@matt_outandabout

Sorry to hear that mate.

I’m really sorry if I’m wrong (I have a terrible memory) but is it your wife that is immunosuppressed?

I got a text saying I could get anti viral drugs asap if I test positive, yet my old mum at 94 doesn’t seem to qualify, oddly.

How do you know they’ve gone? Another thread?

…
Sorry to hear that, Matt.

Cougar
Full Member
How do you know they’ve gone? Another thread?

When I looked at their profile, their posting history had disappeared so I assumed that was due to bannage?

How do you know they’ve gone? Another thread?

Him being directly abusive towards Mark on the Boris Johnson thread…(now deleted). It’s almost like he wanted to be banned at that point, to put him out of his misery.

^^ Oh, I didn’t even see that.

is it your wife that is immunosuppressed?

Yep, that is why it is all rattling around… News to me that shingles is much more common in primary immune disorder patients – and no-one seems to know why.

Shingles is a function of immune deficiency anyhow – a latent form of a virus she’s had since childhood which re-emerges if the conditions are right.

So I guess it’s not surprising that whatever interaction her immune system has had with Covid has left her more vulnerable to it. It’s why I only had mild Covid before Christmas, but came down with a nasty bacterial chest infection a couple of weeks later.

Horrible though, and she has my sympathy. Has she got decent pain control from the GP?

The worry is just never ending is it?

I hope things improve asap for her mate.

Damnit! I read the last 4 pages and no happy ending! 🤣

AXS of evil. Makes you think

At the very heart of the Big Derailleur Cabal, you mark my words.

Sorry to hear that Matt,I had the same thing happen back in 2020 after a dose of the original Covid.
As martin suggests,I think covid gave my immune system a kicking,which then let Shingles in(9 weeks).
Hope the pain is not too bad for her,I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

Cheers all – I don’t think the pain control is great, they gave her an anti-depressant(?) but did not clock that she was already on a mild anti-depressant – she has stopped taking it. Currently taking ibuprofen and paracetamol.

Amitriptyline  ( I think) is often used for pain control in shingles IIRC.  Something todo withthe way it interacts with the nerve pathways?

For adults with mild pain, offer a trial of paracetamol alone or in combination with codeine or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), such as ibuprofen.

If this is not effective, or the person presents with severe pain, consider offering amitriptyline (off-label use), duloxetine (off-label use), gabapentin, or pregabalin.

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/shingles/management/management/

If she’s still suffering badly, she may be able to get something punchier. Co-codamol over the counter might be a good interim measure. Try a decent antihistamine as well, if it’s an impossible itch.

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/shingles/management/management/#pain-management

Amitriptyline ( I think) is often used for pain control in shingles IIRC. Something todo withthe way it interacts with the nerve pathways?

If the pain results in poor sleep, it can prompt prescription of this as well… especially if getting up in the night due to bladder stuff. A complicated mix of off-label benefits that GPs need to consider beyond use as an anti-depressant.

[ I am not a doctor ]

Wow!, 5 pages of new posts so I ventured back to see what new information had triggered such a slew of responses only to find an ignorant troll, for gods sake just ignore the **** idiots as otherwise an informative thread gets polluted by a wave of shite.

I quite enjoy the entertainment value of conspiracy theories, and it’s not as if they are difficult to counter.

Plus to be fair the thread had been inactive for several weeks so it’s not as if it was a distraction from an ongoing serious debate. In all likelihood it will go back into hibernation for quite a while.

Matt – good to hear that your wife has made progress with covid and I hope she quickly makes the same with regards to shingles.

I know that whilst shingles is almost always not very serious, just very unpleasant and painful, it can on very rare occasions be really serious causing among other things nerve/brain/sight damage, so should never dismissed lightly.

I’m assuming she didn’t have a shingles vaccine? Would that be appropriate for the future?

Plus to be fair the thread had been inactive for several weeks so it’s not as if it was a distraction from an ongoing serious debate. In all likelihood it will go back into hibernation for quite a while.

i’d like to get a plot of posting frequency on this thread overlaid with case rates. I think there would be a strong correlation.

like the negative reviews on amazon of scented candles…

I’m assuming she didn’t have a shingles vaccine? Would that be appropriate for the future?

I / we didn’t know this was a thing. Off to investigate – Covid vaccine has been very good (although not perfect!), so….

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/23/lockdown-sceptics-history-academics-left-covid

During the earlier trollstorm I said I wondered if the lockdowns were all necessary* and that the impact was not inconsiderable in other effects.

I think the debate is needed, so not sure what I think of this piece and politicising it as ‘now the left is rewriting the history’

* should have implemented the first one earlier, later ones possibly not as effective or necessary.

I love the way these idiots think COVID is some globally coordinated conspiracy.

I can barely get anyone to agree on anything at work yet somehow all the world’s politicians, medical staff, scientists and pharma companies have all managed to agree on this mass conspiracy with ease

From seeing his posts, he is an expert in a very narrow field only, and associated with the much discredited (appallingly inaccurate) computer modelling of this pandemic

Thanks but you are mistaken. Whilst I served on SAGE/SPI-M, I didn’t produce any of the “discredited” modelling, only valid statistical inference for near-term forward projections using time series stats. These analyses were used as a counter view to much of the models to hilight their uncertainty and limitations. As it turns out, the projections as gauged by area under the curve of deaths wasn’t that far out.

