Hello everyone,
I am a frequent flyer on the health anxiety train, but it has been a few years since I have had a relapse. I recently went through some pretty stressful and heavy things (finishing my degree, a good friend was diagnosed with cancer 7 months ago, and I lost my sister in the beginning of April), I also have a child who suffers with anxiety/OCD and it is pretty bad.
Well, I thought I was dealing pretty well with life until about 3 weeks ago. I had an "episode" of blindness-which turned out to be a migraine, and since then I started getting really run down, so exhausted I needed to nap everyday, and I developed a rash which turned out to be shingles! I was diagnosed almost a week ago and it has sent me into a full downward spiral. I am 41 (just had my birthday) and I decided to do a little research and everywhere I looked it said that shingles often occurs in younger people ( less than 50) when they are immuno-suppressed in some way and that cancer and shingles are related. So, now I have overwhelming fears that I have an undiagnosed cancer and I can't seem to shake the fear. I am a health care provider. so I keep trying to rationalize with myself, but it isn't working. I had also decided to join weight watchers before all of this happened, and so I am losing weight, but with the shingles and the exhaustion I haven't been following the plan yet I am losing weight and that too is freaking me out. I don't lose weight easily, I have hypothyroidism and weight loss has always been a struggle for me, so losing weight without trying just makes me even more worried that I have cancer.
I am hoping others on here may have some insights into shingles and the way it feels to have it, to help me get past this period without completely losing it. The shingles/hypothyroidism are just the tip of the iceberg with my health, but right now they are my biggest worries
I appreciate any help, thanks.
I am a frequent flyer on the health anxiety train, but it has been a few years since I have had a relapse. I recently went through some pretty stressful and heavy things (finishing my degree, a good friend was diagnosed with cancer 7 months ago, and I lost my sister in the beginning of April), I also have a child who suffers with anxiety/OCD and it is pretty bad.
Well, I thought I was dealing pretty well with life until about 3 weeks ago. I had an "episode" of blindness-which turned out to be a migraine, and since then I started getting really run down, so exhausted I needed to nap everyday, and I developed a rash which turned out to be shingles! I was diagnosed almost a week ago and it has sent me into a full downward spiral. I am 41 (just had my birthday) and I decided to do a little research and everywhere I looked it said that shingles often occurs in younger people ( less than 50) when they are immuno-suppressed in some way and that cancer and shingles are related. So, now I have overwhelming fears that I have an undiagnosed cancer and I can't seem to shake the fear. I am a health care provider. so I keep trying to rationalize with myself, but it isn't working. I had also decided to join weight watchers before all of this happened, and so I am losing weight, but with the shingles and the exhaustion I haven't been following the plan yet I am losing weight and that too is freaking me out. I don't lose weight easily, I have hypothyroidism and weight loss has always been a struggle for me, so losing weight without trying just makes me even more worried that I have cancer.
I am hoping others on here may have some insights into shingles and the way it feels to have it, to help me get past this period without completely losing it. The shingles/hypothyroidism are just the tip of the iceberg with my health, but right now they are my biggest worries
I appreciate any help, thanks.
