Chickenpox pictures

Medical history (that I know of) for my mom: 59f, overweight but otherwise in decent health. Hypoglycemia and IBS and I think high cholesterol are the only things I know of that she’s been diagnosed with.
I put a picture in the comment but not sure if that’s allowed so I’ll do my best to describe it - my mom has these white almost crusted spots on her left eye that have gotten worse and now her eye is severely swollen. Not sure if it’s related but she’s also had a headache for the last 4 days. She drove to my house this morning to watch my son and was really queasy when she got here and needed to lay down. I took her BP thinking it would be low but it’s 145/90 which isn’t normal for her. I sent a picture to my friend who is a dermatologist and he said it could be shingles (she’s had the chickenpox as a child). I made her an appointment with urgent care because her doctor doesn’t see patients today. Can urgent care help with this? I’m worried about her.
If it is shingles, can she spread it to my son? He’s 17 months old and has only had 1 of the 2 chickenpox vaccines so far. He climbed up on her lap this morning to give her a Mother’s Day gift but wasn’t kissed and didn’t touch her eye. I’m kinda freaking out. What kind of decontamination can I even do if she was laying on my couch? She also is currently still at my home and waiting for my dad to get here because I don’t want her driving herself.

30 yr old Female. 145lbs. 5’5” Medications: Zoloft 150 mg daily Relevant history—had chickenpox as a kid
Two days ago my tongue felt sort of numb. Then yesterday my tongue and throat developed sores. Some look like canker sores. Others look like blisters. It’s all on one side. My left ear also hurts. Hurts to swallow and talk. I went to urgent care and she said “yeah I don’t know. I don’t know how shingles presents orally.” So. Here I am. I’ll post pictures in the comments. I guess it doesn’t matter really right? Nothing can be done anyway 🤷‍♀️

Hi friends. I am not new to skin problems but I am new to this sub.
I’m a 39F with an extensive history of acne and now more recently melasma. I had gorgeous skin as a teenager and young adult. I had my last baby 16 years ago and it’s all been a disaster since. I started developing acne, and then painful cystic acne, and started the dermatologist merry go round by age 25.
I mean it when I say I have tried it all. My skin does not discriminate about where it breaks out. I’ve had cysts under my eyebrows. There’s never been a pattern to it, or trigger I can identify. The only consistent thing about my acne is that it always comes back. I have had a very hard time with dermatologists in the past because they’d prescribe something, and then at my follow up I’d have improved skin, and they’d ignore me when I promised them the acne would return. So I’d find a different derm, rinse and repeat, they all want me to start at the beginning, etc.
It doesn’t help that I am Greek/mediterranean, and every little insult to my skin leaves a scar. I have PIH from every zit I’ve ever had. I have scars from chickenpox, bug bites, etc. And I’ve developed the worst melasma I’ve ever seen on anyone over the last 2 years or so.
It’s bad guys. It’s far worse than any pic I’ve seen on this sub. I’d kill to have some of y’all’s skin. It’s so bad I’m terrified to post pictures. I have a huge butterfly pattern that takes up most of my forehead. It has spread down to my cheeks, and around my eyes. Like a raccoon mask. It’s so close to my eyeballs I won’t put anything topical on it. It’s SO dark. I don’t have dark skin. I’m quite light, and very olive. The melasma I have cannot be covered with makeup, and I have gotten very good at makeup. If I go anywhere bare faced I get stares, comments, shocked looks… it kinda looks like vitiligo in reverse if that makes sense. People can’t help themselves. Even my SO commented when he first saw me without makeup - he asked if I had a large birthmark because he’s never seen anything like mine.
Here’s a list of what I’ve tried for both acne and melasma, with absolutely zero effect.
Benzoyl peroxide
Clinda
Doxy
Spiro both 50 & 100mg
Azelaic, lactic, salicylic, and glycolic acids
Differin
Tretinoin 0.025 & 0.05%
Tazorac 0.05 and 0.1%
Vitamins C and A topical
15% TCA peels (3x)
Hydroquinone 6% and 12%
Various oils - rosehip, squalene, etc
Probably something I’ve forgotten.
Not only do I get no positive effect, I get no negative effects either. Apart from mild dryness - I’ve never been red, irritated, flaky, or peeling. My skin is a suit of armor I swear. I have given each med or topical anywhere from 4 months to over a year to work. All have been prescribed via in person derms, apostrophe, or nurx.
I moisturize. I use gentle products. I wear sunscreen. I’m at my wits end. I saw my OB 3 weeks ago and she removed my Mirena. I see a new derm on 5/7. I’m not about to start over from the beginning with topicals.
I’ve never tried accutane, not that it matters to this sub, I just have pre existing conditions that aren’t favorable for accutane. I already have thin hair, but I’m literally willing to go bald if TXA would clear my skin. I’m willing to ablate this whole face and grow a new one if I have to. I can’t live like this anymore. I feel like a monster. I’m terrified of lasers and deep peels making it worse given my skin type. I’m no longer a candidate for oral BC pills if my acne returns, due to my melasma. I need some love. Some advice to tell this new derm. Some hope. Anything.
Edit to add: I have had all my hormone levels and labs checked multiple times.

