A Shingles Chronicle

Well, the axe has dropped. I have contracted the dreaded shingles rash.

I've heard about this ailment for years...the pain and the misery it can cause...and always prayed I'd never be unfortunate enough to contract it. And now it's happened.

I shouldn't be surprised....my mother has had it and so has my sister. Anyone who has had chicken pox can contract shingles later in life, I've read, but having chicken pox as a child doesn't necessarily mean a person will contract shingles. I just happen to fall into the unlucky category. Some folks I've heard have had this twice. I can't imagine going through this misery more than once.

So....this blog will chronicle my battle with this insidious, painful and debilitating condition. My hope is that writing about it will help me deal with it in a constructive way so that my body can begin to heal itself.

First signs:
Last Tuesday, 2/15, I noticed an area around my left hip and upper thigh was very sensitive to the touch, as if the nerves were hyper-sensitive. Although I didn't think much of it at the time... just chalked it up to one of my body's weird quirks, of which there are quite a few...in hindsight this was the first sign something was amiss.

Wednesday, 2/16: pain began in my left hip and left lower back area, and got progressively worse as the week went on. By Friday, 2/18, I was pretty uncomfortable and not sleeping well, relying on 4 ibuprofens every 4 hours just to keep the pain at a tolerable level. I went out with friends for dinner and the theatre on Friday night and was not my usual sparkly self, but tried to make the best of it.

Saturday, 2/17: Woke up several times during the night, totally miserable. Aching, sharp shooting pains, some stinging pains on the left hip and left lower back area. I'm thinking it's maybe nerve-related, maybe the lumbar nerve as I've had trouble with sciatica before. I've decided that I will go to Urgent Care today.

Later: Went to Urgent Care. Doctor took a hip x-ray and urine sample to rule out arthritis/bursitis in the hip and a kidney problem. Diagnosis: inflamed lumbar nerve. BUT: Doc did ask if I'd had a rash, and at this point I had not. He told me if a rash developed to get right back in to see them. Doctor prescribed prednisone and Tramadol with Acetiminophen for pain. Got the scripts filled, went home and took the meds and promptly slept the afternoon away.

Sunday: Still no rash, but lots of pain. Pain meds work great when paired with the prednisone, not so much on their own. Keeping an eagle eye out for rash all day.

Sunday evening: Pain very bad, and there...yep, right there...is the first sign of red bumps, in 2 areas. Great. Looks like it's probably shingles. Very bad night Sunday night...severe pain, can't get comfortable, pain meds not working at all. Don't get any sleep at all Sunday night into Monday morning.

Monday, 2/21: Called my supervisor and told her what's going on and that I will be visiting the doctor's office today to rule out shingles (but I'm pretty sure that's what's happening), so probably will not be into work today.

Later (and henceforth Monday will be Day 1): Another trip to Urgent Care, and after 3 hours (2 of it waiting to be called back and be seen), the diagnosis is official: Shingles. Doctor prescribes an anti-viral med and something stronger for pain, oxycodone (generic Percocet). I've never had that before and hope that it will help the pain without making me sick. So I go home, have some lunch and call work and give them the official diagnosis and that I will be out at least Monday and probably Tuesday as well, we'll just have to wait and see how I feel and how this all progresses. Later: picked up meds and took the first dose of anti-viral and oxy, and then I went to bed and slept most of the rest of the afternoon.

Monday evening: learned from my supervisor that the company owners would prefer I stay home for a while until this thing starts to get better. Who knows how long that will be? So I'm home until further notice.

Overnight: slept pretty well, but had to get up twice in the night to take pain med. Second time I got up around 5, pain was pretty bad and I went ahead and took the prednisone along with the oxy. Slept like a baby after that until Emma woke me up at 7:45.

Day 2: Rash is worse and spreading. Pain is manageable as long as I take the pain meds on a regular basis. Appetite pretty much unaffected. Itching has started and one of the first things the doc told me was DO NOT SCRATCH as scratching will make the sores worse and possibly lead to infection. Oh great...that's all I need. Have gotten lots of get-well and sympathy posts from friends on Facebook and the SI Message Board. Nice to know that one has sympathetic friends when sick.

Evening: Just finished dinner. One thing's for sure - my appetite hasn't been affected by this at ALL! At least if I have to suffer I could lose a few pounds while I'm at it!

Interesting how my body is dealing with this. I touch the skin on the side that's affected, and it's almost as if I received a shot of Novocaine. The skin is slightly numb, which makes sense as this is a virus that affects the nerves in the skin. It's a strange sensation - the rash is sort of a burning itch.

