Sending you hugs and telling you that you will be in my heart and prayers. Do your best to take really great care of yourself. I know that is easier said than done.

You deserve the best. Keep in touch on this board and we will continue to offer support ;-)

Maybe you want to see...maybe not. Have any of you looked at the pics on the internet? There are some nasty scary pictures. My DH was looking. I told him not to show me more. This was taken today. Day 5 of the rash.

Call your doctor and have him refer you to a pain specialist-- may be a CRNA or an anesthesiologist in your area. Get an intrathecal block. It will make the pain go away. This really works-- is a documented medical therapy- most docs don't recommend it because the family practice docs don't know about it. I know because I am in anesthesia and we do these all the time. You will be so relieved.
Good luck.
Cheryl

Thank you for the info on this, Cheryl. I imagine this procedure is quite expensive. Hopefully the pain will subside soon. I have no insurance and already owe the hospital $2,000 for a stress test last fall.

Thank you so much to everyone for their posts, care, and concern! It makes a large difference to have so many friends sending their wishes! :D

Miranda I am so sorry you are going through such a bad time. My prayers are with you for a quick recovery.

It already looks so much worse than it did Sunday!!! :( I hope it goes away really fast. I hate it that you have Shingles. I swear you have the worst luck. You need to slow down, all of this stress you've been under has brought these on, I'm sure!!! If you need ANYTHING at all...the kids can come out and stay with me and PJ anytime, if you need me to come out and do your laundry or cook and clean, let me know. Both of my great-grandma's have had Shingles and said they are extremely painful and both of them still have pain where the Shingles were sometimes. You be sure and try to rest and get your immune system built back up. If you feel like it, you could post daily and show us what the rash looks like. I've never seen actual Shingles...well I mean I could look online..but you know what I mean.

We're sending you love and hugs and hoping you get better SOON...VERY SOON!

I would check to see about the cost- you can't believe how much better you will feel.
Cheryl

I always thought if you HADN'T had chicken pox you would get shingles.
Alas! In my case, I was over and through the whole event before I knew what was happening to me. But, I will never forget the itching, and then the extreme PAIN when I would scratch, and the internal pain ... that was really strange!
I recall a lady who talked about singing hymns, reading the Bible, praying to the Lord, and when she couldn't do any more of that, she would just sit in her chair and let God just love her.
Maybe ... God just wants to love you some more. I know idleness is not in your job description, but sometimes ... we need to slow down.
WIll be praying for you and your treatments.

So sorry to hear that you have shingles. I know how painful it can be as my mum had it too and hers was brought on by stress..poor thing not only did she have rheumatoid arthritis severely she also got psoriasis and then shingles. Mum just worried about everything so the only advice which other ladies have given as well is for you not to stress which is easier said than done so take care of yourself and rest whenever you can. Her shingles did go away with no lasting pain so hope that is also the case with you.