Other possibilities

~ susie

I forgot to say that the doctor said the pain I’m describing sounds like shingles, and so does the pain pattern. “But you don’t have a rash,” he said.

I pointed to this one small blister that showed up two days before.

“Hmm. Well, we’ll keep an eye on it,” he said.

I did a little reading yesterday and found that shingles frequently appears after surgery – and that it doesn’t always have a rash. The pain really is bad; even sitting still doesn’t seem to help, although moving makes it worse. Arghh.

Published by susie

5 thoughts on “Other possibilities”

  1. I had searing pain from shingles for weeks before the rash appeared. Surely there would be no harm in taking the anti-viral medication just in case.

    The pain went away within a day once I started taking the medication.

  2. I’m concerned that you may have shingles or something else going on. After my gallbladder surgery, I had back pain for a couple weeks. The surgeon said it was referred pain from the surgery. It felt like muscle pain and it was not as severe as what you describe. Maybe you need to go back to the doctor again. Take care.

  3. That is pretty well know:

    http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/shingles-without-shingles

    I’ve had shingles periodically all my life, never with sores, thought I might as well have had them with the pain. I know what you’re going thru. It comes from Chicken Pox when I was a kid, without any sores, and it reoccurs when my immune system is stressed.

    This stuff really is soothing when applied to the affected area and it isn’t expensive, at least here in Massachusetts, about five or six dollars for 18 – 21 ounces:

    http://www.stives.com/Body-Wash/Cleanse-Plus-Moisturize/Oatmeal-Shea/

    The CDC recommends oatmeal moisturizer for shingles, and that’s why I originally tried it.

  4. There is a vaccine for shingles, Zostavax, which the CDC recommends that all people over 60 get. The vaccine is not recommended for active cases of shingles, as I read the CDC info.

    I checked last year on the cost: $400, iirc, and not covered by Medicare.

    Brilliant move, Medicare, eh?

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