[AMA] I Have Shingles & In the Worst Pain Of My Life (40/M)

Saul Goodman on 12/08/2024 - 17:30

I couldn't find a shingles post so here we go…

Day 1 - 4 weeks ago I went to bed and started to feel pain in my right rib. I'm fairly active so thought it must have been gym related and thought nothing of it.

Day 2 - Next morning I woke up and still had the pain but also pain on my back, still fairly mild but constant. Still thought it was just gym related because I have had back pain in the same area before. Thought maybe nerve related and that was causing the pain to radiate to the ribs. That afternoon I was flying to Melbourne for a short 3 night trip - still caught the flight. Woke up at 2am and it felt like someone had taken a baseball bat and smashed every bone body in my torso. It was the most pain I ever felt in my life. I was just laying in bed in agony, trying to somehow fall asleep as I didn't want to go to hospital.

Day 3 - Woke up in moderate/severe pain and went straight to the doctors who did a heart scan and sent me off to get a chest xray which would come back the following day. There was still just pain and no rash showing so he gave me codeine for the pain. Realised the codeine was not helping with the pain but alcohol did help. Went to sleep and woke up at 1-2 am and again the most pain I have ever felt before. It was like every bone had been smashed and I was laying on the ground in completely agony for an hour before I got tired and got a few hours asleep. This night was worse than the other before. I should have gone to hospital then.

Day 4 - Woke up and noticed some red patches and thought farkk now I have internal bleeding and went straight to hospital. One look and the nurse immediately knew it was shingles. I was put on anti virals and some stronger pain meds.

Day 5 - 14. After starting the anti virals, it started to feel a bit better. It was still a constant minimum 5/10 pain and I would still wake up a lot in pain but nothing like before.

Day 15+ Onwards - After finishing the anti virals, all the pain came back with vengeance. I am constantly in pain and have not had 1 night since where I have not woken up at least 4-5x times in agony.

The pain goes from feeling like my bones have been smashed, to feeling like someone has poured acid on my skin to there being a million bugs crawling under my skin and if I go to touch the skin, it feels like I'm touching it with razor blades. Thankfully I don't get pain from water touching my skin and have found showers/baths are my best relief.

I'm on a number of pain meds and antidepressents which can help with nerve pain. Tried 7 different creams which provides very minimal relief and all the suggested diet/supplement changes. Going to try Vitamin C drips soon to see if that helps. It's looking more like I have postherpetic neuralgia now which is nerve damaged caused from the shingles and can last for months, or years or a lifetime. I'm literally scared of going to bed at night because I know how much pain I'm going to wake up with in a couple of hours. Ask me anything lol

Health & Beauty

Comments

        • freefall101 on 15/08/2024 - 22:56

          Damn, I was hoping for a fascinating AMA from that.

          Thanks for giving me a laugh though!

        • shutuptakemymoney101 on 16/08/2024 - 07:31
          +3

          Sounds like shingles can be a real pain in the arse.

  • James Tabby on 16/08/2024 - 10:10

    ACN - What you need to know
    Why you shouldn't get the shingles vaccine

    Shingrix related information
    FDA Warning about Shingrix
    While Zostavax is still available, studies show it is less effective

    Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

    At least you don't hear about people dying from Shingles or the vaccine.

    • fredblogs on 16/08/2024 - 10:51

      Every one of your links makes a strong case that you should get the vaccine if you're over 50.

    • snuke on 16/08/2024 - 10:59
      +1

      Whoever downvoted you didn't bother to read the links, and probably thinks it's another bunch of oddball anti-vax claims rather than real data.

      The article titled "Why You Shouldn't Get the Shingles Vaccine" doesn't help, but probably for fear based clicks, while the information provided in the article is all factual, and the real reason why you shouldn't is only one part of it. Not OPs fault for their stupid header.

