Shingles Post your experiences, what helps what doesn't what is the best medical field for help?

[HMFICDICK]

I am not saying that the garlic extract supplement is bad. It is just because of an experience I had with Ginko Beloba . I am on blood thinning medication.. coumadin . I tried Ginko because I heard it was supposed to help the brain. Well, I guess in some respects it made me smarter when i started to bleed more than usual from a cut. I then researched and found out that Ginko is a blood thinner. When I took it with my coumadin it increased the blood thinning effect. So whenever you see ANYTHING that looks like it may be good for you, you must research and make sure it is good for YOU. I even research the meds prescribed by my doctors. There is a good saying learned from a great man, Ronald Reagan. TRUST BUT VERIFY. No matter who tells you something.
HMFICDICK

[Inversion]

Kratom is a general pain-reliever that can also boost the immune system, might help Shingles, I know a few people it helped with their GHSV outbreaks.
--> Medical Uses of Kratom (List of Medicinal / General Uses of Kratom)

[HMFICDICK]

I have been using Kratom for shingles pain for about a month. I do not use it exclusively, I still use the oxy and tylnol. I find it is useful for a couple of times a day. The amount of the Kratom you will need will vary by where you get the kratom, how much oxy you use etc. Kratom can be found right now in many places. (you can contact me) although, I am not currently in the business of selling it, I would give you a hand and sell you some cheap so you could try it without investing the amount of money I did. If you have a sensitive stomach you may not like kratom because it is a herb made from the leaves of trees which is dried and powdered. you can take it in capsules (I make my on capsules) as a tea (with about a half ton of sugar) or in mixed in food. I find the best way for me is about 6 grams(about 7 of my capsules) swallowed using hot coffee or tea with sugar, followed by something to eat on top of it. It is a powder and when the capsule opens and the powder comes out sometimes you can burp some up, Thats where the hot coffee comes in, it washes it down and then something on top kind of makes a plug to keep it from coming back up. Anyway one dose of kratom for me equals about 7 - 10 mg of oxy. This would vary with individuals. Another thing you may find useful is Kratom is used by many people to break cocaine habits. Also for other drug dependencies. There are various strains of Kratom, I u se the red vien bali which has the highest pain relief attributes. I have heard other strains have higher euphoric qualities. Personally i have taken a double or triple dose and only got more pain relief while awake... however did have some wild dreams. If you live in some far south areas you may be able to grow your own, however it is extremely hard to find someone in this country with the trees to sell. and as far as growing your own... it is a tree, it will take several years. If you are going to try it I suggest you do it soon, as the FDA and other do gooders who want to tell you how to live are trying to get it outlawed(I have no doubt that big pharma is also involved in the effort so they can control it and the prices) I will post again when I have any new thing to report. So far I am in day 665 of Shingles nerve damage pain with no let up. Thanks to my QUACK doctor. One final note to anyone who expects to get older than 50. Start researching medicine and any problem you have personally. Get to know your own body and how it reacts to different meds. Do not trust doctors to never give you the wrong thing. Dont trust drug companies. Verify everything you can with drug interaction charts etc. The Medical profession has a license to PRACTICE !, The politicians will do anything that they think the majority of uninformed voters vote for them. It may not be the right thing to do, but if it gets them elected it is the right thing to do. Don't ever think they give a shit about you.

[HMFICDICK]

Well it has been two years since my so called doctor fucked up and misdiagnosed shingles for a muscle pull. Thank you Doctor QUACK. If you are local to north Tampa and want to know who to avoid, just pm me. Anyway, so far the nerve damage has spread down my leg and now affects down to the ankle. I am still taking oxycodone and tylnol. I also use kratom, it does help to some extent, however you can over-do it and get bowel problems(there is a limit to how many leaves you can handle, acid and roughage wise). I am going to get my head examined to see if I can get a spinal implant that is supposed to stop the pains from reaching the brain. I believe it is called a RFTENS unit. Im not sure on the spelling. It apparently uses rf frequency to block the pain, rather than an electric shock. I sure hope it works. I guess I have to have my head examined by a psychologist or psychiatrist to see if i am crazy enough to do it or if I like to pain and am using it to keep from having some other problem. Oh well everyone has to have their fingers in the honey pot so they can afford the payments on their new boat. I will let you know if it works. If you have had experience with this please let me know. HMFICDICK(Now you know what the acronym means)

[HMFICDICK]

Well I have had my head examined and been found sane enough to get this thing done. I have framed the letter from the doctor declaring me sane. After all how many people do you know who have proof they aint crazy now I have to stop taking my blood thinner, then get the test unit to see if it will work for me, then have it installed for good. I sure hope it does work. I will let you know. HMFICDICK

