Shingles?

Everyday living
1

Hello,

I went to the doctors 3 weeks ago after having a weird tingling in my side (upper abdomen left side) for a few weeks that suddenly also became numb. I was getting quite worried by the internal tingling feeling, then once the numbness struck I thought i must be having a relapse.

To my surprise, the nurse I saw said it was shingles and said he could see two very faint red spots on my back (that I could not see at all!). I was prescribed the standard antibiotics for Shingles - a 7 day course. 3 weeks on I still have the numbness and it has spread around more of my left side down to hip. The tingling has stopped and very fortunately I haven’t suffered with any pain, which shingles is renowned for.

I’ve read that MS can make you more susceptible to bouts of shingles. I’ve also been suffering with my first UTI this week, so it could be that my immune system is not doing so well at the moment.

I just wondered what other people’s experiences of shingles were and if this sounds similar?

Many thanks and well wishes.

2

I had shingles (same area as you, but on the right) before MS came into my life, but MS arrived in a hurry (starting in the same place) a couple of months later and I was dx by the end of the year. Of course it might have been a complete co-incidence, but it has never looked that way to me!

Get well soon.

Alison

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Hi Alison,

Thanks for your reply. I have read a quite a few different anecdotes of a case of shingles preceding their MS diagnosis. I’d never heard of the connection before researching recently. MS is a strange beast - I suppose the immune system and nervous system are pretty complex things!

Best wishes,

India

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