Recovery from shingles and post herpetic neuralgia

Disclaimer: The opinions offered on this blog are those of the author only and should not be construed as medical advice, and is not meant to be so. Your physician should be consulted before embarking on any form of self treatment.

Shingles and the associated pain is debilitating to so many people, unfortunately if you get Shingles but you don’t get the rash that is generally associated with it, you might well be misdiagnosed, it took two years of recurring and  agonising pain for my rash to appear, and finally get a diagnosis.
I sincerely hope that this blog post will be of help to people like me who feel that they have hit rock bottom, believe me the only way from there is up!
My journey:

For over two years I have experienced severe pain on the right hand side of my face and neck and then in my hand, arm then separately my shoulder and back. I never got the rash, and was given quite a few differing diagnoses. The pain would come in cycles, eventually tapering off, and then starting up again. 
Finally  after drinking a can of diet soda, unusual to say the least, I presented with the tell tale rash and finally got the right diagnosis. There were times before this when I quite happily imagined ripping my arm off and beating myself to death with it. Or clawing my face with something sharp so that I could explain the pain! The doctor prescribed antivirals, in the hope that this would stop the rash from spreading to my scalp and face, where it hadn’t presented yet. He did however warn me that I could expect to have the rash on my arm for up to five weeks, and I was informed that I may well experience post herpetic pain for years.  Having already suffered the pain associated with Shingles for the past two years, I did wonder if life was worth living.
Finally having a diagnosis, I started my research, and my road to recovery.

Recovery:
The steps I took on my road to recovery were trial and error, and I will share what worked for me in the hope that some of the information will help someone else that is experiencing the same pain that I was.
Firstly it is my belief that the aspartame in the soft drink set off a full blown Shingles attack. Looking back I am grateful for that as I finally got a diagnosis. However I now check everything to make sure there is no Aspartame in it. This led me to believe that there must be other foods that would be harmful.
Argenine should be avoided where possible (the virus replicates quite happily as it feeds off the Argenine you are ingesting), these are some of the foods that people have to avoid while recovering from Shingles:
Coffee – a difficult one, as most of us practically mainline the stuff!
Chocolate – Sorry folks, but this is a definite avoid!
Gelatine – Yup, those gummy sweets are definitely bad if you have Shingles
Nuts - In most cases good for you, but at this stage avoid them.
Vitamins and Supplements:
L-Lysine 1000mg 3x daily
B Complex – make sure that the B Complex you are using is a good one 1x daily
Vitamin C – 1000mg 3x daily
Co-Enzyne Q10 – 500mg 1x daily
Kelp – 30 mg 1x daily
Garlic – 1000mg daily
Omega 3 – 500mg daily
Skin purify tea (to replace coffee and hot chocolate.)
1 Cup Quark or cottage cheese, a quarter cup of flaxseed oil, a heaping tablespoon of cayenne pepper, a quarter teaspoon of turmeric. Mix together to a paste to make a toast topping. Heap this mixture on toast and get it down you!
Externally:
Apple Cider Vinegar
Cotton Wool
Pure Soap
Light Brown Sugar
Cayenne Pepper
Eucalyptus oil
Bandages
Grate some soap and add some boiling water to melt it. Add an equal amount of sugar and Cayenne pepper, and a few drops of Eucalyptus oil. Make this mixture up fresh every time you change the dressing.
Cleanse the area with Apple Cider Vinegar using the cotton balls, and apply the mixture over the rash and bandage up. Change dressing in the morning and in the evening. (please soak the bandages off, do not pull them off!)  I was fortunate to come through this with no scarring, but others may want to try it on a small area of the rash before committing.  My rash was gone within three days using the above poultice.
Within three weeks the pain had mostly disappeared and I started taking the vitamins once a day, I was still suffering severe exhaustion, so I added 500g Macca once a day, the pain disappeared completely and my energy levels slowly returned to normal. The power of prayer, (O Lord my God, I cried out to you for help, and you restored my health. Psalm 30:2,) and being blessed with a fantastic partner and a lovely young son, my partner offering understanding and support, my son offering lots of cuddles and kisses has sustained me.
Please feel free to email me, I would be happy to clarify anything, or quite simply offer moral support, after all I know the pain makes you feel isolated, but you can and will fight through it!

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