-###-####

Hi there,
This is a very touchy subject for me, as my mom has just gotten over her 2nd bought of shingles in the last 2 1/2 years... she had cancer and went through kimo which in turn gave her shingles because her immune system was shot... she got over the first one ok, but this last one gave her permenant nerve damage... She ended up in the hospital for 9 days trying to manage the pain... she is on narcotics and that only helps a little... she said the pain was so intense she could not handle it anymore and thats how she ended up there... she got very depressed because she couldnt work and now is in therapy trying to recover physically, meantally, emothionaly and spiritually. She lives in WA state and I havent been able to be there for her at all. It breaks my heart everytime I think about it and I feel for your husband... He really should rest, it is an immune system thing and a stress thing that starts it... He needs to get some pain management, a good doctor that is familiar with shingles and probably be on vicodon or oxycoton... My mom is a recovering alcohalic and she dreaded having to give in and take narcotics, but it was the only thing that helped just a little.
I will pray for you and your husband... I'm sure after reading it on the internet you know how serious it is...
Take Care...
Also, I have 2 boys, 1 yr and 4 yrs and her cancer and shingles had prevented her from coming to see them. She hasnt even met her 1 yr old grandson.. I hope he gets the help he deserves! and I hope I havent scared you any.
Annaliesa

See if his doctor can perscribe high dose Advil. I had shingles about 2 years ago around Thanksgiving -- it was not fun but the antivriral meds worked and every scabbed over and went away.

take care, M. (mommy by myself to two)

There is a product called Super Lysine Plus. It is lysine and a number of other natural items that boost the immune system. It comes in liquid and capsules. You can get it at the health food store. The tincture you put in water or liquid and drink.. It is awesome.

It helps fight the virus and usually stop the progression. You still have to heal from the damage that has been done but it doesn't usually keep getting worse. I would get it today if possible to start the healing ASAP. My husband used it and it worked amazingly. Keep taking it for several days to a week to keep fighting it.

I believe some of the pain is in the nerves. Shingles can follow the nerve lines in the body. If he is stressed, this can worsen it. Have him try to relax and calm himself. There may be some natural remedies for the nerve pain related to it, but I do not know of any off hand. I believe there is an ointment, like Acyclovir, that can be prescribed for the nerve pain.
__________________________________________________________
I just looked up the nerve pain on the internet, and found:

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a condition that affects the nerve fibers in the skin. It is the most common complication of shingles and results from damage to nerve fibers during shingles. The rash and pain from shingles usually lasts about a month. But in people with PHN, the pain from shingles may last for months, and sometimes years, after the shingles rash has healed.

For many people age 50 or older, prescription oral FAMVIR® (famciclovir) may significantly shorten the duration of PHN, reducing the number of days you have pain.

Check out this website: http://www.shingles.com/info/treating/after/what.jsp

Dear Grandma TM,
My name is A.. I work with nutritional consaltants,they helped number of clients to shorten the healing procces with Shingles. I think we have about 8-10 phone numbers, you will be able to talk for free to prievious clients and ask them any questions. If you like the method, and outcome, you can order the products and if your husband does not see any results or is not fully satisfied after 5 weeks, money back gauaranty. The method exists for 20 years. People with any simptoms are welcome to have conversations with those who are free from similar simptoms.

A. ###-###-####, ###-###-#### cell

My Mom got shingles in her late 70's (after chemo and radiation) and unfortunately other than what the doctors gave her there was not much to relieve the pain. They kind of have to ride it out.

Maybe you could see if the doctor could prescribe a pain reliever such as Vicodin or something like that to help with some of the pain.

I feel for him as I know what my Mom went through.

Good luck....R.

Dear Grandma T M,
You don't say how old your husband is. I am just curious.
I got a case of shingles when I was 33, and pregnant, that almost killed me. And my baby.
Granted, I was told that my case is actually in a medical journal somewhere, let me tell you that shingles is one of the most excruciating things that can happen to a person.
You can break out in varying degrees, but, the size of the rash is not indicative of the measure of pain.
I am one of the unlucky few who now suffer from post-herpatic neuralgia. Meaning the pain never really goes away. It usually occurs in elderly people, But I suffer, surely enough. I actually take a seizure medication that has been found to help with the "nerve" or neurological pain that can be left over.
Also, I don't know how badly he has it, but if it is hurting him and I'm sure it does, he needs something stronger than advil. They actually have Rx numbing creams such as Lidocaine that can help.
I had to be hospitalized with my second flare up when my son was about 2 yrs old and I got lucky to find a doctor that had kept up on all the newest shingle stuff.
Not all people get it as badly as I did, but he should speak up if he needs more help with managing the pain. I spent a holiday weekend with my best friends and she was telling me her husband was grumpy because of a rash. I asked to see it. Sure enough.....shingles.
He had it pretty bad and missed a couple of days of work.
Shingles are a bad, bad thing and I just pray for your husband to recover quickly. I hope it won't stay with him. Not the rash, but the pain part.
I really do send my very west wishes.

