Shingles!

[yvonneu]

Hi...went for my B12 injection last week and was informed I had shingles, again, despite having had the shingles vaccination end of October! I'm still so drained and in pain still, even though blisters have dried up. Will B12 be ineffective if the shingles virus was in my body?

[Sleepybunny]

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear you're in pain.

I don't know if this is of any use but I read that B12 injections have been used as a treatment to deal with the neuropathic pain of shingles.

Search online for "B12 injections shingles" if interested.

NHS link - Shingles

nhs.uk/conditions/shingles/

NICE (National Institute of Health and Care Excellence) publish guidance on treatment/diagnosis of shingles.

Search online for "NICE guideline shingles" if interested.

" I'm still so drained and in pain still"

Do you have any other symptoms besides fatigue and pain?

I've read that in very rare cases people can get internal shingles which can cause nerve pain and other symptoms.

Has GP considered this possibility?

I'm not medically trained.

[helvella in reply to Sleepybunny]

I asked my GP and she said that because my B12 was in range (not just in range!), no, she would not let me have a B12 injection.

I took amitriptyline (low dose, and it was horrible).

And apply capsaicin cream four times a day for postherpetic neuralgia. Coming up to three years now.

[Nackapan]

I csnt see why not effective as we carry on with b12 with other viruses in our bodies and B12 helps.

I've had shingles twice many years ago .

Painful.

I had a liquid prescribed to paint on .

Remember the burn !!

I also had painkillers .

Sounds like a milder version if you had the vaccine.

The nerve pain takes years to subside for me .

Any stress and the nerve pathway affected flares up .

Okay in between .

Hope you over it soon

[SunnyWorld in reply to Nackapan]

Seriously? Takes years to subside? My dad had internal shingles he was in terrible pain. I have been offered shingles jab is it worth having?

[Nackapan in reply to SunnyWorld]

Probably didn't explain that well.For years after shingles the area of nerves affected would

Hurt/burn like a trickle of hot pins going in me if anxious or stressed .

Not for long but a reminder .

Vaccination is a personal choice .

In my opinion yes worth having.

Your dad's sounded horrid

[SunnyWorld in reply to Nackapan]

Ok thankyou. Yes internal shingles is nasty. Especially at 92yrs old. Think I will get a jab

[wedgewood]

This doesn’t answer your question , but , when I was living in Vienna as a young woman , in 1966 , and got Shingles , the only treatment that was available for it was ———— daily B12 injections !

I had shingles for 2nd time about 4 years ago , and was prescribed anti-viral tablets. . I believe that they helped .

[Ghound]

I'm so sorry to hear you're not well.

Shingles is miserable !

I'm just recovering from yet another bout myself. ( not eligible for the jab )

The thing is, the shingles virus already lives in our body permanently , so I can't see why your B12 would be ineffective.

In fact it'll do you good !

Best wishes for a speedy recovery xx

[Dee011960]

I'm so sorry to hear that you have had Shingles again even though you had the vaccination. I had Shingles 5 times, first time was when I was 21, the last time was 2 years ago, each time the pain and itching intensified. My gp upped my back pain nerve blocker from 1 to 3, this is imipramine, which is the baby to amitriptaline and Nortriptaline (sorry my spelling of drugs might be wrong). Although I have managed to get it down to 2 I can't seem to go back to 1, I also used calamine lotion to ease the itching, but I think my nerves have been damaged, as I get the Shingles in the same place each time! But my gp carried on with my B12 injections, so I would put it in writing to the surgery why they are not giving you your injection, but do your research online to see if there is any reason they may come up with that you can counter against. Hope you feel better soon.

[B12life]

Was the blood level that your doc denied you b12 injections for after you started injections or before your first ever?

What was the level?

[Happysmile]

Ifound out i had B12 deficiency when I found out I had shingles. Started B12 injections and shingles disappeared. I hope you feel better soon.

[Littlelodge123]

b12 did not help me. Aciclovir may help if taken within first 21 days but what helped me were lidocaine patches - healed my post herpetic neuralgia like magic!