Once again, Stress is a culprit

JanAtheCPA

JanAtheCPA

Beloved Grand Eagle
[NOTE: I excerpted this from a longer article in National Geographic about a gradual rise in cases of shingles among people under the age of 50.]

Reasons for the uptick
Exactly why the overall incidence of shingles has been increasing, and why it’s been on the rise among adults under age 50, isn’t well understood. But there are hypotheses.
... (some intervening text deleted)...
Another theory involves stress, which could contribute to reactivating the varicella virus in adults. In a study in a 2021 issue of the British Journal of Dermatology, researchers followed 77,310 people in Denmark, ages 40 and older, and found that people with high levels of perceived psychological stress in daily life had an increased risk of developing shingles over a four-year period.
 
Thank you for posting this, @JanAtheCPA . If I may reveal why I value the information you’ve provided:

I developed shingles when I was 28 years old. 2017, I think the year was. I had no idea what was happening to me—only had one or two of the trademark sore spots. Of more concern were the constant headaches, fatigue and nausea. I crawled into a nearby hospital where it was revealed to me my meninges was inflamed—meningitis—which also contributed to encephalitis, a swelling of the brain.

Weird! Everyone in the hospital was saying I was too young for shingles. Looking back on it, this didn’t come out of nowhere. I had been heaping tons of pressure on myself. A relationship was also straining me. In other words, I was stressed the f*ck out.

I’ve never felt “right” since then. Fatigue, mostly. 2020 brought back a new crisis, self-perception wise, that “feels” like what happened to me in 2017. With the onset of shingles and whatnot, I felt like I’d gained 60 years of age in a second. At my worst these days, I just feel old.

Did my “body say no” back then? Is it still? I’ve come more and more around to believing this is so. I think my body still remembers what it’s like to have that kind of painful, throbbing inflammation, directly in and of the nervous system. I think my body is still trying to slow me down, in a way, and for me own good. God knows I have slowed down—but it remains to be told if I’ve truly learned, adapted to, and implemented the lesson, quite yet.

Thanks for posting, and always appreciate your input—
 
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