Female, 4yo, no medication, about 20kg, 110cm, dermatitis
Hi, our daughter goes to Kindergarten and they have several sicknesses going round there at the moment, specifically chickenpox, scarlet fever and rubella… last week we had to go to the pediatrician 3 times cause kindergarten keeps telling us to check out my daughters rash. I get it, cause it keeps getting worse but the doctors keep saying it’s nothing and don’t actually seem to test her. I don’t want to assume anything but I’m also wondering how it’s nothing when she clearly has a rash on her face that is getting more and more red. I’m wondering if they have issues diagnosing her cause she is biracial and we live in a predominantly white country. I’ll try to post a picture in the comments of the rash. Should I change doctor or are they right? Is it nothing? Sorry, I just feel like these sicknesses are no joke and what if we give it to someone who really can’t handle it, I’m just worried tbh. Thanks in advance

It seems like the majority here were late-diagnosed, but I was diagnosed extremely early in life. Even though I was assigned female at birth, but I was far more in line with a stereotypical autistic boy than a non-stereotypical autistic girl.
Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with autism when I was 20 months old with developmental delays across every milestone of every domain of development. At the time of my diagnosis, I was even declared to be a vegetable with no cognitive ability. I am not sure if that is equivalent to being braindead, but I have the habit of translating it into such. Also, I was completely non-verbal and non-communicative, would never react or respond to any stimuli, had no fine motor skills, had issues with walking, and overall functioned more like an infant than a toddler. Throughout the 25 years I have been alive and throughout every single chapter of my life, my autism and developmental differences were as obvious as the sky being blue at noon on a clear summer day. In fact, I would have been one of the very rare cases to have been diagnosed in the 1960's and institutionalized had I been born during that time period.
I didn't say my first word until I was 28 months old, and even that was just me saying “mama”. I can't remember when I started speaking in sentences or holding conversations, but I know that was obscenely late. Throughout my time learning to talk, I would say words pronounced in a way no one, not even special education teachers, understood. For example, I said Home Depot as "Poe-wee Poe" and possibly as "possi-pie".
I had exclusively extremely obscure interests that no one else had. I was obsessed with traffic lights, road signs, fire extinguishers, exit signs, dumpsters, and transmission lines. I would even wander off to see where such items were, and I would eventually know where every fire extinguisher and drinking fountain was at Disneyland. I was not interested in anything remotely common, whether it be common hobbies (playing sports, riding my bike, playing a musical instrument, etc), mainstream franchises (popular cartoons played on cable TV channels at the time, Star Wars, Harry Potter, video game franchises, Disney franchises, etc), current pop culture trends, common items (dinosaurs, fairies, princesses, superheros, animals, etc), or anything else interesting (history, a certain country's culture, etc). My mom tried to put me in a variety of social and extracurricular activities, but I had no interest in socializing or those activities. The only socialization I engaged in was communication with my mom, special education teachers who were merely trying to help me, or my much younger cousin who wasn't born until I was almost in kindergarten. Because of this, people don't know me well.
