Gusdavis AughtryJuly 26, 2010

Without overwhelming you with terms, let me say that Shingles is related to the chicken pox virus (in the herpes family).That's comforting isn't it? The body, according to my first doc, thinks it is doing you a favor. Well, I could have stood less help. What I've discovered and is pretty much agreed upon is that if you had chicken pox as a child, you stand a good chance of getting Shingles when you pass that magical mark of 50 (although I’ve heard of small children getting it). Google Shingles.

At first, I thought it was poison oak. Why? Well, I hang out with these bunch of guys, eight or so, mostly vets who have opinions about everything—God, man and the universe. One of them had a dog. I petted the dog; the dog had been in poison oak, the owner had some poison oak.

Hauling ass to the doc quickly is a key. Early detection and treatment offers a good chance of a lighter case. I heard several fellow sufferers of Shingles say that it is often misdiagnosed, even by the professionals. So, involvement with your own health is essential. Have you seen that commercial where the guy is renting a car or some inane activity. He asked a million questions. The next scene he is in his hospital gown. The doc says, "Any questions?" His answer, NO! Amazing and very effective. And, believe me, we need to ask questions.

My Shingles started off slowly. A little itching, a few blisters, not much pain, a little irritation. I loaded up on over the counter stuff: ibuprofen, calamine lotion, and about a half dozen other meds. The blisters started disappearing. Suddenly, the pain hit like a ton of bricks. My daughter who is a physician says "Dad, I think you have shingles." Dang.

I went to the doc at the VA(Veterans Administration Hospital). (I had a few injuries from Vietnam and was hurt in a bad parachute accident in 1982 and so go to VA for health care which isn't much-once a year for a physical). The VA in my area is associated with a top medical school, in this case, UCSF (University of CA at San Francisco) which is one of the top ranked medical schools, and in my opinion, has the best care facilities in the country, especially for cancer—can't be beaten.( In fact, can't figure why the Prez doesn't use VA as a model for reforming our broken health care system. VA is a public option.)

Shingles "hurts like the dickins" In my case it’s the one-sided malady. Where Shingles attacks the body is where you have to deal with pain. In my case, the left arm. If it’s the left side, all pain is there. Sometimes because the pain is so unrelenting, it is hard to know where it’s coming from-whether back, arm, fingers but always the left side for me. Basically the pain went from my shoulder down through my fingers and almost every night. With clock work regularity, the left shoulder took a hit. Relentless pain.

(part 2)

In many ways, they, whoever they may be, say I was lucky to have had Shingles on my left side. I think so, maybe. Many have a band around their waist; the worst cases are around and in the eyes which can cause blindness. I've heard of getting it in the scalp. There really seems to be no rhyme or reason of the wherabouts of the outbreak. And, almost every single person you run across has a story to tell about somebody they know who had Shingles.

How to describe the pain? Let's try indescribable. It is sharp. It often feels like a sharp knife or a sword in the back. The big difference in the nerve pain of Shingles and skeletal pain, at least to me, is that with skeletal, you can move around, get yourself in a position to ease the pain. With nerve pain, there is no relief, the pain is constant.

Shingles outbreaks occur as a result of having had the chicken pox virus. Stress as well as a weakened immune system can bring on an outbreak. A physical therapist friend of mine said "Shingles needs a little crack in your immune system to sneak in." As a really healthy feisty older guy, I wracked my brain, "What brought on my outbreak?" The absolutely only thing I could come up with ( most of the professionals have nixed this idea)is that I often give blood. The last couple of times I've given blood, it has been this procedure called, Apheresis where the blood is taken out, platelets extracted and blood put back in. I think it takes something like forty-eight hours after the process for the body to fully recover. I think that during that forty eight hours, the virus found an opening. Maybe?

Theories abound. Although the docs know what the virus is, they are less sure why an outbreak occurs. Shingles slips in on a weaken immune system. Maybe? The Shingles have been after me possibly for a long time. I remember odd sorts of breakouts with no real explanation. A couple of years ago, my ring finger started hurting and burning. It happened with no warning. Reluctantly I took my rings off. Hurting and burning stopped. At various times, I tried again, the same thing happened. Shingles? Maybe?

At the VA pain clinic, the doc said, "We know lots about Shingles, but we struggle on how to manage it once a person gets it." One of my first docs (I’ve had five different ones) gave me Gabapentin; and, at the time I was in excruciating pain and the other pain meds made me sick. I was ready to try anything. Gabapentin is basically used for epilepsy. A friend of mine takes it for arthritis. She swears by it. I tried it for a bit and it didn’t seem to help.

After being in relentless pain, I took a chance on alternative medicine- a chance that seems to be a little serendipitous to say the least. I was sitting at this coffee shop and a guy said to me, "You have Shingles, right?" I immediately wonder how he knew. He heard me and some of my buds talk about it. After all, I am talking about it to most everybody I run across. The guy told me that his wife had Shingles and went to an acupuncturist and in a few days, was pain free. Wow. I had definitely made lots of money for the pharmaceutical industry so why not give the acupuncturist a try. I got the acupuncturist name and got an appointment.

The acupuncturist was a really nice guy, Thin, who also teaches Tai Chi. Guy can't be too bad, afterall this is California. We chat for a bit and then comes the needles. I've never been scared of needles, but I was surprised to feel nothing (although people had told me I wouldn't). I was pretty impressed as he looked at my tongue and said I probably had digestive problems. It took me a bit to get what he meant, but fairly soon I got the drift. In fact, every time I think of this, I am reminded of a book I’ve recently read, City of Thieves. One of the main characters reminds the reader of the number of days since he had been successful "sitting on the throne". He finally got up to ten days and was so proud when successful, he wanted people to see. I get it. In fact, the pain killers had awful side effects (constipation).

After my three visits to the acupuncturists, I seemed to be getting a little better, but then a time or two, the pain came back with a fury. I think these nerves are like living entities and have a mind of their own. They are fighting and scrapping to continue to do their thing. They are not giving up without a fight. Thin did say that for some people it took hours, others days and for some, weeks, but eventually, I would get better.

Here it is five months down the road and I'm relatively pain free. The only issue remaining are three fingers and thumb on my left hand. Nothing compared to what it has been. Thank you Lord, HoooooAhhhhhhh.

GET THE SHOT. Who would want this pain?

(It is now a year since my ordeal. Please, if you are over fifty, consider getting the Shingles shot.)

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