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I wanted to ask anyone who has knowledge on shingles. I got shingles (rashless) shingles, and ever since I got it, I have gotten horrible anxiety and depression again after 3 years of being off benzo's. I was perfectly fine and back to normal after my last benzo for a long time and out of nowhere it went through the roof like I was starting my taper all over again. also I think it stemmed cause it seemed like the shingles was effecting my vision even tho I didn't have a rash, theres a shingles you can get called herpes zoster ophthalmicus, and It seemed like it was and still effecting my vision a bit and made me very very nervous cause my eyes would not focus correctly and sometimes would be blurry almost like a derealization sx. thats when I started getting panicky. I wasn't seeing things in a nice clear view like I've always known. kinda felt like DR/DP the way things apeared. If anyone could inform me on what they know It would be greatly appreciated. I alrdy lloked on the internet, but really haven't found what I was looking for. I just don't understand how I can got from being fine to feeling like I ct'd a benzo. I swear this is something physical. but I could be wrong.

 

Thnx in advance,

 

Chris

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Hi Chris,

 

I do know that the herpes virus affects the CNS as it lies dormant in the nerves.  It's possible that the symptoms your having have nothing to do with benzo wd whatsoever (since it's been 3 years now) but are related just to the virus.  The symptoms of wd and herpes overlap some: anxiety, nervousness, agitation, etc. 

 

Hopefully Vertigo will be around to help out since he had a similar situation.

 

L

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Hi there...during my taper I got Shingles on my eyelid, under the lid and on my forehead and scalp.  Although it didn't get into my eyeball it effected my vision.  For weeks it seemed like I was looking through Saran Wrap and six months later my vision is still not back to normal.  My eyelashes fell out...I have bald spots on my scalp from the scars.  My anxiety escalated after that...I didn't think that was possible.  I attributed it in part to the reduction of the drug....I was down to a very low dose by then.  But now I too am wondering if it was shingles causing the severity of w/d...how long does the aftermath of that hang on???  Maybe someone else can chime in and let us know.  My husband had shingles and never displayed any kind of anxiety symptoms afterwards.  Don't know...

 

Donna

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Hi Suikoden. Yes, I had opthamalic shingles six weeks after my valium taper ended (last January 2010).  It was not pleasant but I did get diagnosed early which is probably what saved my vision. I was on acyclovir anti viral meds within two days of the first itching on  my scalp.  The rash had just started on one side of my forehead.  For those who do not know, shingles is a one sided (asymmetrical) rash (can be on forehead or any part of the body, more commonly I think on chest or back).  Mine was forehead and got into the eye orbit a bit and followed the trigeminal nerve to the nose.  I asked my doctor and he said you can get a relapse but not that likely unless under a lot of stress.  Also, shingles is common occurence for cancer patients after chemo.  My elderly father has had shingles a few times.  However, it is not just something that happens in the elderly or to  folks over 60.  I was in my forties when I got it.  I was told by my doc that they are seeing it more in younger populations, college kids for example,  during finals....  One can have post herpetic neuralgia where you still feel nerve tingling, sometimes painful, for years afterward.  I still have nerve tingling on my forehead periodically,  particularly when stress heats up.  I am fortunate though that it is not very painful, more annoying itch sensation but its been over 18 months.  I've heard some may have it for many years but it is not necessarily dangerous.  That being said, if you have any loss of vision or blurry vision, I'd see an eye doctor.  I recently had my vision checked, had a special scan done to recheck things.

 

Hi Donna.  I do think that since the Shingles virus impacts the CNS, it can compound the healing off a benzo taper or c/t.  I felt like my getting it six weeks after the taper ended was like a one/two punch to my system.  I believe I might be further along today if I had not gotten shingles. In fact, I'm not certain that most of my remaining issues are not from the Shingles.  That being said, I don't think I would have gotten shingles if not for the strain on my CNS from the taper.  So I guess it's like the chicken or the egg.  I think the shingles can complicate things a bit, maybe make the immune system work harder.  I am hoping that by two years out, I will be feeling close to 100%.  Right now, I can only say about 90% since it's a bit weird to still get the nerve tingling and I still have some lingering symptoms, though nothing major.  I also seem to feel more vulnerable to stressful situations, react strongly when difficult situations come up, more so than before benzos.  The final 10% has been a little slow going.

 

Vertigo

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thnx alot for the responses.

 

I do have one question, even tho I didn't have the rash, but extreme tingling in between my eyes and forehead where I felt like I was gonna flip out or go insane. I had the pain around my chest and back on the left. can the tingling in my head that I had, permantly ruin my vision or atleast effect it till the virus subsides? or will it return to normal eventually. like i said, I had the pain in my chest and around the back area, but for some reason I had the tingling behind my eyes and in my head. never any rash anywhere, just pain and tingling. was the virus just annoying my eyes or could there be permanant damage? the one thing Im very paranoid about is my vision. I like seeing the sun and the wonderful colors clearly on a nice sunny day, really lifts my mood. it's basically my medication besides excersise for my DR/DP depression etc.... and you explained that right on. it seems like I'm looking at the world through saran wrap when outside and looking at faraway trees grass etc.. maybe this is ADD. who knows :/ and bright lights seem to annoy my eyes and make seem feel hazy, like I can see the humidity in the air that most ppl would not notice. summer was my best time of the year and it was terrible this past summer cause things seemed hazy in the sun instead of nice and clear and focused. now we did have a very humid and hazy summer here in PA, but it seemed I was more sensitive to it than i've ever been before. if I squint hard enough I can clear things up and things look pretty good and normal but I have to squint alot harder than i ever had to before. I hate anything screwing with my vision as for it really aggervates my DR/DP. Anyways.. if I can see things clear close up but not far away, was this do to shingles? and if it was, will it eventually repair? Oh and for some reason, it's alot worse from 12 noon to about 3, when the sun starts setting, it's seems like I can see far away and very vibrant in colors and things look like they used to. kinda wondering if the virus has a light sensitiviy sx that could be worse at noon to 3 cause thats when the sun is right on top of us and brightest, or the way the sun is at that time it's highlighting the humidity in the air. or maybe im just freaken paranoid and insane.

 

Damaged 123, has your vision improved atleast after those couple of weeks? I know you said it's not normal yet, but improvement would mean your gonna heal from this.

 

I also wanted to mention ever since all this shingles stuff, I can't stay on the comp nowhere near as long as i used to be able to. seems I get pain in my eyes and forehead if im on longer than 20 minutes now, and I used to play mmo's all day with no eye pain at all.

 

Anyways, sry for my paranoia and long post. like I said, this all started ever since I noticed my vision changes. I think I still would be fine if it weren't for that.

Ty,

Chris

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Crap!,

 

I did forget to mention that I quit smoking ever since I had that tingling and thought it was the smoking causing me sinus probs. cause I got the tingling in my face before I got the pain in my chest and back area. I'm using the patch but started on a lower patch, the satge 2 patch instead of the stage 1 patch, so there was definate W/D S/X's but what can nicotine W/D do to anxiety?

Also for the post above, I forgot to mention I do have genital herpes, could that be playing a role in any of this shingles crap? could this just be one huge herpes outbreak instead of shingles?

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