I did however work for two years developing an approved medicine for COVID during my day job. And have spent twenty years working on the development of new medicines, many in infectious diseases and immunology.

As for vaccine efficacy, the relative risk reduction seen with mRNA vaccines was unprecedented. Without doubt they have vastly reduced the global morbidity and mortality of SARS-COV2. That people are being infected by variants, doesn’t not detract from the burden of morbidity and mortality. I wish I’d had mine before I met SARS-COV2 the first (and second) times.

@mat_outandabout, I hope your wife feels better soon, she ought to receive the chickenpox booster vaccine to help prevent shingles. And of course antivirals or possibly sotrovimab for COVID infection, and/or Evusheld (which has to be paid for privately) for prophylaxis. Sadly the virus has moved to evade protection by Evusheld, but AZ has the SUPERNOVA trial open for Evusheld v2, if she is eligible.

Vioxx

is an interesting case. Whilst some of the antics of the company were inexcusable, and rightly punished, this is an example of unknown science. Vioxx and other cox2 inhibitors block one enzyme, but not cox1. That means it relieves pain and inflammation but doesn’t hit the gut. An increase in cardiovascular events (mainly heart attacks) was noted, and vioxx withdrawn Voluntarily (with blockbuster sales at the time).

Subsequent scientific study has shown that nonspecific cox inhibitors carry a similar risk (hello ibuprofen), and of course that the patients with inflammatory diseases also carry additional risk. The question is really benefit-risk, and it’s likely vioxx has the same, perhaps better, benefit risk compared with ibuprofen. Science is not certainty.

@TiRed – you don’t need to respond to the trolls. Those of us who’ve been around long enough appreciate your work and the info shared on here in the darkest of times.

seconded

If only I understood more than every second word 🙂

I think the debate is needed, so not sure what I think of this piece and politicising it as ‘now the left is rewriting the history’

* should have implemented the first one earlier, later ones possibly not as effective or necessary.

There’s no doubt lockdowns reduced the impact of the virus, we need to learn what we can from it to judge how any future lockdown* could be more effective at reducing spread and less damaging economically etc.

*for any future pandemic

Of course I don’t, but Vioxx is a very interesting story quite close to my heart (no irony intended) and worthy of discussion – it is informative about drug development in general. Huge push to find a better class of medicines, eventual success. Observation of a safety signal, likely driven by BETTER pharmacovigilance (how population based safety finding should work), and eventual removal of the class. Only to subsequently find that the nonselective drug (ibuprofen), widely used, probably has the same safety liability. Finding new medicines is hard! Finding relatively rare safety signals in populations is also hard. That a signal was spotted for the AZ/Oxford vaccine so quickly is a measure that the pharmacovigilance systems work. We should be proud of that.

@tjagain ibuprofen, diclofenac, aspirin, naproxen hit two targets, one for pain and inflammation (good) and the other in the GI tract for mucus secretion (bad, GI bleeds). A drug that just hit the pain would be a great drug. That class were selective as they hit only one of the two targets. Pharmacologists love selectivity. Vioxx was the only one approved in the US. Hitting that pain target may, however, also increase cardiovascular risk and that was why the selective drugs were withdrawn. Only subsequently were the safety signs noted for the common NSAIDS too.

I was joking dude 🙂

But thanks anyway 🙂

I love the way these idiots think COVID is some globally coordinated conspiracy.

One of the explanations of why people like conspiracy theories is that it is, for whatever reason, easier for someone to ascribe something to a person or group decision making than to think it was just some virus jumping the species gap.
The theory is it means it is at least within humanities control however malicious that subset of humanity might be rather than just randomish chance.

Long Covid study in Scotland

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65056619

I’m not sure that teaches us much, though acknowledgement that it exists, and that it affects so many people, might inform our development of care pathways and treatments.

Just tested positive, second bout of it. Feeling pretty crappy, I blame George Soros.

(I don’t really)

One of the explanations of why people like conspiracy theories is that it is, for whatever reason, easier for someone to ascribe something to a person or group decision making than to think it was just some virus jumping the species gap.

I don’t think I’ve ever met a Conspiracy Theorist who’s been happy with “Perhaps it’s just random chance?”

After the recent troll fest this is worth a listen:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001k837

Chinese Scientist have released a paper base on the initial samples taken @ Huanan Seafood Market.

Both in-laws have had it this week, FIL being really rather ill. 🙁

Two colleagues hit with it again un the last week. Both had vomiting as well.

Sorry guys, has anyone booked the Spring jab as yet, if they qualify, and how did you do it?

My doctors aren’t taking bookings.
Cheers.

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-walk-in-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-site

Yesterday was my 3 year anniversary of long COVID. Bit of a drag. I’m still getting over my second dose, which I picked up about 6 weeks ago – it set me back a long way, but I am recovering slowly.

Seems like there’s a lot about at the moment – my parents have both got it too.

Cheers @Klink.

They are all a fair distance from me unfortunately. I’ll see if there is another option available perhaps.

@doris5000
Good luck with the ongoing recovery mate and hope your parents are doing ok.👍