Just over three weeks ago I was diagnosed with shingles. I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone it was so bad. In my case, these huge red welts spread from the center of my back all the way across the right side of my body around to the front under my right arm. The pain was intolerable and since I didn't know what it was I drove myself to the ER. The doctor took one look at my back, asked a few questions and stated in less than 30 seconds: "You have shingles."
Now that the outbreak is finally clearing I got to wondering. Since Grave's Disease is an autoimmune disease thought to be triggered in part from stress, and shingles is thought to be triggered from stress or other immune deficiency (which I now have due to my Grave's Disease), is it possible that they may be related somehow?
To find out I posed the question to well-known author and medical writer Elaine Moore on her site: She replied just five hours later. Here's her reply:
Quote from Elaine Moore: Shingles are more likely to occur in people with autoimmune diseases and allergies than other people. It may be due to therapy that slows down the immune system but some researchers think it's because of our increased reaction (hypervigilance) to foreign organisms.
Studies also show that being around children recently vaccinated for chicken pox can trigger reactivation of latent virus and cause shingles.
The herb lemon balm, which reduces symptoms in Graves' disease, is also reported to be an effective treatment in shingles. See:
http://www.elaine-moore.com/MyArticles/GravesDisease/LemonBalm/tabid/180/Default.aspx
Best, Elaine
So there you have it. It is quite possible. So why do I bring this up here? There's no question we're all feeling stress these days. How can you not? And it affects us in different ways. But how you handle stress is so important, especially if your immune system is compromised. Like mine. And like many of yours. You're at much greater risk for illness to begin with. I know that's easier said than done, and even I need to remind myself of that, every single day. I hope you will too.