I had issues that none of my peers did. I had sensory aversions to stickers that no one else had. I misbehaved in kindergarten to avoid getting stickers as a reward. I can't remember when I was potty-trained, but I potty-trained many years later than my peers. In fact, I might not have been potty-trained until I hit puberty. When I was in the 1st grade, I was still asking to wear a diaper even though the school didn't allow children who weren't potty-trained. I also had to have directions on using the toilet with assistance during that time. I had extreme fears of the toilet, including the fear of falling into the toilet and the sound of the toilet flushing. Many children have illnesses like colds, influenza, and chickenpox, but I never had those despite being exposed to those viruses. Instead, I had gastrointestinal issues where I would go 2 weeks without defecating and have extreme stomach problems that often got me into urgent care. Not only that, but my feces broke my toilets and permanently damaged any underwear I had with smelly skid marks. This was due to both my sensory aversions to the toilet and sensory aversions to high-fiber foods. They say that children will eat anything if they are hungry, but I was one of the few that would have rather starved myself than ate something I didn't like. These gastrointestinal issues persisted until I hit puberty and towered over my mom and the average woman. When I was in 3rd grade, there was an event where students had to eat rice. I was the only child who didn't like the rice dishes, and I was heavily judged by everyone there for it. Many people are concerned about a child's growth and weight gain, but people were concerned about me not losing weight because I was overweight. There has never been a point in my life when I wasn't overweight. I was born a large baby, and I didn't slim down in childhood due to gross motor delays. Additionally, I had sensory aversions to healthy food so severely that I would starve myself before eating something I didn't enjoy. I lived off of unhealthy foods like chips, sweets, fast food, and microwaved frozen meals. Moreover, I was a big eater and ate like a pig. I was still riding in a stroller in public at the age of 7 because otherwise I would elope. This was not only an aspect of how slowly I grew up, but that inactive lifestyle also contributed to me always having been obese. Even now, I am overweight. Alongside these health issues, I avoided many social places like restaurants and movie theaters because of elopement, disruptive behavior, lack of interest, and social problems. Moreover with behavior, my behavior, level of empathy to others, and mannerisms were so poor that if I was raised by anyone other than the permissive mother I had, I probably wouldn't be here today.
Throughout my youth, I was developmentally delayed everywhere, with the exceptions of puberty (which I hit much earlier than my peers), my physical size (I have always been tall and fat), and mathematics (the only subject I performed average in without assistance). I never even had a chance to be a normal teenager or young adult. I never participated in extracurricular activities, went to social events like school dances, joined clubs, or hung out with peers in public places (think places like concerts, amusement parks, malls, etc) instead of my family. I also never accomplished things like losing my virginity or learning to drive; nor did I ever blossom into someone who was conventionally attractive. Speaking of which, I have always been ugly. In the ultrasound, I proudly looked directly into the camera, revealing a skeleton-looking face that scared everyone away. I was born looking like a mix between a monkey and an alien, and I was an absolute unit at that. I never grew out of that look into an adorable child like other babies do. I looked scary, even in pictures. I never glowed up in adolescence or early adulthood. I am quickly entering an age where my looks will fade rather than glow up. So instead of ever being an attractive person, I will look more grotesque. Even now at 25, I am still delayed. I never even learned activities like riding a bicycle or performing cartwheels. I still live with my mom, and didn't get my first job until I was 24, and I have trouble holding down jobs for more than 3 months. I didn't lose my virginity until this year. I received a Bachelor's degree with cum laude honors, but that is it in terms of accomplishments.
Because of all this and many more, I wish I was a lot younger than I am because I feel like I missed out on the experience of being young, whether it be a child, teenager, or young adult. Adulthood has its benefits, but I feel like something is missing. It's like a puzzle piece with all of the edge and corner pieces but none of the middle pieces.
I also feel like the only girl who had the low-masking, developmentally delayed, and stereotypical form of autism. I feel isolated.

