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Mental outlook on life be a cause

Posted , 4 users are following.

matt90210
matt90210

I would love to hear somepersonality traits from all uou fellow phn suffers.  Brief backround. Second time around dealing woth this ailment. First time in neck took a few years for the pain to subside. Not 100 percent but more a miner nuisance. So have faith the pain can lesson. Now dealing with it ten years later in a new and waaaaay worse area.  All stomach and lower back even urinating feels different. Now to the point.  I look back and think about when i came down woth shingles. Stress made sense. Hard to gage stress. Shingles seems a good indicator.  I have a negative outlook on life. Im weird i m very genourous always listening and trying to please. I feel others stress and it mounts on my iwn stress. Im a perfectionest. Im a middle child. I have had issues with middle child syndrome   I work with my sibling s at a family business.  I looked at my life alot of times in bad ways. Thinking all my friends had it better than me. That i was trapped in my fam buainess and could bever fukfill mynown dreams of being a musician. Which im a hella v a drummer. Haha.  I wanna know what other sufferers personaity traits are. I work with my ilder brother and it seems the thi gs that stress me out fly right over his head and dont bother him. Hes never got shingle. S. I feel things deeply and in the out of my stomach. Things inshouldnt wven care abiyt deeply. As a kid i was always told oh your so sensitive. Things affect me more than the next guy   Just curious if any behaviour changes could help lesson the grips this second time around. Which i will say i got relief the first time i got this ten years ago by doing nothing deliberately to help it. Just let time take its course. Hope we can all use this evil feeling to change out outlooks to make thhis world a bettet place and in turn maybe be heaeled.  Is this a sign from someone to change out outlooks. I wonder. Thoughts???

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • sue2910
    sue2910 matt90210

    Posted

    Wow, Matt! Very insight of you! My two cents: don't beat yourself up for who you are, or blame your personality/sensitivity/life choices for coming down with shingles. It's just a virus, and you're better than it!

    I'm also a middle child, and sensitive to other people's thoughts/feelings, but I've actually enjoyed being the middle child. My oldest sister had expectations for being the first, my younger sister kind of got pampered because she was the baby (and last), and I was given freedom because I didn't have either of those constraints on me. But just know it's never too late to follow your dreams!

    I also know that stress triggers the outbreaks, but my first was 4-5 years ago. Subsequent attacks have been more minor, but also triggered by stress (and who knows what else?). Now that I'm in a MUCH better job with much less stress in my life (emotional, financial, mental), I still get occasional outbreaks.

    What HAS helped is staying in touch with my body. I need more sleep now than I used to, pre-shingles. I get regular deep-tissue massages, even if it stirs up the pain/virus a bit, I view these massages as slowly working it entirely out of my body. Staying active helps, too, even if I'm sore/stiff. Swimming and walking, especially...keeps me limber, keeps the PHN tightness under control (somewhat) and makes me feel good. Acupuncture has been my latest godsend. I got more relief in 3 acupuncture treatments the last two months than anything else. I'm off Lyrica, only take Advil/ibuprofen occasionally and feel llike I'm getting my body back.

    I'll be interested in seeing other people's responses. But again, don't blame yourself or your personality for giving you shingles. It's just a virus. What you CAN change is how you react to it, mentally, physically and all other ways. Take care of your body instead of blaming it. As a woman, I know women sometimes use the same line of thinking to figure out why they developed breast cancer or some other disease. Bunk! We can't change who we are, but we can change how we live our lives from here on out, and how we react to whatever bad things life confronts us with.

    GOOD LUCK! And yay for us middle kids! 

