Antivirals and Shingles with No Colon: Seeking Advice

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CrappyColon

Has anyone else had to take a course of antivirals with only the small intestine left to process the medication? I'm pretty sure my small intestine is hating on me for it.
My appetite isn't great but that's not a new thing, I think today I've eaten a banana and a handful of pretzels. I didn't think an antiviral would cause GI upset like an antibiotic would, but then I realized I know nothing about how my body would do with the colon no longer present. I don't know whether the answer is to eat more with it or not? As far as the shingles go, I just found out I wasn't too young for that yesterday so I'd been ignoring it for a while. The Dr thinks a nerve pain medication they've had me on since the surgeries blocked me from feeling the majority of the pain from the nerve.
I tried looking for some medical articles but none included the without a colon part.

w30bob

Shingles too! OMG! What DON'T you have? You're a living breathing medical textbook... you should do lectures at Med Schools!! I think you're missing your calling!

Are we talking a WHOLE banana today... or just a few nibbles and the dog got the rest? Maybe you should try chocolate covered pretzels to get some more calories! Or yogurt covered!

You should be fine with the antivirals, they're designed to be absorbed in the small bowel, not the colon. Your small bowel has longer villi, higher blood flow and the right pH for absorbing drugs compared to your colon. So today is your lucky day. Just don't plan a trip to Vegas... your luck isn't that good!

Shingles is no joke. The nerve pain can be pretty extreme and non-stop. In some cases, like my Mom, it never went away. Let us know how you make out with that.

;O)

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jeanneskindle
Reply to w30bob

I need to get the two shingles shots. Anyone care to share if they are worse than the second Covid vaccine?

CrappyColon
Reply to w30bob

I didn't even know shingles was an option for me, but I'm glad I finally went to the Dr. She asked if I was having pain down my arm into my wrist (whatever nerve pathway is being affected)... I said only if someone tries to touch me... I've been on a nerve pain med that CC likes to use since my surgeries so she thinks that blocked a lot of the pain and why it took me so long to schedule an appt. She said for me it was triggered by high stress levels (that apparently made the most sense with no other options to go by).

My friend is a physiology professor at the University of SD and we were talking about the cadavers and the ceremony they do once they have finished... and I said I don't think your program would want my body when I die since I've lost so many organs. She got a little too excited and told me I would be great to dissect. I told her no thank you.

It was a whole banana not shared with any of my dogs, ha! I'll think about upping my pretzel game. I've been blaming the antiviral all day on my small intestine not being happy. I think I miss initial hunger cues and then what I do recognize is nausea which could be from not eating enough too.

CrappyColon
Reply to jeanneskindle

My mom didn't have any complaints after her shingles vax.

Can't remember how many Covid vax she got... but she felt crappy after at least 1.

 
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w30bob
Reply to jeanneskindle

I got the two Shingrix vaccines some time ago. No issues. Can't comment on how it compares to a second COVID shot... didn't go there.

;O)

Wildflower 81

No experience with any of the above, but I do know some medication is better handled on an empty stomach, while others not so much. Perhaps add some lightly buttered toast to your regimen, and throw a protein source in as well. I completely understand the missed hunger cues, I swear the mental aspect of everything I've been through has made me involuntarily anorexic to a degree, now when I do get hungry and decide to attempt to eat my "full" switch gets kicked way sooner than I think it should.

ron in mich

Hi all, I had shingles about 10 years ago on my left side of my rib cage, but I caught it early and got the meds, and it was done in about a week.

CrappyColon
Reply to ron in mich

Yeah... I was really busy and shingles never even crossed my mind as a possibility, so I waited longer than I should have. It feels like a slow burn from my upper arm down into my wrist. But it's already looking better since starting the antiviral. Now I know ‍

jeanneskindle
Reply to CrappyColon

Thank you!

jeanneskindle
Reply to w30bob

Thank you, Bob.