Friday the 13th of June, I saw these rashes on my left hand. I thought some bugs bit me or I had an allergic reaction to something I ate.
I put some calamine lotion and drank my usual antihistamine meds. Take note, the rashes were not itchy nor did they hurt. But Wednesday and Thursday my left arm felt heavy which I thought was due to the fact that I must have mishandled the 2 kgs dumbbells I used for my daily aerobics exercise.
By Sunday, the rashes/ blisters spread along my left arm all the way to my shoulder area, in patches of red marks with some scattered blisters. It was accompanied by this tingling and sometimes shooting pain all throughout my left arm.
It became unbearable so I decided to go for a consult at a local clinic. Diagnosis: Shingles which is caused by the varicella zoster virus. Or a recurrence of chickenpox in adults. Apparently, after one recovers from chickenpox, the virus remains dormant in the body and can reactivate later in life as Shingles. Most prone are people with weakened immune system, and those over the age of 50.
Well with my autoimmune condition (hyperthyroidism) I was the perfect candidate. Suffice to say, I was given anti-viral meds to take 3x a day for one week, an ointment to put on my rashes 5x a day and some pain reliever/ supplement for the pain and to increase my immune system.
Two weeks later, some of the blisters have dried up while others are still taking their sweet time LOL The pain though still persists and plenty of rest is needed as I cannot use my left hand properly.
Hopefully I will heal soon as frankly I am beyond bored as I cannot do my normal activities.
