I went to bed on February 5 and early during the night I had sharp pains in my left side. I had that kind of pain once before when I had pneumonia. I hurt so bad I got the heating pad out to see if that might help relieve the pain until morning.
Finally at 6:00 AM, I went to the bathroom and looked at my side in the mirror. It was very red and the pain was worse. I thought that I may have burned myself by having the heating pad on high.
I called my doctor as soon as the office opened and was told to come in. After being checked, my doctor said, “You don’t have pneumonia, you have shingles.” He told me what I could do to perhaps relieve the pain until the shingles would go away because they were temporary.
This happened when the shingles vaccine was fairly new, not covered by insurance and didn’t work after you had them. I was prescribed medication and went home to recover from them.
I had heard how painful shingles were, but did not know anyone personally who had them. You can have them in different parts of the body. Mine were on my left breast and widespread. They went from the front to the middle of my back. You never have them to cover your entire chest, just on one side. It is a nerve disease.,
There are not enough words to describe the intense pain and agony that can be caused by them. I was given all the medications that are usually prescribed, plus three drugs that were specially compounded by local pharmacists. I even tried every “home remedy ” that people told me about.
In my entire life, I have never experienced anything to compare. I could not lie down, I had to prop up on pillows and stay way all day and night. Each day I made photos while I stood before the bathroom mirror to keep a record of the progress in getting well.
The scabs dried up with time, the redness subsided, but the pain NEVER left. Unless you endured something like this, you would think it could never happen. But it can last. Today marks ten years since that horrible night of February 6, 2011. I have a very high tolerance to pain, but it did not work with shingles.,
Through the years improvements have been made and I don’t hear horror stories about them, but I will not forget my experience because it has been a daily reminder of how painful they are.
I included this journal entry for my family, but it is for anyone to know that shingles can totally change your life as it has mine.
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