      It's not really a dammed if you do scenario, that FDA warning is relevant, as there are cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) as a result, but the percentage is insanely small:

      "The primary analysis (claims-based, all doses) found an increased risk of GBS during the 42 days following vaccination with Shingrix, with an estimated 3 excess cases of GBS per million doses administered to adults aged 65 years or older. In secondary analyses, an increased risk of GBS was observed during the 42 days following the first dose of Shingrix, with an estimated 6 excess cases of GBS per million doses administered to adults aged 65 years or older, and no increased risk of GBS was observed following the second dose of Shingrix. "

      Zostavax is no longer used, and removed from the market, so the last article has less relevancy now.

      • greatlamp on 17/08/2024 - 10:05

        No this is a textbook example of antivax nonsense. Antivax claims are often based on real data - interpreted by ignorant people. They create a hypothesis based on zero context or understanding of the facts they are referring to.

        The article is all factual? Are you aware that Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a known side effect of shingles infection? Someone can spend all this time reading medical articles and walked away less informed than when they started - with the impression that the vaccine is potentially more harmful than the disease the vaccine is preventing.

        People who fall into antivax beliefs are often well read and intelligent, but have an inability to perform recursive reasoning. Any argument based on facts MUST be true.

  • snuke on 16/08/2024 - 11:57

    My mother got shingles on her scalp many years ago, she still suffers horribly from it.
    She has gone through a raft of specialist, many different drugs and treatments, all to little effect, including heavy doses of Endone.

    In her case, it feels as though her scalp is on fire, like you, it ruins her sleep.

    It has had a clear negative effect on her neurologically. She used to be very sharp and quick with responses and speech cadence, it got the point she would struggle to get any words out. She is far better than she has been, pain is still frequent, speech cadence has increased although she is still far slower to put her thoughts together. It is clear this has taken years off her life.

    I have gotten her CBD liquid and balms, that has helped.

  • Sea lion on 16/08/2024 - 13:04

    Speedy recovery OP! I had shingles when I was 24, on my back. Was just about to go clubbing and my friends and I couldn’t figure out why my back was so sore. Got diagnosed the next day as the rash had just come up but definitely was not in as much pain as you OP luckily! I remember sticking a patch on the drained blisters a week or so later and heading out to the clubs again. Although 10 years on, I still get post herpetic itch in the exact spot sometimes. It’s a weird phantom itch.

  • centrelink on 17/08/2024 - 10:46

    Had shingles in my early 20’s and remember feeling weird sharp pains on like the left or right side of my brain coming in waves frequently. It was a weird experience and I didn’t take it seriously at the time

  • trevor99 on 17/08/2024 - 12:05
    +3

    Of course shingles existed before the vaxx. However the number of cases have skyrocketed since, many fold, same as other conditions.

    Here are some snapshots of Pfizer's "post marketing" observations. These were observed shortly after the jabs, and unfortunately the damage is often persistently showing up years later. They tried to hide them for 70 years but a judge decided otherwise:

    https://imgur.com/a/GXRbn58

    • Mad Max on 18/08/2024 - 11:57
      -1

      No mate.
      The huge increase in shingles cases in the last 2 years is CATEGORICALLY NOT DUE TO THE COVID VACCINE!!!

      The Pfizer post marketing" observations you linked IS DEFINITELY WRONG!!!

      THE VACCINE IS SAFE AND EFFECTIVE!!!
      Besides, now I cannot take the vaccine (and all the boosters) out of me and if I admit that it was not safe and effective I get downvoted on OZB 😭

      • trevor99 on 18/08/2024 - 12:21
        +2

        :))

        When I started pointing out the truth a couple of years ago I was down voted to oblivion within 10 minutes. I tried hard to help them.
        Now neutral to positive reactions. How will it be in future when they finally wake up to how bad it is?

        • Mad Max on 18/08/2024 - 17:16

          Many of the downvoters have died.

          How will it be in future when they finally wake up to how bad it is?

          More of the downvoters will be dead.

      • TEER3X on 18/08/2024 - 17:40
        -2

        If it's COVID related, it would likely mostly be due to COVID itself.

