posted
My fathers brother in law just got shingles.he has it near his eye. hes in his early 60's and hes never had it before.
my mother and grandmother both said people seem to be getting shingles A WHOLE LOT lately
They said it seems almost like an epidemic
I know alot of you on here know alot about medical. so I told them I'd come on here and try to find out
Thanks alot!
Posts: 995 | From somewhere out there | Registered: Oct 2010
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
my sister had shingles, full body, just a couple of weeks ago.
i had them months ago.
and husband's friend wife has had them.
so yeah, i know several people who had them recently. stress maybe...
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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poppy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5355
posted
Are these all older people? Seems to affect those whose immune system is waning, because of age, or disease, or stressors such as surgery.
Posts: 2888 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
yes all older than 60
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
Shingles is the chicken pox virus that remains in your body after you have had chicken pox.
It can only come out as shingles when your immune system is weakened and so cannot suppress it.
Those most at risk for shingles are those over age 60 because the immune system weakens at about that age. That is why now the new medical recommendation is that anyone over age 60 get the shingles vaccine.
So, if an older person gets sick with something else (like pneumonia, bronchitis, etc.), the shingles can follow. It takes advantage of the weakened state.
You have to be healthy when you get the vaccine. Not sick with anything.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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MADDOG
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 18
posted
I had shingles due to the lyme screwing up my immune system.
There are a lot of things going on in the environment,due to our use of chems on everything.
Try to think of something you do that does not involve some rich persons chemicals they sell you.
Like,wash your dishes,clothes,paint your nails,spray your hair,deet to keep off the ticks, frontline on the dog,24D on your grass,chlorine in your water,bug spray to kill crickets roaches,air spray for smells,hand soap,disifectant on the grocery cart,oil in your car, gas,transmission fluid, they have killed us selling chemicalls. destroyed out immune systems.
It wont stop till we are all dead .
MADDOG
Posts: 3996 | From Ohio | Registered: Oct 2000
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- I'm not so sure it's any kind of outbreak at all but, as we get older, we just know more older people, and more with health challenges.
When we were younger, so were the people we know.
Still, life is so much more stressful these days for many reasons. THAT brings everyone closer to ill health. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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tickled1
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14257
posted
3 young people on my husband's side of the family just had it within a couple months of each other. Weird.
Posts: 2541 | From Northeast | Registered: Jan 2008
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lymednva
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9098
posted
My 33 year old son is recovering from it. I'm pretty certain he and my other two kids all are congenital Lymies. They ran an AIDS test on him, which freaked him out, but it came back negative. That was no surprise to me.
-------------------- Lymednva Posts: 2407 | From over the river and through the woods | Registered: Apr 2006
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posted
One reason why many older people are getting shingles is because the varicella vaccine is being given to babies/young children, often with a booster shot years later. This is a live vaccine.
My understanding is that these kids are contagious for a day or two post-vaccine and can infect their grandparents/older relatives who have lost their immunity to varicella.
An easy solution would be for family members to get their varicella titers tested prior to little ones getting this vaccine. If they are not immune, they should stay away from the child for a few days post-vaccine. If they still have immunity, they shouldn't get shingles. This applies to all live vaccines.
-------------------- You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
---Eleanor Roosevelt Posts: 748 | From somewhere | Registered: May 2010
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sammy
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13952
posted
People with active shingles lesions shed the virus too. When they have the visible skin changes they are considered "infectious/contagious". So your friends or family may have been exposed that way.
As AlanaSuzanne pointed out, if the someone's immune system is weaker they will be more susceptible to the viral reactivation.
Covering the active skin lesions when you go out in public helps to protect others.
Posts: 5237 | From here | Registered: Nov 2007
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posted
All of these suggestions and another possibility - I think that untold numbers of people are living with undiagnosed Tick-Borne Diseases so their immune systems would be extremely stressed out as they get older.
From things I've read, I believe that undiagnosed TBDs are contributing to a number of illnesses that seem to be excalating in our state - high numbers of heart disease, Alzheimer's, obesity, Parkinson's, MS, and even cancer. In my area, we are seeing more young people than ever before having to deal with cancer - friends of my children and even my grandchildren.
One grandson had a little friend in kindegarten that lost her hair from chemo so he got a "buzz cut" hoping she would feel better. I was so proud of him!
