Day 6: PAIN!

I'll add more details later...
and pics hopefully if i find out how to get them from my email in a downloadable format

Day 5: Diagmosed! (thinking in my head WTF is this)

Day 5

I knew something wasn't right when the "pimples" I popped the day before were now twice their size. These "pimples" actually hurt...A LOT. The other dots on my belly button didn't so much bother me except for being a nasty red color. My spine didn't so much hurt anymore. I may have acquired tolerance to it, but it wasn't unbearable pain. I also noticed a few small red dots on my lower back. I knew it was time to go to the doctor.

Luckily my school has a student health center where it is convenient for me to get in for an appointment between classes. I didn't have health insurance so I was lucky that my undergrad offered free services for students. Well, it probably is paid for through tuition and fees. I left my ASL 2 class a little early and went. Because my school has a nursing program, some of the nursing students assist at the student health center. The nursing student that took my weight and vitals was a girl that I used to be in a program with. It was kind of weird, but I didn't mind because I volunteer in an academic setting at a dental clinic. Eventually the nurse practitioner came in and asked if I had been outdoors -- thinking poison ivy. I answered no and she told me I had shingles! She explained what it was and how it was caused by the chicken pox virus. Luckily what I learned in immunology was making sense...however, I was still puzzled to how I, a young, healthy college student, could get shingles! I didn't want to insult her, but I asked for a second opinion. I thought it was impossible for me to be that stressed out for the virus to reemerge. While I was waiting for the doctor to come in, I looked up shingles on my ipod and was in more disbelief! After reading about the statistics I didn't think that I could have had shingles. My pain symptoms were right on, but my "popped pimples" that regrew didn't look anything like the blisters showing up online. They just kept telling me how sorry they were. I didn't really understand because I didn't think the pain was THAT bad. I left with a prescription of 10 days worth of Acyclovir. 

I dropped off my prescription at a drive through pharmacy and picked it up about a half hour later. I had some time to spare so I went to Publix and went crazy in buying health foods. I still didn't feel as much pain. The pain was actually much less than the first few days so I thought I was homefree and had a mild case. I started my antiviral medicine at 5:30pm and went to bed early...

These are photos a few hours after I started acyclovir.

The beginning: day 1&2, day 3, day 4 (UNDIAGNOSED)

Day 1&2

I don't have any photos from these days because I didn't have any skin discoloration. I remember that my spine hurt. It was a similar type of soreness that I felt when I get chiropractor adjustments for my scoliosis. 

Eventually this soreness was localized to my left side. I could run my hand gently over my skin and it felt like a burning sensation. Soon after it felt like needles stabbing me and clawing at my insides and skin. I didn't know what was going on. Because of the location on my side, I thought this might have been my kidney. This pain was intermittent so I planned to "wait it out." Bad idea as this pain increased over the next few days.

Day 3

Since the pain was intermittent I didn't think much of it. I actually went swimming this day. I swam at least 50 laps which is 1.25k. I spent the rest of my day and late night studying. I don't recall being in too much pain after swimming. However, while showering I noticed a red mark on my side. Within the patch of red, I saw a line of 4 raised bumps and some smaller bumps to the side. I also had three tiny, red raised bumps next to my belly button. I thought these were bed bugs bites! Or possibly flea bites because my sisters new puppy slept in my bed 3 weeks ago. I knew it probably wasn't a flea, but that's all I could come up with. My spots didn't itch. They actually hurt when I touched them. As a precaution I slept in another bed, but the following day I woke up with more spots!

Day 4

This was a Monday and Valentine's Day. This morning I woke up and there were more red raised bumps! These were now clusters. I actually popped ALL of them (DON'T DO THIS!!!!). They looked like pimples. Clear fluid came out and I thought nothing more of it. I actually took a genetics test this day. This was definitely a difficult test that I had been stressing out about it, which probably contributed to shingles. After popping these suckers I actually felt less pain in my spine and burning sensation on my side. I contemplated going to the doctor, but I thought this was just a bad case of a bug bite.

Disclaimer & About Me

Disclaimer
First off I want to say that I am by no means trying to offer any medical advice. You should consult a doctor if you suspect shingles or experience any of the symptoms. Also I would like to mention that shingles is caused by Herpes Zoster--the same virus that causes chicken pox--and should not be confused with the STD herpes simplex as many people often freak out about when they hear herpes.

I didn't think to start this blog until a few days into my shingles outbreak, but I will try to recall and record what I can remember from the beginning  I started recording pictures pretty early on and will slowly add to posts as I have time.

Purpose
The purpose of this blog is to record a young, healthy individual's experience with stress induced shingles. It was hard for me to find day to day experiences of 20-something year olds going through this. I don't know the statistics off the top of my head, but I am sure that being a healthy 21 year old who regularly works out and consumes a healthy diet is not the common typical shingles patient. Although, this may partially be due to them not being in the target population that this virus mostly affects. I hope that this blog will serve useful to anyone who experience shingles, but especially to those who are young and healthy who are not immune compromised as myself.

About me
I am currently a full time college junior, working 20 hours a week, and am just months away from applying to dental school. Up until a week ago I was sleeping my usual 4-5 hours every night. I stay pretty busy studying and volunteering. However, up until a week ago, much has changed. After I found out the painful "pimples" on my stomach were shingles blisters, I've slowed down a bit and have been getting more rest.