My husband has had shingles on his right leg for almost three weeks. The rash is almost healed, but the pain and the weakness in that leg are still going strong.
I understand that these symptoms can hang on for a long time, and this is nothing to be alarmed about. Yet. What is scaring me, is that he is now getting weakness (not pain) in his left leg too. His knee collapses sometimes when he puts weight on it, and he has fallen twice. Is this normal for shingles?
2010-07-09T10:59:11Z
TweetyBird, I know that weakness in the leg affected by the shingles is to be expected. But this is in the other leg. Can shingles migrate like that?
Flashflood2010-07-09T12:52:23Z
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Shingles usually only affects one side of the body along the nerve pathway (and most often on the trunk and sometimes the chest, neck, or face ie: areas closer to the spinal column - so having it on a leg is unusual in itself unless it is high up on his upper thigh).
Although it is possible that he has stressed his other knee because of leaning to that side to relieve the weight off the shingles affected leg....I'd still check with a doctor. If it is just the added weight and stress on the un-affected side, maybe he would benefit from a pair of crutches.
Depending on the severity of the illness, it can affect you anywhere from a week to two months, occasionally longer, even thought the rash itself may well have scabbed over and the sufferer is no longer contagious long before this time. The reason for this is that shingles tends to occur in the elderly, the very young, or in people who are 'run down' and thus have a lowered immune system. Your boyfriend needs to make sure he is well rested and thoroughly recovered before going back to work; shingles is often an indicator that he hasn't been taking enough care of himself. His doctor can prescribe Aciclovir, an anti-viral drug if his symptoms don't seem to be improving.
RE: Anybody familiar with shingles? My husband has had shingles on his right leg for almost three weeks. The rash is almost healed, but the pain and the weakness in that leg are still going strong.
I understand that these symptoms can hang on for a long time, and this is nothing to be alarmed about. Yet. What is scaring me, is...