Shingles

[AJ68]

Just been diagnosed with shingles. After 4 days of thinking that i had a slight allergic rash on my face before it became pretty painful.  On Acyclovir now in adfition to stribild. Nice way to srat 2018

2 questions:

1. reading the forum, i think some of you have had this before. Is recovery slowerfor us positive folks?

2. Had a blood draw 2 days earlier where my Cd4 count and Cd4% showed a drop from 415 to 310 and from 20% to 17.5%.
VL is UD. Can this be due to the shingles? I probaby was already infected at the time of the draw.

Cheers

[Jim Allen]

Really sorry to hear about the shingles, that truly sucks. The Acyclovir should reduce the length and severity though.

I had my last outbreak in October, my anecdotal advice would be, Calamine lotion, loose clothing for comfort and check with the doc for pain meds if you do get any pain/discomfort. 

1:
No idea, never seen any literature to indicate its slower .
2:
To be honest the difference between the two measurements in CD4 are tiny 2.5% and personally would not consider this a significant difference or indication of anything.

Try not to scratch

Jim

[leatherman]

I probaby was already infected at the time of the draw.

actually, you were already infected way back when you were a toddler.  Shingles is a reactivation of the Chickenpox virus. Older age, poor immune system function, having chickenpox before 18 months old are all possible issues for increasing the risk of an outbreak. the virus in shingles blisters will not cause shingles; but could infect someone with chickenpox who had not already been exposed.

btw, acyclovir is a mild antiviral and in conjunction with your current regimen, will actually boost your regimen for a while. of course, undetectable can't get much better; but it's a warm and fuzzy feeling to have a super-duper regimen going for you while acyclovir is in the mix 

shingles suck. acyclovir helps. you gotta just live through it until it clears

[AJ68]

Thanks for your messages jim and mike.
Appeciate the info and the advise.

Been a rough week...pain is pretty intense and nagging....on the face so many visits to AnE to have eye function checked.

Feel its easing a bit now....fingers crossed.

The experience of 20 pills (acyclovir + pain killers) and 10 eyedrops a day all at different times makes me really appreaciate the simpler hiv regimans that we are on today

AJ

[BKKKevin]

AJ if you don’t mind us asking - How old are you?... Is it in the range where Shingles is known to be a problem?

[AJ68]

I am 49. Ki d.of lower boundaries of the 'range'

Cheers

[leatherman]

Is it in the range

don't be fooled (or worried) about the "range". Anyone who has had chickenpox can have shingles, from children to adults. It's just that "most" people tend to be over 50 when having an outbreak; however about half of all cases are under 60. 1 in 3 people will have a single shingles outbreak; while having shingles increases the chance for another outbreak by 33% - especially if you have pain for 30 days or more. Being immunocompromised tends to increase the chances. (also, being less immunocompromised don't increase the chances so, hey, another reason to stay adherent and UD )



lots of shingles stats at this webmd write-up

[RiderMan]

Hi.  Shingles are definitely not fun...I also got it on Dec 28th and was prescribed acyclovir.  It is also on my face (left eye was completely shut...but now i can open it).  My doctor said that shingles takes time to heel and having HIV does not slow down the heeling process (even though it feels like it).  I am 4 weeks into this and still have numbness in my face/eye and very itchy (good tip not to scratch!).  Make sure to keep using your eye drops, there is some small risk of infection. You should be starting to get better any day now (based on your early Jan infection).  Also I would suggest not putting calamine lotion...you need to keep it clean (wash gently and dry off).  The skin will start peeling off faster by doing this. 

Thanks for the chart Leatherman...i am 48 so seems somewhat common. 

[mecch]

My swiss id put me on valacyclovir maintenance dose for life years ago. HIV+ people should take it 2 x a day not 1x a day.  I dunno if any other ID has done this for you people.  He said its active against HIV and whatever virus causes CFS (chronic fatigue) which I had decades ago, 2 x, way before HIV, and which he said he believes does exist and is not mostly psychosomatic.

[CaveyUK]

I'm sure I will probably have to deal with shingles one day, and I'm not looking forward to it.

It is stupidly common though - in the last few months several people in my office have had shingles, and a year or so ago Andy Murray (the tennis player) had to pull out of some tournaments because of Shingles.

[AJ68]

Thanks riderman. It is getting better with the scabs having come off. The residual red patches are painful though and itch like hell.

Mecch, any particular reason your doc put you on valacyclovir? Was it after you got shingles as a tool to avoid  future attacks?
There seems to be a vaccne that helps thats been there for a while and seems to be safe fir HIV+ folks.
Given how painful this episode was, i am all for getting this vaccine as soon as they deem it safe for me to take it after my recovery.

Cavey, you might want to check the vaccine out.

Cheers

[leatherman]

i am all for getting this vaccine as soon as they deem it safe for me to take it after my recovery.

unfortunately the vaccine is only about 50% effective, so my doctor put me on Acyclovir (2X daily) and I haven't had an outbreak since, while gaining a little bit of extra antiretroviral working against the HIV.

[kev]

UGH Shingles. I had them last year and fortunately I was at my Doctor's office for a routine check up and she saw a couple on my lower back  as it was just starting. She gave me a scrip for valacyclovir Hlc  that afternoon and I am so thankful she did because it wasn't as bad as it could of been and it went away in a week and half. Now I am taking the valacyclovir 1 gram tabs everyday as I am also prone to cold sores. Wishing you a speedy recovery.