    • Ughhh on 18/08/2024 - 14:03
      -3

      Correct me if I'm wrong, since you've only included screenshots of it, which may not show the full context.

      Total number of cases is 42,086 for Post Marketing Cases Evaluation.
      Of which only 259 was Herpes Zoster, which is 0.6%.

      Whats the percentage of 259 in the number of people who took the Pfizers vax?

      On a side note, apparently 225 people are hospitalised from Panadol overdose a year. 40-50 deaths each year :(

      • trevor99 on 18/08/2024 - 14:22
        +3

        Yeah in only the first 2 months post poisoning if you can believe Pfizer included them all, and patients reported them all. Often these kind of things are embarrassing for people to report. How many since?

        Shingles is one of many, many side effects as is so obvious now. Not usually deadly so not as important. Try turbo Cancers and heart attacks.

                "since you've only included screenshots of it, which may not show the full context."

        Yeah typical response. Attack the source, don't trust screen prints. Just like "You're not a doctor, you're not an empidemiologist". Yawn.

        Here's the full context. Have some of that:
        https://phmpt.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/5.3.6-postmarke…

        • Ughhh on 18/08/2024 - 14:44

          Thats why numbers by itself doesn't tell the full story, percentages work better. From the 42,086 cases, 0.6% was herpes zoster.

          Say we double the amount of HZ cases, at 518, it only just breaks into the 1% range (1.2%). But I'm just making this number up.

          If you were to gather up all the people who experienced HZ following the vax, then it would be >90% of the cases. Now that would be interesting!

          Edit:
          I'm not attacking the source, unless you consider yourself as a source (weird). I'm 'attacking' (if you want to call it that), how you present your source. It's worrying how you don't see the difference. Don't get all angry and defensive when the reader is asking for clarity, unless you just expect readers to not think critically and follow whatever you say like a sheep?

          I could too screen shot the index of the medical book and highlight every word with 'herpes' in it.

          • trevor99 on 18/08/2024 - 14:55
            -1

            @Ughhh: "Say we double the amount of HZ cases, at 518, it only just breaks into the 1% range (1.2%). But I'm just making this number up."

            You're assuming the first 2 months has half the cases of Zoster of the total of the first 36 months. That kind of trickery is unhelpful and is exactly the kind of manipulation that's lead to mass death and injury.

            The excess deaths and injuries are persistent rather than just a big hit at the start. I really wish they weren't but they are.
            https://imgur.com/a/zfwsZ96

            • Ughhh on 18/08/2024 - 15:05

              @trevor99:

              You're assuming the first 2 months has half the cases of Zoster of the total of the first 36 months.

              Huh. Your previous comment was about the cases in the first 2 months, so I'm doubling the cases for the period you're talking about. Why are you moving the goal post? What is this trickery??

              Please calm down.

              Here's a screenshot thats interesting too

              • trevor99 on 18/08/2024 - 15:18
                +1

                @Ughhh: You said from Pfizer figures, 0.6 percent only from the first two months, assume 1%, but of course the question is … How many cases have there been in the 36 months now elapsed? What percentage of the vaxxed? Obviously Not trivial. The poor guy on this thread is lost pleading for help and you obfuscate them.

                Don't tell me to calm down I'm so sick of this $%^&.

                If you say it's for your health, go ahead and Boost up!!

                • mrdean on 18/08/2024 - 15:25

                  @trevor99: In the methodology section of that confidential Pfizer post marketing experience report 5.3.6 they acknowledge the limitations of the data, in that reports are submitted voluntarily & the magnitude of the under-reporting is unknown.

                  • Ughhh on 18/08/2024 - 15:29

                    @mrdean:

                    In the methodology section of that confidential Pfizer post marketing experience report 5.3.6 they acknowledge the limitations of the data, in that reports are submitted voluntarily & the magnitude of the under-reporting is unknown.

