Shingles
I have shingles. It's awful and miserable. I have it on my hip. I feel like a dog bone. Here is some more information:
What is Shingles?
Shingles (herpes zoster) is an outbreak of rash or blisters on the skin that is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox — the varicella-zoster virus. The first sign of shingles is often burning or tingling pain, or sometimes numbness or itch, in one particular location on only one side of the body. After several days or a week, a rash of fluid-filled blisters, similar to chickenpox, appears in one area on one side of the body. Shingles pain can be mild or intense. Some people have mostly itching; some feel pain from the gentlest touch or breeze. The most common location for shingles is a band, called a dermatome, spanning one side of the trunk around the waistline. Anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk for shingles. Scientists think that in the original battle with the varicella-zoster virus, some of the virus particles leave the skin blisters and move into the nervous system. When the varicella-zoster virus reactivates, the virus moves back down the long nerve fibers that extend from the sensory cell bodies to the skin. The viruses multiply, the tell-tale rash erupts, and the person now has shingles.
What is the prognosis?
For most healthy people, the lesions heal, the pain subsides within 3 to 5 weeks, and the blisters leave no scars. However, shingles is a serious threat in immunosuppressed individuals — for example, those with HIV infection or who are receiving cancer treatments that can weaken their immune systems.
A person with a shingles rash can pass the virus to someone, usually a child, who has never had chickenpox, but the child will develop chickenpox, not shingles. A person with chickenpox cannot communicate shingles to someone else. Shingles comes from the virus hiding inside the person's body, not from an outside source.
It doesn't mention the headaches or the fatigue, but that's happening too. I first discovered the rash when we got home from the airport. I had thought something was stinging me in my pants. When I ripped them off, I had a dark red raised rash on my hip. It hurt like a hundred bee stings and didn't stop. I went to the doctor first thing yesterday morning and she immediately diagnosed it as shingles. The good news is that there is a medication that can help keep it from spreading if you take it within 48 hours of the onset and I did that. In the meantime I'm on that medicine and pain pills. All I want to do is huddle in bed and be miserable. Instead, I'm chasing kids and Christmas shopping. I got a sitter tomorrow and will spend the whole day hibernating. Stupid immune system. I'm so glad I had such a good time before this all hit.
Send me healthy vibes would you? Love, A
What is Shingles?
Shingles (herpes zoster) is an outbreak of rash or blisters on the skin that is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox — the varicella-zoster virus. The first sign of shingles is often burning or tingling pain, or sometimes numbness or itch, in one particular location on only one side of the body. After several days or a week, a rash of fluid-filled blisters, similar to chickenpox, appears in one area on one side of the body. Shingles pain can be mild or intense. Some people have mostly itching; some feel pain from the gentlest touch or breeze. The most common location for shingles is a band, called a dermatome, spanning one side of the trunk around the waistline. Anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk for shingles. Scientists think that in the original battle with the varicella-zoster virus, some of the virus particles leave the skin blisters and move into the nervous system. When the varicella-zoster virus reactivates, the virus moves back down the long nerve fibers that extend from the sensory cell bodies to the skin. The viruses multiply, the tell-tale rash erupts, and the person now has shingles.
What is the prognosis?
For most healthy people, the lesions heal, the pain subsides within 3 to 5 weeks, and the blisters leave no scars. However, shingles is a serious threat in immunosuppressed individuals — for example, those with HIV infection or who are receiving cancer treatments that can weaken their immune systems.
A person with a shingles rash can pass the virus to someone, usually a child, who has never had chickenpox, but the child will develop chickenpox, not shingles. A person with chickenpox cannot communicate shingles to someone else. Shingles comes from the virus hiding inside the person's body, not from an outside source.
It doesn't mention the headaches or the fatigue, but that's happening too. I first discovered the rash when we got home from the airport. I had thought something was stinging me in my pants. When I ripped them off, I had a dark red raised rash on my hip. It hurt like a hundred bee stings and didn't stop. I went to the doctor first thing yesterday morning and she immediately diagnosed it as shingles. The good news is that there is a medication that can help keep it from spreading if you take it within 48 hours of the onset and I did that. In the meantime I'm on that medicine and pain pills. All I want to do is huddle in bed and be miserable. Instead, I'm chasing kids and Christmas shopping. I got a sitter tomorrow and will spend the whole day hibernating. Stupid immune system. I'm so glad I had such a good time before this all hit.
Send me healthy vibes would you? Love, A
Comments
I hope you recovery quickly.
anything we can do for you? make you, um, soothing oatmeal baths?
love jodi