Dear Subscriber,
I have a tale of my own misfortune that I feel compelled to share with you. The past few weeks, I have been down for the count with shingles. This article will become very graphic so now is a good time for “virgin eyes” to stop before I use my English education to describe my ordeal.
I first had shingles at age 21, along the right side of my back and abdomen. I worked in a biology lab were there was a ping pong table and several of us in the building played each other competitively. Despite the pain, that is what I chose to do. I ping-ponged my way through the two-week ordeal which vigorous activity helped to diffuse the discomfort and likely shorten length of the disease. I recovered completely. While still generally bursting with energy well past 70, 21 is a long, long time ago.
Shingles is herpes zoster, the same virus as causes chicken pox, which I had as a child. The virus stays in your body in a nerve ganglion. Most people never have an issue again. But a second bout with the virus causes shingles, a painful blistering rash in the path of the nerve that is infected. The virus erupts along its path, often encompassing the entire length of the nerve root.
The chief complications of zoster is the risk of post herpetic neuralgia, a long term possibly life long intractable pain within the nerve distribution of the zoster infection. This is the most feared as medicine has little to offer. We do ozone therapy, and no ozone user I know has reported a complication of post herpetic neuralgia when ozone was properly used for the condition. Most comment that ozone seems also to speed up resolution. So, thinking I was immune from having both chicken pox and shingles, I naturally eschewed the zoster vaccine. All vaccines, including shingles vaccine, can cause a serious neurological problem called Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a paralysis that can even threaten breathing. It can last weeks, but generally it clears but might take months. Regardless, something I would not want. The vaccine can also cause pain and discomfort at the administration site. I decided not to get it.
Almost 2 weeks ago, on my usual weekly arduous hike, I began developing anterior chest pain on the left side while descending the mountain. Of course, the first thing that would cross anyone’s mind would be angina. But I was going down and felt nothing when my heart rate was 140 going up. The chest discomfort began to spread reaching my axilla and upper L back. By the second day, I got a fiery red rash in the area of the discomfort (I sure knew what I was in for) and by the third day, masses of blisters and vesicles claimed my skin, covering about 8% of my body, including my chest (pectural area), entire. Under the arm thin sensitive skin, and around my back to upper scapular area. Now the pain was beyond description. But I will try to describe it.
It felt like a creature from HELL had one branding hot claw on my anterior chest, and his other on my back, and fingers literally singing and scalding my under arm. I had confluent blisters, vesicles from my L central chest to mid back along the dermatome. But it was worse. I felt like the area was constantly being gouged by this entity beyond my 24/7 week. There was no let up. Moving my arm was quite problematic. Imagine you have second degree burns and two parts of your body moving open burns against each other as either part moved. My nipple felt like what a breast-feeding woman’s must feel like after the baby teethes and chews it up. Lightning pains coming into my “burned” nipple, and the crusted blistered skin surrounding it.
My energy was sapped, and I had some brain fog, common for many infections. I was always cold, but not much of a fever. More likely explosive heat loss through the blistered painful very hot lesions.
I shared the matter with a few friends and my sister, the eye doctor. She was appalled that I did not get the vaccine, as our father had shingles in his eye – a MOST FEARED complication, and it scarred his cornea. By God’s grace I was spared eye involvement. A friend told me of a friend of his who had eye involvement. His pain was incomprehensible. He laid down on his lawn with a loaded revolver and proceeded to blow his brains out.
My main concern has been to avoid post herpetic neuralgia. My treatment was getting ozone therapy (high dose) three times in the past two weeks in the office. I sprayed topical oxidants, used ozonated olive oil, made poultice out of the bentonite clay, and a cream called Rejuvenate available from a site called MoreMito.com. Their products are designed to support the health of mitochondria, and the cream might reverse aging in the skin. I have written here in depth about some of the ingredients in their products. If you want either of their two key products, you’ll need to use my user name to enter: drrowen. (This company is new to us, but we both are blown away at hosted telephone calls about what the products have done for users.)
Yesterday, the 10th day of the illness, I felt a bit of a break. I had my second high dose ozone and felt quite a difference. Today, 11th, the demonic pain was significantly retreating, remaining only in my nipple and axilla, but much less, and very responsive to the topicals. I am not too fearful of post herpetic neuralgia because pain seems limited to active angry skin lesions and not the entire dermatome. Also, I’ve had at least 3 ozone sessions, which appear to have now kicked in to what I had expected.
I will say this is not an illness I could ever wish on anyone. I have a sad but funny wall chart depicting a person’s pain which is available online:
I really could relate to this chart, rating my discomfort from 6 to beyond 12. It is mentally difficult to have serious pain which simply sizzlingly pulsates and does not ease up.
In considering my ordeal of the past 2 weeks, which is still going on, now much more tolerable, I have to admit that I would have taken the shingles vaccine had I known that my resistance to this nightmare was not good enough. I need to be honest with you all and let you know.
I am not a fan of the usual childhood vaccines, or flu vaccines, which are a crap shoot. And you know I was never positive towards genetic alteration (mRNA “vaccines”) . I’ve always said there is a time and place for any drug, medicine or even vaccine, but that they are used far more often than good, or necessary. The shingles vaccine has improved over the years. Pain at injection site, usual run of the mill “side effects” travel with every vaccine, as can the dreaded Guillain Barre paralysis, which is rare, but really the reason I didn’t get it.
So, as is my practice in educating people, I cannot tell you what to do. You have to decide for yourself. But considering that the shingles vaccine appears to cut experiences like mine by 90%, there may be merit to getting it as you age and the risk of shingles goes up. I’ll even have to consider it now, as neither the wild infection, nor vaccine, promises 100% immunity. The herpes zoster virus hides dormant in your nerves until something (like stress, weakened immunity, other factors) down regulates your immune system’s surveillance for it and the virus moves down the nerve an onto the skin pain receptors, blistering your skin. YOUCH!!!. Another way to describe it is the way a cow must feel when branded. Only the cow has to endure the hot poker for seconds. This can last weeks. (All this said, a non-blood relative told me she she is in her 70s, got two of these vaccines, and still had shingles, albeit, a mild case).
The current best vaccine is said to be Shingrex, and said to be an improvement over the original shingles vaccine. If you want to have an idea of my illness, I’ve pasted some photos I took off the web eerily similar to my outbreak:
Mine was about 2 dermatomes higher than this. My rash, was like this covering my complete armpit and most of my pectoral area. Just moving my arm are released searing burning pain were the skin of my arm med the rash under my axilla and chest wall. My underarm and chest wall was like the first image.
My chest was like this only three times as wide, with nipple almost totally obscured:
Please talk with your physician about risks you might have for shingles. Here is a case where a vaccine might actually do some good, and much more positive than negative.
To Your Excellent Health,
Robert Jay Rowen, MD
PS I would appreciate open comments on this and my thoughts as presented here on a vaccine. Anyone who does not believe viruses exist will have to spend the rest of their lives convincing me otherwise.
Recently, a friend of mine had a severe case. She used oregano oil topically and helped immensely.
I fear getting the new vaccine because it may have mRNA in it. What do you think about that? I did get the first shingles shot about 15 years ago. But I’m leary of anything now being injected into my body.