Shingles after three years

Today marks the third anniversary of the shingles attack on my left eye. Every morning I awaken with itching, aching or an unpleasant sensation around the left eye, usually above it, in the eye brow, on the forehead, in the scalp.
My ophthalmologist told me not to expect a quick cure, then that the aftermath of the shingles (postherpetic neuralgia) would continue for a year or two. I assume now that barring a miraculous cure, I will endure this minor plague for the rest of my life.
The round robin of itching, aching or unpleasant sensations continues through all my waking hours. In addition, I get tired easily in doing my daily exercises or heavy household chores. In fact, I take a daily hour-long nap. When I’ve tried cutting out the nap or trimming it to a half hour, I fall asleep watching TV or reading in the evening. So I’ve come to accept the need for that nap. Besides, I enjoy it.
One side effect of my PHN (postherpetic neuralgia) is that many of my relatives have gotten the vaccine, Zostavax, which cuts the odds of getting shingles by 50 percent. My experience shows that is a chance well worth taking.

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TWO YEARS OF SHINGLES

Yesterday on the eve of my second anniversary of the shingles affliction in and around my left eye, I walked up to my local drug store to discover a sign in the window offering the shingles vaccine. I was happy to see the vaccine, which was somewhat difficult to get only two years ago, now broadly available.
I said to the clerk at the counter where I was picking up a prescription, “I am a poster child for the shingles vaccine. I’ve have gone through two years of suffering with shingles.”
After two years with shingles, there is little to report other than to say that nothing much has changed: the itching, aching, unpleasant sensations including a feeling of swelling continue 24 hours a day at anywhere from a mild to a significantly-irritating level around my left eye including the eyelid, eyebrow, forehead and scalp.
When the feelings get really bad, I take Advil or Tylenol, which takes off the edge but doesn’t completely relieve the symptoms. I find that taking hot baths and applying hot compresses once or twice a day helps too.
For those with the continuing onslaught of shingles, I offer my sympathy. For anyone 60 or older who has thus far escaped this minor plague, I suggest getting the shingles vaccine, Zostavax. This is the only shingles vaccine available at the moment. The vaccine gives the recipient a 50-50 chance of escaping shingles. Based on my personal experience, I would say those are good odds.

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SHINGLES after TEN MONTHS

After more than ten months of shingles (the affliction started on Sept. 15, 2008), I continue to have pressure, itching and aching in the area above my left eye (the eyelid, the skin between the lid and brow, the eyebrow, and the forehead).
In rating the nastiness from a one to 10 (worst), I would say that my continuing problem is generally a 3 moving up to a 4 once in while. Every morning, I get up to itchiness, relieved somewhat by eye drops (Systane Ultra) which I apply twice day, per my ophthalmologist’s recommendation. Several times a day, I splash cold water on my eye for momentary relief and I find that taking a hot bath or shower relieves the symptoms somewhat.
Fatigue still hits me whenever I do any substantial work or exercise. I continue on a reduced exercise routine: stretches and 25 sit-ups in the morning, followed by a mile-and-a-half walk and tai chi. A few months ago, I tried to return to my full exercise program, which is much extensive than the one cited—and I became so exhausted barely made it home in the half-mile walk from my local park. I don’t do push-ups because of the discomfort I feel in the area around the eye.
Recently, my wife, Rae, got the anti-shingles vaccine (Zostavax) which was approved only three years ago by the FDA. With the vaccine, one has about 50-50 chance of avoiding shingles. For someone who has endured it for ten months—and faces months or years more, the 50-50 odds of escaping shingles seems like a worthwhile choice.

A suggestion: My latest novel, THE PENCIL ARTIST is available as an e-book on Smashwords, Kindle, and Barnes and Noble; as a paperback on Amazon.