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MS and Shingles
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:54 pm
by jml945
Hello,
I have not been officially Dx with MS, but several doctors have said it's a possibility given my symptoms... i.e. pain in legs, tingling, many panic attacks, etc.
My question is, has anyone who has MS had an outbreak of shingles? I just had one on my chest where I had terrible pain in my side and back... it was so bad I thought I had a burst apendix. But the doc did blood tests and it came back positive for shingles. I have heard that MS and shingles are sometimes related, can anyone vouch for that?
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 1:29 am
by Wonderfulworld
Hi Jml
yes I have MS, diagnosed 11 years, and have had an outbreak of shingles once, 3 years ago. I don't know if they are related or if it's just something that would have happened me anyway - the shingles, that is.
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:11 am
by gainsbourg
Hi jml,
Yes I had a nasty outbreak age 11 and one or two other bouts. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a link. After all, don't forget the medical term for shingles is herpes zoster and different strains of the herpes family have long been linked to MS, such as Epstein Barr Virus (EPV) better known as glandular fever.
Herpes probably doesn't cause MS by itself, perhaps it weakens the nerves and makes them vulnerable to some other factor, but recent research is suggesting that there is almost certainly a connection.
After recovery from chicken pox, the herpes simplex virus stays dormant in nerves for years. Sexual herpes, for example, hides in the nerves at the base of the spine between attacks.
Gainsbourg
Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 7:41 am
by Wendigo
My five year old grandson received the chicken pox vaccine so hopefully he will be one of a new generation who will never have shingles.
The virus is said to be dormant until a time when the immune system is weakened. I got a shingles attack, my first, only, and hopefully the last, along with a course of IV Solu-Medro, which I think was given to suppress my immune system during an MS exacerbation earlier this year.
Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 8:40 am
by Just_Me
Wendigo wrote:My five year old grandson received the chicken pox vaccine so hopefully he will be one of a new generation who will never have shingles.
It is becasue of the chic pox vaccine that there is an increase in shingles and younger people are getting it.
Its not true that you cannot get Chix pox twice. Your immunities wear off over time but when people are exposed to chic pox they get a little booster to their immune system. Nobody gets chic pox any more so we don't get those little boosters.
There is a shingles vax out now but I don't trust any new vaccines so I"m not getting it yet.
MS and Herpes
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:33 pm
by jam
Yes I have herpes unfortunately which has affected the same side I have lost most of my balance and movement.
My husband has also had menieres disease and has therefore had himself deafened in one ear - he has also had herpes.
No I am not a dirty puss but just unlucky - real unlucky.
I do think there may be a connection here!
Jam