                    This is common in all scientific research papers. Unless you want to go full North Korea and round everyone up like sheep. Any person who says there no limitations, possible errors and assumptions, has never worked in the science field and is selling you snake oil.

                • Ughhh on 18/08/2024 - 15:35

                  @trevor99:

                  only from the first two months,

                  I didn't say anything about months. I only copied the values in the paper you linked.

                  Total number of cases is 42,086 for Post Marketing Cases Evaluation.
                  Of which only 259 was Herpes Zoster.

                  If the above values I've quoted above has been misquoted/copied wrong, then let me know.

                  If the paper is about the 2 month period as you had suggested, then that's what we're talking about. If you want to talk about 36 months, then say that the article you linked is no longer that relevant and you want to talk about 36 months. It's very rich of you keep changing the goalpost then having a tantrum about being "so sick of this $%^&".

                  • trevor99 on 18/08/2024 - 15:40
                    +1

                    @Ughhh: BS. That's how you want to frame it. The important stat is obviously total cases. That is only an early window into the Pfizer fraud.

                    • Ughhh on 18/08/2024 - 15:46

                      @trevor99:

                      The important stat is obviously total cases

                      Yes, I agree. But do you have that? My crystal ball isn't that advanced yet. Percentages gives an indication.

                      You're the one who provided the numbers (or link/source to the numbers) to support your argument. If you don't like the numbers you've presented, thats on you mate, dont get angry at me for your incompetency.

                      • trevor99 on 18/08/2024 - 15:51
                        +1

                        @Ughhh: Idiotic response. Anyone can look at Pfizer's admission of the first 2 months and extrapolate whatever trend they like from there and it won't be good.

                        • mrdean on 18/08/2024 - 16:13
                          +1

                          @trevor99:

                          Anyone can look at Pfizer's admission of the first 2 months and extrapolate whatever trend they like from there and it won't be good.

                          I did a quick search on the NVIC's MedAlerts site for adverse event reports (using expert mode), selecting covid19 vaccines & "herpes zoster reactivation" in the LLT symptom field. There were a total of 145 reports.

                          I then ran another, selecting all the available "herpes zoster…." listed symptoms. There were a total of 14888 reports.

                          The first entry in the second report I ran is VAERS id 904427. A 34 year old male in New York who got the Pfizer on the 16th of Dec 2020, probably the first day it was available. Onset of symptoms was 2 days later.

                          The following was in the write up field: "12/18/2020 scrotal pain. Evening onset of rash 12/19/2020 Rash lower lumber, left butt cheek, scrotum and p.nis. Took picture and sent to Consult with infectious disease. Doctor deemed rash to be SHINGLES and prescribed Valtrex. By evening, rash had progressed all over and pain associated with shingles. 12/20/2020 Stable but rash is still prominent. Consult over tele"

                          https://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/index.php

                          update - just did another quick search but limiting it to an approx 2 month period, from dec 2020 to feb 2021, about 2 1/2 months into the rollout in the usa. There were 2072 cases reported into VAERS. If its true that only a fraction of cases are reported, say 1% to 10%, then the real number may be somewhere between 20000 to around 200000.

                          update 2 - an interesting case is VAERS id 915817. A 55 year old female who received the pfizer on the 17th of Dec 2020. Write up: " Shingles rash noted 12 days after receiving vaccine. I have had shingles earlier this year so I was familiar and able to contact my care provider."

                        • Ughhh on 19/08/2024 - 07:14

                          @trevor99: I'm clearly talking to a wall.

                          As I've said numerous times, you're the one who used the 2 months data as the basis of the argument. I'm sorry that youve confused and bullshtted yourself.

                          Good luck mate, you'll need it.

                • Mad Max on 18/08/2024 - 17:28
                  -1

                  @trevor99:

                  If you say it's for your health, go ahead and Boost up!!

