<p>So I had my semi-annual check-up with my dermatologist this afternoon (melanoma runs in my family) and asked him to take a look at what I thought were a bunch of spider bites on my outer upper thigh. I noticed them about a week and a half ago, after spending a long day working in the yard, on the ground, so I assumed they were bites of some kind. But they never really itched, which puzzled me.</p>
<p>I was totally taken aback today when he said he thought it was something herpetic, or shingles. I’d always heard horror stories about how painful shingles is, so it never occurred to me as a possibility. When I got home I (of course) did some googling, and sure enough the pictures I’m finding are pretty identical to what I have, down to what it looks like it the various stages.</p>
<p>He told me if it happens again, to call his office and request to see him (he books up months in advance and is next to impossible to see, but I’ve been seeing him for many years), that he’d do a culture. So I may get a definitive diagnosis at some point, but I’m still so surprised that it’s shingles… with no pain.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t have to wait several months for an appt, that’s crazy. See your family doc or another specialist. My dad got shingles and he still has pain, several months later. Every single person over 60 needs the vaccine, it is a terrible, painfu,l longlasting problem. Your doctors should be asking if you had the vaccine if you are over age 60. I think you also need to get it even if you have had shingles. Apparently they don’t like to just hand out the vaccine, because it is an expensive one, but so what? If you can avoid that pain, do so!</p>
<p>busdriver… if I have to call and reschedule my semi-annual check-up with him, within a few weeks of the appt., it’s almost always another 2-3 months before I can get in for a routine appt.</p>
<p>That’s why he told me if I get another flare up, to call and let his office know that he wants to see me right away, as opposed to two or three days, when the spots will already have started to scab over. It was just a fluke that this came up a week and a half before my already scheduled semi-annual appt. When I leave his office after each visit, I schedule my next appt. for six months… like the dentist. If I don’t do it, I will inevitably forget or put it off. I’ve probably been seeing this guy for over ten years, and he is a highly-respected melanoma diagnostician in our area. In fact, other dermatologists often send their biopsies to him for difficult cases.</p>
<p>Is there a reason that 60 is the limit? Were we between 60 and 30 exposed to a different strain, or somehow more immune? Quite frankly, I have had 2 close friends in their early 50’s suffer through severe shingles outbreaks in the last 3 years… I predict that further studies will show that more of us (or maybe all of us) need this vacine.</p>
<p>dragonmom - I’ve seen signs at our grocery store that has a pharmacy inside that they have the shingles vaccine. Funny, because this grocery store is about 100 yards away from the front door of my family practitioner, and I keep telling myself that I should ask him if I should get it, but I forget.</p>
<p>My hubby has had the shingles vaccine and the CDC recommendations are for those 60+. My D & I & hubby have all had shingles. D had the worst case because she wasn’t diagnosed by the dermatologist nor the allergist until she had a very advanced & painful, itchy case. She was only a young teen (had chickenpox about a decade prior). Hubby also got shingles, a few months later. He also didn’t get it diagnosed until it has pretty advanced, so he needed Tylenol 3 & other strong painkillers to even sleep. He & D diagnosed me with shingles the day I had my first bumps & got me over to the dermatologist THAT DAY (it was a weekend, but she’s a relative). The derm wasn’t positive but said no harm in starting antiviral therapy, so we filled & started me that day. I never developed any more bumps & it went away very quickly without the extreme pain & discomfort of my H or D. One more reason I love them so much–helping take good care of me!</p>
<p>It IS hard to diagnose, as D’s was missed by 2 docs soon after she started having the bumps, since it can easily be passed off as a random rash or bites. Hubby had a similar situation & the dermatologist missed his as well. :(</p>
<p>So if you’re squeamish about pictures, don’t click on this link. It’s a photo gallery of various cases of shingles. The top three pictures are pretty much what mine has looked/looks like. Except I think mine is a smaller area, but it’s hard to tell because there’s no point of reference in the photos. Mine probably encompasses a 2 1/2" radius, but is very similar in that you can kind of see a sort of “S” stand out (and I initially just thought it was a very smart spider!); I have about 2/3 the number of bumps you see in the photo. Maybe it’s just such a mild case… that’s why there isn’t any pain. But visually, it looks just like the picture.</p>
<p>Those pixs are whimpy.
