Yowling Rant

[Asso]

Shingles is not good. Treat well your wife.

[Alelou]

Ugh, that's an awful painful thing to get.

There's a vaccine against shingles for seniors now. Did she never get it?

Not defending drug company profits, but if that cream works, it will be worth every penny.

[Silverbullet]

Alelou, no, she saw that it was available but didn't get it. she has been told that if this case clears up she can get the Shot.

the pills didn't have any effect so I am hoping the Ointment will. At least it is isn't internal shingles.

[Alelou]

Well, I wish her a short duration. Viruses that inflame nerves are just the worst.

[Distracted]

What sort of ointment? A pain reliever? I don't know of any ointment which treats shingles.

[Aquarius]

Oddly enough, I never got the chicken pox, which I understand you usually have to get before you get the shingles. I say "usually" because I *did* get the shingles when I was about a year and a half old. (And yes, we're sure--my mom took me to the doctor, who said he'd never heard of that before, but obviously it was possible, because he was looking right at it.) For the longest time we thought maybe I had an immunity to chicken pox because of that, and because I also had a reaction to my small pox vaccine. When I was a kid, my mom went so far as to expose me to other kids who had chicken pox on purpose, but it never happened.

When I was 30, my mom told me to get the bloodwork done to see if I had immunity to chicken pox, because it's even worse and possibly fatal (?) if you get it when you're an adult. Had it done, turns out I never had an immunity to it--doctor said our reasoning might've been valid but the blood shows I'd just gotten lucky all these years. So I got immunized against it--a total of two shots, so for a while I got to feel like I'd been socked in the arm!

Fortunately, I've never had any recurrences of the shingles, either. Very strange indeed.

[Silverbullet]

Distracted, it is Zovrax. apparently a Herpes Ointment. Why? I don't know.

Wife told me wrong amount it is 15 grams for 194 dollars vice 55.

What a Herpes Ointment is going to do is beyond me.

SB

[Aikiweezie]

My friend had shingles about a year ago - she was miserable. Sorry to hear Mrs. Silverbullet has it! Chickenpox and consequently shingles are both herpetic from what I know so maybe that's why that ointment is prescrbed.

[Aquarius]

Distracted, it is Zovrax. apparently a Herpes Ointment. Why? I don't know.

Wife told me wrong amount it is 15 grams for 194 dollars vice 55.

What a Herpes Ointment is going to do is beyond me.

SB

I believe the virus that causes the shingles is a "cousin" of the herpes virus. So whatever the cream is it probably has some general anti-viral properties that makes it useful for treating herpes, but is not necessarily limited to that.

[Alelou]

Herpes zoster causes shingles. It's the same virus that causes chicken pox. Once you're infected with herpes, it's always there in your body waiting to re-emerge as your immunity wanes, which happens more when you're older, which is why they recommend the vaccination to people 60 and over. It's also one of the reasons why they have the chicken pox vaccine.

Apparently it's pretty similar in nature to the virus that causes cold sores and worse, which I think is called herpes simplex.

The teenage daughter of a friend of mine had shingles, too. It can indeed happen when you are younger.

[Silverbullet]

Odd. I used to have cold sores constantly. Haven't had one in decades.

Wife is getting a reactiono to the Ointment so she is stopping it for a while. Have to call the Doctor and find out what next.

Wife says it is not contagious. Howver, I know that Genetil Herpes can be passed by contact.

Oh Joy. Just what my wife needs.

[Alelou]

I don't know whether shingles sheds viruses or not, but the other herpes is one of those things you could possibly even pick up from somebody's towel (if they rubbed their sore on it and you're damned unlucky). So if you DO get any cold sores again, don't kiss your wife while you have them, not even when the sore has crusted over. And no babies or children either. Kids are always catching the virus from adults who kiss them.

For some people it's no big deal, but for others it results in serious misery. I knew someone once who got it in her eye. I can't even imagine how painful that must be.

I wish they'd come up with a vaccine for that one.

[Silverbullet]

Used to get Cold Sores on the same spot every time, right under my nose and above the lip. Also used to occasionaly get Canker sore on the inside of my mouth. Those were really bad.

[Aquarius]

I don't know whether shingles sheds viruses or not, but the other herpes is one of those things you could possibly even pick up from somebody's towel (if they rubbed their sore on it and you're damned unlucky). So if you DO get any cold sores again, don't kiss your wife while you have them, not even when the sore has crusted over. And no babies or children either. Kids are always catching the virus from adults who kiss them.

For some people it's no big deal, but for others it results in serious misery. I knew someone once who got it in her eye. I can't even imagine how painful that must be.

I wish they'd come up with a vaccine for that one.

I'm pretty sure it does. My grandma had an outbreak of shingles last year, and I was supposed to give her a haircut. My mom told me to wait because it's contagious. She's a nurse, so I figure that's reliable.

Stress can trigger outbreaks of shingles and cold sores. Makes sense, since that compromises your immunity.

Cold sores and genital herpes are both herpes simplex. One is simplex one, and the other is simplex two, though I don't remember which way it goes.

[Alelou]

There are two different forms of the virus, Type 1 and Type 2, but you can get either of them on any spot on your body. That means someone's cold sore can give you genital herpes.

I read once that at least a quarter of the population has herpes. People don't talk about it, so unless you see the sore, you don't know.