shingles

[Lendi]

I read several articles about people who get shingles are more likely to be DX'd within the year. That they would have an exacerbation big enough that there would be reson for testing.

My question, how many of you have had shingles AFTER being DX'd with MS. I had MS for something like 3 yrs then had a whopper shingles breakout.

I was just wondering if I was reading the articles incorrectly or they truly meant shingles THEN MS as in shingles is a trigger.

[kittysmith]

Not sure.

My brother had shingles and he's never been diagnosed with MS. Shingles, I believe, is related to the herpes zoster virus. I wouldn't think there would be a connection. Or, am I misunderstanding and you are talking about exacerbations following shingles?

[jazzgirl]

Never had shingles. Shingles and chicken pox are caused by the same virus...herpes zoster. You will have had to have chicken pox already before you can get shingles.

[Johooper]

I had shingles this year but only a mild bout. It was very painful if I scratched it but otherwise ok. I got it after a dose of IV Steroids and after my 2nd dose of Tysabri. My immunity was low from the 2 is why I got it. I have stopped Tysabri now, too scary for me.

Jo

[kikiblue]

I got shingles years before being diagosed with MS. You don't have to have had chicken pox to get shingles. I know several people that have shingles that never had chicken pox. People over 60 have a high risk of getting shingles.

[Lendi]

The articles I read (they came from google automatically into my e-mail) said that they found a coorelation between getting shingles and then getting MS within a year. They're working on the virus cause again I guess.

I just wondered though as I got DX'd with MS then had shingles. The articles gave the impression that one is more likely to "get" MS within a year if a shingles attack happened.

Sorry, I probably didn't make much sense.

[Spydre]

I've read that a herpes zoster infection (as well as some others) could be on of the triggers that "flip the switch" that would push you farther toward the disease - along with environment, heredity, etc. For me, I had the chicken pox at age 1, so I don't think it much mattered in my case - I was diagnosed at age 34 and I can only pinpoint definite symptoms for about a year before that - and I never thought those symptoms were anything major. I never developed shingles either.

I know that there are some things you just won't know what causes them....but I'm frankly terrified that my kids will get this. I realize that with me being their only first degree relative that has it, the chances are slim. They are both ADHD, and my oldest has inherited my tendency toward depression, I don't want to pass this on, too.

[mtnwillow]

I had shingles June, 2009 and began having neurological problems September, 2009. I was not diagnosed with MS until March, 2011. I think either the shingles and MS are related or maybe both were caused by unusual stressors. My husband says correlation is not causation. But I want to blame my illness on something, shingles, H1N1, stress, surgical anesthesia all occurred within 3 months of my symptom onset.

[Shallwearpurple]

Chx pox and shingles...

According to the National Foundation of Infectious Disease, the virus causing both chicken pox and shingles is the varicella-zoster virus. To get shingles, you would have had the virus earlier in life as the chicken pox virus. It then lays dormant for years until something causes it to "reactivate."

My mother never knew that my sister had chicken pox. She often had rashes as a young child due to allergies and sensitive skin. That is likely how she missed it. She didn't know she had it until she was in nursing and they wanted her to have the vaccine. She refused and was required to prove immunity. Her blood test showed immunity and that can only happen if you have been exposed in the first place.

A person can have a light case of an illness like chicken pox when they are exposed because the body did a good job of fighting it off. They might not even know they have it because they don't actually get very sick. Still, they will have immunity to catching it again because they developed antibodies to fight the virus they were exposed to. Still, they will have the virus in their body which could lie dormant for years before surfacing as shingles later in life.

Shingles can pop up later after being dormant due to something going wrong in the immune system. Just being over 50 can cause the immune system to be weaker and allow the shingles to rear. Anything else tha can mess with the immune system can also allow the shingles to pop up. I would guess that would include MS.

My personal guess is that it could go the other way. If you have MS under the radar and you have something happen that causes your immune system to change its status quo and that causes the shingles to pop up from the past, then the stress on the body could bring the MS to the forefront.