Betty asks…
shingles without the flu like symptoms?
Can i have shingles but without the flu like symptoms? My only symptom of shingles is the painful rash with scabs and blisters but otherwise i feel completely fine, no flu like symptoms. Could this still be shingles?
admin answers:
Yes because I’ve had them too,they take a long time to get rid of and I took Benadryl when I had mine.I didn’t experience any flu symptoms when I had them either,just know that they can take a while to heal.Hope this helps you out and get better soon!
William asks…
My friend has had all the shingles symptoms for about 2 weeks now, if she has all the symptoms, how long…..?
before she actually breaks out in a rash? she’s never had chicken pox or herpes but ……she has all of the exact symptoms of shingles. she went to the doc in the first week and he said to look out for the rash, well no rash yet. how long does it take to show up? thanks!
could stress create these symptoms? she can’t even stand anything on her skin like clothing. doc tells her yes but she never had chicken pox. is it possible?
admin answers:
It sure does sound like you’re describing neuralgia of some sort. I have a close friend who has insulin-dependent diabetes and that kind of can’t-bear-to-put-any-clothes on skin sensitivity is common with type 1 diabetes.
There’s something commonly referred to as post-herpetic neuralgia which, because shingles is a herpes-virus-family-related condition, is what lingering post-shingles sensitive skin would be called. But, as the other responders have said, shingles is a reactivation of chickenpox later in life and your girlfriend says she hasn’t had it. Also, if it were shingles-related, the rash probably would have developed by now.
Has she had the vaccine against chickenpox? Some researchers have hypothesized that vaccination in childhood could actually make you more susceptible to shingles later in life. However, this has yet to be proven in clinical studies.
It is also thought possible that if you have had one of the other herpes viruses, such as HSV-1, or HSV-2, (and it is possible that you could be a “silent carrier”, someone that has never had an outbreak) you could develop this type of neuralgia—-perhaps a type that never breaks out into blisters or a rash, but just creates nerve sensitivity.
If it is, indeed, shingles or some kind of virus-related neuralgia, there may be some things you can do to reduce the discomfort.
1. The over-the-counter drug, Tagamet (cimetidine), has been demonstrated to enhance the immune system by inhibiting T-suppressor cells and has been shown to lessen the severity and duration of herpes-virus outbreaks.
2. The amino-acid, lysine, has been shown to have antiviral effects against herpes.
3. Lactoferrin, a protein found in human milk, has been shown to have antiherpetic effects.
4. Antioxidants A, C, E and selenium help boost the immune system.
5. Cream made with capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers could provide some relief on skin that has not broken out.
And, YES, stress is one of the primary things that brings the dormant herpes virus out of the closet, so to speak. That stress could be mechanical (friction), physical (sleep deprivation), emotional (anxiety), nutritional (arginine-containing foods like almonds can induce an outbreak) or maybe even exposure to some kind of toxin (aspartame has been known to increase outbreaks in some people).
I’ve provided links where you can find out more about these conditions, treatments and other related issues.
Best of luck! Feel free to email me.
Chris asks…
what are the sign and symptoms of shingles and is it infectious?
admin answers:
Check out www.webmd.com
Richard asks…
How does shingles interact with the body to produce the symptoms it does?
admin answers:
Shingles is essentially the adult version of chicken pox. After you get chicken pox, the virus hides in your dorsal ganglia and wait. When the body gets immuno-compromised, the virus is sometimes re-released and infects the body.
The virus travels from the dorsal ganglia down nerves to specific locations and can branch off into different nerves. The symptoms are similar to chicken pox except there it deals with the nerves as well increasing the pain and hence severity.
Steven asks…
What are the symptoms of internal shingles?
admin answers:
Unless you mean within the mouth/throat or ears, you don’t get internal shingles. The virus (varicella-zoster) lies dormant in the dorsal root ganglion of peripheral nerves. In plain English, that mean the sensory (pain feeling) part of nerves that supply, basically, the outside of the body (and mouth, throat, ears etc).
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