On Friday I noticed a strange rash on my right arm... Sort of like pimples. By Sunday morning it hadn't spread, but it wasn't getting any better, so I went to the local walk-in clinic.
The doctor took one look and said, "Ah, you have the shingles!"
(The shingles are a re-awakening of the chicken pox virus that lies dormant in your spine. Usually it happens in older people, but it can happen to younger people under stress or due to an illness).
So, I get a prescription for an anti-viral medication and some literature. (The assistant said, "Here's some information on Herpes!!" I'm like, WHAT????? "Oh," she says, "that's the technical name for shingles... Herpes Zoster." She damn near scared the bejezus out of me. Coincidentally, the medication I've been given (Valtrex) is also widely prescribed for genital herpes. I can only imagine what the people at the pharmacy think.
Anyway. I start taking the medicine. That afternoon, my leg starts to itch. I take a look and I have a hive about the size of my thigh. The next morning it is still there, so I get an apppointment that day to see my regular doctor, thinking that it may be an allergic reaction to the medicine.
Nope, he says. That stuff on your arm is definitely shingles, but I think that the leg is.... lyme disease.
Which may be what triggered the shingles in the first place, since my immune system was compromised.
Well, we don't know for sure yet... we're waiting for the test to come back. But the anitbiotics he put my on for lyme have definitely helped.
Strangely, while these illnesses are potentially serious, I seem to have been lucky enough to catch them early. I actually feel fine... the flu I had in February hit me harder than this.
But, damn.