2 ms·
I got shingles in my early 50s and did not know there were antivirals that could help mitigate its effects. I now have postherpetic neuralgia and the pain is no
by pstuart 3mo ago
I got shingles in my early 50s and did not know there were antivirals that could help mitigate its effects. I now have postherpetic neuralgia and the pain is not quite enough to off myself but the fact that I have to live with this for the rest of my life weighs me down.
It turns out that "pain management" is more art than science and almost all the pharma options out there come with significant risks and concerns. I ended up turning to kratom to manage the pain, which it does, but it's come at significant cost as well (addiction being one of them). I'm now going to try peptides (ARA-290 and BPC-157) to see if maybe that can help but it's all a crap shoot.
I share this as a warning/advice: get the vaccine if you can, even if insurance resists, push back. It may be worth it out of pocket IMHO. If you can't, remember to get access to antivirals immediately if you can.
- jeffbee 3mo agoThe antiviral treatments for shingles are not very practical in that by the time you decide to visit the doctor it may already be too late for them to work.
- pstuart 3mo agoThis may be the case, I haven't researched it deeply enough because it was already a day late and a dollar short. I just asked The Goog and it said the answer is effectively "possibly, but nuanced". So you may be right but not completely ;-). I'd still suggest doing it as its likely to have a positive risk/reward ratio. But better still is to get the vaccine.
- Scoundreller 3mo agoThat’s why pharmacies are allowed to give them out directly here for shingles (Ontario Canada and possibly other provinces)