I'm sorry to hear about the shingles, ccartbmw, and that it's painful, not merely itchy. I saw that you mentioned it the other day in the
My experience with AA thread.
Shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus and can be quite serious in patients without a fully functioning immune system. Shingles can apparently stay dormant for years, then show up when your immune system is suppressed, as when you undergo ATG. Be careful around small children or anyone else who might not have had chickenpox. They could get chickenpox from you.
Has your doctor ruled out antiviral medication?
Here are three previous Marrowforums threads where the subject of shingles has come up:
shane's story (shingles after a bone marrow transplant for severe aplastic anaemia)
Mom with MDS has shingles, eye infection and infected toe (shingles before and after Vidaza treatment for MDS)
Does anyone have prca? (shingles for a Pure Red Cell Aplasia patient)