So, I have shingles. Ow.

Always thought this was a condition folks older than myself faced, but I'm 31, and a friend who works at my GP's office says he had them at 15!

I admit my doubts about the diagnosis, but both the nurse practitioner and the GP looked at the outside of my leg and said they could see the rash running along the nerve. I pretty much haven't been able to for the life of me except for tonight, when the light hit my leg just right in a dark kitchen and I was able to see two bumps in the area they indicated.

The NP called it early shingles and said it was good that I had come when I did, in a way. When asked her level of certainty, she said 95%, so I guess I have to get over my medical skittishness and try to trust her diagnosis. I've not even taken a full two days of antivirals, and I was told to wait at least four days before getting concerned about misdiagnosis.

It doesn't seem to bother me so much during the day, but at night, gah. I haven't been sleeping much because everything that touches it hurts. I'm physically disabled, so I live with my parents, and I don't think they'd approve of my stripping any further down than my boxer shorts. :S Of course, the pain is also on the leg that has a limp due to my disability. I think my body is telling me to get it removed or else!

What's worse, I also had to go on an antibiotic for something separate. Between the two, no contact with alcohol (imbibed or external) or propylene glycol. I can't drink anyway due to my meds for my disability, so that wasn't a big deal. However, propylene glycol is in everything! It was in my hand soap, my alcohol-free mouthwash (try to take me out again, Big Dental!), even the lidocaine spray I had been using on my leg at pharmacist's suggestion. My folks had to go scour the mouthwash aisle for a damned hour just to find one that was okay.

It's funny that this can come from, as my mom recalls it, three chickenpox which I seemed to be absolutely unfazed by as a baby (I got them from my older brother, like many bad things in my life). Feels like the outside and somewhat the front of my leg, from just beneath the hip to just above the knee has either a sunburn or a rug burn. At night, it'll start to sting at random, like bee stings. Can't stand contact with fabric or being rubbed, but weirdly, I can put my hand to it and it's fine if I keep it still. Also weird, the skin has a numb quality even as it hurts! Crazy thing.

I definitely wasn't expecting this diagnosis when I went in. Always thought, more than age, that this came with a raging outbreak of lesions and such. In a way, that'd be easier for me to accept, because at least I could see it! As I said, just have to try and trust for a bit.

Sorry for rambling here. It's 2am and I have absolutely no desire to try going to sleep, so instead, I vent like a madman. Hardened by fifteen years of chronic pain, taken down by three chickenpox back with a vengeance.