Unfortunately, I don't have any suggestions for the pain but I wanted to respond just to offer my sympathy and compassion. I've had shingles three times and it is sooooo painful and uncomfortable. I get my rash in the same exactly place every time, right on my waistline which makes wearing clothing incredibly painful! I am so sorry you husband has to go through this!

I remember the pain being unbearable at times when I had shingles. So bad in fact, I remember telling people I wouldn't wish shingles on my worst enemy. I just mustered my way through the pain while going to work, but I was only 26 years old. I did, however, take it very easy at work. My movements were a lot slower and I rarely left my desk. Has you husband checked with everyone at his work to make sure they've had chicken pox before? Since shingles is from the chicken pox virus, it's contagious to those who haven't had chicken pox. If there's anyone at his office who hasn't had chicken pox, he shouldn't be at work.

Hi,
Shingles is so painful, I am sorry to hear your husband is suffering. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medication is known to be helpful.In the meantime, building his immune system is very important. You can do this with a healthy diet (sorry, no sweets, fried foods, or spicy foods) and herbal supplements. Good luck!!

Hi Grandma,

My family has been plagued by many illnesses, like cancer, autism, cronic nerve pain, psoriasis, shingles, etc, etc!

I have been doing medical research online for about 4 years now. I have to agree with Laura's post, that toxin overload is a major factor in illnesses.

My sister has been suffering from chronic nerve pain for 10 years.They diagnosed her with Reflux Sympathetic Dystrophy. It is one of those "we don't know what causes it" diseases. I was never satisfied with that,( or my mom's dying of cancer, or my daughters thrush, erythema, and autism.) so I went on a fact finding mission!

Im my extensive study on Candidas I can look back on my sister's early symptoms through out her life (exzema, migraines, bodily damage) and see how they were a precurser to her disease now.... pointing to a toxic overload, most likey Candida. So many toxins eventually have damaged her nerve fibers, seemingly permanently for her.

Skin rashes of all kinds start erupting when the nerves are attacked by viruses, (herpes, shingles, etc)bacteria (staph, etc.) fungus (psoriasis, exzema, shingles, herpes, boils, etc)and even prescription drugs (erythema multiforme.)The skin is the largest organ in your body. Is is a detoxing organ.

Candida in the gut gives off a terrible toxin and it causes a weakened immune system and it also proliferated when the immune system is weakened.It occurs from the garbage food we eat.Our bodies become malnourished from garbage food and lack of vitamins, and a weakened body is easily attacked by invaders. All kinds of degenerative diseases start to occur.

I would take a many pronged approach to your husband's disease.I guess I'm rambling but I have so many thoughts in my head. I've noticed that excess sugar can send responses to the skin...itching, and boils. (sugar feeds candida.)So I would get off the sugar and ALL refined foods. Eat a low carb diet of veggies, meats, butter, coconut oil (coconut oil is wonderful)etc. Throw out leftovers after a day, or 2 at most. they start growing mold within hours after they sit in the fridge! Grapefruit seed extract is wonderful for killing candida, bacteria, and viruses so take that and make a salve with a small amount in it. Also take caprylic acid tablets.

The nerves run on hydro electricity. So MORE WATER INTAKE is essential for nerve function. Coffee, soda, etc is a directic, causing your body to loose water and dehydrate, and then your body pulls the water from other parts of your body to run it's most vital organs,(the heart, brain, etc)So get off the other drinks and start drinking more water. 8 ounces for every 25 pounds of body weight, minimum.

Vitamin b is extrememly important for nerve function and it is a water souluable vitamin that we do not store. So take it every day. Most people are defecient in it.
Low zinc causes impared immune response.
L-argenine is important for immune function and is depleated when the body is under attack or injured.
Of course, vit c is a big one. I don't think anyone gets enough.
Vit A in the form of cod liver oil is a must as well.It is a superfood. The highest form of vit A., plus D is in it.
try to limit sulpher in his diet.

Here's what I've read about shingles: start taking very high doses of vit c (2000 mg day)vit E, and B12 together (not sure of dosing on the last 2)at the start of attack.