The "powers that be" insist that Lyme is not a problem in South Carolina, but Lyme patients believe it is everywhere.
Posts: 4638 | From South Carolina | Registered: Mar 2001
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Rivendell
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19922
posted
Hey MADDOG, it is maddening, isn't it?
I'm tired of paying for someone's private jet by eating bad food, breathing bad air, drinking bad water, and having chronic lyme, which doesn't exist.
All the explanations for the outbreak of shingles sound correct.
Posts: 1358 | From Midwest | Registered: Apr 2009
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Rivendell
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19922
posted
Hey MADDOG, its maddening isn't it?
I'm tired of paying for someone's private jet by eating bad food, breathing bad air, drinking bad water, and having Chronic Lyme, which doesn't exist.
All these explanations for the outbreak of shingles sound correct.
Posts: 1358 | From Midwest | Registered: Apr 2009
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beaches
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38251
posted
Rivendell, I am not understanding how eating bad food, breathing bad air, drinking bad water and having Chronic Lyme pays for someone else's private jet.
Maddog, we have no choice but to wash our dishes and clothes. Anyone concerned about chemicals can opt to use things like castile soap.
It's optional to paint your nails--I choose to do so as there are very few small and inexpensive luxuries I refuse to give up and it has not been detrimental to me. You also don't have to spray your hair. Again, I choose to do so.
And yes I am 100% for the deet. I resisted that for many years b/c it's a "chemical." Can't help but think if I used it we might have avoided the Lyme hell. Just can't afford in any way to revisit the hell my family has endured, so it's deet and/or the Avon stuff.
My pets now get their tick-repellent. I resisted this for awhile too b/c I spray my yard with permethrin (a natural product), yet one recently tested positive for Lyme, Erlichiosis and Anaplasmosis and was put on doxy by the vet. So yeah, I have no problem with Frontline either.
I don't know what 24D is but I sure do prefer my lawn and flower beds weed-free so I have them pulled and sprayed (and I keep the pets away for at least 24 hrs afterwards). Pre-Lyme I was out there myself doing all the weeding and gardening. Now I won't even walk on my own sprayed grass.
I don't like the chlorine in the water, but there are plenty of water filters out there that can tackle that problem.
The only time I use bug spray is to kill ornery wasps because let's be honest, they deserve it As for the other critters, I prefer the baits (forget the names of them). I had ants in the kitchen beginning in May. Ewwww, gross so I just put the baits everywhere and within a couple of days there were no ants.
If I had roaches, I have to admit I'd call in the big guns because I just cannot tolerate that whatsoever. The crickets on the other hand, well, I've had them in the garage so I've never felt the need to exterminate for them. At least they do something constructive--they sing!
I used to use air spray and fresheners but stopped b/c of the pthalates (sp?) and the fact that they are completely unnecessary.
I confess to using clorox as a disinfectant b/c I've been around it my whole life and it is also the ONLY thing that kills c-diff BTW. So clorox it is for the toilets, tubs and sinks in my house.
We all need hand soap to wash up after using the bathroom and before and after meal prep so I don't really understand the problem with this.
The whole grocery store disinfectant thing seems a bit over the top to me. But then again I do make sure I put my meat and chicken in plastic bags and have them packed separately from the rest of the groceries. I'm sure that's not correct from a recycling point of view, but we all do what we have to do to protect ourselves and our families.
We need oil or gas to heat our homes and we need gas and transmission fluid for our cars. These things are necessary and I don't think we have any other choices at this time.
Have the chemicals damaged our immune systems or have Lyme and cos? I really do believe it's the latter. But I also do believe it's much better to eliminate whatever chemicals we can and opt for organic produce and meat whenever possible.
We have strayed very far away from the topic at hand.
Posts: 1885 | From here | Registered: Jul 2012
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RDaywillcome
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 21454
posted
I was shocked when my granddaughter at three years old contracted this. Can someone explain this?
Her mom is an R.N. and thought nothing of it. I've never heard of it in such a young person.
Posts: 1738 | From over the rainbow | Registered: Jul 2009
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beaches
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38251
posted
Are you referring to Chicken Pox or Shingles?
Posts: 1885 | From here | Registered: Jul 2012
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As for the other critters, I prefer the baits (forget the names of them). I had ants in the kitchen beginning in May. Ewwww, gross so I just put the baits everywhere and within a couple of days there were no ants. 
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