There are lots of programs and lots of herbs and a ton of tools but without the use of any of those my Dad and at least one other person (not related) can be stress free with DMSA.
As a matter of fact that has been our primary treatment of my Dads shingles now for weeks. The only time this fails is when the Sky Gods dump barium...
As for length...less than two months but only about 2 weeks on max dose.