Shingles: Immune System Failure

It’s gone!  Jeannie was so excited! Within a week, what had started out as painful shingles had just disappeared.  She was pregnant, and since she was already having complications from the pregnancy she was really distraught over the possibility of adding the pain of shingles to her list of problems.  She was obviously relieved when it went away so quickly.

Shingles is essentially the chicken pox that you had as a child.  The virus hides in a nerve somewhere in your body, and when your immune system is down — for any reason — it can come out and make a rash.  It’s the same virus you had as a child that’s been hiding inside you for decades!

You don’t catch shingles from someone else – you had it all along. By the same token, you can’t give it to someone else.  You can, however, cause chicken pox in someone who has never been exposed to it before.

Since it hides in the nervous system it can show up anywhere in the body, from the top of the head to the tip of the toe.  Also, because of this, it has certain characteristics:

• It stays in the nerve so it can only be on one side — the right or the left, never crossing the midline of the body.
• It often starts with nerve pain: burning, tingling, or “electrical shocks” for as long as seven days before a rash develops.
• The rash can completely cover the area of the nerve, have one or two pox or none at all.
• The typical pattern is red bumps that turn into little blisters that fill with pus then pop and form a scab.  This can take a couple of weeks to heal.
• The major complication is “neuralgia,” or nerve pain, that persists after the rash is gone.  This happens because the nerve is damaged by the virus.

Shingles Treatment

What did Jeannie do to ward off the infection?  Since she was pregnant she didn’t want to take any medication (wisely) so we gave her a shot of vitamin B12 and she took frequent doses of vitamin C: 2 grams (2,000 mg) every hour during the day.  The trick is to get enough vitamin C to cause diarrhea; we call it “bowel tolerance.”  If you get diarrhea, just back off on the dose a little, for example, every 90 minutes.  If you don’t get diarrhea, keep going up on the dose until you do. For example, take 3, 4 or even 5 grams every hour.  You don’t have to take it at night. The vitamin B12 is to help the nerves to heal and possibly prevent neuralgia.

 

This treatment works as long as you continue the vitamin C.  If you stop too soon the infection will also return.  Continue it for about seven days.

In some cases, like when it is in the face, and especially the eyes, you should see a doctor to get an antibiotic called Acyclovir (or one of its various forms).  If the virus gets in the cornea it can cause clouding and require a cornea transplant.  You can still do the vitamin C at the same time.  When I have such a case, I give the antibiotic and daily intravenous doses of vitamin C (much more than you could take by mouth).

The antibiotic can be used anytime, but is most effective if started early. It slows the growth of the virus, but doesn’t stop it completely.  Ideally, you would want to start it before a rash or nerve pain ever develops.

Shingles Prevention

There is now a vaccine available for “shingles.”  It’s the same shot that is marketed to children for chicken pox, but in a double-dose for adults.  The vaccine is given to boost your immunity against the virus so you don’t let it out (it’s still there!).   It is about 60% effective, which means that within a four-year period those who had the vaccine shot experienced a little over half the total time with the illness, and half the pain compared to those who didn’t get it (from 1/1000 to .5/1000 for each year). The study was only four years, so we don’t know how long this effect lasts.  Also, it appears the older you get, the less effective the vaccine is.

It has become clear that adults used to get their “shingles vaccine” from children around them who had the chicken pox.  Now, since the Varicella vaccine has become available, we don’t know if this will increase the chances of adults getting shingles or not; we’ll have to wait and see.  In the meantime, it’s a good idea to keep your immune system in good working order.

The best prevention of all illness is to keep the immune system functioning well.  This is done in the usual way, what I call “The Big Three:” Food, Exercise, and Stress Reduction.

• Food: High-nutrient and low-calorie foods are the most important.
• Exercise: Be active enough to sweat 3-5 times per week.
• Stress Reduction:
  • Forgive everyone.  Let go of the past.  Make peace with what happened.  Don’t be angry over things you can’t control.
  • Take control of the present.  Be mindful.  Act purposefully.  Make a plan and follow it.
  • Don’t worry about the future.  Things will work out, they always do.  Trust in the Lord to guide the future as He has the past.

Like chicken pox, shingles may be mild or severe.  It isn’t always preventable, but if you have a strong immune system you may have a milder illness and fewer complications.  Also, if you know what to look for, then you can treat it sooner and avoid a chronic and painful nerve condition.