Day 16 - Yep, it's shingles.

[Betty7]

I'm on Day 16 of my first Whole30, and two days ago, I noticed a painful rash under my arm. Yesterday it had spread from just under my arm to around to my back. I went to the doctor yesterday evening and they confirmed it - I have shingles.

 

I'm 32, and I have shingles!

 

I started my Whole30 for a variety of reasons, but one of them is because I've had an immune system that has been out of balance for several years. In 2008, I was diagnosed with alopecia areata, and have battled patches of bald spots off and on since then. Over the last 2 years or so, I've put on a tremendous amount of weight, too: somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 pounds. My energy has been in the toilet, my mood has been depressed and I've overall been lethargic and miserable. 

 

I came across the Whole30, and thought, "Now this... this is what I've been looking for. Step-by-step, a guide to changing my life." I just never expected to hit a road block like this.

 

I told my friends yesterday that eating the right foods has been easy. It's detoxing that has been the hard part. I'm floored and disappointed that my body's reaction to the stress of eating well is to give me shingles. By Day 16, I'm supposed to be feeling a lot better, but fatigue and depression is all I really feel. I'm perilously close to going off the rails and landing face-first in a pint of beer and a plate of cheese fries.

 

I could use some encouragement and words of advice. 

[Carrots&Blueberries]

oh no, I'm sorry

 

No particular advice, but encouragement: the path to health and balance is sometimes not as direct as we'd like! And I think you can expect bumps along the way no matter what. Some of them will seem inconsequential (mild cravings) and some wtf-ish (shingles?!) and there's not really a way to anticipate what special challenges we'll get. The success stories are full of - "Almost gave up - no tiger blood, no nothing for what seemed ages - and then suddenly day 25 [or 29, or 23, or 30!] this amazing thing happened" or plenty of "I felt this was the right thing to do so even though I noticed only small changes from my W30, I extended it to W60 - and WOW! that's when I saw real change is kicking in. At this point it's been a year of eating this way and look at me now!"

 

Please stick with it! Whatever's happening with shingles, your body will have an easier time coping when it's running on real food rather than beer and cheese fries.

 

big hug - 

[Loulabelle]

Shingles can strike at any age, my youngest son had it when he was only 6. You need to remember that you are only half way through and while sick you need to nourish your body with healthy, nutritious food. Round the middle is hard too, far enough in to want to see results but far enough away from the end to actually having them. Also remember what you have written above; that your immune system has been out of whack for years. Do you really expect that it can be healed in 2 weeks? Hang in there and get well soon!

[Betty7]

You're right, Loulabelle. I can't expect a miracle in 2 weeks. I was just blindsided by coming down with two illnesses back to back. 

 

I had a terrible head cold starting on day 2, which lasted the better part of 2 weeks, immediately followed by this. It's just frustrating that I keep getting these "WTH!" experiences and haven't felt "good" for even part of a day yet. It's counterintuitive since I'm taking action to "fix" myself, but such is the healing process, I suppose. It's hard to keep pushing forward on faith alone, but I need, once again, to strengthen my resolve and know it's for the best.

 

Thank you both for the encouragement. 

[Loulabelle]

Shingles happens normally when you are run down, the fact you had such a bad head cold that lasted so long most likely caused your shingles rather than your new way of eating. I'm not a doctor and have never played one on TV so I can't say for sure but that does make sense to me. So really do stop beating yourself up and give yourself the TLC that you need instead. We are all here for you whenever you need some encouragement. 

[MeadowLily]

I'm on Day 16 of my first Whole30, and two days ago, I noticed a painful rash under my arm. Yesterday it had spread from just under my arm to around to my back. I went to the doctor yesterday evening and they confirmed it - I have shingles.

 

I'm 32, and I have shingles!

 

I started my Whole30 for a variety of reasons, but one of them is because I've had an immune system that has been out of balance for several years. In 2008, I was diagnosed with alopecia areata, and have battled patches of bald spots off and on since then. Over the last 2 years or so, I've put on a tremendous amount of weight, too: somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 pounds. My energy has been in the toilet, my mood has been depressed and I've overall been lethargic and miserable. 

 

I came across the Whole30, and thought, "Now this... this is what I've been looking for. Step-by-step, a guide to changing my life." I just never expected to hit a road block like this.

