Shingles Support

No solutions and this won't help you now, but for anyone else reading, get the vaccine. Cases become more frequent with age and the pain can be severe. Bonus that the shot appears to lower Alzheimer's odds noticeably and possibly heart attack risk too.

Even in Australia the shot isn't widely covered unless you're over 70. I'm on immune-suppressing meds so definitely higher risk, yet I only qualified last month after losing enough weight to push my dose above the per-kilogram threshold. At 67 kg it costs several hundred dollars; at 66 kg it's free.

Ozone helps.

Ozone lacks proof in peer-reviewed studies, but antivirals do speed recovery, ease pain, and most importantly cut the chance of post-herpetic neuralgia that often lingers for years.

Vaccines aren't usually my thing, but shingles is one I'm definitely getting. I had chickenpox twice as a kid so I'm not risking it.

I'm one of those odd cases with chronic shingles. Some years it hits every other month, other years nothing at all. I've grown so used to it that I skip treatment now.

Lysine can keep the virus in check. Skip arginine because it feeds it. Arginine shows up in foods like wheat, nuts, and chocolate. Lysine comes from dairy and proteins but a supplement makes dosing simpler. I stir it into my coffee.

I dealt with recurring shingles, at least three bouts a year for a couple years after sepsis. Valtrex helped when prescribed. Methylene blue might be worth looking into for its antiviral effects; keep using it in cycles but confirm no interactions with valacyclovir first.