Shingles Anyone?

[Cassie]

Is anyone else here dealing with shingles? The pain in my right arm didn't improve with an alkalizing diet, nor did it improve when I stopped eating nightshade vegetables. It turns out that it wasn't inflammation -- it's shingles. So far it seems to be confined to my right arm, and I'm grateful for that.

I read that large doses of vitamins C, E, and B-12 can help. I'm not thrilled about taking large doses of supplements, but I suppose it's better than pharmaceuticals.

[Carol]

Cassie,

I had shingles 4 years ago. Very painful. The duration is anywhere from 4-8 weeks I think. Maybe longer. Mine started on my back right where a bra sits and started snaking around to the front. Needless to say, couldn't wear underwear there. Ouch! And when it first started, it was deep inside the back muscle. Nothing I did helped and at first I did think it was a kink or something like that. Not until it started to spread did I make the connection, that my doctor then confirmed.

I'm not sure how one gets it, being that it's a virus of the nervous system (I think), but at that time I was stressed out. That I know. And....at the time I relied on pharmaceuticals, wasn't on this eating plan, but caught it so early that the drug lessened the severity and duration.

I'm not helping you and not answering your question. But I do symapthize with what you are doing through. The pain is so unbelievable too.

And I don't believe the medical profession even offers drugs if not caught immediately, as they aren't effective. Boy, I would try the vitamins if that is the only avenue for some relief.

I'm so sorry you have to go through this!!! Let us know how you are and keep checking in.

[MGM]

I don't think I will be much help as my story is the same as Carol's. I would definitely try the vitamins Cassie. I took the drugs and you know that there is always side effects to those. Good luck.

[Clary]

Is anyone else here dealing with shingles? The pain in my right arm didn't improve ...

...it's shingles. So far it seems to be confined to my right arm, and I'm grateful for that....

Besides pain, what are the other symptoms? How was the diagnosis determined? Did you have chicken pox as a child?

Surely hope you find relief soon.

When I worked as a lab tech. and Medical Assistant in a Dr.'s office in a rural area of Florida MANY years ago--the treatment the Dr. used then for the patients who were in the stages of shingles with red visible areas and blisters , was injections of vitamin B 12. The adults patients I assisted had the blisters on the chest or abdomen areas and were in such pain they sometimes cried in the treatment room.

[phillyrv]

Hi Cassie
So sorry to hear that you have shingles. I know, because I had them in 2002 on my back, I guess it was like in the nerve?! I didn't know that I had shingles, I thought because I had been working in the yard that I had bug bites or a rash. It started out as itching, redness & then lots of PAIN which of course by then I was at the Dr. for a diagnosis of "shingles." I just remember sitting on the sofa with like blue ice on my back to kind of numb it. The Dr. said it was too late for any med.'s..guess you have to get to the Dr. in the first day or so for some type of medicine that will help, but too late for me.
It seems like it ran its course in several weeks, leaving a big scarring type of line on my back that finally vanished after awhile.*(thank goodness.)

I did have chicken pox as a child, since in the 1950's there was no vaccine for the chicken pox virus.

Let us know if the supplements, vitamins etc...help you

Take care of you!!!!

Phyllis

[Cassie]

Thanks for your replies!

Yes, I had chickenpox as a child, and I've had recurring shingles for 30 years, but it's been relatively mild up until now. For some reason it only affects my right arm with blisters on my right hand. I first went to a dermatologist 30 years ago, who didn't diagnose it as shingles. She didn't know what it was. It was a hand surgeon that diagnosed it as shingles a few years ago.

I've upped my dosage of vitamins C and B-12, and I'm going to go get some vitamin E today. I also heard that intravenous C and B-12 help, but that would involve going to a doctor, and I don't have a doctor nor the insurance to pay for one. So I'll try oral doses for the time being.

I read that shingles appear when your immune system is weak, and that concerns me. Has my immune system been weak for 30 years? Yikes! I'm not sure what to do about that.

Thanks again for sharing your stories and for your concern.

[Birdy]

Hi Cassie,
Yep, shingles occurs in some people who've had chicken pox. It's similar to the Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) that causes oral and genital herpes. Both of these conditions often respond to taking supplements of lysine, which is an amino acid. The viruses can't grow well in cells that have high levels of lysine which, by the way, is found in high amounts in milk and meats. Another amino acid, arginine, which is high in plant based diets, causes the viruses to grow happily. Some plant foods that are higher in lysine include potatoes, most beans, quinoa, and I think corn if my memory serves me right. If you eat nuts, now is a good time to avoid them as they are high in arginine. There are also creams made with lysine but I'm not sure this would be helpful for shingles since it usually covers a fairly large area of the body and the creams come in small tubes meant mostly for herpes. Stress also is considered to be a trigger for outbreaks of both shingles and HSV. Hope you're pain free soon.

