Sunday, January 6, 2019

SHINGLES

Decided I needed a record of my shingles experience--
so here goes--



I never really thought much about getting 'shingles'--
and knowing how stress does effect me alot--
I really should of taken them more seriously--
and yet I do not know if I can actually have the shot to prevent shingles-
you see I have learned that the shot has 2 preservatives in them--
and one of those is glycerin--and I do know that I can not handle any cosmetics or soaps that have glycerin in them--soooo --the other one is Neomycin--not sure on this one--
and that article did say that someone like me --who had them as bad as I did--it was not recommended to now get the shot--soooooo????????????????
Also the shot is most effective for folks between 60 and 69--if you are interested!!


Ok--on to my experience--
I arrived here on in NY on Aug 29--
and from the moment I walked into this apartment I did not feel well--
the first 2 weeks I felt like I was in a fog--now that is not an unfamiliar feeling for me--
so--(I did find out about a month after being here that they used a highly toxic pesticide inside my apt and had not called me--I would not have come if I had known-but that is water over the bridge now!!)
I had been here about 2 weeks when I started getting a bad pain on my whole right upper body side--
from the top of my rib cage down to below the waist line--and this pain just got worse as the week progressed--and did not let up--this pain was the worse pain I have ever experienced before--
about 10 days later I realized one morning that I had huge welts near my waist line in the front and my whole back on the right side--so we made my 3rd trip to the ER and that is when the doctor told me I had an "impressive" case of the shingles and wrote me a prescription--(if one catches the onset of shingles there is medicine to take--they are horse pills---yep--but luckily they had a like 'score' in them so I was able to cut them in half--so that meant with taking 3 a day--I was taking 6 a day plus my blood pressure pills and Tylenol (which I had not taken in years--but it was the only thing I could find that would lessen the pain a bit--never took it away though!!)  now the other side effect I had with the shingles was constipation--and it was bad--and it lasted the 3 whole months I had in discomfort from the shingles--so had alot of discomfort this way too--

After about 3-4 weeks the intense pain changed--and the shingles were healing--drying up --
the pain went to a constant feeling that someone had my right side in a vise-grip--which was easier to live with--but still was having a hard time doing anything with my right arm and hand--when ever I would use my right arm/hand it would tighten up that side--so --no knitting or sewing and it was hard to even type on the computer--each email took forever--as after every sentence I would have to rest that arm-- I did discover once the intense pain was over that I could do some counted cross stitching in the mornings sitting at the table--my brain was still foggy enough that I could not even read!!

As for food--that started when I first got here too--it all tasted like 'cardboard'!!!!
nothing tasted good not even my chocolate or chips--stopped eating both--I lived on Celestia cheese  pizza's, Gortons large fish sticks, yogout, and some soups-- and could only eat little bits at a time so around 3 am I would need to eat again-then it was sometimes yogurt, or cream cheese and a couple crackers---and apple juice--did drink some apple juice each day --
I did discover though this that I can't do dairy products--if I ate dairy during the day--in the evening while sitting watching some television my stomach would swell up and I would rub it--it felt and looked like I was 9 months pregnant!!!!! (now I don't eat dairy--no more yogurt and I love yogurt)

as for comfort--oh my goodness that was a huge challenge--I have 3 chairs --one is an old wood rocker, one is stuffed rocker, and the new office chair--I would play musical chairs--every half hour I would have to move from one chair to the next and then start over again--I had to go in and lay on the bed several times a day--not to sleep--just to get some relief from the pain/discomfort--!!!!
The first 3 months I was here--Sept Oct and Nov--are just a blurry of pain and discomfort--
I couldn't go anywhere's or do anything--except to keep telling myself to --just keep breathing and soon this too will be over!--And Anne's visits and shopping for me kept me going--emails and phone calls from friends kept me 'hoping' and feeling loved--!

At this time 4 1/2 months after starting this Shingles journey--I am much better--food has taste again--potty issue is much better (don't have to drink apple juice which is high in sugar!!) and can sit in the chairs for a couple hours at a time--I can finally type with out taking breaks and can now stitch and knit--and read and go shopping  -but I do still have a bit of discomfort--but that has moved to down around my waist area on the right side--much easier to handle now--and if it doesn't totally leave me--I can live and function with that--!!

My plea with for everyone is--
if you are not allergic to the preservatives in the shingles shot and they are available in your area--
and you are 60 years old--go get one!!!

If you read this--I thank you for taking the time to read it--it was a hard post to write--
but I know some of you really wanted to know more about what I went through--
and talking about going through this--I never never never would of made it though--
if not for my blog friends, Anne here, and 2 good friends I left back in Florida--
so--





Di
and PS--I am now back to having my daily dose of chocolate--!!

8 comments:

  1. So sorry you had to go through all that and in a new place to boot. Glad it is on the 'mend' and hope it goes away completely for you.
    My sister had them around her middle when she was mid 40's. I asked my dr for the shot and he said no despite knowing my Mom and sister had it. Fingers crossed I don't get it.

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  2. Yes I plan to get my shot! I've been waiting to be old enough. My uncle had like you did. Just horrible. Also, I had it once on my face. Just a small spot - oooh did it hurt! So glad you are so much better, and so sorry that you had to go through this all. I do think you will continue to heal and not have side effects from it.

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  3. we had our shot not long after our brother in law got them. Don't wont that!

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  4. Sounds terrible, so glad you are on the mend. I hadn´t heard about a vaccine, but will def keep it in mind.

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  5. You're brave to have put your story out there. If you weren't even interested in eating chocolate then we all know how bad it was. It's good to hear that you are improving. I'm still going to send good vibes and hope you keep improving. While the pain may be tolerable that's not the same as being yourself again. I'm right there with you about the yogurt. No milk products for me either. There are some pretty good milk free yogurts but they tend to be a bit more expensive than the normal milk yogurts.

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  6. Glad you are better! I asked my doctor about the vaccine and he said something like that it only is about 40% effective in preventing shingles and that it was too expensive. I may ask him again. I'm not yet 60 (but not too far away!) so maybe he will say something different :-) Sorry you had to go through what you did!!

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  7. I knew you were miserable, but not just how completely miserable you were. Hope you continue to improve each day and that you never see that particular disease again!

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