Shingles are the worst

[Isilia]

I just needed to vent. Please excuse me.

Woke up a few days ago with severe pain in my chest. A day or so passes, and now I have upper back pain. I was wondering how in the world this is happening, but I just assumed I pulled a muscle.

More days pass and I start getting those lovely blisters all over the place. All the way from the upper chest to the upper back. Existing now has become just a little bit harder.

I'm actually used to dealing with pain, as I have Trigeminal Neuralgia. Every day is a trial with that, but adding this on top of that is a fresh new flavor of hell that I didn't need introduced to.

Just ranting. It will pass, but it sure is going to take a bit. Been dealing with said Neuralgia for 4.5 years, so I'll brute force my way through this. Not going to be a fun few weeks (if not longer)

All things pass. Hopefully. Feel free to share your pain rants here. Let us cope together.

 

[Dest]

 

[Isilia]

Thanks for the laugh! I needed that.

 

[Cocolina]

Sounds rough, my dad did not enjoy it at all but he got over it after a couple of weeks. I've already had chicken pox so shingles is my destiny.

 

[Buttchin-n-Bones]

Click to shrink...

I was going to post this damn it

 

[boris_feinbrand]

Hope this brightens your mood a bit OP.

 

[OneEyedKing]

I had shingles when I was 17 and it was some of the worst pain I've ever been in. Sleeping was a nightmare, my back was covered in the blisters but even laying on my stomach hurt like hell.

 

[Vonocourt]

Yeah, I got it a couple of years ago when I was coming off of a cold/working at a job that was stressing me out something fierce.

Wasn't fun, got punched in my breakout spot, and was on the floor.

 

[Everybody Lies]

My brother had them a year and a half ago and it was a nightmare for him. I was going to get vaccinated for it but the pandemic happened. Thank you for the reminder OP. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[Deleted member 437]

I always wondered, at the end of the day, is it a good thing to get chicken pox or not as a kid?
I never got them, so I won't get shingles.
But my risk of serious complications is much higher if I caught chicken pox.

But that's if I do catch it.

 

[Absolute]

Gout is worse so you could have that instead. Every cloud

 

[fallengorn]

I had it pretty young at ~18. I mostly had severe chest pains, I thought I was having a heart attack initially. Some of the worst pain I've felt in my life.

 

[I am a Bird]

Shingles were the only thing I recall making my grandfather cry outside of his wife and brother's deaths.

 

[Teiresias]

You really should see a doctor and get on shingles antiviral medication rather than "brute forcing" through it. Shingles can lead to permanent nerve damage that results in chronic pain.

 

[Leonard Spiddles]

Somehow managed to get it twice in my 20s. Absolutely awful.

 

[Isilia]

Yes I have been to the doctor for meds. As far as brute forcing it, I have done this for years living through the neuralgia. I have a team of docs and meds through that as well.

Im just venting since the next few weeks will be hell regardless

 

[psykomyko]

Still the most painful and uncomfortable thing I have ever gone through. I got it when I was 17 and it was all over my chest. Made every single activity I did a pain. Just my shirt rubbing against it was painful.

 

[kamen_tater]

I always wondered, at the end of the day, is it a good thing to get chicken pox or not as a kid?
I never got them, so I won't get shingles.
But my risk of serious complications is much higher if I caught chicken pox.

But that's if I do catch it.

Click to shrink...

Get the vaccine. I got chicken pox as a kid before the vaccine had come out. If you missed getting chicken pox as a kid, you will get shingles as an adult if infected with the chicken pox virus.

 

[Voyager]

You really should see a doctor and get on shingles antiviral medication rather than "brute forcing" through it. Shingles can lead to permanent nerve damage that results in chronic pain.

Click to shrink...

This. I got shingles about two years ago and the medication cleared it up fast. I too thought I worked out a bit too hard until the blisters showed up. I don't recall the pain being too severe though, hence thinking I just got a good workout in.

