Shingles and swollen eyelids related???

[sublimegirlly]

I am 22 years old and recently came down with my first case of shingles on my upper back on my right shoulder blade, which spread slightly to my right side of my chest. I had it for a week before i figured out what it was. So I was extremly cautious and did not touch it except to clean it with apple cider viniger and put an anti itch cream on it. Within a few days of putting apple cider vinigar on the affected areas and drinking applecider vinigar with water throughout the day, the pain and itching started to disappear and the blisters started to scab over. Then after I began "healing",  I started waking up with swollen eyelids on both of my eyes!!! This persisted for a few days and then went away for a few days and now this morning i woke up with very swollen eyelids again! Please help me to understand if this is an after effect of shingles or what might be going on. I am normally very healthy, I don't smoke or drink and I have never had health problems until now. I am very upset about the apperance of my eyelids and am not sure what to do.

[pga000]

Have you gond to the doctors?  You need to get and oral antiviral medication ASAP to help prevent post herpetic neuralgia-which is severe pain after herpes zoster-shingles.  You should consider a check up while you are at it to see if there is a reason you got shingles at a young age.  shingles of the eye usually follows the nerve like it has on your skin (called a dermatome) so usually its in one eye at a time.  Maybe you got some of the viris from the bilsters in your eyes but i really doesnt make sense from what i have heard.  Go to the doctors and hopefully they wont think its too late to give you the antiviral pills-its best within the first week .  

[Sandy Feldman, MD, MS]

Dear sublimegirlly,

I would recommend that you seek the care of an eyeMD to determine the cause of your eye swelling.  

Dr. Feldman

Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California

[sublimegirlly]

Thanks for your response. No, I have not gone to the doctors. At first I thought it was a bug bite related rash or something and then found out through many hours of research on the computer that I had shingles. I don't have insurance and I thought that the apple cider vinegar was curing me. But now this eyelid thing.... I guess I should go to the doc in the morning but I am afraid they will tell me it is too late and just be a waste of money. There is no shingles on my face. Is it possible that I spread it to my eyelids though somehow from the shingles that were on my back? But they are practically completely healed though. Thanks again for taking the time to try and help me.