The dogs know something's up too. For one thing their routine has been disrupted because their Mom's at home and sleeping a lot. So far they're showing it by restlessness and clinginess. Wish I could explain it to them...

Supervisor called and said the bosses had educated themselves on shingles and so now I'm no longer considered to be Typhoid Mary. So I'm going to be allowed to go in and work half days for the rest of the week to see how it goes - it will be nice as I will avoid using up all my sick leave and too much work piling up.

So...after dinner settles I'm going to take a nice soaking bath to see if I can get some relief from the rash discomfort. We'll see how it goes...

Day 3: Bath felt great last night and brought some much-needed relief. I just threw in a handful of cornstarch in some bath water and soaked for about 10 minutes. I hate baths so 10 minutes was all I could manage, but it did help to soothe the rash.

Got up again twice in the night to take pain med...second time the rash was really burning and so I took my prednisone along with the oxy. As usual, slept like a baby after that and I'm still groggy.

Rash is really burning today. The best way I can describe it is a burning itch and the rash feels like a raw burn. We'll see what today brings. I have no idea what I'm going to wear to work today...

Later: Very bad day today. Went to work for 4 hours and was stressed to the max....came home and wept like a baby. Also felt like I wanted to scream my head off. Why hasn't my sister called me and asked how I am? Why didn't my co-workers show more sympathy? I'm experiencing MAJOR symptoms of depression and I don't know if it's a result of the illness or the prednisone. I hate this. HATE it.

I know now that it was a mistake to try and go in today. I should have just listened to my instincts and stayed out the entire week. Stress on top of stress on top of stress. And then my supervisor made it sound like I was the one who insisted on going in! SHE was the one who said work was piling up, maybe I could come in and work a few hours and see how it went, etc. etc. I couldn't believe it! I'm not happy about what's being done about my work area either and that's just adding to the stress level.

Later in the evening: Just took an oatmeal bath. Amazing how when I'm in the water, there is no itching, no burning, no pain...no nothing. It is pure bliss. Just wish I could wrap myself in that water 24/7. I also drowned my sorrows in a hot fudge sundae tonight. I decided to be good to myself after this horrible day and consume that ice cream with a completely guilt-free conscience and a glad heart. Did I enjoy it? Hell yes!

Day 4: Made the decision to stay home for the rest of the week. Called my supervisor and informed her of such and then went back to bed. Rest rest rest is the order of the day and for the next 3 days. Rest as much as possible. I'm very fortunate I have my mom to take care of me and look after the dogs.

Had to get up 3 times during the night last night to take meds - twice for pain, once for itching. Doc said I could take Benedryl for itching if I needed it, and boy did I need it last night. Just finished lunch and taking lunch meds about an hour ago and will head back to sleep soon.

Later: easy sleeping day today. Not much change in the rash...it's still not weeping. Mom says her blisters never did break...they just dried up after a week. And though the doc says that each patient is different, I'm devoutly hoping that's what happens in my case.

Something else became apparent today: Mom's not feeling well. She's coughing, stuffy and has a sore throat. :(

Something on the back of my mind and I'm trying not to stress about it...what happens if I'm no better on Monday, when I have no more sick leave and I have to go back to work? Guess I'll have to wait until Sunday to see how I feel and then talk to my supervisor and get her input.

Day 5: Didn't sleep all that well last night...had to get up several times to take meds, either for pain or itching.

Looked at the rash closely in the mirror last night...it seems that the rash may be getting better. I still feel pain, though, the type of pain I felt in the very beginning before the rash developed. Doesn't it seem that that type of pain would be gone by now? Lord have mercy...who knows. One can't go by other people because this illness takes its own course with each sufferer. And the itch!! My God! Sometimes it feels like I could take the top of my skin off, although I do NOT scratch.

Anyway...have a call into my doctor's office to discuss the course of treatment and to see if there is anything we can do topically to make me more comfortable so that I can get back to work. I only have one or two more days of anti-viral and oxycodone left and after that I'll be at the mercy of this damned illness. The thought terrifies me. Will update after I've talked to them.

5:00: Just spoke to my doctor, who told me 2 things: 1) the fact that I haven't developed blisters by this stage of the game means I most likely won't, and 2) there is a patch, called the Lidoderm patch, that is specifically made for shingles sufferers. It's a $60 copay with insurance, but it will allow me to return to work on Monday relatively pain- and discomfort-free, so it is well worth the price. I was most relieved to hear about the non-development of the blisters, which is what I was most dreading.

