SHINGLES AFTER A YEAR AND A HALF

Based on my experience what to expect after 18 months with shingles:
The shingles attack on my left eye began on Sept. 15, 2008. In the aftermath, I still have itching, aching (sometimes feeling like some one punched me in the eye, swelling, soreness, an unpleasant pressure, and numbness on my eyelid, above the eye, along the left side of my nose, on the left side of my forehead, and in the scalp. In addition, I get fatigued rather easily.
Oh, by the way, the little miseries of the aftermath are a 24-hour-a-day constant.
How have I improved? Within the past two weeks, I found I could read in bed again. I have been reading in bed for a half hour to an hour since my earliest boyhood. So I lost that pleasure for about 17 months. I have returned to limited reading, watching films again on cable, using the computer, a more restricted writing schedule, and exercise—although not as heavy as before shingles.
When this process began, my doctor told me not to expect a quick cure; that was followed a few months later with the doctor telling me to expect the aftermath to last from six months to a year. This past December, the doctor told me the aftermath probably would continue for another two to three years. That last diagnosis could be on the mark because I am 75 and people my age have been known to die in two or three years.
My great hope is to wake up one morning symptom-free. As an alternative, I would settle for diminished itching, aching, etc.

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