[Cassie]

Thanks for the information, Birdy. Maybe that's why I have a bad case of shingles now. I recently gave up potatoes, because they're nightshade vegetables, and I thought nightshades might be causing the pain in my arm. And I don't eat legumes or grains at all, but I do eat nuts. It sounds like a perfect setup for shingles!

[Cassie]

The nerve pain in my arm is getting better, and I think it might be the vitamin C that's helping. I'm surprised, because I've had this pain for several months now, and I wasn't expecting it to go away so quickly. I'm taking 3 grams of vitamin C a day.

[marybeth0051]

cassie,
i also had shingles several years ago. Mine were on half of my scalp, then down the nose close to the eye. Since it causes nerve irritation, the symptom was a headache. Shingles often occurs in people whos immune system is not working well. In my case, I was suffering from a bad case of endometriosis and had been running a low grade temp for several weeks, so my body was run down from this. I knew nothing of the plant based diet at the time, so went on anti viral medications and pain meds for a while. It took about 3 months for the headaches to go away, and even then not completely...I still have headaches on the affected side, but they occur only rarely now.

[margiereilly]

Cassie:

My older sister had and continues to have a bad case. If you get on it right away, there is a prescription. Ask your doctor about that.

She continues to struggle with it longterm and uses something from the health food store on it. Rose oil? I will have to ask her. So, if it has just occurred, get straight to the doctor for the prescription/shot that can nip it in the bud. Hopefully that is your situation.

[phillyrv]

cassie,
i also had shingles several years ago. Mine were on half of my scalp, then down the nose close to the eye. Since it causes nerve irritation, the symptom was a headache. Shingles often occurs in people whos immune system is not working well. In my case, I was suffering from a bad case of endometriosis and had been running a low grade temp for several weeks, so my body was run down from this. I knew nothing of the plant based diet at the time, so went on anti viral medications and pain meds for a while. It took about 3 months for the headaches to go away, and even then not completely...I still have headaches on the affected side, but they occur only rarely now.

Hi
I think when I got shingles several years ago I was really "stressed" out & probably didn't even realize that my immune system could of been messed up--maybe from the stress? I know that stress is hard on your body, just a thought because I had been on antiobotics I believe for some type of infection but didn't relate all this until now.(a month or so before)
Thats too bad about the headaches with the shingles, but glad that they went away.

Take care.
Phyllis................

[margiereilly]

My sister just phoned me. She uses rose geranium oil(very expensive but available at health food stores) mixed with the cheaper almond oil which is available in grocery stores. She says the combination can be applied to the skin as much as necessary without any side effects. Good luck with your shingles.

[Della Street]

I have recently recovered from shingles. Mine, I believe was brought on by a great deal of recent stress. Up until a few months ago, my elderly parents were still living in their house. Then one day, everything fell apart - my father had to be hospitalized and four days later my mother died. We knew my father could not go back to the house alone, so all at once we were faced with finding my father a nursing home, dealing with the medical system, arranging a funeral for my mother, preparing my parents house for sale, etc, etc.

Then finally I got to go on a two week vacation, but I was not very kind to myself. I made bad food choices and consumed too much wine. The shingles started at the end of my vacation, brought on by emotional stress and physical stress from a rotten diet while on vacation.

I knew that my immune system could not have been working properly as I have never been ill in my 6 years of McDougalling. I didn't want to take drugs, so I immediately started doing everything I knew to do to strengthen my immune system.

I did Mary's Mini Diet for 32 days - just kept it simple with potato as my main starch and ate only whole fresh fruits and veggies. I started drinking 8 glasses of water a day. I had no sugar or alchohol. I went to bed at 9:00 every night and got lots of rest.

As a result of faithfully doing these things, I only experienced one day of the horrible pain associated with shingles that I had heard so much about. The pain was a great motivator for me to clean up my act. In the process, I lost 10 lbs.

And I must say too that I'm so glad that Dr and Mary McDougall told us about the mini diet because it makes my life so much easier. As long as I can have my spuds, I could go on eating this way for months and not get bored.

[Cindylouwho]

I too have been suffering from shingles ( I now believe anyways) on & off for almost 30 years. It started when my kids were very young, and I am 49 now and recently found skin cancer on my face. Way back then, I went to 6 different doctors, got 6 different (wrong) diagnosis's. I know they were wrong because, ok - here is one of them: "I am positive it is a muscle strain from lifting things at your job" - so she gave me muscle relaxers which made it much worse - I was falling asleep and screaming in pain. The pain is only on one spot on my right shoulder blade in my back, but it is so servere at times it takes my breath away and makes me cry. It almost always is ichy there, but I cannot see it, so I do not know if there were blisters. It came back and hit me with a vengence on Monday night. Husband wanted to take me to the hospital. I said no way am I going to be their guinea pig again - I had already tried that route. Never thought of Shingles until I began researching my symptoms on the net.Thank you for recommending some vitamins which I will try.