Shingle All the Way - My Shingles Journey

So, most people got presents on Christmas.

I got shingles.

Shingles, as you may or may not know, is the “grown up” version of chicken pox. (Not really, because adults can still get chicken pox if they have never had the virus before.) But both chicken pox and shingles come from the same virus, herpes zoster.....And when I heard that, I thought...”Herpes??? But I’m not that kind of girl!!”...But there are many different herpes out there for us to catch...regardless of moral standards.

Anyways, chicken pox is the first manifestation of herpes zoster. Once a person gets chicken pox, he is at risk for one or more flare ups of shingles ever after. Or maybe never again. It just depends.

Millennial Translation: Chicken pox is to Pichu as Shingles is to Pikachu (and Raichu)...

....(Please don’t “Catch ‘em all!”)

So....back to me. This is my shingles “journey” after all. I figured if bloggers can talk about hair journeys and cooking journeys, I can share my super gross shingles journey and hopefully scare you all into getting the vaccine.

So, here’s how it went for me...

(Don’t worry. I’ll get to you later.)

It was Christmas Eve and my husband and I had come home from church, taken naps, and were plopped on the couch watching T.V., as is our Sunday afternoon/evening wont. After sitting there a few minutes, I started to feel a marked tightness in my back. This is nothing new for me as I almost always have a sore back....but the placement of the pain was very strange. Instead of being in the normal places (upper and lower back), this was in the middle and sort of radiated up and down from there. In fact, it felt like there was a tangible tube of pain running along the right side of my spine. I asked Billy if he would rub on my back and see if he could pop it back into place. He massaged it and popped my upper back, but my back still hurt really badly. This, also, is nothing new as my back usually hurts before, during, and after any adjustment. I chalked it up to my stupid back and got ready for bed.

The later it got, however, the more the pain grew. It was awful. I couldn’t fall asleep. Around 11:45, I got up and took two ibuprofen. Nothing. Then, around 1:00 I got up and sat in my “massage chair” (a heated shiatsu massage cushion we have set up in a chair in the living room.) The massage actually helped a little, (I guess to break up the inflammation?) and I went back to bed. Still in pain, I eventually slept from total exhaustion.

The next morning was Christmas Day, and Billy and I went to his parents’ house. The soreness continued to grow, and as everyone opened presents, I started feeling itching sensations at my waistline from my belly button, wrapping around my right side, to my spine, I checked myself in the bathroom and saw no discoloration, but I could see little bumps forming—much like fresh mosquito bites. 

The itchiness and soreness grew as I went to work the next day. By this time, the itchy areas were turning bright red. There was a line of small red dots on my front right waistline, one small patch on my right side, and three or four large-ish patches on my back. I hadn’t had a rash since I was a little kid, so I was rather worried. That night, I posted my symptoms  in a Facebook group for the ladies at my church, asking them if any of them knew what it was. The answer was a resounding “Shingles!” followed by,  “Go to a doctor right now!”

I called my GP the morning of the 27th and got an appointment for the same afternoon! Praise Jesus! (It is advisable to see a doctor within three days of symptoms, FYI.)

The doctor visit confirmed that I did indeed have shingles. I made sure to ask her many questions as the internet is full of blogger-mom-mis-information that had me worried. I wanted to make sure I got my facts straight. 

1. For one thing, I thought you had to be over sixty to get shingles. Not true apparently. You can get shingles at any age, it’s just a lot more likely after sixty.

2. I also worried about being contagious. You are fine as long as your clothes cover the affected area. You don’t have to wear gauze or bandaids—in fact that hinders the drainage process. 

3. I also thought you had to be under a lot of stress (I wasn’t) and/or your immune system had to be low (mine wasn’t. I was perfectly healthy.). Also not true. (Which made me really wonder....Why couldn’t I have gotten shingles six years ago when I was still single and stressed out of my mind, working at a private school in town as a Language Arts teacher having to prepare SIX different literature/grammar preps a DAY, grade papers for 100 students, work in special needs accommodations as well as honor course additions, with one planning period, and  all for $14,788 a year??? I had emotional breakdowns every other day that year! I used to PRAY to get in a car accident just so I wouldn’t have to go to work! Getting shingles then would have been a blessing! I wish I were kidding!!!) 

So why was I getting shingles now when my stress level was at an all time low??

Basically if you’ve ever had chicken pox, you are just a walking ticking time bomb for the shingles at any time. So...there’s that.

But wait! There’s hope!

You can get a vaccine! My doctor said it like this, “If you get vaccinated after this is over, you might get shingles again, but the symptoms will be a lot weaker, so it’s worth getting...But!” Her face brightened, “Babies born after 1995 have all been vaccinated for chicken pox and will never get it! One day, kids won’t even know what chicken pox is!!”

In my head:

Well! Jolly for them! Let me just jump in my covered wagon and go churn some butter!

And:

Coming to theatres Fall of 2028: “Love in the Time of Chicken Pox.”

What I said:

“Oh! That’s cool!...What do I do in the meantime?”

She prescribed me an anti-viral medication taken three times a day for a week and told me to take over-the-counter pain meds, but to see her again if they didn’t work.

 (NOTE: The vaccine does NOT mean you won’t get the virus. It will, however, lessen symptoms, provided you are a healthy individual. Exceptions don’t prove the rule. Insurance doesn’t cover this vaccine until after you turn 60. Personally, I don’t care and will pay whatever not to have these symptoms. My doctor said it’s about $125.)

