#015 Shingles, zoster, and post-herpetic neuralgia

Dr. Furlan talks about her own experience with shingles and what she did to treat the skin rash and the pain. She talks about medications, TENS, and topical creams.

To buy the cream that Dr. Furlan used for skin itching, check this link:
Bepanthol Derma

#drAndreaFurlan #DrFurlan #DoctorFurlan

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ALERT: This video is not intended to replace medical
advice. If you think you have a condition that is
causing you pain, please consult with your doctor
to get a diagnosis and a treatment plan for you.
The intent of this video is only for educational
purposes.
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[meerasingh]

I am so thankful for this video. I already have two vaccines. Good to know how to deal with it. Thanks

[mikelanners]

I had shingles at age 55. It went up from the base of the spine, to the center of my back, and was 5 inches wide the whole length of the spine. It then became oozing and itching, and sometimes minor bleeding. When the crusts formed it was very hard to move and twist my back. There was no Vaccine for chicken pox when I was a child (1950s). because of the difficulty in handling it (or maybe a doctor with less experience) it lasted 3 years. I now have a bad case of neurologic pain and numbness in both of my legs, and can only walk 30 to 40 feet at a time without stopping to rest for an hour. I used to be a walking mail man, and would walk 20 miles a day delivering mail. I'm now 71 years old, and am fighting this pain for 3 years. With pregabalin, I can now walk about 100 feet before the legs stop working. I've been taking pregabalin 75mg 2 times per day for 3 months. Should I ask my doctor to increase it to 150mg 2 times a day? (I have had no side effects) I was also on gabapentin for a year before I started the pregabalin, it was of no help at all.

[abrielrobertsson]

PHN can appear even years after you've had shingles, even if you didn't have any pain after it cleared out. It always happens in my case when I'm extremely stressed out and it may last 2 weeks, sometimes even a month. I had it right beside my eye and the area becomes very senstive and some burning sensation as well. Your age doesn't really matter. Shingles is a b**ch. Best advice I can give to anyone with it, is to avoid stress as much as you can. So be very careful with it and take care of yourself.

[suppayahkaruppiah]

This video should be the a reference to many other YouTubers on how to create content.

[sammylee]

I have had this skin rash on my lower trunk and weird muscle pain on my left leg for about a month. My wife told me it's shingles and I didn't believe her. What you are describing is exactly what I'm having now. I had shingles about 25 years ago and then, I had a vaccine about 5 years ago. It seems I still have shingles. After about a month, the symptoms are almost gone though. Thank you for this video!

[alipharmacist]

Thank you for this very informative content on Shingles.

[manjulay]

Very beautiful place tq for sharing 🙏🏻

[Mel-qgnd]

Hope it's user friendly, my mom is suffering painful diabetic neuropathy, hope this helps

[rebeccamarsh]

I have post herpetic neuralgia: stinging and stabbing pains continue six months after shingles outbreak. I am older, and my shingles covered the whole left side of my upper trunk from back to front. So I definitely had two of the factors on your list. I had gotten the Zoster vaccine about six years ago, but I was never told that it was effective for only about five years. I want to get the newer two-dose Shingrex vaccine, but I don't know whether have post herpetic neuralgia is a factor in the decision to get the vaccine. I post this just to let people who had the older vaccine that they should get the Shingrex vaccine.

[dkfi]

Thank you very much for your post, Doctor. I have had a very similar experience. I'm now one month into recovery but still suffering from PHN and taking Gabapentin Pensa. I am still limping and cannot perform certain leg movements. I really hope I am not one of the 20% who suffer permanent damage from a compromised sciatic nerve. I just wish there was more awareness about this issue. If I had known earlier, I would have definitely gotten the vaccine in advance.

[missrebeccadance]

I'm 64, and I just came down with my 2nd outbreak of shingles. The first was about 12 years ago when I was going through a divorce. This round, I didn't see the signs as they were different than the first round. This time, I had a tender scalp, and my lower teeth hurt on the left side, as well as deep in my jaw joint. It was hard to open my mouth. I thought it might be a sinus infection, then I noticed the blisters on my left jaw line, it spread to my chin, upper and lower lips, left cheek, and the bridge of my nose. I was put on the antiviral @3-4 days after symptoms started, so I feel like I missed the 72hr window of the drug being helpful. The pain has been intense. I'm hoping I don't have permanent nerve damage in my jaw... I guess time will tell.

