Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Shingles -- Not just for roofs

Last week, I noticed a couple of "bug bites" on my side. I showed DH and he was stumped--how could I get mosquito bites in that area? As the week wore on, I started to get pain in that area and the affected area started growing. For the next few days, I noticed that I couldn't sleep on that side of my body, lean on that side of my body, and I had a couple more "bites" more toward my back. So I sucked it up and went to the doctor on Monday. She immediately said, "You're not going to like what I have to say. It's shingles." BUMMER!!

So I'm taking an antiviral medication and she gave me some lidocaine patches to wear at night to help with the pain. She said I'm not contagious so I'm glad for that because Alex hasn't had his chicken pox vaccine yet. She told me to keep an eye on it and if anything got worse or didn't improve in 7 days, I should come back. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's a mild case because I've heard shingles can get pretty bad.

Shingles...they're not just for the elderly. Anyone can join in the fun.

3 comments:

  1. I didn't know young people got them either? It's the chicken pox virus, right? So you had to be exposed somewhere, or does it just flare up some other way?

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  2. The doc said that once you have chicken pox, the virus will lie dormant in your nerve cells forever. At any time, usually when your immune system is compromised, that virus can "wake up" in the form of shingles. I had a cold for a couple of weeks before the pain so maybe that's it? I've been a lot sicker many times before that so I don't know why it chose now to come to the surface. Strange.

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  3. Deanna, You won the OAMC book! I need you to send me your address ASAP or I will have to pick a new winner. Congrads.

    happyhomemakercindy@gmail.com.

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