 

I told my friends yesterday that eating the right foods has been easy. It's detoxing that has been the hard part. I'm floored and disappointed that my body's reaction to the stress of eating well is to give me shingles. By Day 16, I'm supposed to be feeling a lot better, but fatigue and depression is all I really feel. I'm perilously close to going off the rails and landing face-first in a pint of beer and a plate of cheese fries.

 

I could use some encouragement and words of advice. 

Betty - what you're fixin' to do....going off the rails with beer and cheese fries is not going to help shingles.  Shingles can be brought on by an extreme amount of stress in the life or a long term illness.  I live amongst older folkaronies, care centers and so forth.

 

There is nothing about eating protein, vegetables and good dietary fats that's going to bring on shingles.  There's some underlying conditions that we or you may not be aware of to bring this on.   Thirty pounds is not a tremendous amount of weight.   It's not.   

 

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.   

 

Falling back into beer and fries is the last thing you need to heal from shingles.   Have you ever had shingles before this?  It's a myth that you can't get them more than once.   When your shingles are healed and in consultation with your doctor - do you plan on getting a shingles shot to prevent this in the future?  I know what shingles can do and how they can progress with each passing time an outbreak happens to a person.   

 

Shingles can also be brought on from not eating or dieting in the younger years.  Shingles can happen to someone who's 18 or 19 years old.  Wild swings of not eating for long periods of time and dieting can bring shingles and hair loss on.  

 

Whatever is going on happened before two weeks ago.  Your doctor confirmed shingles.  What is he going to do for you before they progress, go down the side of face and into the eyes.   Beer and fries will not heal the immune system and keep it from further breaking down.  Refrain from the poor foods.  Whole foods are your recipe for healing, Betty.  Stay the course.

[Betty7]

Alright. You've convinced me. No contraban. It's funny how that's my natural reaction to this bad news. I self-medicated with food and alcohol a lot more than I ever thought I did.

 

They've got me on a round of anti-viral meds. Let me tell you how much fun it was getting a prescription for Valtrex filled at the local pharmacy. I wanted to (very loudly) announce that I had shingles, and not genital herpes. Lol. I refrained, and got out of there with the pills and the remaining shreds of my dignity in tact.

 

I've never had shingles before this, and would hope to never have them again. The muscle fatigue is pretty harsh and I feel really funky all the time. The pain hasn't been too bad so far, but I really have zero energy which is making staying on top of the Whole30 very challenging. I'm hitting snooze in the morning again, and I've stopped cleaning dishes after every single meal. 

 

I took a couple days off of work when I had the head cold, and I'm too busy at work right now to take any more time off. I'm right in the middle of a big audit and my staff are relying on me to be here. Ugh. At least the weekend is almost here and I can rest up for a couple of days and hopefully get back on top of my meal planning and start to feel better. 

[MeadowLily]

Betty....thank you.  I didn't want to go all Mrs. Peevy Preachy Pants on you but Betty....shingles is nothin' to mess around with.    I get it with April 15th and all - high stress big time.   It may take longer than 30 days to be released from the old habits and create new patterns for yourself.     When you create a solid plan for yourself going forward like all of those rules and regs you must constantly stay abreast of....when you apply your solid plan like you apply tax laws....you'll get a BIG REFUND FOR YOUR RETURN.   

[Betty7]

You make great points, MeadowLily.

 

As far as the vaccine is concerned, I have read it's hard to find a doctor who will administer it unless you're over 50, and that if you're under 50 it isn't covered by insurance and costs around $300 out-of-pocket. It's supposedly only 50% effective anyway, and I'm actually not sure if you can even get it if you've already had a shingles outbreak.

 

Destressing really needs to be at the top of my list of goals in life.

[ultrarunnergirl]

Betty,

  so sorry this is happening. I know exactly what you mean about it adding insult to injury when you get sick during a Whole30. My second Whole30 a couple of years ago really disappointed me. I off-roaded through the holidays and came down with a cold over New Year's. No surprise there. I started my W30 on Jan 1, got over one cold only to get another one halfway through. Right about the time of my birthday. I was feeling pretty cheated!

 

Hang in there, and heal fast with some homemade bone broth and all the nourishing, nutrient dense food. You can do this!

