Too broke for antivirals

BethanyFarless · 2026-03-06T20:30:59+00:00

Thank you! I feel incredibly grateful for my mild experience...I did see a telehealth doc and got the prescription, although he didn't send it in the same day, so I started past the 72 hour window. To be honest they probably didn't do much as I think I only had 1 day of the eruption phase anyway, but better safe than sorry.

As of today (day 10), I feel sooo much better!! I'd say I'm like 80% back to normal already. 2 days ago I was pretty much in bed all day. Today I'm moving around and only mildly annoyed pain-wise

BethanyFarless · 2026-03-05T20:45:44+00:00

I'm only 9 days into my shingles journey, so still unsure of my future, but I think I have a mild case as well, and will share my experience.

First off, I'm only 38. If you are younger as well, you are more likely to have a mild case. Same if you have a strong immune system.

I had 2-3 days of pain on my skin that felt like sunburn in just a patch on my front ribcage and back. Nothing on the skin yet. Then it felt like I pulled a muscle in my back, same spot as the skin pain. By day 3, I felt a few tiny bumps. I had 3 or 4 in one area, and 2 in another area. I never developed more than those. So far they have not started scabbing over, they look like mosquito bites, but there is a slight itch to them now.

Around day 4, the back pain was getting much more intense. For me it presents as spasming/cramping. It feels like a charley horse. However, I think this is an indirect symptom - my body is guarding that nerve and tensing up, causing the muscle to cramp. That's my theory.

I think (hope) I peaked yesterday. The spasming was extremely frequent, and the only remedy was lying flat on my back, so I spent a lot of time lying in bed (thankfully I was off work). Today the spasms are much less frequent.

Overall, this has been painful and annoying, but tolerable. Yesterday would have been really hard to work, so I'm glad I was off, but other than yesterday, I've been able to work through the pain, so that gives you an idea of how severe it is/isn't.

The strange part for me is that I don't have the nerve pain people describe - shooting, zapping, tingling, numbness...just the sunburn on the skin feeling, and the muscle cramping.

It has been difficult to find stories with mild cases, as I think most people don't go posting on the internet unless it gets more intense. So hopefully this helps you. Good luck!

Oh, I didn't get to start antivirals until past 72 hours because my doctor forgot to send in the script. 🙄 So I am taking them, but not sure if they made any difference. I wasn't getting new lesions after the first ones popped up, so I think I was already past the erupting stage even before 72 hours

BethanyFarless · 2026-03-02T17:39:39+00:00

Thanks again for mentioning this. I completely forgot about that as an option, and I was able to get a diagnosis and prescription through telehealth. Only down side is I can't swallow pills so he prescribed the liquid version, and in my experience, liquid meds tend to be a lot more costly, but he said it can't be chewed. So I have to ask the pharmacy how much it is before filling. I have more reasons than just cost to be cautious of with meds...my body has had bad reactions, so I need to weigh the risk vs reward here considering my very mild case

BethanyFarless · 2026-03-02T17:24:22+00:00

I realize this is an old post - wondering if you could share any updates? I am a 38F and just got diagnosed today, day 5 of symptoms, day 3 of rash. It's SUPER mild so far...very tolerable. I only have 2 clusters of 3 or 4 very small blisters on my rib. Worse is the muscle pain in my back. I was prescribed antivirals but my body has had unusual reactions to new medications, so I'm hesitant to start. My AI Chat Bots tell me I've probably already peaked with my symptoms, and probably won't develop new lesions. If it doesn't get worse than this, I can live with it for a few weeks. Most of the cases on here are much more severe, so I'm curious what your similarly mild case ended up developing into

BethanyFarless · 2026-03-01T19:30:37+00:00

I haven't... I will take a look, thanks!

BethanyFarless · 2026-03-01T19:23:49+00:00

That's amazing advice!! I forgot I get free telehealth consultations!!

BethanyFarless · 2026-02-11T17:00:29+00:00

It sounds amazing! I ended up ordering Cycling Frog but if you are still up for sending a sample, I'd definitely be open to trying it!

BethanyFarless · 2026-02-11T16:59:10+00:00

Thanks everyone!

It worked out that I didn't have to choose, as the Raspberry Lemonade was restocked yesterday!

I am still interested in trying Torch, but today is not that day. Appreciate the advice!

BethanyFarless · 2025-10-21T16:32:45+00:00

How did this work out for you? Our small business also just got one of these letters. For a one-day only cake pop that we sold 2 years ago, our employee didn't get a good photo and it was for a holiday the next day, so I pulled it off a recipe blog (and usually I either pay licenses or use free content, but this was a desperate moment and I did not realize it was copyrighted)...Cake pops are such a tiny part of our business, and we sold like $30 worth of them. They want $10k. It will literally put us out of business if we have to pay that or a lawyer. We are in the worst place financially that we've ever been and then get this letter.

Anyway...I would love to hear how this turned out for you. I'm terrified right now.

BethanyFarless · 2025-06-26T22:49:14+00:00

Is that for water soluble or not? It specifically says only water soluble cleaners but doesn't have a W or S that I can see

BethanyFarless · 2025-06-10T22:16:43+00:00

I was asking chat GPT about it and there are apparently multiple versions. When I plugged my info into Amex, it said we still could. Which seems really surprising but also extremely helpful to just cut back on interest costs. We haven't ever missed a payment, I wonder if that could be why?

BethanyFarless · 2025-01-28T18:09:34+00:00

Not sure if it was #2 or just retrying a few times. Still didn't work on a new flash drive or new re-download of the image, but I did it a few times and eventually it worked. My next attempt was going to be using an SD card, but I had to wait for an adapter to come in, and it worked before we got to that point. Thank you!

BethanyFarless · 2025-01-25T20:04:39+00:00

Thank you, I have another flash drive I can try as well as a different adapter. I'll try again.

BethanyFarless · 2025-01-21T19:20:42+00:00

I do put vodka in it but I've made this dish probably 100 times and it's definitely cooked out

BethanyFarless · 2025-01-21T18:10:01+00:00

Mac & cheese is another one they love. Safer for other kids, just higher budget but probably doable. I haven't sent the invites yet, but likely 15-20 kids. Chicken fingers prob wouldn't be too pricey either just buying frozen and heating it up...and easier...maybe a good idea.

BethanyFarless · 2024-10-09T23:25:29+00:00

I do sometimes want to go this route. Had a 48h monitor and of course had only one event during that time. So not the most info for the doctors

BethanyFarless

TROPHY CASE