My battle with shingles (WARNING - NASTY PICTURES)

Wouldn't you just know it? I started battling this evil thing right before our first gig last Saturday. And even though I am finally starting to mend, I still have a ways to go.

For those of you uninitiated, shingles is a virus that is part of the whole chicken pox/cold sore/herpes zoster family. If you catch chicken pox, the virus never entirely goes away after it clears up, but goes dormant inside the nerve endings. Stress, environmental factors, and suppressed immunity can all re-animate the virus into either cold sores, or shingles. Herpes simplex I is what we think of as cold sores. Herpes simplex II would be genital herpes. Shingles would be the third member of the group. They are all simliar, but still different animals. Shingles usually appears on the stomach or back, but it can open up shop almost anywhere. On me, it chose the right side of my face.

Flash back to last Thursday. Started feeling headaches on the right side of my head. Noticed what I thought was a pimple starting on my upper right lip. Woke up Friday feeling funky. Went to the doctor. Blood tests, and lab cultures. Not sure what to think. Started taking meds. Do the gig on Saturday with my upper lip looking like this (the date was set wrong on the camera):



Sunday morning, I looked like this:



Scary, eh?

I felt so awful Sunday that I ended up at the ER. They changed my antibiotics, and upped my anti-viral meds. They also prescribed steroids for the swelling. I am grateful that the meds seem to finally be working, as I have missed this entire week of work.

The first lab tests were negative for cold sores, so my doctor gave my another test two days ago to confirm shingles. I am going to see him today.

Blech.

Take care man. I hope you're better soon!

Omg that sucks man.

Hope your feeling better soon.

I hope get better.

Thats horrible can't you get vaccinated for it ?

My aunt had it & was horrible for her as well. I also thought it only effected old people. Are we old people now?

ya old people = more hospital trips like mine on Saturday June 11th
had abdominal pain and thought it was the onset of another kidney stone attack since I have had them in the past and know what it sort of feels like BEFORE the huge pain starts. After all the tests it was not but the CT scan did see stones way up in the kidney so off to the urologist I go in a couple days




today ids the 14th and in 2 days I'll be 51 -- where did all these years go anyway??

I've been down the kidney stone path and it's a horrible road. The worst pain I have ever experienced. I had lithotripsy (sonic blasting) to rid me of them. So far so good three years later.

oh wow...you 2 huh. ya the last episode of the 3 times was years ago, and was the worst because both sides had stones and the black and blue on my back was there for days after the bathtub

We have a client that had them. He told us they needed to go in & extract them. They knocked him out & he said he woke up screaming in pain pissing blood. The doctor informed him they did not get one of the stones & needed to repeat the procedure!

well since this is the "gross you out thread", ya after the lithotripsy i was pissing red for a bit. I think the worst was knowing I had a stent up in there and they had to insert in from the penis. THEN I knew they had to take it out.....totally asleep both times, but still...ewwwww.

Now we really sound like old men, next up colonoscopies

well your 51, i'll be 51 on thurs..old? you becha!!

the funny thing is I actually FEEL old every day now compared to 10 years ago, but the DR's say I'll be around for a long time barring an unnatural death.

all ya all are grossin me out.

oldness sucks. i'm starting to feel its effects.

i dont know if you guys know or not, I'm an insulin dependent diabetic ... no big deal, been that way for 31 years.

heres the problem. diabetes is a balancing of the sugar in the blood. too high can be unhealthy with the deterioration of the nerves and blood vessels, not to mention my body just trying to get rid of the extra sugar ... too low and the cells dont have anything to burn for fuel, effecting first the brain cells, so, doooie ... i go stupid and cant function till i black out.

now, the low blood sugar always came on with symptoms. hands shaking, cold sweats and just really feeling run down ... i need to eat. as i been getting older, just in the last year, i cant feel the symptoms coming on anymore.

for 30some years now i've been doing just fine. in the last 2 months i've had low blood sugars where once, i came to with amy all upset and shovin donuts in my face and last week comming to in the back of an ambulance after smashing up my honda.

i've been in touch with my doctor and i gotta test my blood 4X a day now.

i'de been saving for a new car; my honda had 200K on it and the odometer stopped working. i got a ford escape on friday.

so i just need to be more careful.

Wow Guys....I feel bad for all of you!

On a good note, I am almost completely cleared up now, and I take the last of my anti-viral meds tomorrow. Except for a very tiny area of my face with a slight scab, and some very minor nerve pain my right cheek, I am almost back to normal.

Now, that being said, my doctor had put me through a bunch of tests when I first became ill. Apparently, the tests came back, and found a few items of concern. My blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood-sugar index are all high. He did say that all of the numbers are borderline, and that I am in no imminent danger, but now is the time to change some things. I will be 45 in two weeks. Yep. Getting old sucks big time.

I have also had an episode with kidney stones. This was back in 2008, and by the time the ER determined what was going on, the stone had already passed out of reach of any procedure they could do, so I had to pass it. Easily the worst pain I have ever been in, and until the official diagnosis came down, I literally thought I was dying.

Let's all try and hang in there Guys!

right on.

Glad yr feelin better eric. You all take care of yourselves ... thanks to the pre existing insurance that the us govt passed, I have been. Dr appointment next week.

Quote :

Apparently, the tests came back, and found a few items of concern. My blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood-sugar index are all high. He did say that all of the numbers are borderline, and that I am in no imminent danger, but now is the time to change some things. I will be 45 in two weeks. Yep. Getting old sucks big time.

Glad to hear your doing better. An old guitarist friend told me one of his buddies had kidney stones so bad (no medical insurance) that he committed suicide, could not take the pain any longer.

I have the same issues and slowly but surely the doctors have taken away the things I enjoy- No coffee, soda (caffeine - citric acid), low salt, dairy and am on a high fiber diet. Kicking coffee was the hardest.

I have lost 8 pounds in the last 6 months. I weigh 173. I can't remember the last time I weighed that little.

my diet has been altered for years, I used to LIVE off fast-food. I have always been skinny so weight wasnt an issue, but my diet was playing a huge role in the production of stones.