Stressed, Scared and Terrified. SHINGLES!

[quiksand]

I remember it was painful until it ALL cleared and healed compelety. Unfortunately I stratched and they were open and oozing and REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY painful. As you know we women put up with a lot. Having babies etc. I get migraines too and that made me want to bang my head on the floor having Shingles. I took nothing cause I never went to the dr until they were almost healed. Personally I think people heal faster and more effectively when they are not in pain. Maybe take a bit less than what they say. You might have a high pain tolerance like me. I have done most things without pain medication, surgeries etc. Take some to take the edge off so you can get proper sleep, you will get better faster. Watch it though you do not get addicted to pain meds.

 

Yes, this is a great idea, since lack of sleep takes a toll on the immune system. Sleep is incredibly important. Take half a percocet, maybe. Or, take some tylenol pm, to help the pain (HAHA like a tylenol will) and make you a little sleepy. I took half a dose, because sleep-aids make me feel weird. Antihistimenes help with itching and make you drowsy too, so look into those perhaps (I have no idea if that's a good or bad thing to take while taking the other meds and when you have shingles, I'm just thinking out loud).

[Seraphim]

Do not worry hun that will make it worse. Worry always makes pain worse. Relax. Take what you need to take the edge off and I bet in about a month you will be MUCH better.

 

(yeah I know what you mean........I dealt with a lot of my own broken bones too without a dr. And waited about 14 hours of contractions every 90 seconds before I asked for an epidural........LOL.........us women are Ironmen........lol)

[miracle29]

I have a brother too and isn't it strange that him and my father are HUGE big babies. My dad caught a splinter and moaned like it was a bullet. My brother fell off his back, at 18 mind you, and cried because he said I have had broken toes and cried my eyes out but did not go to the doctor.

 

My brother cried over a scrape. Its crazy. The women in my family are rock solid and strong..the men have low tolerence for pain.

[Showvoo]

I had shingles when I was 24. The odd thing was I was not stressed at all and I was in good health. The "rash" started from the inside of my thigh and went all the way to the upper part of my buttocks, which made wearing any sort of pants or shorts problematic. Plus it was incredibly hot that summer.

 

Perhaps I didn't have it as bad as others? But usually the healthier you are the more severe your reaction is. The pain was fairly consistent even when I was wearing pants. It felt like the area was slightly on fire, but the itching was the worst. I never did find out which was worse, loose fitting shorts or tight fitting pants, they both had drawbacks. But I was able to go to work and do most things I wanted to do. It was more of an inconvenience than anything else.

 

The doctor gave me a numbing cream and pain pills, but I never ended up using either.

 

It started to affect my sleep so eventually I decided to just take a week of sick leave. My girlfriend also had never had chickenpox so we had to be careful that she never touched my affected area and I always washed my hands. She never got sick.

 

Not all cases of shingles are a nightmare, mine was more of an inconvenience than anything (far different experience when I had mono though!).

[thejigsup]

I had shingles at 19. Mine lasted six months!! I was miserable. For me, the itching was far, far, worse than the pain. It hurt some, but it itched like a b**ch!

[agent1607307371]

I would rather have Shingles instead of a bad sun-burn any day (if that says anything).

 

I've had sunburn so bad it blistered. And I'd still take that over shingles, just for the fact that it clears up quicker.

 

Regular sunburn is a breeze compared.

[misspeanut]

well my brother had a fluke case of shingles like 7-8 years ago at age 22... not serious and he got treated for it pretty quickly. i don't know exactly how it came about or anything but yeah it's treatable