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My experiences with shingles - 31 year old male

Posted , 6 users are following.

Romen
Romen

I just thought to add my experiences... 31 year old male

(tl;dr (too long;didn’t read) version: appeared under left armpit, mostly no pain, had itch, bad anxiety with paranoia at times, mild fatigue, thinking causes confusion, tingling on left side on tongue, rash area, arm and fingers at times and head tingling/fuzzing sensations. Currently week 3.

Around May 7th I noticed a sudden sharp burning sensation under my left armpit area. It came on rather strong, no build up. This pain lasted about an hour then disappeared and I thought nothing else of it as I thought the seat belt (i was driving) rubbed in the wrong way after a harsh breaking event.

Fast forward til the 14th of May when I noticed an insatiable, but not too bad, itch just below my left armpit. Inspection in the mirror revealed discolouration but nothing too obvious. On the 15th the itch was getting worse and I noticed what looked like some type of reaction/bug bites in the area. I wasn't able to see a doctor until the following day.

Upon visiting the doctor he straight away identified it was shingles and got me on antiviral meds. Besides the itch it wasn't too bad. I did have mild tingling in certain fingers though. Luck though I escaped the pain besides random points in the rash of severe burning.

I resisted strongly the urge to scratch or put any creams on it and around about 2 weeks later the itch greatly reduced. I do have discolouration of the skin, a brownish colour (I'm a ginger, so my skin is very fair). I did notice that I didn't have too many actual blisters and some of the ones that formed actually seemed to have receded rather than break, though some did break.

About 1 week after the initial rash is when the more neurologic symptoms kicked in. On my left side (never on the right) I often get random areas of tingling such as on my face, tongue, the area of the rash, my arm or either my 4th and 5th fingers or 1st, 2nd and 3rd fingers. I also get confused very quickly when I have to think and that's been a MAJOR problem as I'm doing an advanced organic chemistry course lol. My head feels like an out of tune radio station, tingling and sparkling/fuzzing on my left side. I often get these hot flushes that seem to feel hotter on the left side.

I also feel the gland in my neck and rarely underarm and groin are a little enlarged (to be expected) on the left side. Doc advised that's normal, too.

I've also had bouts of crazy anxiety, paranoia and depression. The anxiety is slowly getting better, at its peak it caused me to believe I had contracted some other illness and that I had these sores that I could see but once it calmed down, these 'sores' weren't there... scary!

Doctor advised that it's actually rather normal as it affects your CNS, meaning anything can kinda happen. Everyone is different! He doesn't feel i should take any meds for the neurological symptoms at this point as I have exams coming up and it could have side effects that could impact that more than what I'm going through.

I also ran a mild fever for about 1 week, sometimes it flares again (again mild) every so often.

I find i get a 'thinking hangover' the next day if I attempt to work through problems during the evening. As it stands if I get up early and get straight to working on problems I can work from about 8am to 12pm, after which confusion sets in and confidence in what I'm doing diminishes and I have to rest. If I don't take mental breaks, i can get locked in that state of mind for hours! One problem i was working on and solved in about 4 minutes resulted in about 3 hours of rechecking as I couldn't understand what I had done and I couldn't think to myself to STOP and just relax. Ugh!!

Over all I’m getting better… The anxiety is mostly subsiding, it’s just the fuzzing and confusion that’s really bad at the moment.

1 like, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • Shoe_Lady
    Shoe_Lady Romen

    Posted

    I was wondering if my anxiety, that I never had before shingles, could be related the shingles outbreak!!! I have also found that along with the fatigue, I have a very low threshold for too much information. I tune out when I have had too much. So crazy and weird. They never sy shingles can change your personality in the symptoms description. Thanks for sharing. Things are starting to make more sense.
    • Romen
      Romen Shoe_Lady

      Posted

      Yes, my ability to absorb new information has declined. I will tune out and not even realise it... Frustrating. It does reassure me when I hear others have similar issues... My headspace has been shot.

      A tutor at university said their husband had shingles around the same age as me and had similar issues that spontaneously resolved after about 2 months.

  • Thedwp
    Thedwp Romen

    Posted

    Same here...Things I used to could do in my sleep now take me much longer to work through. I'm 3 months in. Went back to by doc yesterday. He even had another doc in with him...and they were both bafflled. Neither think my symptoms are shingles related because in their opinion shingles is "self-limitiing", meaning they run their course and dissapear. Well, thats BS.

    My doc litterally wrote down question marks on my chart. He refered me to a neuro guy and a dermo guy....so in oither words...pass me down the line. 