Dr. D also said that there would be no medical need to refill either the anti-viral med or the oxycodone, as the anti-viral is already in my system and will be doing its work for a while after I actually finish the pills, and the patch will take care of pain, itching and burning. Until then, I can continue to use the colloidal oatmeal bath and also put calamine lotion on the rash.

I feel the corner has been turned.

Day 6: Another night of getting up several times to take pain meds. And not feeling as well today as I did yesterday. Although the rash is drying up, I have a feeling I'm experiencing postherpetic neuralgia, which is why getting the Lidoderm patch is a good thing. I'm also experiencing more fatigue today than yesterday. *sigh*

Later: Not a good day at all. Experiencing a lot of nerve pain and just feel blah...went to dinner at Lynne's and could barely get through it, I felt so bad. Came home and watched a little t.v. and went to bed around 10. Pain...could not sleep. Had to get up in the middle of the night and take oxy and again at around 6:00. With the oxy I could finally get some relief and get some sleep.

Bottom line: The rash is fading and no longer itches, but I'm definitely experiencing post-shingles pain. I wish I had another week to recover at home, but I don't. Not looking forward to this week at all.

Day 7: Sunday, and feeling pretty good. Did some light housekeeping. Not a bad day.

Day 8: Monday, and back at work. Had a pretty good day until about 2:00, when pain forced me to go home. Came home Monday and took pain meds and went straight to bed. A very bad day pain-wise.

Day 9: Tuesday and I went back to the Doctor's. Doc prescribed more oxycodone and told me that if I needed pain meds, I'd get pain meds. He was wonderful. Went to work and had a pretty productive day for the rest of the day, and went home at 5:00.

Day 10: Made a bad mistake by taking 2 oxycodones on an empty stomach at 3:00 in the morning. Woke up dizzy and nauseated, and pain started in earnest. Wound up staying home on Wednesday. Started a regimen of taking pain meds on a schedule of every 4 hours around the clock.

Day 11: It's Thursday, and I worked all day for the first time in almost 2 weeks. I think the new regimen of scheduled pain meds every 4 hours is keeping the pain under control and at tolerable levels. I certainly feel better than I've felt since this whole thing started, and I had a productive day at work. I don't want to say I've turned the corner because I've been burned by that before, but I do feel that the pain is under control. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Day 14 - 2 week mark: A quiet Sunday morning, and I've just eaten breakfast and taken my pain med. Haven't posted in a couple of days because frankly, I haven't felt like it. This illness is wearing me down, in more ways than one. It's hanging on and hanging on, and the one thing that's worrying me above all else is - will my life be the same after it's gone? Or will I suffer after-effects for years to come? Not just from the shingles, but from the oxycodone.

One of the side-effects of oxy is taste changes, and finally I can put a finger on what's been bugging me. Nothing tastes the same, when I do have an appetite. For instance - coffee. I LOVE coffee. Not being a morning person, it's one of the more pleasurable aspects of getting up in the morning...enjoying that first cup of fresh brew. But now...coffee tastes funny to me, as if it had been flavored with nutmeg. That's the only way I know how to describe it. And other things taste weird too...ate some vegetable soup last night that didn't taste good to me at all, despite the fact that I was hungry. It just tasted...weird. I'm devoutly hoping this will go away once I stop taking the oxy for pain.

I'm also sleeping...a LOT. Seems when I'm not hurting, I'm sleeping. I like to think it's because of the pain med, but who knows at this point?

I'm sick of this crap. I just want my damned life back.

Day 22: Yes, that's right. Day 22. It's been over a week since I last posted, but I think....I think....that I can say that I may have finally turned the corner. I haven't had to get up and take pain meds in the middle of the night since the wee hours of last Wednesday morning, I can call what I'm feeling now "discomfort" rather than actual "pain", and the discomfort is being controlled with regular doses of ibuprofen. Fatigue is still present to some extent, but not as bad. The bad day I had on Wednesday may have been the last gasp. The rash is still present, but fading rapidly. I do still have itching however. That, rather than pain, is what's most uncomfortable right now. But....what is significant, for me anyway, is that I made it through a full work week last week, with its challenges and deadlines, without having to go home due to feeling bad.

This weekend I really needed to clean my house. I tried to pace myself and rest. When the day was done, I could tell that I'm still not well.

But...I'm getting there, slowly but surely. Maybe it's too soon for a hallelujah, but maybe a huge grin is definitely in order.