Shingles 1
I have been suffering from shingles for the last week and a half and, having had no idea how unpleasant, painful or unsightly this virus is, intend to make several entries about it to advise and benefit anyone else who contracts it. Hopefully it will give you an idea of what is in store, plus some ideas on treating the pain.
About Shingles
Shingles comes in a range of varieties and my version, the cranial one (ie affecting one side of the head and upper face), is one of the most unpleasant. The worst version affects the optical nerve and can damage the eyes. Lesser strains attack the torso.
The actual virus is part of the herpes group that also includes cold sores, but its cause is the chicken pox virus. Anyone who has contracted (and seemingly recovered from) the chicken pox virus as a child now has the virus lying dormant in their nerve roots. For reasons not fully understood, but thought to be connected with aging or being run down, this virus can re-emerge as Shingles. I have to say I am neither old, nor did I feel run down, but it still got me.
Symptoms
I started to get what seemed like a headache on a Sunday afternoon. Two days later the pain was still there and I also noticed a lump on the outside of my upper jaw – similar to an abscess. My jaw line also expanded.
By the Wednesday I had started to develop two areas of small blister like sores, one around my right eye brow and the other at my hair line (center of the head).
By the end of the day these blisters had increased, enlarged and were starting to interconnect – they looked a bit like cold sores. ( I saw my doctor at lunch time, but before the sores appeared. Shingles was not at that time confirmed, although it was, she later told me, suspected).
The symptoms increased and I saw my doctor again at 8.30am on Friday morning. She diagnosed Shingles before I had even sat down, but in a worrying way by saying, “I am very sorry, you have shingles”. The warning tone was ominous.
At that stage I did not appreciate quite what was on the horizon. My doctor also made an appointment for me at an eye clinic for later that morning and prescribed some medication.
Over the weekend the number and size of the blister like spots increased, but my biggest concern (and cause of pain) was the enormous swellings on my forehead, temple and especially above, below and to the side of my right eye. These swellings caused my right eye to close completely and made the right side of my face completely unrecognisable. The blisters also extended onto and over the top of my head, but all local to the right side. My eyelids also became inflamed and my doctor suspected that there was a small ulser on the inside of the upper lid - Not however on the eye itself, this had been declared safe!
Warning – If the virus reaches an eye it can (although it usually does not) cause damage to the eye sight. An early sign of this attack is the presence of blisters on the nose and particularly at the tip of the nose. This suggests that the shingles have reached the optical nerve. If this happens you must ensure your doctor is aware of it and that your eye is constantly monitored and treated by your doctor and an optical specialist.
At the virus’s height I also felt very unwell, similar to the fatigue and exhaustion that result from the flu virus and this is also made worse by periods of cold followed by hot sweats. Sleeping is near impossible. All told, at its most aggressive, shingles really does make you wish you could go to sleep and never wake up, but it does pass.
What you need to do if you think you may have shingles
You MUST make an appointment with your doctor immediately. Shingles is a serious illness and in the case of facial forms, it can seriously damage you vision and even your hearing if it is not carefully monitored.
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