No, I am not talking about the shingles that hang on the roof...I'm talking about the viral infection caused by the chickenpox virus (the pictures of shingles are too nasty to post on here...hence the roofing kind). A long time ago my brothers and sisters had the chickenpox. Due to the fact that my mom and my stepmom couldn't remember me ever getting chickenpox, it was my responsibility to put the calamine lotion on the kids (thus putting me at risk for getting the chickenpox). Three kids later, I still didn't have them. I thought I was immune to it and thus didn't worry about it. Before I left on my mission we figured it would be a good idea to get the Varicella Vaccine just in case. Due to that vaccine, my body was introduced to the virus to prevent me from getting it in the future. The thing that the vaccine also did was allow me to become susceptible to shingles. Only those who have had chickenpox can get shingles.
Monday morning as I was getting ready for the day I noticed I had 4 or 5 bumps on my neck. I figured a spider had gone to town on me during the night and didn't think anything of it. That afternoon my neck started to get sore to the touch and by the time I went to bed I couldn't lay on my left side without my neck hurting. The next morning as I was getting ready I noticed that the bumps were now 8 or 9 in number and red! As I went through the morning my ear started to ache and it hurt to swallow...I finally came to the decision that these were no ordinary spider bites and headed to the instacare. As soon as the doctor saw the bumps he knew they weren't spider bites and went on to explain about shingles.
After I got back to work I googled shingles for more information and found out that they are most commonly brought on by stress. I thought back about the last week and have had a relatively stress free week. It also said that it is most common in people over the age of 60. I did a quick recap and figured that I was only 28...which is no where near 60. It is also common in individuals who have lower immune systems (i.e. Cancer or AIDS)...nope that isn't me. I can't figure out how they came about...but I do have them and that sucks!
All in all it isn't too bad. I got a Rx to help with the rash and to help with the pain...the doctor says it will get worse before it gets better...I'm not really looking forward to that...but I will keep you all posted on how things are going. For now I am in isolation, as shingles is contagious to those who haven't had chickenpox. So if you haven't had them...stay away for a couple of weeks.