                  He did. 2 vaccines and 5 boosters.
                  He still got covid…again
                  So he went for the 6th booster.
                  While he was there they recommended the flu vaccine, the shingles vaccine and the rsv vaccine.
                  So now he will be the heathiest man…in the cemetery 🤣😂🤣

  • Saul Goodman on 18/08/2024 - 14:52
    +2

    Updates

    Last Wednesday, got a really expensive vitamin infusion to boost my immune system as I woke up with 3 mouth ulcers also during the week so I knew my immune was fked.
    Last Friday, saw a Chinese herb practitioner who did acupuncture and sold me some really overpriced herb tea.

    Did not notice anything immediately from either but they want me to come back for more. Not sure on the infusions because of the costs but I'm going to see a different acupuncturist as the one I saw was a little too weird for me.

    Pain wise, I'm getting the high intensity internal pain a lot less often now but my skin is still unbearable sensitive. Wearing any top feels like torture so I now work in my office without a shirt on lol.

  • James Tabby on 18/08/2024 - 17:31

    This is probably a dumb question, but how do you know it isn't something else such as mpox?

    Apparently it is spread in a flu-like manner and children are the most at risk. It has been detected in wastewater, but it is unclear why we haven't seen any statistics on the mainstream media yet.

    Is there a monkeypox testkit like they have with covid?

    For example, someone sent me this video, that to me could look like shingles. It's a video of someone inside the NHS system complaining they have not been treated well and every nurse around them is scared.

    This is scary as hell, hope you aren't walking around outside. Are you getting deliveries and avoiding contact with others, because I'm thinking it's super easy to be misdiagnosed unless you went to get a PCR test.

    • Saul Goodman on 18/08/2024 - 18:47

      I'm sure the doctor would have been able to distinguish between the two and mine was a very stereotypical shingles rash. The rash in the video looks nothing like shingles and it also doesn't look like mpox btw.

      I am walking around outside and I am not avoiding contact with others. Although I did avoid babies/kids/anyone that looked pregnant at the start.

    • trevor99 on 18/08/2024 - 19:36
      -1

      I'm happy to answer this, there are no dumb questions.

      Firstly, please look closely at this image: https://imgur.com/a/adfsch1

      Monkeypox maybe an obscure virus in some jungle somewhere but it isn't a threat to us. Monkeypox is shingles outbreaks thanks to the poison covid vaccine compromising immune systems to allow blistering and zoster infections to take hold.

      Further, the PCR test is a scam. The yanks pulled it for a while, because it doesn't work, however they're now using it for the next round of coercion. It amplifies the sample over and over until they can probably end up finding anything in anything. It only finds building blocks or parts by the way, never a complete virus. Often these parts come from completely other sources.

      Also remember this, there is no diagnostic tool to differentiate one strain of flu from another. Think about it.

      They tried to ramp the bird flu scam a few weeks ago and slaughtered millions of chickens because of a PCR test. They kept testing until they got a positive. Have you noticed that fakery dying down now? What about our wild bird population? If you believe their stories it would be endemic in ducks, parrots, etc all birds and we could never be rid of it. Think about these things logically. Their stories are ridiculous when you analyse it through.

      • bigticket on 20/08/2024 - 22:35
        -1

        I don't know why you are continuously downvoted. Probably the same reasons my comments are downvoted.

        Is the PCR test a scam. Absolutely.
        Is the PCR bird flu test a scam. Absolutely. (slaughtering millions of birds is a disgrace)
        Do Covid jabs increase the likelihood of shingles. Absolutely.

        Most people on here a incapable of rationally discerning truth from fiction.

  • spacemansam on 19/08/2024 - 06:27
    +2

    Physio here - have been seeing a male in his 50's post severe shingles (rash covered larger than an A4 sheet over his shoulder). Had severe pain constantly. After 2 weeks, pain has significantly reduced as we've been able to improve shoulder movement. I also suggested he purchase a TENS machine for pain management as there is some literature that supports it's use in shingles pain management.

    Worth seeing a Pain Physiotherapist if you haven't already. Good luck!

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