Hi there- So sorry to hear that she has been stricken by shingles. I have had a chronic case of them off and on for most of my life. A few things she might consider when she is released: if she isn't, she should talk to her doctor about being put on a maintance dose of Acyclovir (it's Zovirax but I believe a less strong version but don't quote me on that). I'm on it 400mg three times a day. When things get bad and there's an outbreak, I go up to the max of 5 times a day. She should, when she feels like she might be coming down with a cold (when the immune system dips is when Herpes likes wakes up from it's dormant state) take a combination of the amino acid L-Lysine (it's used to starve a virus back into dormancy) and keep away from foods with L-Arginine (it's said to feed viruses)such as such as chocolate, peanuts, almonds, raisins, seeds, cereal grains and gelatin. I also found that a high dosage of Echinacea and Golden Seal (four days on three days off, and do not take these on a daily basis as your body gets used to them quickly and they become useless). Take all of these with lots of water and some sort of food. Pumping the immune system up with these, plus LOTS of rest will assist her in the future.

Sending her and anyone else who suffers any sort of horrible herpes virus my best... I have Herpes Zoster/Simplex in my right eye since I was twelve so I am an expert sadly. If she needs to talk or get further information, just PM me.

-- SunnySister, who has truly had some dark, low moments fighting this