Thanks everyone for the good wishes. I had a horrible reaction to Valtrex. By the 3rd day I could hardly urinate (really painful having a full bladder that can't release--I'm sure MS patients with neurogenic bladders know about that!) and I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. The doctor said stop taking it. After it got out of my system I could urinate again...yeah!! And then weirdly I wasn't depressed anymore (I think that is a side effect too).

But then the shingles started coming back. Ugh. So I had to call the doc on Sunday and was prescribed Famvir, another anti-viral. It's drying up the shingles like the Valtrex did and it is far more tolerable--vice grip headaches is the only real problem but I can tough that out for a week.

I get Tysabri in 2 weeks so I need to get this straightened out! The doc said it was likely stress that caused it. And there is a lot of that. My husband had emergency back surgery 3 weeks ago from a severe herniated disc and the pain is gone but he now has serious drop foot that may never go away. The doc just can't give an answer. His two teenagers moved in with us full time a few months ago because their mom basically abandoned them. So they are still damaged and depressed. And I had lots of big important work deadlines to meet this fall. So taa-daaaa! Shingles for the first time.