General Chat

Well poor man at the age of 77 he has just contracted cold sores. Last week he had a severe pain in the bone behind his left ear and it went up into his scalp. I Tried to get a doctors appointment for him last Wed but there was only one doctor on at our surgery so no joy.
He did wonder if his glasses were pressing on the bone so went to have them adjusted on the Thursday . he was taking pain killers too.
Well over the weekend it did ease but on Monday the corner of his mouth erupted !! and he had pain down the jawline too. I phoned the doc on Tuesday and couldn't t get an appointment til Friday. This morning he was in agony, couldn't wear his hearing aids and thought he had an abscess under his lower denture, Got an emergency appointment at the dentist who examined him and said its was the first outbreak of herpes simplex ie cold sores and the pain he had was nerve pain.
I always thought you got cold sores from physical contact with a carrier I made em laugh when i said well he aint been kissing anyone he doesn't even kiss me very often,( we are best of pals and each others bestest friend so no worries there lol)

The dentist said you can pick up the virus like you get flu and colds

He aint a happy bunny at the moment. but at least its put his mind at rest cos he admits he was worried it was something serious like pre warnings of a stroke or something.

Comes to something tho to get to 77 and then pick this up .

I don't do medical but something says shingles in what you write.

Sympathy to the poor man.

We are still going to see the Doc on Friday morning, The dentist said he needed to get a second opinion and he couldn't prescribe antivirals anyway as its a private practice not NHS

We have been going round in circles trying to find what is wrong , OH isnt a man flu type anyway so if he says he aint well then he really isnt !!

Hot black coffee as hot as you can bear on your fingers when holding cotton wool ball which you dab into coffee, does that make sense? Hold on tingling area repeatedly and it sometimes stops the cold sore from developing.
Cold sores often appear if you are run down and are prone to them.

Certainly sound likes shingles tho and hope your poor hubby will be in less pain soon.

Lizx

I ahve to agree with others and it really does sound as if your poor husband may well have shingles...not a nice condition to have at any age.
It seems as if you have already been given the right info but do not expect this to be a short term conditio It can last quite a time and most unfortunately the virus does stay in the body and can erupt at any time.Stress can also play a part.

Hope you husband starts to feel a little better in the next few day.

Do not overtire yourself either,

Bridget

Thank you all. I didnt think of shingles . He doesnt know if he had chickenpox when young ,

We are still going to the doctor on Friday, I do hope he will be OK as we are surposed to be going away for the weekend to a Ruby Wedding celebration but its a long drive from Kent to Lincolnshire so he may not be up to it.

As soon as I read your first post about the pain shooting up into his head I thought it sounded like shingles. Much more painful than cold sores and still a herpes virus so the dentist was half right. I think the only treatment now will be pain killers for the nerve pain. If you look up shingles on the net and look at the explanation it will tell you a lot. I think the best one is netdoc

Yep! My first thought was shingles too.
I used to get cold sores in my teens and twenties which was generally sparked off by an irritant.
I had shingles last year, on my back but it can and does break out anywhere along the spine, and it is far more painful and debilitating than cold sores.
My tip is - leave those sores alone!!! If they itch use a cool pack but keep them dry. Picking and prodding could lead to infection.

Do be aware that the fluid in the blisters carries the virus and it is very contageous so your OH needs to avoid contact with anyone who hasn't had chickenpox, pregnant women and people with low immunity (from medication or illness)

I hope your husband feels better soon but shingles does knock the stuffing out of you.
Best wishes

My OH has just about finished with a bout of shingles. It is caused by the same virus as chicken pox, which lays dormant until it sometimes erupts as shingles. he was given Aciclovir, but it disagreed with him and was given past the first vital couple of days. It is of little use if given later. Pain relief is the only answer. Oh has been very sleepy throughout, and feels weak on his legs, hasnt been near his lathe for three weeks. I feel every sympathy for your husband and he will need to be given leeway when he is badtempered from the pain.

I feel so cross as years ago I read about a homeopathic remedy to help the pain of shingles and to also lessen the long term pain that often lingers after the blisters etc have gone. Can I remember what it is? Can I heck?

Just hope I never need it, I can remember my Mum getting shingles and she was very uncomfortable for a while, all round one side of her waist so very hard to wear anything but loose petticoat and dress. First time for years Mum went without her corsets!

I had chickenpox when I was small so guess the virus is still dormant.

Hope your hubby will soon feel better Jean and yours doesn't suffer too badly Shirley.

Lizx

Been to the docs this morning and it is Shingles although not atypical with all the symptoms ie the pain on the top of his head , The ear and jaw pain plus he has two blisters in his ear now as well as on his gums.are typical of Shingles though
Been given a 5 day course of the antiviral Acyclovir.

Best wishes to your husband Shirley. Hope the Acyclovir eases his pain.

Shirley, my OH had it in his hair and across his forehead and the one eyesocket, fortunately not the eye itself. Be very watchful and if he gets any diarrhoea stop the tablets at once. This like dysentery and very weakening.

Thanks Jean .have taken note of that and will warn him cos he does have diverticular disease anyway .

In this case the only thing that will work is Acyclovir and tonnes and tonnes of REST.....not always sleep BUT REST REST REST ......

I,ve had this twice and suffer with the after pain called neualgia this is when the ends of the nerves which have the cold sore/shingles on dont ever mend ...this is unusual ...so dont panic

Good Luck

REST REST and more REST

shingles must be doing the rounds,my daughter took her partner to doctor today because he has had man flu for a while,and he has shingles,they have a 6month old baby and its worrying me,my daughter had chicken pox when she was 6months old(her older siblings had it and passed it to her)she spent 3wks in hos and was very poorly,and at the age of 6 developed shingles.x

Hope your OH feels better soon. l know with Jeans OH how poorly he was, and he's not a100% better yet!

Bestes wishes

jude

Thanks all. We did call off our weekend away as i knew he shouldnt be attempting such a long car trip, plus we were going to a Ruby Wedding anniversary family get together and it wasnt fair on the other guests, including children that would be there.

Suzanne my daughter and one of my sons did the same chicken pox very young then shingles at 5 and 10!!!

There is lots of chicken pox round our way