Advice Column
- Do not ever Google "painful spreading rash". Just don't.
- On the other hand, if you HAVE such a rash, and your partner tells you to go to the doctor because you keep complaining about it, go.
- And don't wait 5 days before you go.
- If somebody tells you "You're not OLD ENOUGH to have shingles!"? Smack them.
Yes, two weeks into summer break and vastly reduced stress, I have come down with shingles (supposedly usually brought on by stress). Luckily so far it seems to be a contender for the title of world's mildest case, as it's mainly the gross rash and general fatigue. We're getting pretty accustomed to fatigue around here so I hadn't really even noticed it.
We are, however, a bit worried that Natalie has gotten chicken pox as a result of exposure to the rash. She was vaccinated but the varicella vax is not 100% effective and she's only had one dose so far. We are keeping watch over her collection of odd little blistery bumps and will keep you updated.
I am finding lots of chocolate to be a pretty good treatment for shingles, by the way.
posted by Jen at
10:05 PM
5 Comments:
Sorry. That sucks. I usually get sick when the stress is over. It's like my body lets its guard down or something. Hope it clears up soon.
If Natalie *does* get a couple of bumps from it (and hopefully no more), then she'll have some good quality home-grown antibodies to CP and be protected better than the vaccine can do.
By
Hope, at 7:39 AM
If it gets really bad, they can give you a shot of Prednisone which is a steroid that will help make it all go away. Until then, chocolate sounds like a good remedy :o)
All three of our kids ended up with the chicken pox, even after the younger two were vaccinated. The middle one had it really bad, but the other two were fairly mild. Don't worry. She'll be fine.
By
Chris, at 10:25 AM
Honestly, we're not too worried about Natalie (or, at least, I'm not). The better immunity part is good, and if she's got it, it's pretty mild. We'd just like to know if that's what she's got so that we can properly warn people.
By
Cait, at 11:40 AM
If you think she's contagious, she shouldn't be exposed to anyone else right now. Varicella can be severe in certain populations, and the people she contacts could themselves be contagious for a long period before they show symptoms.
By
Display, at 12:04 PM
Oh, believe me, I know, Em. I spent yesterday sending out emails to everyone we'd had contact with in the past week, am potentially cancelling my birthday gathering, and we're rethinking our travel plans. Definitely not stopping at my grandmother's since she's in regular contact with my uncle, who has AIDS. When I say I'm not worried, I just mean that I'm not worried about the effect it will have on Natalie. We're definitely taking precautions, though.
By
Cait, at 2:05 PM
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