shingles

I had shingles on my forehead, ear, and sinus. Combined paracetamol and ibuprofen do help the pain, but keep a chart as to when you use them, don't overdose. If your head is painful (a funny sort of pain isn't it) a fleece hood, or bandeau, or shawl is helpful. Also, do something that takes your mind off it, gardening really can do that! I believe there should be local support groups for shingles, but our doctors aren't interested in anything like that. xx

Whatever you do don't push yourself for the next few weeks; take it very easy. I've always had a theory that virus's can kick in again a couple of weeks later; I always noticed when my children had childhood virus's they were quite perky when actually ill with them but a couple of weeks later would become very tired and run down. Amitriptyline has lots of uses these days and doesn't seem to be used as an anti depressant as such.

Glad you're feeling better, sallee.

Thankyou to everyone for your replies I am pleased to say I am now feeling a little better, The doctor has prescribed amittriptyline I was a bit surprised as this is for Depression but they do give this for Shingles as well anyway fingers crossed I keep improving thanks again Sallee x

Yes, I've had it twice as well, but fortunately not badly. I know it can be horrible, particularly if it affects your eye, but it is possible to have it mildly as well. Hope you're feeling better, sallee

Yes, you can get shingles more than once. I have had it very badly, twice.

My aunt who was at a very low ebb after death of her partner, visited us when my kids were small to cheer herself up. The day she left all three of them started to come down with very mild chickenpox and were hardly poorly at all.
Aunt came down a bit later with horrendous classic shingles round her middle which itched and drove her crazy for about three months. Poor woman never came to visit again while kids young.

Just googled it and, yes you can but it's rare to do so. I don't understand the chicken pox/shingles connection. I know my mum had it and I feel awful that, at the time I had no idea how poorly she was. It was a long time ago but I still feel bad about it.

If so - I shall certainly find out about the vaccine

crimson - does that imply that you can get shingles more than once?

Jess I know you did not say homeopathy was unsafe, in fact you said very clearly 'it is completely safe as there is nothing in it'. My post was in response to wheniwasyourage saying 'I quite agree with you about the safety of homeopathy' I took this to mean you thought it was unsafe wheniwas so apologies if I misunderstood.

The conditions for which I used homeopathy would not have got better on their own, and conventional treatments had been tried and did not help. In both cases there was a dramatic improvement. In one case this was reversed when the remedy was stopped. I have no explanation, but I know I would try it again without hesitation. I would never expect it to cure a life-threatening illness and I too would be worried if anyone did. I might use it in conjunction with conventional medicine to alleviate the symptoms.

May find out about this tomorrow. I do worry about shingles. But I thought once you'd had chicken pox the virus just lay dormant in your body until you were at a low ebb and then shingles kicked in?

You can now get a vaccination against shingles. It is not free on the NHS yet but I understand if you buy the vaccine (about£50.00, I understand) your GP will innoculate you without charge.

DD had shingles around her head and eyes when she was about 30, very unpleasant and painful

Oh I wasn't really referring to homeopathic medicine, just the need sometimes to supplement our diet with things that a modern diet may lack [at the same time wondering why the Chinese or Inuit never died out due to such a limited diet ].

That's as maybe *crimson" but if you take a small amount of a mineral and then give it the homeopathic treatment of diluting it down 9 times, there is not going to be any of the original substance left to do you any good! So how they can claim they are "nutritional supplements" is a poser.
As one site says "it is impossible to overdose" - well, yes indeed if you start with nothing and take an awful lot of it, you will still have...

But we are missing a lot of trace elements due to the way our food is produced these days, aren't we? I saw a programme on the telly once where some students were being given a lecture as part of their training. A patient could hardly move, but was given [I think] some magnesium and they were instantly cured [I hope I didn't imagine this programme; it was ages ago when they seemed to have a lot more medical programmes on the telly; operations and suchlike;we watched a lot of them because my daughter was interested in that sort of thing]. Anyway, this programme really stuck in my mind; that lacking in something so basic could cause such illness.