[Betty7]

I'm in a lot of pain today, and since I started taking the medication, I just have no appetite. It takes everything I have just to force 1/3 of a meal down, and the pain keeps me awake at night. This is really crappy, and I'm super sad that this is happening now because I feel like my W30 is suffering.

[Loulabelle]

Betty I really feel for you, shingles is horrible. I do hope you get better soon and in the meantime do the best you can, eating well will help your recovery.

[Carlaccini]

Ginger is really great for inflammation - so maybe include a ginger tea, or something with ginger in your next meal.

 

My go to when I feel crummy (I used to suffer from menstrual migraines regularly - I still do from time to time) nauseous, lack of appetite etc.

 

Eggs

Roasted sweet potato (either oven or microwave)

bone broth.

 

All of these seem to be OK on my stomach (meaning they don't come back up) and I will eat some of them even if I don't have any appetite.

[MeadowLily]

I'm in a lot of pain today, and since I started taking the medication, I just have no appetite. It takes everything I have just to force 1/3 of a meal down, and the pain keeps me awake at night. This is really crappy, and I'm super sad that this is happening now because I feel like my W30 is suffering.

Betty, you have a week or more of unbelievable stress - tax time.   Bone broth would be great for recovering from the shingles.  Do you know someone who can make you the 24-36 hour kind?  

[Betty7]

I picked up some store-bought organic turkey bone broth today on my way home from work (I got done what I needed to, and was able to take half a day - thank goodness). And while it's expensive and the package is small, I think it will get me through until I dare to leave my house again on Monday. It and a nap really did make me feel a lot better. Maybe next week if I'm feeling more like myself, I'll make my own.

 

Oh, and I'm not a tax accountant, everyone. Thankfully, I don't have that kind of stress in my life. I'm an auditor at a local bank. It's not nearly as glamorous!! 

 

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words and thoughts.

[MeadowLily]

Betty, down the road...if you want to.

 

Even if you have had shingles, you can still receive the shingles vaccine to help prevent future occurrences of the disease. There is no specific time that you must wait after having shingles before receiving the shingles vaccine. The decision on when to get vaccinated should be made with your health care provider. Generally, a person should make sure that the shingles rash has disappeared before getting vaccinated.

 

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles/vacc-need-know.htm

[Betty7]

It's Day 21, and I'm feeling way better. I'm still largely fatigued, but I think I'm recovering extremely quickly. The rash is still there, but it is not nearly as itchy or as inflamed as it was just 5 days ago, and my appetite is back. I can tell when it's time to take my anti-virals because it starts to hurt a little. I took it easy this weekend and drank tons of water and had plenty of bone broth like a good girl.   I know it's partly the drugs making me recover, but I seem to be getting through this very quickly compared to what I've read and heard. We'll attribute that "extra" to clean eating!

[Ytu]

I just found out today I've got shingles too, so commiserations! For me it's been flu-like symptoms for a week and the rash appeared this morning on my right hip so I went to the doctors to get the diagnosis confirmed though I suspected it already. Just a small area of rash and not too painful, and the anti-virals seem to make me feel better already. Still super tired though. Can't wait to go home and get into bed. 

 

Well done for keeping going with your whole 30 even though you haven't been well! It's hard when you don't feel well enough to shop and cook properly. I need to make some bone broth, too.

[Betty7]

Oh, my. My deepest sympathies are with you. No one should have to go through this - it's no fun at all. Are you doing a W30 right now, or are you a veteran?

 

I really feel like the bone broth was a great supplement. I'd never had it before, and I felt good after eating it.

 

I also picked up this at my local pharmacy: http://www.amazon.com/MagniLife-Shingles-Maximum-Recovery-Cream/dp/B00JF9U8I6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429030198&sr=8-2&keywords=shingles+cream

It was expensive (about $22 in store), but I thought it was worth it.

[Ytu]

I finished my 2nd whole 30 about four weeks ago and am now just trying to apply it the real world. Bone broth is definitely the wise choice for healing foods, doing what I did last week and just eat whatever was in the cupboards in order to avoid having to go shopping was less wise!

 

Luckily my rash is small and not causing much discomfort. Weirdly it only itches when I'm walking around. I'm still just SO tired all the time. Hope you're starting to feel better.