My husband had shingles and pain afterwards for five years. He found some relief for a cream called Corprofen . Here is the contact number;1-800-558-4762 or [email protected]. This place is in Fla. Hope this helps.

When I had shingles I used tee tree body wash and shampoo. It helped to keep the blisters from "feeling" raw. They were on my scalp and across the hair line. If you can keep cool it helps.

I paid $171 for my shot Nov '09. It was worth every penny just for some peace of mind. DH doesn't drive anymore and I had horrible visions of what-would-we-do if I got that sick. Keeping fingers crossed that I never come down or if I do, I won't have a severe case.

I have had the shingles, but not as bad as soome of you described, dr just gave me the anti-itching cream. Must react differently in different people. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

My BIL had them on his face and in his eye. He was hospitalized (he's a kidney transplant recipent). He tried acupuncture and went home the same day.
Worked for him!

I had Lanocane (sp)patches that 'attached' to my body over the shingles, they were unbearable.

I had shingles when I was in my 30's! Under my right breast, under my arm to the middle of my back. Hard to breath and move.
The only thing I got from the doctor then (20 years ago, ouch!) were pain killers. Helped, but not much. They are very painful.
Since I've already had them, I cannot take the vaccine now.

Good luck to your neighbor. He'll just have to tough it out with medication and time.

I had a dear friend who had shingles on his chest,diagnosed by his doctor and got some RX. The pain of the shingles got very bad but he was a typical male that decided to tough it out as he hated to go to the doctor more often than he thought necessary.He tried everything his friends suggested. Finally after several months the pain was more than he could bear, the medicine no longer helped and he went back to the MD. He had developed cancer in his chest while he had the shingles. They weren't related just happened at the same time, but he waited too late to treat the cancer.
His wife buried him. He really hated to go to see a doctor.

While you have the shingles they can't give you the shot, have to wait 4 to 6 weeks after there aren't anymore signs of shingles. Also the shingles shot doesn't keep you from getting them again, it supposedly keeps them from becoming so severe. My doctor ordered the shot for me and gave it to me 6 weeks after I had signs of shingles, only had 6 little spots near the waist line and I thought I had been bitten by a spider or something while mowing under trees. Guess I was lucky cause we caught it within the 3 day period of having medication that would help it from getting more severe.

Good Luck

Suzy

I know this will be too late for your neighbor but just FYI for the rest of us. There is a vaccine against shingles that our doctor just recommended for my husband. He recommends it for any of his "older" patients. Never even knew it existed but will be getting mine this month. I have seen a lot of cases of shingles working in the hospital and I never want to go there. Ann in TN