Pernicious Anemia and Chicken pox

[Gayle1952]

I have pernicious Anemia and now my doctor says I have chicken pox even though I had them when I was a child

[Nackapan]

I've had chicken pox more than once and shingles twice. Shouldnt be as severe though if you e had it already. I dont think its connected in any way

[Nackapan in reply to Nackapan]

Chicken pox happened twice for me because didnt have ot badly the first time I was told. Shingles after stressful happenings or when very run down.

When I worked in the community I knew I'd been in contact with the virus ad would get a particular kind of headache. Gp confirmed this can happen. My work base was a Gp surgery.

You wont be contagious once the blisters are dry.

[fbirder]

It's unusual to have chickenpox twice, but not impossible. The virus can hide away in nerve cells, then reappear years later, often in response to some form of stress. Normally this produces shingles, but it can be proper chickenpox.

[Hidden]

it is worth looking at the old time treatment for shingles (same virus as chicken pox) which was B12 injections! . at one point i had a video of this old american doctor who was attending a shingles vaccination conference. he goes on to say it was well know in his father's time that B12 shots made shingles go away fast. he brings this up at the conference and of course the guy presenting just kindly ignores him. wish i could find it.

here is something:

bmj.com/rapid-response/2011...

there are others.

i wonder how many people here have had shingles?

[helvella in reply to Hidden]

There are quite a few references to B12 and shingles in PubMed. Most are not accessible but, from what can be gathered, the primary aim seemed to be to avoid or reduce the neuralgia. Other B vitamins are also mentioned.

[fbirder in reply to helvella]

This 2018 review article certainly suggests that it works.

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

[Litatamon in reply to Hidden]

How fascinating.

[Dee011960 in reply to Hidden]

I have had Shingles 3 times, each time it got worse, good thing is that I had them before the B12 injections, maybe would have more!

[SouthSounder in reply to Dee011960]

Anyone who's had chickenpox should consider the Shingrix vaccine cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingl...

I had a fairly mild case of shingles a few years back, going thru the stress of a divorce at the time. I got Shingrix, said to be 90% effective (compared to the older Zostavax, which was 70%), when it 1st became available.

[helvella in reply to SouthSounder]

Note for anyone in the UK. Shingrix is licensed under the European Medicines Agency and I have been unable to locate any UK documentation. I posted what is below over on Thyroid UK the other day:

Your post has made me look at something I had been avoiding! Shingrix is licensed across the EU by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) - but the website states all over that references to the UK are being removed. I checked with the MHRA website in the UK and can see no licence information!

I have no idea how this will play out. Clearly, we might expect MHRA to catch up and issue a UK licence.

Anyway, there is a very detailed document readily available with lots of details of what is in it. Quite possible also of little use but at least you can check for yourself.

General information:

ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/...

Product information:

ema.europa.eu/en/documents/...

A bit more here:

bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/varice...

[SouthSounder in reply to helvella]

That's interesting. In a quick search I found this UK pharmacy claiming to have Shingrix, but not cheap, £525 (~$717), compared to £160 for the less effective Zostavax hhpharmacy.co.uk/shingles-v... Zostavax is 70% effective, not horrible for a vaccine (I generally get a flu shot each year, they can be as low as 35%, usually ~40 something). Maybe NHS has Zostavax. I got Shingrix mid 2019, 2 shots, 3 mo apart, of course, Covid vaccine priorities could be having an impact also. No reason you couldn't get Zostavax now & Shingrix when/if it becomes available.

[wedgewood in reply to Hidden]

I’ve had shingles twice . The first time was in Vienna in 1965 , when I was told that the only treatment was —————— Vitamin B12 injections , which I received ! Second time treatment recently , was an anti-viral tablet , administered too late , so ineffective . It really is a horrible illness . I gave myself B12 injections , but don’t really know if they helped to minimalise the effects .