You should have seen mine. Diagnosed only on the 3rd visit and the third doctor at the pus stage. I had mine on the upper thigh and lower back, right side. (you get it on sides of the body). Only sure remedy to the pain and itch was a woman’s girdle where I could apply constant pressure on the nerve endings.</p>
<p>A friend had them last year as did practically everyone in her office. Shingles are not supposed to be contagious but that seemed far too coincidental.</p>
<p>My MIL (over 80) was offered the shingles vaccine last fall at her check-up. It would have cost $250 so she declined, although she is hardly broke. She was unfamiliar with shingles, and the doctor didn’t press the issue. A couple of months later she had a pretty bad case of shingles, starting with a large rash on her upper chest, on one side.</p>
<p>It was quite painful, and she sorely regrets pinching those pennies.</p>
<p>We should ask our older relatives about this, and help inform them.</p>
<p>I am under the impression that periods of severe stress can cause an outbreak. A friend of mine had a bad case in her 40s.</p>
<p>In the process of playing Monday morning quarterback, I recall feeling rather ill the day the rash first came on. I had met with a personal trainer, then worked out in the yard for several hours the day before. So I thought all the body aches, malaise I was feeling was from that. Of course, it could have been all the physical stress that caused it to come on, too. But my other workouts with the personal trainer have been just as intense (and more), and I haven’t felt like I did after this one.</p>
<p>I did email my massage therapist, just to make sure she’d had chicken pox, because if she hadn’t, she’d be looking forward to it in less than a week. Thank God she had.</p>
<p>I had them on my face and thought at first I’d acquired poison ivy from working in the yard. When suddenly my throat seemed to feel like it was closing up, I went straight to the emergency room. By then, I’d had symptoms for about 3 days. I was given medication which definitelys stemmed the spread. Additionally, I was advised to visit my opthamologist as shingles on the face can be serious if spreads to the eyes.</p>
<p>I am not yet 60, but you can bet I will get the shot. I still have some mild scarring on my face from my bout with it. My mother had it too, but much bigger area of spread and ALOT more pain. It’s not something I’d take a “wait and see” approach about.</p>
<p>Interesting, my dad had shingles right near his eye a decade ago or so. I remember he was in pain and it was awful. I also worked with a woman who had them on her stomach. I’ve added the innoculation to my “to do” list when I hit 60. I wonder why they use “60” as the number. The woman I worked with was in her 40s? My dad was probably in his early 70s when he had shingles.</p>
<p>My grandmother was in her 80’s when she got it. I thought shingles was contagious because it is set off by the chickenpox virus which is contagious.</p>
<p>Both of my Ds and I have had mild cases of shingles. Both of the kids got them at age
7. I got them at age 38. </p>
<p>My older D had chickenpox at age 4 and developed shingles thrree years later after being around an elderly aunt who had a nasty case of shingles. D developed a quarter-size itchy spot on her thigh. I had no idea what it was and was very surprised when the pediatrician diagnosed shingles. </p>
<p>Six years later I was running a bath for younger D, who was, coincidentally, also 7 at that time. D was sitting in the tub playing happily with her toys while the water ran in. When the water reached her lower back she jumped up screaming that the water was too hot. I was puzzled since she’d been sitting comfortably with her legs covered by the water for several minutes. I stuck my hand in the water and didn’t feel any excessive heat. D insisted that it was burning her. I looked at her back and found a quarter-size circle with tiny blisters. Shingles! D had been exposed to some neighbor kids who had chicken pox. I didn’t worry about it since she’d already had chicken pox around a year earlier. </p>
<p>Not too long after D2 developed shingles, I woke up in the middle of the night with a stinging sensation on the back of my left knee. I went in the bathroom to look and saw a tiny, little red spot. I assumed that an insect or a spider must have bitten me and went back to bed. Within a couple of days I developed a nickel-size itchy spot on my left thigh. The skin between the stingy spot on the back of my knee and the itchy spot on my thigh had a faint red line, but it didn’t feel any different. I didn’t go to the doctor, but I’m quite sure that being exposed to my D2s shingles set off a case in my body. </p>
<p>I really wonder what on earth was wrong with our immune systems. Neither of my Ds nor I had much bother with shingles; they cleared up in just a few days and there was very little discomfort. I’m just surprised that my basically healthy kids had them at all at age 7! And, I’m surprised that basically healthy me had them at age 38. I always thought they were strictly a problem for the elderly or those with compromised immune systems.</p>