Shingles SUCK

Shingles are an adult outbreak of chicken pox, that lovely childhood ailment that makes life hell for a few weeks. It's no better in adulthood, either. Let's look at the symptoms:

• Pain, burning, tingling, numbness or extreme sensitivity in a certain part of your body


• A red rash that begins a few days after the pain


• Fluid-filled blisters that break open and crust over


• Itching


• Fever and chills


• Headache


• Upset stomach or abdominal pain

Pain, burning, tingling, numbness or extreme sensitivity in a certain part of your body? Eh, not so much.

Red rash that begins a few days after the pain? Got those all over my arms and feet, and a few around my shoulders.

Fluid-filled blisters that break open and crust over? Thank the gods, no. Or at least not yet.

Itching? Oh yes. Those rashes are infernal. They were, in fact, my first symptom and they looked for all the world like bugbites. I tried a few methods to combat this, and finally fell back on Melaleuca's "Renew" lotion. They used to use just allantoin and their patented melaleuca oil which did wonders for my skin, but now all they offer is their "Renew" product which has a bunch of other stuff that does nothing for me. However, I've found it to still be the best product I can find. It has an amazing effect on quelling and reducing the itchy rashes.

Fever and chills? For about a week or two I suffered the rashes, then all of a sudden this Sunday I was struck by an avalanche of symptoms including fever and chills. They still hit me completely at random, day and night.

Headache? Yes, but it's the least of my concerns.

Upset stomach or abdominal pain? That's what really got me on Sunday, and it's persisted to varying degrees all week. I'm most comfortable when I stay very still and move as little as possible. Great for when you're sitting in front of the computer browsing or playing World of Warcraft, but working? Getting up to use the bathroom? Trying to roll over in bed? My entire world is pain, and I have to remind myself to eat.

I tried going to work after taking some heavy narcotics (leftovers from my adventure with the dentist), and barely managed to get in half a shift. They're already shorthanded so this is really not good, but all of them agreed I was in no shape to continue. So I can look forward to more half shifts until this goes away.

The best part: this is likely to continue for at least a couple of weeks. So my conclusion? Shingles suck.