Shingles
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Apparently I have it. I was woefully ignorant about what it was... as in, I thought shingles was some all-body "hive" reaction you get when you visit a rain forest and get bit by an insect. Ok, maybe not that ignorant, but close enough.
Anyway... maybe TMI, but last Wednesday I felt like I had a mosquito bite or something near the top of my head (under hair), a little itchy, no big deal. The next day, my lymph nodes were a bit swollen behind my ears, but otherwise no other symptoms, weird. I didn't connect the two events.
Then day 3, 4, and 5, I was getting dry skin or a small rash on my forehead on my left side above the eyebrow. Didn't hurt, a little itchy, but figured it was an odd rash... Days 4 and 5 I had a tremendous headache (where you can sometimes feel your blood pulse...each beat causing a "squeeze" of your head).
Still, being an idiot, I figured it was some immune response to whatever gave me the rash. But on Day 6 my wife said... I think you have shingles. Yes, I quickly learned that it's a dormant virus (same as chickenpox, that I had as a kid) that can reappear later in life as shingles, usually for folks over 50 but not always.
Luckily I was able to have a video visit with my doctor who prescribed antiviral medicine that I've been on since. I was a little worried (still am a bit) with how close it was to my left eye... shingles can cause eyesight complications if left untreated... now to let everything heal.
I feel like I look a bit like Tom Hanks on the stand in Philadelphia....
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Ouch, that sounds miserable. As others have said, recover quickly.
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Thanks all - I didn't mean to post for sympathy although ya'll are a nice bunch!
@kluurs yeah my wife said she knows a few people who got it and "it was the worst pain in their life", for me it's more of an annoyance (pain a 2 out of 10)... and slightly concerned early on about the "what if" if the eye was compromised, but so far it seems to be just a close call.
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Glad you were able to get some treatment and hope all resolves quickly. My case was very similar to yours and resolved fairly quickly but was pretty painful in the scalp area especially, no lasting after effects here but I know everyone is different. Again glad you are doing okay!!
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Speedy recovery 89. Have several friends and former colleagues who had a bout with shingles. Majority recovered without any long term side effects - those that suffered side effects were already over 65. So you should be okay. I got my Shingrix vaccine last year in the hope of avoiding it down the road in my 70s
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Good to hear that you are not experiencing the "10/10 worst pain in your life" version.
Hope you feel better soon.
I just got the TDAP and new Covid booster yesterday. I will wait a couple of weeks and get the Shingles vaccine. Then later this year, Knee replacement surgery! Isn't getting old fun?
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Good to hear that you are not experiencing the "10/10 worst pain in your life" version.
Hope you feel better soon.
I just got the TDAP and new Covid booster yesterday. I will wait a couple of weeks and get the Shingles vaccine. Then later this year, Knee replacement surgery! Isn't getting old fun?
Good to hear that you are not experiencing the "10/10 worst pain in your life" version.
Hope you feel better soon.
I just got the TDAP and new Covid booster yesterday. I will wait a couple of weeks and get the Shingles vaccine. Then later this year, Knee replacement surgery! Isn't getting old fun?
We are too young for this shit. Right? RIGHT???
FML.
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Good to hear that you are not experiencing the "10/10 worst pain in your life" version.
Hope you feel better soon.
I just got the TDAP and new Covid booster yesterday. I will wait a couple of weeks and get the Shingles vaccine. Then later this year, Knee replacement surgery! Isn't getting old fun?
We are too young for this shit. Right? RIGHT???
FML.
Good to hear that you are not experiencing the "10/10 worst pain in your life" version.
Hope you feel better soon.
I just got the TDAP and new Covid booster yesterday. I will wait a couple of weeks and get the Shingles vaccine. Then later this year, Knee replacement surgery! Isn't getting old fun?
We are too young for this shit. Right? RIGHT???
FML.
RIGHT?
Walking (more like running) down the basement stairs did my knee in. Genetics related arthritis coupled with a torn meniscus leads to a new knee I guess. My left knee will most likely go sometime sooner than I would like as well.
Oh, high blood pressure is now my companion as well. So a new scrip for that. Had complete blood work tests drawn yesterday. I am also anticipating an increased dosage for my atorvastatin from 20mg to 40mg.
I have a 6 month weight loss goal of 20 lbs. If I can get there most of this will go away and I will probably extend the life of my left knee.
I need to get back in the saddle of my bike.
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I had a similar experience a couple of years ago, 89. But it was on my back. Not terribly painful. The fatigue and malaise was worse.
It’s been a disease trending younger and younger. Some theories are that with chicken pox vaccines, adults aren’t getting a regular exposure to the stuff to re-up their immunity. Would make sense - but dunno if that’s pseudoscience.
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I had a similar experience a couple of years ago, 89. But it was on my back. Not terribly painful. The fatigue and malaise was worse.
It’s been a disease trending younger and younger. Some theories are that with chicken pox vaccines, adults aren’t getting a regular exposure to the stuff to re-up their immunity. Would make sense - but dunno if that’s pseudoscience.
My understanding - from my friend’s pharmacist spouse- is that if you had exposure to the chicken pox virus as a child the same virus can result in shingles later in life. The chicken pox vaccine has little or nothing to do with contracting shingles.
Cancer patients undergoing chemo or radiation treatment and diabetics are particular high risk for contracting shingles. As are adults who are run down, work stressed or lead a high risk lifestyle that weakens their immune system..
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@Renauda That makes sense. The theory would be, since there’s less wild chicken pox virus circulating around (since the advent of the vaccine), people get fewer exposures to the virus throughout their life (most of which wouldn’t end up in shingles, but would rather act as a “re-up” of immunity)
Similar to how we all became very susceptible to regular respiratory viruses (cold, flu) after completely avoiding them for a couple of years during COVID.
