Shingles not the ones on your roof

Making the shingles vaccine free for eligible Ontario seniors between the ages of 65 and 70 — saving them about $170.

From the Ontario Government’s 2016 Budget Making everyday life easier.

 Paul is almost 48 and he has been suffering through shingles for three weeks.  He doesn't have the itchy rash, he has very painful tightening of his nerves in the upper part of his body, heat flashes and loss of sensation or tingling down his arm.   The nerve tightening sometimes makes his hand shake uncontrollably, gives him coughing spasms because the nerves in his lungs are effected and it hurts to touch (no hugging).

Paul was on antibiotics for some dental surgery, mixed with work stress and BAM=opened him up to rekindle and awaken his chicken box virus. 

Shingles is a painful skin rash . It is caused by the varicella zoster virus. Shingles usually appears in a band, a strip, or a small area on one side of the face or body. It is also called herpes zoster

Shingles is most common in older adults and people who have weak immune systems because of stress, injury, certain medicines, or other reasons. Most people who get shingles will get better and will not get it again. But it is possible to get shingles more than once.

Shingles occurs when the virus that causes chickenpox starts up again in your body. After you get better from chickenpox, the virus "sleeps" (is dormant) in your nerve roots. In some people, it stays dormant forever. In others, the virus "wakes up" when disease, stress, or aging weakens the immune system. Some medicines may trigger the virus to wake up and cause a shingles rash. It is not clear why this happens. But after the virus becomes active again, it can only cause shingles, not chickenpox.

You can't catch shingles from someone else who has shingles. But there is a small chance that a person with a shingles rash can spread the virus to another person who hasn't had chickenpox and who hasn't gotten the chickenpox vaccine.

Shingles symptoms happen in stages. At first you may have a headache or be sensitive to light. You may also feel like you have the flu but not have a fever.

Later, you may feel itching, tingling, or pain in a certain area. That's where a band, strip, or small area of rash may occur a few days later. The rash turns into clusters of blisters. The blisters fill with fluid and then crust over. It takes 2 to 4 weeks for the blisters to heal, and they may leave scars. Some people only get a mild rash. And some do not get a rash at all.

Taken from:opic-overview

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-topic