What an interesting question. I wonder if they had zoster back then? Zoster is a latent infxn of chicken pox. it becomes dormant in the dorsal root ganglia and can become reactivated in persons who are immunocompromised and/or(elderly). best med for it is acyclovir -- I would stick with a modern day remedy... this can be quite painful and it isn't good, should it become disseminated -- it has CNS tropism in sevre cases causes meningoencephalitis and encephalitis and/or can be a part of a bacterial superinfection-- considering the class of people who get this, I really wouldn't risk it with herbal remedies.
my two cents... although, I'd be curious to learn if this virus existed back then, and if there were documented cases..
well..... actually i get herpes zoster. The bubbles are on my right leg and foot. I use ampicillin and high vitamin C. I dont use acyclovir, as it is very expensive. A small rash spots on my leg appearred on last sunday (22 April 2007) and i went to doc on wednesday (25 April 2007). She gave me ampicillin, antagin and CTM for med.
You can't use an antibiotic to treat a viral infection. I don't know what she has diagnosed you with to merit the usage of an antibiotic, unless she was afraid you might end up with some sort of infection. acyclovir reduces pain, shortens the healing time, and limits the spread of virus and the formation of new lesions.. but there is no treatment for a viral infection... and I am certain that antibiotics won't do anything for the shingles, neither will vit C, viruses aren't living organisms like bacteria, they use your own cells to divide and replicate, and that is what the anti-viral treatments target...
May Allah grant you fast shifa'a dear sister... I suggest you ask someone to loan you some money to get proper treatment see if penciclovir is a cheaper alternative where you live... you don't want this to become unmanageable....
Insha'Allah dear sis-- how about she uses Black seed in conjunction with the anti virals recommended?... Indeed Allah SWT has decreed that there be a cure for all that ails.. sometimes we need to search for it-- I don't know that Herpes Zoster existed centuries ago during the Time of the prophet (PBUH)?... perhaps then some other herb would have been appropriate along with honey and black seed oil?.... and we can consider that today to be either acyclovir or penciclovir -- if the sister doesn't get appropriate medical treatment-- perhaps this could have potentially bad sequelae