The next few days were horrible. Even though the meds were stopping the spread of the virus, it was still gross to watch. The largest patch was already starting to bubble. This was especially horrifying to me as, even as a little kid, I’ve been super grossed-out by skin issues. As a child growing up in a pastor’s home and having heard all the Bible stories, I was naturally DEATHLY afraid of contracting leprosy! I was traumatically scarred by Spock’s radiation death in “Wrath of Khan”! And don’t even get me started on the climax scene from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”!

The bubbles then started turning yellow by the 28th and then started bursting the 29th. Disgusting. (I threw up a little in my mouth just now as I typed that.) Even though my doctor assured me that shingles are only communicable if another person physically touches the...puss...and that the normal act of wearing clothes was enough of a barrier to keep others from catching the disease, I’ve made sure to wear tank tops under my clothing the entire time just for my own peace of mind. This is the grossest thing my body has ever done!

I do have to say that truly the worst part of this whole experience has not actually been the gross factor, nor even the continual itchy-burning-bruising exterior sensations. Not even close. The hands-down, without-a-doubt worst part has been the deep, stabbing, throbbing, cramping, interior pain which I shall now attempt to explain to you in great detail. (Go get vaccinated right now!!)

This is how it feels for me. If you are a woman, imagine the worst menstrual cramps you’ve ever had, except instead of being down in your ovaries, picture the pain up a little higher in your kidneys. Now imagine the worst indigestion ever, except nothing subsides. Now add back pain so bad that breathing becomes a chore, and bending down to pick something up nearly chokes you. Also, picture that deep, stiff pain of a spider bite, only over a much larger region. It’s like all of those rolled into one, and it. Never. Lets. Up.....Oh yeah! And meanwhile there are these really fun intermittent stabbing sensations! You are itchy, but if you scratch, you feel like you are ripping off your skin, and your skin burns and feels bruised all at the same time. (This feeling stays well after the scabs start healing, by the way.) All this pain gets even worse at night and makes sleep nearly impossible.

I started to wonder if these were normal symptoms so I started talking to other shingles sufferers and found out that...yes...unfortunately, my experience was spot on. :(

One lady told me she’d had a very mild case, with just a couple small spots on her shoulder, and was in pain for nearly two months after.

One lady said she’d had shingles three times, each time in a different place, and whenever she gets stressed, she can feel that deep pain flaring up again. Almost like it’s just waiting to have an excuse to break out.

Another poor poor lady told me she’d been misdiagnosed for a WEEK and the virus had spread all over her side, all over one arm and up her neck! And here’s the kicker: It took TWO YEARS to get the pain under control!!

Although I’ve complained a lot in this post, I actually have a pretty high tolerance for pain. My husband and I had already reserved an Airbnb for the last few days of 2017, and my side of the family had a beach trip scheduled for the first week of 2018. I was not missing these just because of some debilitating pain!!! Are you kidding??? (I’m actually at the beach with my family as I write this.)

So here’s what worked and what didn’t work for me. 

First of all, for the topical issues: hydrocortisone cream did nothing. Another friend of mine, and multiple-time shingles sufferer, told me that essential oils really had helped curb the itch for her—especially geranium. I happened to have some so I added a few drops—along with a few drops of frankincense oil to help with healing—to a dollop of Burt’s Bees foot cream (that I’d gotten for Christmas from another friend). That made a HUGE difference in the itchiness, and because the cream was so heavy (almost waxy), it created something of a barrier to outside elements.

For the persistent pain, here’s what didn’t work: I had 800mg tablets of ibuprofen and some hydrocodone pills that I’d had left over from a periodontic surgery last year. Neither of them did diddley-squat—except probably do a number on my liver. So...I just lived with the pain on into the first day of the beach trip. Well, I think I must have been a real “beach” that first day, because my sister at multiple times volunteered, “I have some acetaminophen. How about taking some?”

Me: “No! Nothing works!”

Her: “Why don’t you try it?”

[Persistence. Persistence....]

Me: “Fine. Give me one or two.”

Her: “....How about three?”

And you know what? Despite the friendly cynicism, three worked! When the pain starts coming back I take two more. I do have to say that the pain DOES come back, so I will probably end up getting a steroid shot. Not sure. 

My shingles journey isn’t over.

So...what is my advise for you? Well....don’t get shingles, would be the best advice! I wouldn’t wish this on a dog. But just realize that if you were born before 1995, have ever had the chicken pox, and have never been vaccinated, you are fair game for a decent bout of shingles. At any age. For any reason. On any body part (but mostly upper body and usually only on one side). The virus will get even more miserable without medical attention, so don’t wait to visit your doctor. Pain comes about 24-48 hours before the rash shows up, bc the virus starts in the nervous system, and it hurts like Hades well after the rash subsides. If one topical cream doesn’t work, try a different one. If one pain med doesn’t work, try a different one. (Now is not the time for brand loyalty.) 

And above all: Get the vaccine!

And again I say: The vaccine does NOT mean you won’t get the virus. It will, however, lessen symptoms, provided you are a healthy individual. Exceptions don’t prove the rule. Insurance doesn’t cover this vaccine until after you turn 60. Personally, I don’t care and will pay whatever not to have these symptoms. My doctor said it’s about $125.

Here are some disgusting pictures!