I have a couple of questions:
What exactly was "head shingles" and exactly where/when did they occur?
Do you take a decongestant like Sudafed or Allegra?
Why do you put vinegar in your ear? Do you have ear pain?
From the shingles, do you have any residual nerve pain or symptoms?
Is your throat ever sore?
What antibiotic have you been given and were you given the antibiotic for the lymph node enlargement or for a sinus infection?
Is the enlarged lymph node at the junction of your jaw, behind your ear?
What drug did they use to treat your shingles?
Shingles typically follow a nerve root/path. There are a bunch of cranial nerves, and the herpes may be what is affecting your vision. I will ask my DH MD when he gets home tomorrow who he would send you to. I am leaning towards in infectious disease doc, and an ophthalmologist. Swollen lymph nodes are typically a sign of infection, inflammation or cancer. The infection can be viral, which shingles (herpes zoster) are. You may need a course of Acyclovir or comparable.
Hope you feel better.
ETA: Can you hold off on the vinegar/alcohol in your ear and let me know what happens? I would stop that for now if you can. IMO
HI Zuri...sorry I am just getting back to answering the questions....I had a major reaction to a sulfa drug...think the medical community would know not to give it to me!!! I do check out the medications but companies are not open on the week ends.
The head shingles both times were on the right side of my head, behind my ear. The first time was on the week end. My neck swelled like if someone had put a balloon under my skin. I could not move my head right or left at all. The red spots were on my scalp, not seen anywhere else.
No, my doctor did not give me anything at all....just to suffer through it. It took weeks to get over it.
Second time I got head Shingles, in the same place, I went to Urgent Care. That doctor gave me medication I could take to reduce the length of the Shingles. However, the company told me not to take the medication as it did not have sulfa's in it BUT it was made in a factory where sulfa drugs were made and they were afraid I would have a reaction. So no medication again. This episode was not as bad.
No I can not take any like Sudafed as they all contain sulfa, sulfite, sulfate, sulfur...either in the active or inactive ingredients to include the dyes or any gel capsules. I research all the meds I can myself and also through the KU Pharmacy School. They are great helping me out.
My old retired dentist, a specialist in many fields, and his associate, felt I did have nerve damage. We all agreed to pull two molars. It helped the pain, but it was still there. I did have an infection too. It was my dentist that got my primary doctor to give me antibiotics at that time. I still have ear pain when the lymph node swells up and my right eye is like someone has put vaseline on my lens for the outside vision.
The eye doctor tried prisms which did not work. She said she cannot do anything until the medical doctors do something.
Yes, I do get a sore throat at times, when the lymph node swells up...AND the top of my head will hurt and my head will feel 'tight'.
I have started to use a vinegar/alcohol solution in my ear. I told my doctor, who did not care. I found that this is an old home remedy. I felt it was safe as it was not using any herbs which could interfere with my pain med.
I was given a Z pac....could take that twice then reacted to it. Was given Levofloxin. Took that about 4 times and this last time....it caused a racing, burning heart. I was told to keep taking the Levofloxin....but I could to do that. Then I was put on Clindamycin. I take that, but I have to break open the turquoise gel capsule and pour the powder on a piece of bread to take it. There is sulfa in the gel capsule, probably in the dye. That is the only antibiotic I can take unless 'someone', like my doctor, would do some research and see if a compound drug could be made with out dyes or additives that contains sulfa's of any kind (that includes the corn starch where we found it one time...by 'we' I mean KU Pharmacy School and me).
The swelling is right behind the ear lobe is more pronounced at the ear area and then it goes out like a pencil to the middle of my neck.
No meds at all for the shingles....nothing, I just curled up in bed and cried.
What you said makes sense. It is like a yoyo...comes and goes if I am on antibiotic or not.
I will say this...it took 5 years for me to beable to find this swollen lymph node or whatever because for 5 years that I had been going to this primary doctor, I was on a Vit D and BP med....both had sulfa in it and I was according to the pharmacy "slowly being poisoned by the sulfa'. So alot of issues have gone away since I took my self off these two meds. Yes, my doctor and pharmacy knew that these meds had sulfa in them. I was putting my faith in them so I never checked these two meds out until KU Pharmacy School suggested that they check them out. This past fall is when I found out the meds had sulfa in them.
According to my primary care doctor there are no meds for me to take except the Clindamycin which is so bitter, but I rather put it on a piece of bread and beable to take that way then not at all.
Yes, I can stop the vinegar and alcohol...that is no problem. It was just another possible solution.
Only slight changes in my heart meds. They'll see me in another year.
