I was wondering if someone can enlighten me on shingles. I am 30 years old and am in very good health... I hardly ever get sick. I misteriously got this and after reading about this still don't understand how I got it. I am currently 5 days into it and have large blisters and sores all over my stomach wrapping around to my back. Can anyone suggest something to take the current pain away and also tell me what I can take for the best possible long term cure. My friend recommended thsi sight to me so I though maybe someone can suggest a remedy for me. I am in great healt and hardly ever get sick so is there something I can take to get rid of this and help the pain.

Thanks

Hi Ryan,

Yes, we can help you! Describe the pain you have:
Sharp, shooting, burning, stinging, itching, neuralgic, numbing, come and go suddenly, slowly, any particular side of the body affected? Sensitive to touch?

Describe appearance: watery vesicles? Like red pimples? Crusty appearance? Oozing? Color of discharge? Are blisters deep red or purple? Bright red? Small, medium or large?

Tell what makes it better or worse: For example,
Worse at night
Worse during the day
Worse heat of the bed
Worse lying on painful side
Better cold applications
Better warm applications
Worse touch
Worse cold weather
Worse motion
Worse pressure
Worse wet weather
Worse bathing
Better bathing
Better heat

And anything else you'd care to tell us.

Snoopy

Also - any unusual events preceding the eruptions?

and your mental state with regards to the shingles for instance do you find yourself wanting sympathy and comfort or are you annoyed and want to be alone etc.

__________________
Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to animals. For they are without sin and you in your greatness defile the earth by your appearance on it and leave traces of you foulness after you. Dostoyevsky

Thanks Barb. Right; name anything that's changed since the herpes, no matter how remote. For instance: chilliness, thirst for cold water, or warm drinks or loss of thirst, or restlessness, digestive changes, perspiration....

And like Barb said, could something have brought this on? A grief, for instance? Over-work? Over-study? Did this follow a cold, a virus? etc.

Snoopy

Appearance: Red splotchy rashes with white, bulbous watery vesicles....A few are starting to get crusty, but most of them are still blister-like. Some of them are small, but most of them have started to join together to form bigger, even more disgusting blisters.

What makes it better: Not moving, not having any clotheing over the rash. I've been using an aluminum acetate (an astringent) compress (with cold water) to help dry out the blisters, and that feels good to have that on there.

What makes it worse: Showering doesn't really make it worse, but towards the end of the day, after I've walked home and I'm hot and sweaty, that usually doesn't feel so good. I can usually fall asleep ok, but it hurts by the time I wake up.

Basically, there are two pains going on: The first is a constant sharp, pinching surface sensation, like I just got stung by a jellyfish. The second is a duller, muscle-twitching/spasim-type pang that goes on under the surface of the skin. And then, just for fun, the damn things are itchy as hell!

My mental state is fine...I'm a pretty tough person. I don't want or need sympathy...I like having people around, but I don't need them around. Basically, my mental state is the same as it was before I got this. I know that this will take a while to get better, I just want to know what I can do to help reduce the constant pain, and also, what I can do to help it go away.

Thanks!

Nope, there have been no sudden changes in anything...Tjis just came out of nowhere. My dermatologist listed all of the possible causes, and nothing even vaguely sounded like anything I was feeling or had happened to me.

I'm in great healh, I never EVER get sick..I'm talking like one or two headaches a year, and that's it. I eat well, I sleep well, I'm very happy in life, I love my job, have a great girlfriend, and an amazing network of social friends. Basically, life couldn't be better...That's why I'm so baffled that this happened!

Dear Ryan,

I'm going to start by recommending Apis 30C.
Reasons for Apis: the water-filled vesicles, the
stinging sensation, the itching, the redness and the relief from cold applications.

This may be all Greek to you, but the others on the BB will understand.

Buy a tube of Apis 30C and a small Evian bottle.
Pour 1/3 of the bottle out. Drop a few (one or more) pellets of Apis in the bottle, shake it up, take a sip, put it in the fridge, do this 3 times a day for 3 days, shake before each dose, and if there's been no improvement in 3 days, get back to us. Either way, get back to us. Needless to say, if at any time you should get worse, stop the remedy right away.

Snoopy

[ 19 July 2002, 06:20: Message edited by: Snoopy ]

There isn't really enough of a case to go on here. At least the generals should be collected before prescribing a remedy. Shingles is a deep seated state, despite the seeming appearance out of nowhere. It is important how it is managed, as is any acute manifestation of the miasmatic state.

Ryan, the homoeopathic prescription for any illness takes into account sensitivities to the weather, food cravings, sleep patterns, traumatic experiences, family history of illness, reoccurring dreams, bowel habit, emotional problems, mental difficulties (memory, concentration etc.), thirst, personal history of illness.

The reason for so much detail is that the "shingles" is actually a manifestation of a hidden weakness in your health, that has come up to the surface. Only by tracing the patterns in your health over your life is it possible to understand what is going on, and how to solve it. If mistreated, it will be pushed down (suppressed) only to reappear in later months or years as a much more dangerous illness.

__________________
David Kempson.<br />Dip.Homoeopathic Medicine.<br />Lecturer Australian College of Natural Therapies (Brisbane Campus)<br />Member AHA, AROH, HMA<br />Member Australian Homoeopathic Association. Member#0442.

So, should I take the Apis remedy or not?

I would. I've never had Herpes zoster, but I have had cold sores, and I have never hesitated to treat them, usually Rhus tox. works for me; but because you made a point of saying that cold applications make you feel better, that moved me over to Apis in your case. Also you mentioned a stinging sensation. Apis is made from an actual bee. Hence, anything that stings and is better for cold, ice, etc. is a point for Apis.

As far as suppression goes, if you take a remedy for an acute situation and recover BUT feel worse in general after the remedy, that is suppression. It is very common in conventional drugs. How many times have you taken an antibiotic, recovered, but felt sluggish or sick afterwards? This kind of reaction is pretty much the hallmark of prescription medicine. It is not the hallmark of homeopathic medicines. Usually if you give the wrong remedy in homeopathy, it just doesn't work. It does nothing. We would simply have to represcribe at that point; but I have to tell you, no one in pain and discomfort ever worried about suppression! I'm not saying that it never happens, it's just that if you are in distress, and you've taken the best possible case (you say there are no mental symptoms, we asked what has changed since the onset of herpes, we asked what was happening in your life when it all started) then you go ahead and prescribe; you can't become paralyzed over fears, worst-case scenarios, alarmist what-if's; all you have to know is, if you take the remedy and you feel worse afterwards, stop taking it; but doing nothing "for safety sake" ensures that you will continue to suffer and possibly get worse.

My only concern is that it might be the wrong remedy--there are many herpes remedies and your symptoms suggest 2 or three; Mercury and Thuja also came up for me if Apis doesn't work.

That was a very long-winded yes.

Snoopy