I had chicken pox really bad as a kid. I had from the tips of my toes to the top of my head ... spots in every part of my body - EVERY PART OF MY BODY! ... I even have a few left over scars from that ordeal.

I'm middle aged now and I had shingles about five years ago and it was horrible. It burns and itches and at the height of the infection it feels like you suffered from third degree burns and the damned skin itches and you keep wanting to touch it.

[–] voracitude@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago (3 children)

My experience with chicken pox mirrors yours - they were everywhere. I'm approaching middle age (or there, depending on who you ask (👉ﾟヮﾟ)👉), and I'm hoping it doesn't happen to me. But I know it's just hanging out there in my spine... waiting.

[–] Talaraine@fedia.io 28 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Get that shingles vaccine asap. My Dad is the most stoic person I know when it comes to sickness and he literally CALLED ME ON THE PHONE howling about how bad it hurt. Don't be my Dad, y'all.

[–] evilcultist@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 day ago

Shingles can get in your eyes and cause you to go blind, too.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 day ago

Get the vaccine when you can. Because you're right, and depending which nerve path it chooses it can be bad or it can be worse

[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago

Brought about by stress .... I was going through a fairly stressful time with work, travelling to a new place and trying to make ends meet. Keep a good diet, exercise, eat healthy, sleep well and keep the stress down ... if you mess any of those up, you're increasing chances of that infection just creeping up. Like others have said, it's probably best to just get the shingles vaccine.

[–] _stranger_@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Thank you. I have a friend who went through this as an adult and ended up with nerve damage. A vaccine would have spared him that pain.

[–] CentipedeFarrier@piefed.social 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I had chicken pox twice.

Once the normal variety when I was like 6 or whatever, then when I was like 11 or so I got it again when visiting my grandma who just hosted young kids. It was largely the same, except it had rings around the spots. They did tests and confirmed it was a mutated variety of common chicken pox.

I’m terrified of shingles outbreaks because I may have two strains lying dormant in my body, but I’m “too young for the shingles vax”

[–] klemptor@startrek.website 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, I'd get the shingles vax in a heartbeat, but I've gotta wait another 6 years. Meanwhile I know several people who developed shingles in their forties and have lingering issues from it (particularly ophthalmic). The vaccine needs to be tested and approved for younger adults. But I doubt that'll happen. They'll just wait until those of us who got chicken pox as a kid are old enough for the shingles vaccine, and who cares if we get shingles in the meantime!

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

I’ve always wondered if there’s a chance we make the shingles virus extinct, but never looked into whether the chicken pox vaccine prevents it entirely