[alaine]

I'm glad to see you followed my advice with KRATOM

[HMFICDICK]

I just completed a test of an RF Tens unit. The wire (probe ) was inserted next to my spinal column and adjusted and it took away about 50 percent of the pain. I had it in place for three days during which time the technician assisted me with finding the proper setting for most relief. I had to be careful during the test since the unit is not permanently and the probe could be pulled out and do who knows what being pulled out. Anyway I wish they had suggested this two years ago. Apparently the unit does better and better over time and I am looking forward to getting one installed so I can get myself off of this other medication that all you get used to is getting more and more. So when I get that, I will have two bionic shoulders, one bionic hip and electronic pain relief. What a world. If you have shingles pain do yourself a favor and check into it. If you need brand names or doctor name(tampa area) just pm me. Right now I am a happy camper and will just get happier when I get the permanent unit installed.

[HMFICDICK]

Here I am waiting for a month to pass(according to the doctor required by those wonderful federal regulations, dont ya just love federal regulations, I wish to God that ALL federal state and elected employees had to actually live under those rules ). Anyway, I am waiting for the month to pass. I have noticed that the pains seem to be even more intense than before the trial. I am somewhat a logical person and usually do not fall prey to suggestion but I am not sure. As I have said in the past the pains get more intense on the evening before the replacement of the fentenyl patch. Lately the pains have become more intense even though not the day before the patch replacement. I am so damm tired of hurting. If I had to continue without the tens unit I dont think I would last another two years without being bed ridden ( AND NOT in a good way with a good woman) . A note to those who have just contracted this damm illness. Dont let your doctor wait forever before going for the tens unit. It may not work for you, but dammit at least try it before getting addicted to the drugs that they force you to use before they will even let you try a tens unit. The answer is BITCH BITCH BITCH. Remember the squeeky wheel gets the oil. God bless yall and keep it hard. HMFICDICK

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by HMFICDICK

Well here I am 5 weeks into my shingles experience. I am posting this in hopes that it may help someone else with their experience or convince them to get the shingles shot, and also, if someone can give me some insight through their experience what I am still facing and is there an end to the tunnel.

It started with severe pain in my muscles on the left thigh going down my leg. I thought I had pulled every muscle in my upper left leg for sure.


The pain. I have not gone to a doctor for pain medication since I was 18 and had a abscessed tooth (I am 70 now). I had been using a heating pad on my hip and thought I had burned the skin on my hip with it. When I showed the doctor... he said shingles.


So I got the prescription for acyclovir and a strong pain pill. Started taking both immediately.


The acyclovir helps you to fight the virus, the pain pills help you feel like you want to live.


While I was taking the medication, I had stomach upset and did not feel like eating because it hurt or made me nauseous . I found out after the meds stopped I still felt the same way. I finally read that the shingles itself makes you feel that way. I now take acetaminophen about 30 minutes before eating and it helps.


Anyway after about a week and a half the pain subsided and I thought Good, now I just have to get rid of the skin sores and get over this crap. Unfortunately, It didn't work that way. I started getting little twinges down my leg and across the left side of my groin every so often. Over the course of the next few weeks they moved toward my left leg and have gotten stronger and stronger and increased in frequency. Sometimes its as often as once per minute. The twinges are now almost entirely down the side of my leg. However, Just today I noticed the twinges are moving to the upper thigh toward the spine where the infection ends. I hope they don't get as strong as the twinges down the leg.


Also, something you notice after the initial pain subsides is the front of my groin, right down the middle over to my left hip and down the front of my leg is numb. Numb on the inside, the skin is still sensitive to the touch and burns when touched (not as bad as in the beginning but it still burns)


After trying pain pills for the twinges, last night I tried something I have been holding off trying... alcohol. I have to report that it did have some effect on the twinges, fewer and weaker with the booze. However, if you over do it you will have a hangover.... Just a couple of drinks seemed to reduce the twinges. So far its the only thing that has worked on them.


I must add that I have not participated in the mongering experience since this stated, I do not want to take any chance of giving this to anyone.


I have read everything I could find to see what the future may hold for the course of this illness and If I will ever get over it. Any insight you can offer is appreciated.

I am sorry to hear of your plight with shingles as I to have suffered with shingles in the past, was on famclover and prednosone to put the virus back into remission, pain medications (and like you had not taken anything for decades, I do believe in the more alternative modalities) when the pain continued Dr wanted me go gabapentin, (no way jose for me what with all the side effects, memory loss, weight gain, suicidal thoughts and don't go off till our Dr says you can, (I have a client that has been on it for 18 years) ok, I want this NOT.

