Quick question on Shingles.

[Guzzler]

I have never had Chicken Pox, though I have been exposed to it many times. Many years ago a GP told me that some people seem to have a natural immunity to the disease. I know there is a link between Chicken Pox and Shingles but what I would like to know is this, am I more likely to contract Shingles because I never caught Chicken Pox or less likely or does it make no difference at all?

 

[Goonergal]

I’m pretty sure you can only get shingles if you’ve had chicken pox.

 

[Guzzler]

I’m pretty sure you can only get shingles if you’ve had chicken pox.

Phew! Thanks. I've heard it is particularly painful.

 

[chalup]

My understanding is after you have chicken pox the virus stays in the body for life in an inactive form. Shingles is the result of the virus activating for some reason. My brother had it and it was extremely painful. Not a doctor here so I could be way off base.

 

[Snapsy]

I had it several years ago, and it was extremely painful. If I'm under the weather, there is an area of nerve pain that rears its head in the area where the rash had been - it's fine and dealable with, but let's say it's a now-and-again reminder of the shingles!

I had had chicken pox when I was about 8.

 

[Deleted member 308541]

I have had the Zostavax vaccination for Shingles within the last couple of months. It was free as I am over seventy.

 

[Guzzler]

Thanks everyone, looks like I dodged more than one bullet there.

 

[Fearless36]

I had chickenpox twice as a child, pretty close together, one at 3 years and then again at 7 years. I know it was thought at one point it was supposedly linked to diabetes, as I had it at 3 and then became a T1 at 4 years immediately after. I didn't get shingles until I was turning 36. I didn't find it painful (although I was frequently told that I had to be in a lot of pain) but it was uncomfortable. I had a rash appear on one side of my body - that looked like I had been hit with a sword in the upper torso.

 

[Guzzler]

I had chickenpox twice as a child, pretty close together, one at 3 years and then again at 7 years. I know it was thought at one point it was supposedly linked to diabetes, as I had it at 3 and then became a T1 at 4 years immediately after. I didn't get shingles until I was turning 36. I didn't find it painful (although I was frequently told that I had to be in a lot of pain) but it was uncomfortable. I had a rash appear on one side of my body - that looked like I had been hit with a sword in the upper torso.

My eldest had chicken pox twice as a child, too. We used to be told this was impossible but apparently it is not uncommon. He didn't, fortunately, develope Diabetes but to this day still has the marks from the second bout which the doctor said was a particularly virulent strain.

 

[Mep]

I had chicken pox in childhood, and I've had shingles in my mid 20's. I thought I'd broken my leg to be honest, then I had this rash with blisters appear on my stomach. The doc pressed somewhere on my knee and it shot pain up to the blisters... so he said he'd found the nerve trail and I had shingles. It took me months to recover. My leg has never been the same. My doc says he thinks I have postherpetic neuralgia in that leg now from the shingles. I still have scars from the blisters too. But in answer to your question, you are prone to shingles if you've had chicken pox.