     

    • matt90210
      matt90210 sue2910

      Posted

      Hey sue thanks for the great reply. I wrote that message at five am after a twelve hour work shift. I mighta been all over the place. My main objective for writing it was to question the effects of stress. Everything ive read which is tonnes tells me stress is the main cause of shingles. Before i contracted shingles i didnt think i was stressed. Its hard to know jist how stressed you are. Either way it took 6 months to realize what i was dealing with was phn. I thought the antivirals i took from doc to stop the shingles burned my stomach cause it felt sooooo different than the first time i got shingles. All that wondering and feeling crappy while still going to work and fulfilling all my duties like raising three kids under three really stressed me. I took the natural route and went to four naturapath visits at which ahe was bagfled by all my phn symptoms. She guaranteed me results whic actually have do e nothing but i do really like her as a dr. She did take sum adrenal tests and said i was a two out of a twenty at which point she asked me about stress. Only then did i tealize just how stressed i was. Thus began my questioning how i looked at my life and tealized when stress was presenting itself. Ive begunletting things that ised to make me ao upset slide iff my back. Which is an ongoing effert though im getting better with time. So i was really curious if a certain personality trait could be the reason we still suffer with pain. Everyone i know who got shingles never dealt woth the lingering pain. Ie my mom my oma a few friends my docs other shingles patients. Main theme is if stress got us in this mess can destressing get us out of this mess. Im actually quite comfortable with who i am and really dont make it a habit to beat myself up too much. Just curious about the stress connection and if a certain demographic of people find themselves with the phn. This ailment i feel mighta been sent to me as i sign to change my toxic thinking. Again if you knew me and around me you wouldnt think i beat myself up etc. Im very well liked and friends ate always wanting to be around me. Its more a disposition i suffered with deep down by myself.  I thouroly enjoyed your response and look forward to anyone else offering insight. Finding this forum a few days ago has been a godsend to know we are not alone. I believe only we can help eachother because this ailment seems to have everyone in the medical industry around my town baffled. Docs look at me like uh dunno what to tell you. Finding you poor other sufferers oht there has definitely taken the edge off. I will report back with my journeys with this to hope to help us all in regaining the right vigour we should all have for this fleeting life. Sending sum love out there folks. Stay strong my friend s. Lets defeat this!!!
    • sue2910
      sue2910 matt90210

      Posted

      I totally get that. My primary care doctor refers me to a neurologist, because she has no clue, and the neurologist tells me that what I'm describing (and what nearly EVERY PERSON HERE has described) isn't possible because shingles doesn't "present that way." Well, it DOES present that way, and he's just not listening.

      That's why I'm finding my stress relief through massage therapy, a monthly visit to my chiropractor and now the acupuncturist. Good luck figuring it out!

    • matt90210
      matt90210 sue2910

      Posted

      Hey sue ya the longer i deal woth this and the more professional s i talk to the more mysterious this ailment seems. Everyone s symptoms sound a little different. Im over being frustrated with medical professionals. I jusy dont like when they tell me it isnt shingles. I had a few bumba on my lower back  just iver my buttocks but it has effected my whole front my stomach up to my chest breathing deep send shooting pains. Also lowet back pain. Where did your blisters come and where was the pain felt. I want to try accupuncture but inwiyldnt even know where to tell them to put them cause it co ers such a wide area. What would u say your pain level is these days  compared to when it started and how long ago was it. Hope your doing well besides this 
    • jamie143
      jamie143 matt90210

      Posted

      Acupuncture can affect the whole body in one treatment.  My PHN is different cause I had shingles on my brain twice. Causing PHN whole left side of the body. After 22 yrs of trail & error acupuncture and herbal supplements have helped the most.  Try the herbs butterburr & Swanson nerve pain.  I wish you the best of luck 

    • matt90210
      matt90210 jamie143

      Posted

      Thanks jaimie. Where would u say your pains at now. How ofter u do the accupuncture. Will def check out the herbal pills. Thats more like it!!
  • charlie58834
    charlie58834 matt90210

    Posted

    Hi Matt,

    Stress definitely can play a part in getting shingles. Long term stress can decrease the immune system’s effectiveness, allowing the virus to get out of control. You show some good insight into your own stress sources, so you might be good at learning to think more optimistically, positively, which will decrease stress. Go on Amazon and search for Cognitive Behavior Therapy self help books. Find one that seems right for you. You can even read a sample in most of them. They can be really helpful to change the way you think, which will change the way you feel emotionally. This helps keep your immune system strong to prevent more shingles episodes. 

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