Just a quick note. I had some facial eruptions on Monday last (9th) which I thought were due to a resident Staph. infection I have. This has gotten progressively worse during the week, though curiously limited in extent. I was given antibiotics which didn't seem to help.
After severe pain early this morning I went and saw an emergency doctor with a completely different result.
It seems that I have something called Optical Shingles, which is of course due to the Chicken Pox virus. This affects the upper part of the Trigeminal Nerve which governs the forehead and the eye socket. I have been given a whole load of different drugs which I'll be taking for the next week.
It is uncomfortable to wear glasses so my time at the keyboard is going to be limited. This means that ongoing projects are on hold for a while. Sorry, folks.
I think I'll be able to look in here occasionally, only not for as long as I usually do.
Penny
Comments
Get well soon
I wish you quick return to full health again and see the correct diagnose to be as good thing. Many warm hugs from your Ginnie.
GinnieG
Well wishes
Meaning no disrespect, but I'm glad it was "only" Shingles. Staph infections, especially on the face and around the "Triangle", can be DEADLY if not caught in time. Fortunately, you have a treatable condition, although it may last a month or more. My thoughts, prayers, and well wishes go with you, luv. I care, and hope you have a speedy recovery.
Haylee V
*Kisses Always*
Haylee V
Please get well soon
I am so sorry that you are ill and hope that there will be good spirits and good weather soon.
Gwen
Take care
and get well soon.
You're in my prayers.
Hugs tmf
Get well soon
But thanks for informing us
Shingles Can Be Really Difficult
I have a friend who had a very difficult time for several months. Hope you have a swift recovery with minimal discomfort. Take care.
I had that
Curiously enough, I don't remember ever having chicken pox, though I must have had a light dose in order to have shingles. When I got shingles, I had no health insurance. It affected my right eye starting at my eyebrow and ran a line up toward the hair line. Another line appeared at the hair line parallel to that and disappeared into my hair. The eruption at the end of my eyebrow was deep and resulted in a secondary infection in my eye. I went to the county health clinic and got some cream to put in my eye. The long term result was the color in the iris of my right eye flaked off and jammed the function of it. I had to do a week of twice a day heavy duty dilation eye drops to force the iris to release all the flakes. It wasn't entirely successful and the iris is still slow to react to light changes.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin ein femininer Mann
Ouch!
I hope I don't have that happen to me, but thanks for the warning.
My eye infection seems to be deep within the outside edge. It means that the eyeball doesn't want to go right though it goes the other directions fine. I also have a droopy eyelid which I hope will recover.
Fortunately, with the NHS and seeing as how I'm just over the 60 age limit :) my meds come free. Since I was prescribed five today at the standard charge of £8 something each item I'm glad I don't have to pay any more.
Spending the next few days mostly asleep, I deem.
Penny
Edit: Oh, I had chicken pox twice. Once in my childhood, along with everyone else in my class, and again when my youngest son was about eight months. It hurt him a lot more than it hurt me.
I'm glad they finally came up
I'm glad they finally came up with a vaccine for it, so that hopefully our children won't have the same problem.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Thanks for the heads up
I had the pox once but I had literally a chicken pock. One. That was the entire extent of my encounter and I barely felt anything.
My doctor said for me to wait before getting the shingles vaccine as I am only middle 50s.
The Vaccine Available in the US (Zostavax) is not Perfect
Here's the CDC link: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/public/index.html
There is a newer more effective vaccine, but it's not approved in the US yet (I don't know the status in the UK). Shingles can vary from a mild rash to a very serious life altering disease. It makes sense to me to protect yourself with the vaccine if you can.
Feel better soon
Get well quickly Penny.
As always your work is always worth waiting for.
Hugs,
Kathy
Well Wishing
Oh, no! I'm sorry to hear about your health issues. I hope you get well soon! *hug*
- Terry
Oh my dear, shingles is so
Oh my dear, shingles is so painful, especially in the face or scarp. Do what the doctors say, and don't rub or scratch.
Best wishes,
Karen
Shingles is a curse for
Shingles is a curse for getting older. It's not always the same and can be worse and you can get it more than twice! Anyone over 55 should see about the vaccine on insurance. In the US a retail shot is $280. I'm 62 and my insurance covered half at age 60. This is nothing to mess with. I had chick pox back in the 1960's and it wasn't as bad as this. Numerous friends have had it. Nobody said it was easy.
Penny, we all want you healthy ASAP! Get the vaccine after as you can get it again! My pharmacist had it 3 times and other friend got it twice.
Shingles vaccine?
I know that we can get a Shingles vaccine in the UK but I thought that it wouldn't work once you had Chicken Pox.
As I understand matters, the virus then goes dormant inside your nerve cells and only erupts when triggered. Any vaccine won't be able to get inside the nerve cells to 'tag' the virus and thus allow the immune system to do a clear-up.
That's my understanding; I may be wrong on this.
However, I have an additional problem in that my immune system is partially suppressed which means that most vaccines are pointless anyway. Yesterday I got the nod from my consultant to stop taking the antibody part of the regular drugs (Azathioprine) until this is over. That may help the clear-up operation but it may also make any continued infection that hasn't been caught by the Aciclovir to be worse.
Things are progressing slowly. I can now re-open my right eye and the upper eyelid seems to want to work as intended. My forehead looks like it has been on the wrong end of an early Yod gun but there haven't been any fresh eruptions for a day or two (that I have noticed).
Bad news: My sight has lengthened so much that I now use my close-inspection glasses, focal distance about a foot, to watch TV. While I get all drugs paid for, unfortunately most spectacles are not available on the NHS. I may have mentioned that I get an automatic referral to the local eye clinic so I hope that the change is temporary.
Penny
I believe it's a suppressant
I believe it's a suppressant vaccine. That is, it keeps your body aware of the lurking herpes virus that is the core of chicken pox and shingles, so that if it starts to come out, the body is ready for it. That's why it's a 5-10 year vaccine, and not a permanent one. Remember, shingles is _not_ something you 'get'. Shingles is a condition from having had chicken pox.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Nasty stuff
Everyone on my father's side had shingles when they were older. I know it can cause really bad nerve pain or damage and skin eruptions. My understanding is that the sooner the medications and immune system can put it into remission the less likely there may be permanent effects. Please take care and do everything necessary to get this under control. It is nothing to take lightly. wishing you the best.