So I thought it would be fun to track my shingles episode. But first, a bit of background. Like, wth is shingles?
Most of us know what chicken pox is. We all had it as a child. Lots of bumps, scabs and itching. Here and gone within a week usually. But what they don’t tell you is that after the external symptoms are gone, the virus responsible finds a nice quiet spot somewhere near the base of your brain and takes a long nap. Hibernation, if you will.
Later in life, a small percentage of the population experiences a reawakening of the virus. But this time it causes a secondary result, shingles. The virus wakes up, travels down a nerve and inflames the nerve endings causing blisters to erupt on the skin. There is an accompanying pain. Eventually these blisters break open, then scab over. This process causes a strong itching sensation which tends to drive the host a bit crazy. The most common outbreak area is a band from the back to the chest, about midway. For women this is an area generally covered by a bra, so they suffer twice.
Me, I seem to have a mild outbreak, and my shingles virus decided to be special and travel down my arm to my hand. So I’m a minority of a minority. Additionally, it seems to be a mild case and my doctor thinks the anti-viral medicine will knock it back down without ever getting to the whole weeping blister/scab stage. I can only hope that he is right about that.
In the meantime, I’m tracking the progress. It is somewhat fascinating to watch these blisters pop up each day. I’m also tracking things so that I can determine if the antiviral drugs are doing any good. Here is what I have so far:
Day 1 – Aug. 25 – Wednesday – Irritation and pain at the outside edge of the heel of my palm, right hand. I initially conclude that this is from putting too much weight on that arm while using a mouse at work. Bad posture, etc.
Day 2 – Aug. 26 – Thursday – Redness goes away, areas of skin on right arm experience burning sensation (like a sunburn) – but with no visible redness. Sore back and knot in muscle lead me to believe this may be related to a pinched nerve or something like that. At home I hit the tip of my middle finger against something and it feels like a paper cut. No noticeable cut or bleeding, I conclude it was just hitting a nerve.
Day 3 – Aug. 27 – Friday – Blister begins to form on heel of palm, source of original irritation. Conclude that the blister is from friction.
Day 4 – Aug. 28 – Saturday – Two small blisters on forearm, additional blister on heel of palm, blister near the pad of the middle finger. Begin researching and first read about shingles. Still not convinced.
Day 5 – Aug. 29 – Sunday – Blister near pad of ring finger, on inside edge of index finger. Possible blisters on outside of forearm. Determine that pain on end of middle finger from Thursday was, in fact, a blister under the edge of my fingernail.
Day 6 – Aug. 30 – Monday – New blister on back of pinky. Doctor confirms diagnosis, prescribes antiviral. Begin taking pills.
Day 7 – Aug. 31 – Tuesday – Two new blisters at base of pinky. One on knuckle of thumb.
Day 8 – Sept. 1 – Wednesday – Two or three new blisters forming on outside edge of palm. One new blister near pad of pinky. One new blister at base of pinky between it and the ring finger. Additional blister on tip of middle finger. Small blister forming on ring finger below fingernail.
More in a future post…