shingles and hcv

[mom4two]

Hi all,I have a quick question. I just found out that I have shingles, cuased by a weaken imune system.  I've actually had it for about a week and it's almost gone.  Questions, has anybody else had shingles when on tx, and if so was your dose changed.  Of course my dr. is gone for the weekend and I have to take my shot tonight. I called roche 24/7 hotline and the nurse said he had no info on shingles so he doesn't beleive there should be any problem taking my shot as usual. Any info would be appreciated.  Thanks, Lori

[susan400]

I had shingles in the past, many years ago.  It was after I was positive for hep non-A, non-B (Hep C we know now).  Back then, they didn't even know about hep C and actually didn't think my hep was anything to talk about.  But, when I had shingles, it was very painful.  I had it on my face close to my eye.  It started on my forehead and went down almost to my eye itself.  They gave me pain medication and anti-virals.  I think it was  Zovirax.  It's been a long time ago.  I was 28 years old at the time and I'm 45 now. So, since they gave me an anti-viral back then, I would think that being on treatment, the Riba would actually be a good thing.  The antiviral properties of it probably helped your shingles to not be as a severe case of it.  I would just stay on your normal dose.

Susan

[Not 4 Gotn]

Hello, I am fairly new here, but am finding a lot of great advice and comfort here.  I don't think the shingles are caused by tx.I have had shingles several times in the past 10 years.  I found out I had HepC 4 years ago, so didn't realize that's what it may be.  I also get sores (like shingles) in my nose, mouth and ears.  My doctor says it is normal for HepC patients.  Believe it or not, clearasil (for acne) works best for me to clear it up fast.  It can be very painful and anoying, especially since I always get it in the same place, on my face for the whold world to see.
Since there is really nothing you can do about it, you might want to talk to a dermatologist, but if you're like me, I am tired of so many doctors, and try the clearasil.  Hope this helps, Good Luck!

[Morgaina]

Shingles is a herpes virus and for some reason many people report having breakouts (cold sores etc.)while taking the IF and Riba. I had a heck of a time early in treatment but after a couple months it stopped breaking out. Hopefully, this will be it for you!

[mom4two]

thanks for all the info it's been a big help.

Lori

[BThompson4]

I had a shingles outbreak on my right thigh about one week into treatment.  Figured that it was better to take a slight break from the riba and went from six a day to four a day for just two days, afterwhich the sores dried up really fast and stopped itching.  No problems since.  I am on week 14, 1430 copies of geno 1a at ten week pcr, post liver transplant.  I think cutting back on riba for those two days probably did not hurt my chances much for svr but allowed my immune system to clear up a potentially nasty case of shingles.

Do you have blood sugar problems?  I started out treatment taking 33 units of Lantus per day and increased to about sixty units a day about four weeks into treatment.  This increased my overall health by quite a bit, especially made it easier to adequately hydrate and avoid the opportunistic infections that can come with dehydration.