does anyone know anything about shingles.my doc said i have this. it is oh so painful

Shingles is herpes zoster, the chicken pox virus. Shingles is the second ob of chicken pox. It usually is activated in times of great stress, and shows at first as a few small sore bumps which soon open up and crust over...they are very painful. Your dr should be able to give you some medication that will stop it in its tracks. If you get the meds soon enough, you will avoid the nerve damage that causes longterm twinging pains down the nerve pathways that the zoster used to come out of its dormant state.

I had shingles about 10 years ago. Luckily, I went to the dr the second day and he made me take a pill right in his office. I had it on the left side of my face (since it travels down one major nerve, it usually appears only on one side of the body, and either on the face and neck or on the abdomen and below) and so they were worried I would get it in my eye. I went for a couple of weeks without wearing my left contact...a strange way to see the world.

How are you feeling now?

I had shingles about 2 years ago but mine was very mild. I was working at a pharmacy at the time so the pharmacists there diagnosed it for me pretty quickly so I got to the dr within the recommended 72 hours. I was given Valtrex and it cleared it up for me.

I had it on the right side of my middle back, right where my bra strap sat. And it itched like hell! The only reason it was painful for me is b/c I was scratching it all the time.

The dr told me I probably picked it up from all of the children coming into the pharmacy with chicken pox. I was not stessed in any way, shape or form when I got it.