So I go back to my roots of alternative medicine had my acupuncture and ozone treatments. The first day of acupuncture and a shot of ozone in the affected area left me feeling 70% better, went back following day acupuncture sat in ozone sauna, actually slept that night. After doing this for less than a week with intravenous ozone, I was back to normal with affected areas feeling just numb and within 2 weeks totally wore off without having all the side effects. Ozone is now part of my anti-aging ritual.

I wish you luck on your unfortunate journey, oh BTW, check out this gentleman he is right in your area, I don't think he does acupuncture though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GoYGby1A7Q

[Mr MojoRisin]

Originally Posted by HMFICDICK

I am not saying that the garlic extract supplement is bad. It is just because of an experience I had with Ginko Beloba . I am on blood thinning medication.. coumadin . I tried Ginko because I heard it was supposed to help the brain. Well, I guess in some respects it made me smarter when i started to bleed more than usual from a cut. I then researched and found out that Ginko is a blood thinner. When I took it with my coumadin it increased the blood thinning effect. So whenever you see ANYTHING that looks like it may be good for you, you must research and make sure it is good for YOU. I even research the meds prescribed by my doctors. There is a good saying learned from a great man, Ronald Reagan. TRUST BUT VERIFY. No matter who tells you something.
HMFICDICK

Read this article it will give you some simple but good information about what you should and shouldn't eat while you have shingles. One reason why Shingles is painful is because it an eruption along nerve sites that's why the rash takes on a funny pattern.

Jim

http://www.diethealthclub.com/health...gles-diet.html

[HMFICDICK]

Finally, after eight months of waiting and testing and pleading I am going to have a nerve stimulator implanted on my spinal cord. The unit is expected to reduce or ( I hope ) eliminate the shingles pain. I have had a test unit tried and it eliminated at least 50 to 70 percent of the pain. The unit they are putting in is supposed to be better and more versatile than the test unit, therefore I hope will eliminate more pain. At this time I am walking with a cane to help keep my balance, since the pain causes me to lean into the painful area (I lean left) to reduce the pain. Being a strict conservative this also causes some consternation as you can guess A friend had this procedure and it has changed her life. Previously she could hardly work or do any normal physical activity without extreme pain, She now has taken up the hobby of mountain climbing. Some difference. When the procedure is complete and I have had time to normalize I will address it again. I will include the name of the manufacturer of the unit for those who are seeking help with nerve pain or chronic pain. HMFICDICK

[HMFICDICK]

I had the Rf Tens unit by Nervo installed Friday night. So far, it has helped great. The first day of course just after surgery I hurt regardless of what I was plugged into, but even then it was helping. They set it on the lowest base unit setting. Even at that setting it was lowering pain level, especially in the target area. How they set the thing up I dont understand, but it works. Today I am on day 5. I have worked with the representative and made a few adjustments. It is really helping. It seems the body and the unit work together and as time goes on you get more and more relief. I have gone from excruciating throbbing pain to pain while it is still there seems to be lowering and I have gone from taking 5mg of oxycodone every 3 hours to 5mg twice a day. This may vary over time and I still have to ween off of a fentanyl patch which im sure still has some pain killing effect. I will be glad to be rid of all the patches and oxy as soon as possible. I will continue to post my experiences with this Nervo Rf tens unit. Feel free to ask questions.

[alaine]

Thanks for the update...hoping you continue to improve.

[HMFICDICK]

Well it has been eight months since I had a Nervo spine implant installed. It still continues to relieve about 50% of the pain. I have had this verified recently while trying a new set of nerve program signals. When the new set was installed I switched to it and started the regular power up of the signal set. This process is: you start at the lowest power setting and go up to the maximum or until it becomes irritating. Well the new set did absolutely nothing and I soon realized that I was again feeling the full intensity of the pain from the Nerve damage. So I switched to another setting and started to get relief within the hour. I have also Learned as I have stated before ; Pain is relative. Even though you have had half your pain relieved you still hurt. and what used to relieve 90% of your pain now only relieves half of the remaining pain. Sorry folks Life's a bitch then you Die. Unfortunately when you live with this type of pain, your life soon becomes one of seeking to assure continued pain relief to the exclusion of almost all other pursuits. Food you eat because you have to but don't get nearly any of the joy you used to get from a tasty meal. Sex, great but depending upon where and how your pain may be involved it could be something you really pay for , for days after you Paid for it. Work, great if you can work through the pain, it can be a means to help ignore some of the pain. So I guess the bottom line is you have to learn to live with the pain by whatever means you can. If you would like to PM me, feel free, it would be a welcome distraction from the pain. HMFICDICK