 

[Graefellsom]

I had shingles and it was the worst. Up the middle of my back and under my armpit.
Then I got a couple tiny kidney stones. Shingles then became a fond memory.

 

[Beautifulmemory]

This. I got shingles about two years ago and the medication cleared it up fast. I too thought I worked out a bit too hard until the blisters showed up. I don't recall the pain being too severe though, hence thinking I just got a good workout in.

Click to shrink...

Wanted to echo this. The antiviral medication can really help both short term and long term. The nerve damage is no joke. Even tho I caught mine early I still have residual migraines that I never had in my life. I can't imagine having other, more severe pain for the rest of my life

 

[TeenageFBI]

I actually got shingles pretty young. I assume it was stress-related. Got lucky though. It only itched a little and didn't spread very far. Went away with some medication.

I clicked on the thread to post Shingle Jingle, BTW.

 

[Stop Motion Pornography]

My sister gest this shit regularly. It sounds like absolute torment.

 

[Isilia]

Just trying to sit or wear clothes is torture

 

[msdstc]

I lucked out my case wasn't so bad. Sucks though getting them so young.

 

[Deleted member 92750]

I've gotten shingles twice. First at 27(was in Bangkok wife thought I contracted a more exotic disease) then last year at 32. Get the vaccine it's worth the money.

 

[Falcon511]

I had them over a year ago. It started with some neck pain that felt like I had sunburn and then a few days later the sores showed up. It was kind of a mild case though and I only had 2 big blisters. One on my back and the other on the neck. Thankfully nobody noticed at work for a few days. After that I was talking to my boss and he started looking at my neck and thought it was a hicky. I will take it.

 

[lt519]

I had shingles at 27, upper chest area and up the back of the neck, brought me to my knees quite a few times before I went and got checked out. Hard to explain the sensation but it was enough of a wave of pain for me actually just stop and lay down wherever I was. They offered me meds but said I was already on the decline so I refused them (anti taking painkillers if not absolutely necessary). Still have some scars from the breakout areas.

 

[Forgrim]

Lower back for me, at the ripe ol' age of 11. I had gotten the chicken pox at age of 8, so it was literally a quick shingles outbreak.

It was fucking retardedly painful as a kid, and now that i'm near the 40's, hope to never experience it again. If you've got it once, does a shingles vaccine help?

 

[Volimar]

My mom's shingles blisters got infected with MRSA and some ended up needing packed. Awful.

 

[Gezech]

I had shingles a year and a half ago on my back and chest. The pain and the general malaise was pretty damn bad. Only acliclovir made it go away in about a week or two, and a couple months until the scars disappeared. I had to go to the ER twice once to get medication and another time to get the doses increased as it only kept getting worse.

Please don't try to brute force through it, doctors told me it could be life-threatening if left untreated and could leave you with permanent nerve damage that feel like electric shocks at random times.

 

[Isilia]

I'm in contact with doctors, so I should be fine. Plenty of people around me to help as well.

Wife especially won't let me ignore the docs!

 

[Deleted member 16908]

They're okay. As a kid I always liked doing the duck bill thing by holding two in my mouth at once.

 

[Scarface]

Shingles do indeed suck.

Had em a few years ago on the left side of my chest. Hurt like a bitch.

 

[Isilia]

Week 2. Burning started. It continues to be the worst.

Got the docs pills and mountains of topical cream. I haven't drove the wife crazy yet.

This happened on the week her mom got knee surgery, so I feel bad she has to somewhat look out for me, too.

 

[OrangeNova]

My doctors told me I'm guaranteed to get it eventually, having had a bad bout of Chicken Pox when younger and have had Bell's Palsy... Not looking forward to this.

 

[Walter White Walker]

It took being on a six-month waiting list for the shingles vaccine, but I got it about two years ago. Very much worth it.

 

[Isilia]

If anything, I want this topic to be about that vaccine.

It's worth the wait. Even if it was a 6 year wait.

Get it if you can. You won't regret it.