|
[ Herpes Type 1&2 Archive ] [ Main Archives Page ] [ Glossary/Index ] [ FAQ ] [ Recommended Books ] [ Bulletin Board ] |
Search this site! | |
I need help, and I want to give you the fullest history possible, so here goes:
I was born 7 weeks early and was pretty much perpetually ill until I was about 8, when I had my Tonsleis out. It seemed that my repeated cases of Strep Throat were lowering my immune systems resources and causing me to catch every childhood and just plain illness I possibly could, including pneumonia and severe and continual kidney infections. I had the tonsils out and for the most part I was reasonably healthy with the exception of two very severe cases of pneumonia for the next 10 years.
When I was about 4 I caught The Chicken Pox and Scarlet Fever simultaneously. Individually they may not have been exceptionally severe cases however together they combined to make me severely ill for more then a month. Well, fast forward to when I was 18, and after a series of wasp stings (like 20 of them, I walked into a hive) I developed an extremely painful rash on my lower stomach area and a nasty bout with hives. Thinking that they were the same thing, I quickly took a benadryl, which hot rid of the hives but not the rash. Then thinking it was poison ivy I tried to dry it out with chlorine in the pool (which really works btw) but that too did not work and by the end of the day it was all pussy and I was running a fever and felt generally ill. I went to the doctor who said it was shingles and gave me Valtrex or one of it’s cousins to oust it.
The valtrex worked. And it went away. I think I got it one more time like a year later and I did the same thing.
Two years later when I was 20 I got a really bad cold and…shingles again, same spot. Went to the doctor again and was given the Valtrex, it took care of it. However about a week after the medication course was over I got it again…more Valtrex, then a week after that course was over I not only got them in my same old tummy spot but all in my mouth and down my throat! So this time when I take the Valtrex, 2 blue pills 3 times a day, I am told to finish the course that way and then continue taking the pill rather indefinitely at 1 pill 3 times a day. I do that, but by this time I have lost 30 pounds from the throat thing (bringing me to 90) and I am really struggling.
After that really bad case they seemed to be at bay and for the next 4 years I took my pills every day, only having one relapse when I made the ingenious unilateral decision to take myself off the pills (great idea me!) but after starting again things were fine. Now comes this winter. This winter I have gotten the shingles on my tummy twice and in my mouth once. The valtrex is not working unless I take the higher dose and then I am not even sure how much it is working, maybe the shingles just runs its course removes all of my skin and goes, I don’t know.
So what do you think? I am seeing a GP and a specialist for infectious diseases who I think don’t want to admit that they have no idea what to do. I have had strange tests for immunoglobulin and everything they can think of. But I am starting to get fed up.
Have you ever heard of this kind of repeated shingles or anything like it?
Thanks
In Reply to: Reoccurring Shingles posted by Laura [1960.20] on April 14, 2004 at 12:24:38:
Hi, Linda.
This is not "shingles" (herpes zoster) but herpes simplex. You are being misdiagnosed and treated, in MY opinion.
Get a better doc and give her this exact story.
Let us know what you learn.
Walt
In Reply to: Re: Reoccurring Shingles (misdiagnosis) posted by Walt Stoll [9.8] on April 15, 2004 at 08:30:20:
I am confused; herpes simplex is what is generally referred to as “herpes” right? Blistering that appears around the mouth and nose and genitals? Cold sores etc?
How, can what I have and what herpes simplex is, be the same? I do not doubt your advice I am just confused. My rashes have only appeared on my lower stomach, like 2 inches below my belly button and in my mouth and throat, but never on the outside of my mouth and never anywhere that could be considered genitals. I though those were defining locations of the specific virus?
And I have actually gone to several specialists for other advice, and the one I have now as my GP has been my doc since I was 2 so they have been very good, but you never know they could have missed that.
Regardless thanks for the advice.
In Reply to: Re: Reoccurring Shingles (misdiagnosis) posted by Laura [1960.20] on April 15, 2004 at 12:27:47:
Laura,
Read up on it and let us know what you learn.
Walt
In Reply to: Re: Reoccurring Shingles (misdiagnosis) SIGH! posted by Walt Stoll [9.8] on April 16, 2004 at 13:27:40:
The dictionary says:
2 entries found for herpes simplex.
herpes simplex
n.
A recurrent viral disease caused by the herpes simplex virus, type one, and marked by the eruption of fluid-containing vesicles on the mouth, lips, or face.
A recurrent viral disease caused by the herpes simplex virus, type two, and marked by the eruption of fluid-containing vesicles on the genitals.
Also I looked as some websites dedicated to it,
http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1006.htm
That one specifically noted that the oral cases can occur on the inside of the mouth, but since I have never even had a bump of any kind on the outside I am curious as to how this applies. Can the one be without the other? And what about the stuff on my stomach? Not only did this occur way before I was sexually active but it is on my stomach, not any place that could be considered moist. I understand that you can not see me, and I understand that you are giving me your opinion. I am just curious and I want to fix this but if the answer is to go to my doctors and tell them they are wrong that I have really contracted genital and oral herpes or herpes simplex then I have to be sure yes? Also as a side note I have never had anything in the genital area either.
In Reply to: Re: Reoccurring Shingles (misdiagnosis) SIGH! posted by Laura [1960.20] on April 16, 2004 at 15:33:46:
Thanks, Laura.
Trust me. Herpes zoster can only be recurrent in someone whose immune system is terminally ill( such as cancer patients in deep and terminal chemotherapy or people with terminal AIDS). Herpes simplex (both type I & II) is typically recurrent and very commonly reoccurs in the same location.
These conditions are only both called herpes BECAUSE their lesions LOOK alike and NOT because there is any relationship as to etiology.
Walt
|
[ Herpes Type 1&2 Archive ] [ Main Archives Page ] [ Glossary/Index ] [ FAQ ] [ Recommended Books ] [ Bulletin Board ] |
Search this site! | |