Rinky many people have tried to prove that homeopathy works. A rich man has offered a million US dollars to anyone who can actually prove it does but there have been not takers. There has been extensive research and homeopathy has never been shown to be better than a placebo pill. This is not surprising as homeopathic remedies contain nothing but sugar and water.
People who take homeopathic remedies for many conditions often get better. They would have got better anyway, its just they like to think its the homeopathy that did it.
Never said it was dangerous nightowl unless people delude themselves that they can use it to cure life threatening diseases. In which case it can be fatal - a pretty major side effect I'd say.
A German doctor 200 years ago observed that accepted medical practice was doing more harm than good (repeated blood letting and purges were the standard treatment). He dreamed up homeopathy as something that would do no harm. And of course his patients did do rather well compared to the ones subjected to repeated blood letting and purging. Which is no reason to believe there is any value in the homeopathic "remedies" themselves. The pills actually contain not a single molecule of the substance on the label e.g. arnica, arsenic because the "dilutions" used actually dilute down to a concentration of about one molecule in Lake Superior. That was worked out 100 years ago.
So I am expressing a judgement but it is based on well established scientific research. My statements would be "judgemental" I suggest if they were about people. If for instance I said that Prince Charles should not interfere with the way in which the NHS spends its money then that would, i admit, be judgemental.
Tissue salts. Wow. They are a "nutritional supplement" that is made along homeopathic principles - by diluting them. So each pill is going to contain a minute amount of phosphorous, calcium, magnesium etc. I am at a loss to know why anyone would think this is any more helpful than consuming a roast dinner which will contain all these minerals in much greater quantities.

nightowl, I did not say that homeopathy was unsafe, and neither did JessM. The point is that it is very safe as there is nothing (i.e. no active ingredient) in the treatment it offers. What can be unsafe is buying medication, herbal or otherwise, particularly from the internet, as the interactions between herbal medicine and any conventional medication you may be on are not taken into account unless you speak to someone who knows what they are talking about. I hold no brief for Big Pharma either - if drug companies can't make money, they don't want to know, which is why we have endless permutations on drugs which are about to go out of patent, but no immunisation against malaria.

Riverwalk....look up tissue salts, dr scheuseller for full explanation please as rather long winded. Have read about his work and hannemans for a long time and it all makes sense to me.

Out of interest for those who do not know...The whole royal family take tissue salts and various homeopathics. I know some people consider them nuts anyway but they do seem to live to a ripe old age eh?? If not for prince Charles the Royal homeopathic hospital in London would have closed down under the Labour government and those who would choose to be treated that way would have had no choice.

Harrigran...New era salts have been on the market for almost 100 years and are made by Reckitt and Coleman in hull so even the fact that they are sold on the Internet does not necessarily make them a bad product!

I do agree that it's vitally important to take aciclovir asap with shingles but do feel that a good diet afterwards can help the healing process by helping the body to fight further infection, and that does include taking certain vitamins if the body doesn't produce them naturally [eg vit D].

Homeopathy is not unsafe. You may think it is pointless but it is not harmful. I have had experience of using it for my daughter and my dog and it was very helpful in both cases. I did not buy over the counter remedies but consulted a homeopath. Nothing more to say really, I was not ripped off and was happy with the results. I have a very open mind on these matters.

JessM, your comments on the dangers of herbal medicines and of buying any medicines from the internet are spot on, and I quite agree with you about the safety of homeopathy! You have indeed stated a judgement, and I join you in it.

Could not agree more with gracesmum and butty and I really hope that by now you've seen a doctor and have the necessary drugs supplied. It really is a particularly nasty thing to have, I suffered from it about 10 years ago, in my forehead and eye. Like butty I still suffer from postherpatic neuralgia which seems to get worse when I'm tired, stressed or upset. I still have the sensitive area on my forehead which can be very itchy and my eyesight was affected too.
Take care - and I sincerely hope that you're in good, capable hands

Rinky what are tissue salts and how do they work - are they massaged in?

RINKY even vitamins can have side effects and I would never buy drugs, herbal or otherwise, on the internet. Self medication is not advised unless you are a doctor of course and know what you are doing.