There is no cure for shingles, but treatment may shorten the length of illness and prevent complications. Treatment options include:
Antiviral medicines to reduce the pain and duration of shingles.
Pain medicines, antidepressants, and topical creams to relieve long-term pain.
Initial treatment
As soon as you are diagnosed with shingles, your doctor probably will start treatment with antiviral medicines. If you begin medicines within the first 3 days of seeing the shingles rash , you have a lower chance of having later problems, such as postherpetic neuralgia.
The most common treatments for shingles include:
Antiviral medicines, such as acyclovir, famciclovir, or valacyclovir, to reduce the pain and the duration of shingles.
Over-the-counter pain medicines, such as acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen, to help reduce pain during an attack of shingles.
Topical antibiotics, applied directly to the skin, to stop infection of the blisters.
For severe cases of shingles, some doctors may have their patients use corticosteroids along with antiviral medicines. But corticosteroids are not used very much any more. This is because studies show that taking a corticosteroid along with an antiviral medicine doesn’t help any more than just taking an antiviral medicine by itself.2
Ongoing treatment
If you have pain that persists longer than a month after your shingles rash heals, your doctor may diagnose postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), the most common complication of shingles. PHN can cause pain for months or years. It affects 10 to 15 out of 100 people who experience shingles.3 Treatment to reduce the pain of postherpetic neuralgia includes:
Antidepressant medicines, such as a tricyclic antidepressant (for example, amitriptyline).
Topical anesthetics that include benzocaine, which are available in over-the-counter forms that you can apply directly to the skin for pain relief. Lidocaine patches, such as Lidoderm, are available only by prescription.
Anticonvulsant medicines, such as gabapentin or pregabalin.
Opioids, such as codeine.
Topical creams containing capsaicin may provide some relief from pain. There is also a high-dose skin patch available by prescription (Qutenza) for postherpetic neuralgia. Capsaicin may irritate or burn the skin of some people, and it should be used with caution.
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-treatment-overview
Valtrex on this end. And by some miracle I went to the doctor the day after the rash, so I’m hoping the long-term impact is minimal.
Out of the friggin’ blue I tell ya.
I tried looking up CVS to see if it listed the price for the vaccine (it didn’t) and came across their recommendation that those over 60 years of age have it. (older than I thought)
Hepatitus B vaccine was something offered at CVS and is recommended for:
Sexually active adults not in a mutually monogamous relationship.
Never hear this mentioned in the media so I was surprised.