My mom recently had shingles, and cocobee's recent thread on chicken pox got me thinking about it.
I had chicken pox in the third grade and have never had shingles. I've heard it can be very painful!
Have you ever had shingles? Did you ever have chicken pox?
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
oh yup... (look in post drafts!) definitely one of the most painful things ever. Also I didn't know it was shingles for a while, so because I didn't start treating it until more than five days into it, I had lingering pain for months. Because the virus activates on your SPINE no amount of massage helps. So awful.
ETA: I had chicken pox when I was little. I don't think you can get shingles without having chicken pox first since shingles is the chicken pox virus, which stays dormant in your body, reactivated.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
eeeeeeee shingles!!! never had it and I hope I never get it!
GOLD / squash / 13464 posts
Have had chicken pox (super mild when I was a little baby) but have not had shingles. One of my best friends had shingles last year and it was awful for her. Especially because hers was brought on from stress associated with some other scary medical concerns.
coconut / 8234 posts
Haven't had shingles and I hope I don't ever have it. They have lots of commercials about it now. I think it strikes most in people over 55 (who have had the chickenpox). I think you can only get shingles if you've had the "chickenpops" as we called them when we were little.
I had them when I was about 11 and it was pretty bad, I almost had to be hospitalized and was out of school for almost a month.
My friend had shingles last year and he said it super painful. Ouch!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@highwire: I didn't realize that either!
I haven't had either!!!
persimmon / 1202 posts
They are both caused by the same virus. In regards to shingles, the vaccination is the same as having had chicken pox as a kid (chicken pox as an adult is, I understand, way worse than shingles.)
I had chicken pox in kindergarten. So did over half my class.
ETA: For adults who haven't had it, getting the vaccine for yourself before your kids start school may be a very good idea!
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
YES, when I was young (first grade)! I'd had a very mild case of chicken pox as a baby and then it came back as shingles. The doctors were quite surprised because typically people don't get shingles until they're older. I was out of school for a couple of weeks. Super painful blisters all stretching halfway around my belly to back. If you look super closely you can still see the scars.
squash / 13764 posts
I"ve never had either. My parents have both had shingles and said it was super super painful.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
Yes! I had chicken pox at 5 and shingles at 15. Hurt soooo bad!
blogger / pineapple / 12381 posts
No chicken pox and no shingles for me. They used to think that getting chicken pox was more protective for shingles than the vaccine, but more recent studies show that the vaccine is more protective. The vaccine also is a live virus, just a weakened form.
bananas / 9628 posts
Never had shingles, had chicken pox as a toddler & still have a scar on my forehead from it 
our pharmacy had all these posters for the shingles vaccine up, there were giant pictures, it was kinda yucky & sounded terrible!
pomelo / 5321 posts
I got the chicken pox on my first birthday. I've never had shingles and hope to keep it that way!
persimmon / 1165 posts
Yep, earlier this year. I think that I got a very mild case, as by the time I got in to see the doctor, the spots were already starting to fade. It still wasn't fun though.
GOLD / pear / 1845 posts
I had shingles in grade 7. The worst thing ever. It was the deciding factor for me in choosing to go with the chicken pox vaccine for the girls.
persimmon / 1194 posts
I had chicken pox when I was 6 and got shingle just last year at 25. It was horrible! I had just gotten my wisdom teeth out so I just thought perhaps I had an infection because my face hurt so bad. Dr took one look at me and told me I had shingles. Good news was that I went in just in time (the shingle meds they give you will only help if shingles is caught within 72 hours, otherwise all they can give you is topical cream and pain meds and you have to wait it) out bad news was that I had it on my face which evidently is the most painful place to get it. It was incredibly painful even with pain meds, I would just start crying from the pain randomly. I was better after a week but I still have scars on my face from it 
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
I had chicken pox when I was in kindergarten. I haven't had shingles thankfully.
blogger / nectarine / 2687 posts
@mrs. wagon: the hubs had it, too!!! it was awful...and he was a mess. and his immune system has never been the same.
on a funny note, his BIL (his sister's hubs) sent him a giant box filled with pringles and a note that read, "heard you have the shingles...here, have some pringles!"
boys are so weird.
apricot / 359 posts
DH had shingles in his childhood...surprised to see others having this in their childhood. He remembered it as being painful
blogger / pear / 1964 posts
DH has shingles a year ago on his legs. It was pretty mild, and his pain wasn't unmanageable, but he was definelty a little freaked out by it.
kiwi / 711 posts
I had the shingles my senior year of high school and it was miserable. The worst part was that I had them for two weeks before my parents took me to the doctor. My mom didn't believe that it was anything more than poison ivy despite the fact that I promised I hadn't been rolling around outside shirtless. I called my dad sobbing from work one day from being in so much pain and he took me behind my mom's back. He still feels guilty.
pomelo / 5178 posts
A co-worker had shingles this winter, while I was pregnant with DS. He was out for a month because of the pain, and when he came back, he immediately input for retirement. He said shingles made him realize that he was getting older and couldn't bounce back from things like he used to.
persimmon / 1341 posts
I had shingles when I was 11 and in 6th grade. My parents thought it was bug bites or some kind of rash like poison ivy so they treated it with cortisone cream. Let me tell you folks...if you ever have shingles: DO NOT PUT CORTISONE CREAM ON IT! Oh my word, it was torture. I screamed and screamed it hurt so much. My mom works in the medical field and was always hesitant to take us to the doctor saying things would just get better on their own. Well, this didn't. So, she took me into her office and a bunch of cardiologists and nurses pulled out their books and started comparing pictures and symptoms and finally decided it was shingles. It took them awhile to decide because nobody had ever heard of an 11 year old getting it.
Had to go to the doctor and get pain medicine and couldn't go to my math class for a month because my math teacher was pregnant.
Shingles are horribly, horribly painful and I wouldn't wish is on anyone!
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I had the chicken pox when I was young, but haven't (and hopefully NEVER have) the shingles. I know a couple people that do have it though.
I went in for my annual physical earlier this week and asked my physician about it since I've noticed more occurrences of it recently. She said it normally occurs in older folks, and there's no explanation on why it's occurring to folks in their 30's right now. Fortunately, it's NOT contagious. It is a spinoff dormant virus of the chicken pox.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
@Mrs. Cowgirl: another cosmic connection. haha just kidding! Where did Mr. Cowboy have it? Oh, and guess when I had it... on S's wedding day!!! Yes, the one and only time I met Mr. Cowboy, I was suffering from shingles and I didn't even know it yet!
Uhh, I hope I didn't give it to him!!!!
coconut / 8279 posts
YES! I thought it was hives at first and just brushed it off until it was so itchy I couldn't take it and went to the ER at 2am.
I was really stressed at work and didn't really eat, except for coffee, for like, 3 days and then a couple days later noticed a weird purple rash on my back... I had pain/weird sensations where it was on my back for months afterwards.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
yes I had shingles in 3rd grade. I had to stay in my great grandmother's basement during school which I hated because it smelled like ol lady. It was awfu and there was no TV!! Talk about boring.
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