  • avey
    avey Romen

    Posted

    Thank you Roman,  I had much the same symptoms  but had nausea and vomiting and passed out and the rash appeared on my right side around my waist and elsewhere.  (A retired doctor positively told me shingels only attacke one nerve.  It is hard to believe since we have had much more of symptoms I am ready to say are a part of shingles. )  I am still very tired, even exhausted when I am very active.   As you, I get brain fog after some few hours depending on the time of day.  Many things I do or want to work on take longer in time and I cannot remember all the steps.  

    Please do take care of your physical health,eat well (There are times I do not want to eat.), and rest and relax as much as possible.  Swimming classes with gentle exrcise has helped to start to get back into health.  I tried gentle yoga  yesterday and have aches and am quite tired.  Listen to your body. These symtoms can repeat when your immunity is low.

    I wish doctors would read these discussions!

  • Romen
    Romen

    Posted

    So it's almost been 1 month now...

    I have found that the anxiety has got a lot better, however it's still not the best at times. If i just relax, my symptoms aren't to bad at all, just mostly the tingling sensations/sound in my head (left side), but if I push myself to get things done it can quickly turn in to flu like symptoms complete with aching muscles, enlarged lymph nodes and a touch of a fever.

    I pushed myself to get assignments done for a couple of days and I woke up rather unwell! I did nothing for a few hours after and i was mostly alright again.. This thing really takes you out when you're down!

    • Shoe_Lady
      Shoe_Lady Romen

      Posted

      Romen. You describe exactly my problems with this ugly virus! I am constantly fighting the exhaustion to prevent any flare ups!! I have learned what the beginning signs are, so that I can rest and baby myself (as much as possible) before it all heads south. I just started feeling a sore throat coming on, so, of course, I am worried about the severe shingles symptoms returning.
  • Romen
    Romen

    Posted

    Oh yes, I have found it interesting that magnesium suppliments seem to stop the tingling sensation in my arm. If i don't take it for 2 days, it starts again and promptly goes after taking another one after 4-6 hours. Could be coinsidence however someone else may have luck with it? Only other thing I found to give possible assistance is vitamin B + zinc... That seems to help a little with my head fog.
  • Romen
    Romen

    Posted

    Bit of an update..

    So it's the 24th of June, 2016. I noticed about 2 days ago I started to get a bit more clear headed and fatigure has reduced. I still take it easy but I dont get wides out as much. Anxiety and depressive episodes have also reduced but still there a little bit... Slowly getting there.

  • jimboggs
    jimboggs Romen

    Posted

    sometimes when paranoia and anxiety, we are heightened to our bodies and are so acutely aware of anything, so a tingling in the fingers which you dont notice normally suddenly its the onset of something sinister

    I am not saying for a second people dream up these, but when you are a hypocondriac and spend amounts of time dr googling, which forums kind of are if we arent too careful, then it can happen

    I assume you are mended, and also i doubt you are even still on here probably going on with normal life?

    • Romen
      Romen jimboggs

      Posted

      I didn't have any fear or anxiety why certain areas were tingling during those 'attack' periods. I ultimately understood what was occurring, however it is a scary period of time to be in. As for Dr. Google, No.. just no lol. I read and understood what was going on by reading some medicial journals and latest research on the topic (It's great having access to those) and knew what was going on... Was just very scary when it happened as it was very uncontrollable.

      I'm not 100% but I've been told I finally have 'colour' back in me, hehe. Still buzzing in the left side of the head, but it actually comes and goes now. Can also concentrate a lot more and confusion is mostly gone.

      It has been just over two months (currently 16 July 2016) and it's been terrible. Speaking to others around the place and it's not an uncommon experience but I have also spoken to a few that had the typical text book case that resolved in 2-3 weeks.

      I still get a little phantom itching in the area and a brief moment of pain. Concentrating a bit much can still cause a little tingling overtime.  But i can get through whole days now without taking long to recover.

    • jimboggs
      jimboggs Romen

      Posted

      Thank you for replying

      I only currently have it mild. I say i am 9 days in and i have a snall rash on the chest. But 9 days... that is from when i first noticed the sensitivity in my back shoulder. What is kind of mentally tiring for me is like everyone mentions... how long will it be... will i get worse... shooting pain and so on

      Day to day seems to take a long time when you are counting up to 4 weeks that sounds like a standard time to recover

      I am a real stress monkey. Hypocondriac and also terrible traveller. As i say traveller i mean i have fears that most would fall on the ground and laugh at me. I also run my own biz and money is so tight that i constantly worry. Stress over a long period... has a huge mental factor i believe. Its not the type that comes and goes but people who worry like crazy from one event to the next over many years

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