Diagnosed with shingles today -- riding okay?

[Repack Rider]

Most painful thing you could ever have that isn't going to kill you.

I thought I had something serious, fatal even. I lifted up my shirt and the doctor told me in one second what I had.

I was unusual in the sense that I was a male under the age of 50, a limited risk demographic. I was paid to take part in a study of a drug that may or may not affect the symptoms. I don't know, because I only had it the one time, have no baseline for comparison.

It's been a while, and I don't remember one way or another whether I rode my bike. I know I didn't much feel like riding.

[scooter]

From Reader's Digest "Shingles can kill"



Research released in December last year found that a severe case of shingles can raise the risk for stroke and heart attack—and kill. Caroline Minassian, PhD, along with colleagues from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, looked at the records of over 67,000 patients who had shingles and suffered either a stroke or a heart attack within a year.

“We observed a 2.4-fold increase in the ischemic stroke rate and a 1.7-fold increase in the heart-attack rate,” said researchers. “The most marked increase was observed during the first week following zoster diagnosis.”

Researchers suggested two possible causes: the virus causes fatty build-ups in the arteries to break off and cause a stroke or a heart attack, or the stress caused by the pain sends blood pressure up, again resulting in a stroke or a heart attack.

Further research into shingles at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota also reported in December last year, showed that adults with asthma appeared to have a 70 percent higher risk of developing shingles, compared with those without asthma."

http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/healt...about-shingles

[avalonracing]

I'm in my 40's and I had shingles and was pretty much out of commission with debilitating headaches for most of September. I didn't have a rash on my body but a few bumps on the side of my scalp. Because of that I was misdiagnosed twice by doctors as having cluster headaches (look them up, they are life-changing). While I am SOOO happy it wasn't CH the misdiagnosis prolonged my shingles outbreak. In the end I was the one who figured out what I had, went to a different doc and had it confirmed.
If you have access to the vaccine, GET IT!

[Keith A]

[Keith A]

Just got back from the doctor and he confirmed my diagnosis

[Hawker]

Never had it but watched my Mom with it and read enough stuff on-line to know I needed the shot...which I got.

Very sorry Keith, hang in there and do all you can to attack it.

The rest of you...get the shot!!!

[batman1425]

ugh, sorry to hear. If it's any consolation - I had them 3 times in grad school. Even if you have a good zoster titer, flares are still possible during periods of short term immunosuppression - things like corticosteroids for injuries, long periods of high stress at work/home, etc.

Hopefully you caught it fast enough that they can get you on some anti-virals to stop further development. After the second case, I got savy to the early warning signs that sometimes express before the rash. I was able to head off the 3rd bout before it got bad.

[trener1]

When I had a few years ago I was off the bike for 2 months and it took me longer then that to feel anywhere next to normal, but I heard of people that recover in a week or two.

[christian]

I had it about six weeks ago. I told my doctor, "Can't be shingles, I'm not that old!" She said, "Are you really stressed at work." In any case, sounds like I was lucky - mild case, resolved quickly, no lingering pain. But I'd still pay $235 out of pocket to avoid it!

[cmg]

man do I feel sorry for you, wouldn't wish it on an enemy. What ever is causing the stress get off it. Change jobs, complain about the work load. mine was on my lower back, couldn't sleep, always itching, calamine lotion everywhere. If I could have drank the stuff I would have.

[shovelhd]

Heal up, Keith.

[Clydesdale]

Had it a few years back at about age 40 and the back pain was really rough. Sitting on a heating pad helped and really hot baths also. Not fun stuff at all.

Heal quickly

[Hombre]

Very interesting to find a thread on shingles on Paceline.
I had my 3rd breakout (not counting chickenpox) a few weeks ago... and I'm only 25 and not eligible for the vaccine.
The first 2 cases were on my torso but this last one sucked pretty bad.
It was on my face, neck, ear, and eye. Yes, my freakin' eye.

Doc put me on antibiotics, but guess what? I was allergic to some of the ingredients in the meds and had a fever followed by a full body rash.

I'm still young and dumb because I rode my bike 3 times a week for 3 weeks while all this was going on.

[jlwdm]

I got the shingles vaccine early this year and was surprised to see it is only about 50% effective. I thought it was much more effective.

Jeff

[Keith A]

Thanks for the replies and sharing your stories.

The affected area is in a similar spot as the last time and is currently much smaller than last year's outbreak. The first spots appeared a few days ago and it looked like shingles, but I thought I've already this, it can't be back again...but I was wrong. I've started the anti-viral meds and I'm hoping that this will be a mild case.

I've read about and known some people that have had horrible cases of shingles. A good friend had it in his eye which caused him to go blind temporarily.

From what I've read, the vaccine isn't all that effective and they are close to having a new one which is supposed to be much more effective. There's some information about this on the forum -- maybe even in this thread. My plan was to wait on the new one, but I'm might reconsider this decision based on now having my second case of shingles.