Category Archives: Fitness & Health

Shingles

Went to see my GP today and the short of it is he agrees with the Shingles diagnosis, and even gave me a quick 5-minute lesson in it. He was surprised that it WASN’T hurting or itching – although it does when I try to sleep on it, and that I suspect is because the blisters are starting to scab up and as a result, my skin gets pulled as I roll over in my sleep).

I have one more day’s worth of anti-viral, and my GP says I should leave it alone to clear up by itself afterwards, and if it doesn’t clear after a while, then come back. I actually had to push him for a suggested duration to decide how long before seeing him again. We decided if it doesn’t clear after 4 weeks to come back.

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Shingles

It’s been a couple of days since getting diagnosed with Shingles, and they’ve now gone red. Some have burst, presumably during sleeping, but I haven’t seen any blood on my bed, so I suspect the fluid inside them is clear as opposed to actual blood.

This is good news – partially, as it also means they are progressing to the next stage, which means they should start to clear. In fact, the earliest clumps of rash are now starting to fade. My only concern now is lasting nerve and/or skin damage.

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I’ve pulled the plug on my running for now whilst I try to deal with my shingles breakout. I’ve been on the medication for just over 24 hours now, and apart from the side effects, it seems to be working. The first blisters appear to be scabbing over and they are not as red as before. There’s a couple of large ones which will cause a mess when they eventually burst (and they will.)

The shingles have spread into my left wrist and have started appearing on the palm of my hand, right on the callus-prone area, which causes a very pin-prick-like sensation when trying to pick up objects.

The medication is making me sleep a HELL of a lot more. Normally I sleep 8-10 hours. Last night, after getting the tiredness and fatigue caused by the medication, I slept 12 hours. Not often I do that…

Aciclovir

This medication is pretty crazy….

Side Effects:

Common (1/10 Users):

  • Dizziness
  • Headache
  • Nausea
  • Diarrhoea
  • Stomach Pain
  • Skin Rashes
  • Itching
  • Tiredness
  • Light Sensitivity

Uncommon (1/100):

  • Hives
  • Hair Loss

Rare (1/1000):

  • Increased Liver Enzyme Production
  • Increased Blood In Urea and Creatinine
  • Impaired Kidney Function
  • Nervous System Reactions (Confusion, Hallucinations)
  • Sleepiness
  • Convulsions
  • Coma
  • General Discomfort/Illness
  • Agitation
  • Involuntary Shaking
  • Difficulty Controlling Movements
  • Difficulty Speaking
  • Erthema Muliforme
  • Stevens Johnson Syndrome
  • Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

Very Rare (< 1/10,000)

So far I’ve had nausea, headaches, dizziness and tiredness — within 24 hours of starting to take the medication.

Skin Troubles

You may remember my post from yesterday with a mystery skin ailment. Well, after spending 3 hours waiting at a walk-in clinic, I have my answer.

Shingles. Caused by the same virus as Chicken Pox. Still a mystery where and how I picked it up. I suspect the virus been dormant since I caught and recovered from Chicken Pox when I was young, but the blood test must have triggered its release.

Now, I have a week’s worth of medication where I have to take it every 4 hours.

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Half Marathon Training – Day 11

Today’s run: EASY RUN WITH 5 STRIDES 4.60 KM (20sec high, 1min recovery x5)

I ran around 3k, but my phone rebooted. Again. Also, found an angry rash developing on my arm, which seems to have developed since my blood test earlier this month, so I’m going to get it looked at at the walk-in clinic tomorrow, and check with my GP next Wednesday.

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Half Marathon Training – Day 10

Today’s run was a complete failure. Most of my runs recently have been depressingly bad and work hasn’t really helped. If anything, it’s contributing to my lack of motivation.

Half Marathon Training – Day 9

Tracks: ZR, Endomondo

Target: EASY 3.70 KM IN 28M:11S

Achieved: 3.73K, 22:17min

Next Run: Sunday, LONG RUN 10.00 KM IN 1H:16M:10S

Half Marathon Training – Day 9

Tracks: ZR, Endomondo

Target: EASY 3.70 KM IN 28M:11S

Achieved: 2.83k, 18:44min. Today was the first day I tried using my new Polar heart monitor. Not a watch, but a chest strap version, and it uses Bluetooth. My previous attempt at using this wrecked havoc on my tracking, but today, it seemed OK. It tracked my heart okay, and it also let me see where my heart rates tended to be. In today’s run, my average BPM was 140, and max 171. I think I can hit higher, but today was an easy run. I really like Endomondo’s bar chart which tells you on what band you spent most of of your heart rate. For VO2 training, you need to hit Anerobic or Maximum, which is bands 4 and 5. The heart rate bands are configurable, so now I need to figure out how to calibrate my bands….

Next Run: Saturday, EASY 3.70 KM IN 28M:11S

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Half Marathon Training – Day 8

Today’s training failed miserably. I was trying to use a new heart monitor, along with Zombies Run and Endomondo. I guess all of them together didn’t work very well together and kept dying. A reboot seemed to work, but we’ll see tomorrow. I have no run scheduled tomorrow, but I’ll run today’s tomorrow.