[_ArsNova]

Respectfully, it is flat out wrong when you say: "someone who was vaccinated for chickenpox cannot develop zoster/shingles". I am experiencing debilitating shingles right now, and I never had chickenpox, only the vaccine. I know several others in the same boat as myself, as well.

[fathima]

Hi doctor, could you please tell me which foods I can avoid during this disease 😢

[ljxgtyr]

What's good to help with the pain like the nerve on the side n back, my mom done acupuncture etc and nothing works.

[iDriftAJR]

I recently had the exact same thing, in the same place by the time I realised what it was it was to late :( now I have nerve pain in my right foot and my calf and behind my knee it sucks so bad, thank you for making this video. Please let me know what I can take, or treat it please.

[wanderphil]

Thanks for sharing your story, I have shingles on my face and I am suffering of the nerve pain. My question is how long the red spots on my face will fade?

[mrigasidhu]

Hello Dr Furlan, Thank you for this video it is very informative and i love watching all your videos. I am in India and had Herpes Zoster a few years ago but developed post herpetic neuralgia in my Sciatic nerve and am currently on Pregablin. Is there any other way i can address this pain and what are the long term effects of taking pregabalin. Also does this neuralgia ever get cured?

[williamwells]

Benadryl cream and tablets both seem to clear up shingles rashes and nerve pain.

[joebloggs]

My neighbour got Shingles and said it was Hell. Since I'd had chicken pox and was told I could get shingles, I decided to have the Vax for Shingles. As I also was due for my annual flu vax and also my pneumonia Vax, the nurse said I could have all three vaccines in the one sitting. I agreed and had them all. At first I was fine after these 3 injections but with days I became so ill I had to spend a week in bed from severe headache I never get and my joints were so painful I could barely move. I thought I might just be getting old and pain is to be expected but it vanished like it had never happened. And then this dreadful itching and redness, rash etc on the skin, reminiscent of Chicken Pox appeared all over my breast and stomach. They looked hideous and very worrying, as I was due for a mammogram and I feared these spots would appear on the breast X-rays. But now the scabs have fallen off, like with the initial Chicken Pox and I'm OK. I don't know if the problem was having three injection at the same time or just a natural reaction to the Shingles Vax, though my neighbour had no such reaction when he got his Shingles Vax, after having had Chicken Pox in childhood like most older Australians got, along with mumps, whooping cough, two types of measles and few other more serious things, like TB, Polio etc, which still common in rural areas in my childhood and we had to be vaccinated against such things. After this unpleasant experience with vaccination, I am not against vaccinations. But I now know how sick they can make some feel, sometimes and I would not have more than one at a time and spaced out afew weeks, to give the body a chance to recover a bit before you attack it with the next needle. But, even after feeling sick from the Vax, my neighbour claimed this was nothing compared with the pain be hot when he had his first unexpected Shingles attack. He looked terrible and was in such pain from it. So I am glad I endured the post Vax sickness, so I can avoid getting Shingles. I think it is important for people to get vaccinated, especially if older, with weaker immune systems because you are more likely to end up in hospital etc as you age. And you then spread your infections more readily in the hospital wards if you are not vaccinated or if you are an unvaccinated d person visiting or treating a sick loved one or solar person in hospital. Many people do realise just how much unecessary serious disease is brought into and spread by new unvaccinated patients, hospital workers and people visiting patients.

[SteveBraddick]

You are also wrong to say that laying in the sun for a little while would have harmed your immune system being a doctor you should know that the reverse is probaby true.What is far more likely to be the cause is the long haul flight.I developed both Shingles and PHN when I know my immune system is normally strong.All I could think of was that just a week or so before I had just returned from a long haul vocation to SE Asia which is a known strain on our bodies and hence immune system.This is far the more likely explanation than an hour lying in the Brazilian sunshine!