Ahh, shingles and the aftereffects!

Wow, this has been an interesting adventure!

I was working in my backyard back in September, removing poison ivy and Virginia creeper. I've never been sensitive to either and just wore gloves and a short-sleeve shirt rather than full arm coverage. A couple days later, my forearm started itching a bit and blistering a little. Poison ivy or Virginia creeper sensitization, obviously!

Well, no. Poison ivy and Virginia creeper blisters don't spread from your forearm to your upper arm to your back. Shingles does, though!

By the time I came to that realization and contacted my GP, he told me it was too late for antivirals to do much good, and that ibuprofen was my best bet for the pain unless I wanted something that would well and truly knock me on my butt. OK, sounds good, we'll do that I guess.

The blisters healed, the pain cleared up pretty well, I was even able to dial back the ibuprofen and resume some of my normal non-work activities. Back in early November, though, the nerve that the blisters traced along developed a bit of chronic soreness that's worsened over time. It's definitely not muscle pain because I haven't been working out and I still have my full level of strength in that arm and my back, but it's really interesting that its development lagged so far after the blisters healed.

Shingles: The gift that can keep on giving, apparently, even if you're not yet 50+!