Shingles attack in June 2012, the pictures below are a week after the attack.
As I lived some 25-miles from the VA Clinic, was bed-ridden from back spasms caused from a pinched nerve at L4-L5, I called the VA Clinic to get an email address to send some pictures to them so they could diagnose and prescribe meds for the shingles attack I was also going through. The VA Clinic would not accept pictures by email to diagnose the shingles and order prescription when the shingles attack started so I was forced to endure this for over a week before the clinic finally agreed to view the pictures, of course the damage had already been done since the prescription is suppose to be administered within the first 72-hours.
Talk about "PAIN", while the back spasms are to the extreme, the shingles pain was an addition I really did not need. The shingles pain was like hot coals laying on the skin, while itching at the same time. Because of the bulging disk at L4-L5 I had to lay on my right side to keep the nerve from constantly being pinched to give it time for the inflammation to go down over days, the same side where the shingles were. And the only way I was able to do this was to put raw honey all over the shingles area, grit my teeth, and just lay down on my side as fast as I could. Needless to say, the initial shock was a bit much!
Unfortunately because my back went into spasm at the same time I was not able to get out of bed, leave alone drive to town, go to the clinic to see a doctor, go to a pharmacy, and then drive the 25-miles back home. The back spasms are from a L4-L5 bulging disk which is pinching the nerve, and this makes the stomach muscles give way causing stomach to extend.
About a month later, and the blisters had healed, I developed pain in both my elbows similar to when you hit your "crazy-bone" (nerve) on something. This stayed with me 24/7 for nearly two weeks before leaving. But, about 3-months after the shingles attack, and include the present day (10-25-13), I have experienced pain in both arms from the shoulders to the wrists. This pain is constant, but most effects me throughout the night. Makes it very hard to get any quality sleep! The pain started out with the feeling of a nerve on fire deep in running down the center of the arms (arms palms up) which would keep firing like electrical shocks. The pain then changed to a more overall pulsating pain through out the muscles of the shoulders/upper and lower arms.
Last night I had a different experience with this situation, around 1:30 am I got up to write something down, and as I started to write I experienced an over whelming pain in both arms that caused me to drop my arms down in front of me. I was unable to do anything with my arms except let them hang. At fist I wondered if it was my heart causing this, but I could tell my heart was fine. I sat there for about 30 long seconds before the pain went away. It is now 15 hours later and no sign of that feeling again, and praying it does not come back.
I don't know how much longer I will have to live with this, but my wife and I are researching natural ways to get it under control.