My teenager has shingles need info please

[Fresh Hope]

My teenager has shingles... how do I help him with the pain and bandaging. Googling this of course.. Would love any suggestions....what about showers? Should the blisters be covered first? The antiviral drugs have been prescribed, also antibiotic for bronchitis.... very concerned about the meds combo and adding pain relievers .
Thanks.
FH:thanks:

[greeneyes]

My teenager has shingles need info please

Check with MD or pharmacist about med combo. Perhaps an oatmeal bath thing I forget the company that makes it .. Starts with an A I think. Supposed to be soothing to the skin. Colloidal silver topically? Cortizone topically?

[paula]

My teenager has shingles need info please

Hi Fresh, it is usually treated with anti viral meds a warm bath with a little salt in,
no bandaging, but if it's really painful, which it is an analgesic (paracetamol maybe
something stronger)
Paula.

[Prest4time]

My teenager has shingles need info please

Hi Hope,
I have lots of experience with Shingles unfortunately! I had it when I was 16 and we didnt know what it was until I broke out in the blisters. I just rode it out with no anti-virals or anything but pain meds. I have heard too that the oatmeal bath is really helpful, but because the pain is nerve pain it is very hard to treat it with topical measures. Did he start the anti-viral before he broke out in blisters or after? My daughter also got it last year due to extreme stress, and having experience with it, we caught it before she broke out and got her started on Valtrex. But she was still in a lot of pain, but she did not go through nearly what I did years ago. Definitely get him on the best pain meds that his doctor will allow, because I can honestly say that it was some of the worst pain I have ever been through. Young people normally do not get Shingles unless they are very stressed. I dont know if this may have contributed, but we had to cut our daughter's over-strained schedule back a bit, as Shingles can return.

My daughter's doctor did tell us last year that once you start the antibiotics, it can take a week to 10 days to start noticing a difference as Shingles normally takes six weeks or longer to play out, so dont be discouraged if you do not see immediate relief. Have him keep taking the Valtrex.

Also, one final thing, I was told I would have scars from the blisters as they scab over (gross, I know) at the end, but I got pure Vitamin E oil from the drugstore (the really thick pure stuff) and applied it twice a day even before the scabs came off and I do not have one scar to this day. My doctor was amazed, so be sure to do that. Its a little painful, but well worth it.

I wish you the best and will say a prayer for him.

P4t

[greeneyes]

My teenager has shingles need info please

OK I'm still here. Sitting in the black hole. But i cannot keep my mouth shut. When taking antibiotics - your boy needs to take acidophillus. Which is a member of the pro-biotic family and the only one that can live in the intestines (our life source for nutrient absorbtion and all that) during antibiotic treantment.. When he is done, then you give him full spectrum (not a bran name, just means ALL the probiotics) pro-biotics. To rebuild the intestinal flora and his immune system. You must do this.

[Noelle]

My teenager has shingles need info please

I second the Valtrex. It's what they put my mother on when she had shingles. Did y'all know you get shingles from having chicken pox? My mother says there's vaccine so you don't get shingles. I'm seriously thinking about getting it.

[Dreamweaver]

My teenager has shingles need info please

My grandfather suffered immense pain.. It is a viral infection of the skin. There will be moments of reprieve...The virus "hides" in the spine. It always comes back (like herpes).

You have to boost the immune system. The healthier U R ...The less outbreaks! Accupuncture helped my grandfather.

[Mags]

My teenager has shingles need info please

OK here comes Mags the boring one again. Yes, I teach this stuff at the college level. First, antibiotics are not prescribed and do nothing for it. It is caused by herpes zoster which is the virus which causes chicken pox. It hides out in the spinal nerves after chicken pox and can reactivate later in life during times of stress and causes neurological pain, mainly skin pain, later in life. Some new antiviral meds such as Valtrex help but only help. They can only shorten the time of the disease. The earlier the anit-viral med treatment the better. The pain and blisters can last for weeks. Pain meds are called for, unfortunately.

I had shingles about 10 years ago and nothing in my life ever hurt more. It hurts like hell. Aveeno oatmeal baths help soothe the pain, but I had to take pain meds. It just hurt too bad. Since the pain is neurological and comes from the spinal nerves, there is not a lot of good topical treatment. Soothing oatmeal baths were the best for me and helped moisturize my skin.

I'm so sorry your daughter has to suffer with this. It is hard. Oatmeal baths, pain meds, and lots of patience.

[greeneyes]

My teenager has shingles need info please

Mags, you are anything but boring. I had rash on tummy and it hurt where rash wasn't. Showed to hubby & explained wierd pain who sent me to dermatologist. I had been to a friends house whose kid had chicken pox. Well, craparama if I didn't pick up shingles. But the doc said there were meds but that I was almost over it so I didn't do anything about it. I'm thinking really mild case. All that scotch must have killed it.

[Fresh Hope]

My teenager has shingles need info please

Thanks everyone!!!:thanks: So sorry for all of your painful experiences...sounds really debilitating.

He may will be in for a rough time. 1 large, nickel size blister and a few other smaller blisters were the only thing that was noticed or he wouldn?t have gone to the Doc. How do you know you have shingles without blisters? Is it from pain on the skin?

I assumed the cough was from smoking cigs and other stuff, since there were no complaints and we are trying to urge him to take care of his own issues ;-) so I ignored the cough.

I am very worried, he must have a much weakened immune system at this point and yes, his stress levels are quite high for all the usual reasons and a few unique ones as well.

I will get right on the probiotics...just to be clear, should he start them now? or wait until Anit-B is finished? It is only for 7 days.

Anti-viral drugs for 1 week were $170. CDN wow!

Quite a combo of meds to take with pain relievers on top of it...chicken soup and tea time for a while...I just hope he doesn?t think it will be OK to go out, he works around children so he cannot go to work for a week and the ten movies I rented will go pretty fast.
Thanks so much for all your thoughts and ideas...I am amazed :h and very grateful...I have so many friends here ... thanks.
FH

[greeneyes]

My teenager has shingles need info please

Only acidophillus now. Full spectrum once off antiobiotics. The antibiotics kill everything except the acidophillus.

[Fresh Hope]

My teenager has shingles need info please

Thanks...off to the pharmacy now.
FH

[macymilton]

My teenager has shingles need info please

hello fresh hope, you must try vygone. i saw it in youtube (search vygone) i tried it and after several treatment, it went away. until now, im not experiencing any outbreak. i think it will never come back.. well, hopefully.