# Shingles - Help for a friend



## mpguy18 (Sep 7, 2011)

A friend of mine has contracted a severe case of shingles. They have given him various types of medicine and was told it should clear up in three to six months. They also have given him a patch he is to use for pain (sorry don't know what it is, but will ask and post) Unfortunately he cannot sleep at night due to the pain. Says even with the pain patch, it's like lying on a wasp nest as the nerve endings are constatly firing.

Does anyone have anything that he could make and take to help him sleep? Chamemile (sp) hasn't done a thing.


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

"Apple cider vinegar is a shinges remedy that helps remove the itching and burning rapidly and heal the shingles more quickly. Dimethyl sulfoxide is another shingles remedy that helps stop the growth of the virus by penetrating right to the center of the infection. Dimethyl sulfoxide is a shingles remedy which helps you to get rid of the stinging and rash in three days, if applied to the affected areas twice daily."

Worth a try?


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

Where does he have it? I had a case on my head which, if I didn't touch it, was fine and no pain, however washing hair or face, combing hair, etc. felt like it was on fire. They were worried the blisters which had affected 4 out of 5 nerves in my head would end up on the 5th one and thus invade my eye... an eye sight threatening condition. I ended up with some pills (forgot what) and tobradex, an eye ointment. I guess it worked fine as it did thankfully keep it out of my eye. I think the blisters lasted about 3 weeks with painful touching and maybe another week or two of going away with no more pain. I was offered one of the prescription pain meds however I never filled it as in my case I didn't need them. Now I kick myself for not doing so as insurance would have paid for it and it would have made a great use or barter item in the event of SHTF.

Good luck and well wishes for a speedy recovery to him.


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## TheSurvivalDoctor (Mar 25, 2012)

It sounds like he has post-herpetic neuralgia. It's a type of nerve pain that occurs, sometimes, after an outbreak of shingles. The time it lasts is unpredictable--weeks, months, years. There are several medicines that might help such as amitriptyline, neurontin, etc., but it's hit and miss. I'm sure his doctor knows. Sometimes over-the-counter Zostrix cream (capsaicin) helps.

As he's found out, nerve pains are hard to treat.


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## mpguy18 (Sep 7, 2011)

Folks, sorry about the delay in responding. Unfortunately lost a family member the day I posted this.

Thanks all for the replies. 

Have heard of the cider vinegar for the itching. It's the location that's part of the cause. Starts on the inside of the thigh, works around back up the buttock and to the belt line. Is about an inch wide and a half to three quarter wide. This all happened within a seventy two hour period. No matter what he wears there is constant contact and rubbing.

Have forwarded on your replies to him and will let him make the decision. 

Thanks again for the thoughts and words of encouragement!


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

Sorry for your loss.


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

Sorry to hear about your family member. 

A sure sign of shingles, as my doctor told me is that it is isolated to one side, either right or left, of the body. A rash across your lower back, for example would not be shingles but if it stopped at the midline of the body then it very well could be shingles. I'm assuming from your description that it is just on one leg and doesn't pass his "crack".


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## mpguy18 (Sep 7, 2011)

Thank you for your thoughts folks! This forum is much more than I originally thought. Thank you again.

Culex, you are correct. It is on the lieft side of the body. It does wrap around the leg up the buttock and then to the belt line, but is all located on the left side. 

He has been to the doctor for treatment, but has had extreme discomfort do to clothes contact during his job.


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## Meg627 (Apr 16, 2012)

mp- so sorry for our loss. 

I hope you don't mind me jumping in as the afterthought on a older thread. 

There's been some recent research that's been done on the usage of parenteral Vitamin C for PHN. In the study, they treated the patient with 2.5 g ascorbate (vit C) on days 1, 3, 5 in a wekk. Within 1 week the shooting pain completely resolved and the basline pain was measured at a 3 (previously an 8). On followup 3 months later he had no reoccurance of extreme pain. He was also advised to eat lots of fruits and veggies and to take a Vit C supplement. 

So -- the trick would be to see if your friend's doctor would consider this treatment. Have him mention the study done in 2006 called Treatment of postherpetic neuralgia with intravenous administration of Vitamin C Chen JY, Chu CC, So EC, HsingCH, Hu ML. 

If his doctor doesn't go for it, he could try a large amount of Vit C supplements for a week, eat healthy, and see what happens. If nothin' else, he'll get his Vit C levels up to where it prevents many other ailments and diseases.  

I also second the capsaicin cream the good Doc mentioned up there. Or even better, a capsaicin patch. But the patch seems like torture at first, but it's really quite effective. The area would need to be treated with a pain killer like lidocaine before the patch is applied, but the idea is that the capsaicin causes damage to nerve endings, and once the nerve endings are dead, so is the post-herpetic neuralgia. The herpes zoster virus lives in the nerves of the body, so if you kill the nerve endings, the theory is that you get rid of the pain. 

One other thing I would recommend is taking omega-3 fatty acids to reduce pain and inflammation. 

Also - tell him if he uses an NSAID, he should take tylenol/acetaminophen. There was a study done in 2010 (it's on pubmed, I'm sure I could find it if needed) that observed those that took other NSAIDs had a much higher risk of developing serious complications like staph and strep infections. Those that took tylenol didn't report any complications at all. 

Tell him good luck! I don't envy him.  Hopefully he gets it all worked out as PHN pain can last for months or even years!


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