Post by chuckrh on Feb 12, 2020 15:16:32 GMT 1
For all my friends here, especially those past or approaching age 50. I don't know the situation in other countries but if you had chicken pox as a child please get the shingles vaccine that came out recently. If you had the chicken pox, you already have the shingles virus in a dormant state. I came down with shingles about 6 years ago because my immune system is messed up from RA treatments. It affects everyone differently. With me, it attacked the nerves in my inner left ear & surrounding areas. Permanent damage that appears sporadically. I put up with a lot of pain on a constant basis from the RA but the inner ear nerve pain is beyond the pale. This weekend I had an attack that felt like the left side of my head was going to explode. I thought about going to the emergency room but gutted it out & went to the doctor Monday. I thought it was a sinus issue but upon examination we discovered my sinuses were ok for a change. Turns out it's an attack on the nerves on my head/face & most likely a precursor to Bell's Palsy. I'm on 2 nerves drugs that have me in outer space & are making me sick. The nerve issues are still there but am managing them & hopefully the drugs will alleviate the problem. Clearly no fun. I'm basically bed ridden, at least for a few days. Anyway, sharing this because I wouldn't want my worst enemy to deal with this or similar, let alone friends. So, talk to your doctor about the new(ish) shingles vaccine. You have to do 2 shots & a few days of flu like symptoms. Totally worth it if prevents the virus from becoming active. I did the shots after the fact & the current issue isn't shingles per se but is a result of the initial damage. Around 50 we discover we're not indestructable & sadly have to take care of stuff like this. Be good to you! 
