The oldies could be sick of shingles (if they had chickenpox before)

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines
October 30, 2016

The fellow Recyclists could have been off now for San Felipe Zambales ride and the following could have joined:   Jess V, Pres Luis, Gerry and of course the host Jeff.   Ed I understand was not able to join because of the light showers.

I did not join because of impaired vision because I had an affliction which I learned last night from Maganding Gabi Doc (Seno of  St Lukes Medical Center) a specialist for geriatrics.   She presentation matched all the things that were told by my doctors(3 all ready:   a family physician and 2 opthalmologist0

1.  Shingles or kulebra in Tagalog is a viral infection that occurs mostly in senior citizens.  It is a flare up of dormant chicken pox virys (Herpes Zoster) that are dormant in the nerves.  They flare up because of lowered resistance.  I think that the hard long rides I had preparing for the Zambales and/or Taytay Palawan ride.

2.  I is unilateral and affect only a set of nerves: say chest nerves or eyes.   What was affected was the right side of my eye.

3.  It is a very painful condition and the ordinary paracetamol analgesic wont work.   I had to take an analgesic that knocks you out to sleep

 4.  Treatment consist of taking anti viral drugs like acyclovir, Vit C and Vit B for nueralgia. The anti virus drugs are expensive (more than 100/table taken 4x a day)

5.  There is vaccines but are  pricey though  It does not mean though that when you have the  vaccine, there could be no reinfection

Let us stay healthy and strong and avoid getting the shingles