30, male. ME, mental health issues, chronic pain. 5'3, around 14st.
On the following medications: Pregabalin, martazipine, propranolol, Cocodamol, tramadol, PrEP. No new medication.
This rash started this past Friday (18th) as sparse spots on both sides of my back. It's never been really itchy. It's now progressed into small blisters that are sore to the touch or to lay on, and there are more spots on my back and it's started spreading to my sides and shoulders. There are none anywhere else.
Started experiencing sore throat, stiff neck, headaches, nausea, dizzy was and a general feeling of unwellness on Saturday, the symptoms fluctuate in severity.
Other relevant information: had all my vaccinations as a kid, I've had chickenpox as a kid, I'm testing consistently negative for Covid using LFTs, I had a steroid injection on the 31st of January, the rash disappears under a glass, no new foods or detergents or anything I can think of that would cause an allergy.
The soonest a doctor can call me is Saturday and I'm not able to get myself to a pharmacy due to disability. Just want to check it's nothing nasty or serious.
I'll add pictures as a comment, sorry about the quality, I had to fold myself like a pretzel to get these!

Having grappled with HSV-2 for a while, I wanted to hopefully help people suffering feel some relief through some perspective. This is coming from someone who suffers from it on their face, eyes, ears, nose, both hands, thighs, groin, and junk pretty much constantly with cascading outbreaks. So, trust me, I get it. I have finally come to terms as I think we all eventually do, but in doing so, I’ve freed myself. I hope you can too.
This is a positivity post, so opt out of this one if you're gonna nitpick.
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It’s ancient
It’s millions of years old. We’ve had this silently living alongside us for as long as we’ve been human. Its hard to look at this as a ‘why me?!’ when it’s literally just been a thing since forever. My parents have it, by grandparents had it, and my ape ancestors had it.
Society really doesn’t care
Until the 1970s, people did not even know the difference between HSV-1 and HSV-2, and before the 20th century people didn’t even know HSV was a thing. Even now, most people are totally, blissfully unaware of it, even people who have it. The amount of times I’ve heard someone say ‘Oh I had a coldsore once when I was a kid I think’ or ‘Oh I get a rash down there time to time’ is too much to count. I’ve never met someone irl who is educated on this matter, even those who have it, and rightfully so!
Ask yourself how much better you would feel if you were never diagnosed? How much better you’d feel if you were never even aware herpes was a thing? Disclosure is a personal choice, but if doctors don’t find making you aware of it to be medically or ethically valuable, why go out of your way doing so to others?
Its medically insignificant
The reason doctors don’t care is because its not a big deal to them. Most people on these forums/subreddits are the subminority of the 20% minority of the who experience noticeable/frequent symptoms (of the 1/4 who even have it), or they’re hypochondriacs (I’m both).
We can’t accurately test for it (blood tests are riddled with false-positives and false-negatives) and even if when we do, we can’t tell where it is. Even PCR tests, the ‘gold standard’ is useless if there’s no good sample. (I’ve had the gnarliest, fresh sores swabbed multiple times, all came back negative).
Even if we could test for it, its not worth it because science has shown that it doesn’t make people change their habits (limit spread) and causes way too much psychological distress (source: everyone here).
Most people in these forums/subs often complain about how frequently they’re misdiagnosed, how little doctors know about it, and how little counselling they get. You may see that as a bad thing, but its simply a testament to how little our society/medical establishment regards it.
Its going to be cured
Why worry about something that is going to disappear in the next 10 years (max). Look how fast a novel cure for Covid came out. There are live trials as we speak. Were in the age where this thing will virtually disappear within the next few years, if not this or next year. Look at what the Shingrix vaccine did for shingles. Herpesviruses are on the way out.
Its not your burden
Given the above, ask yourself: why are you making this some personal burden? I’m not a doctor, why am I reading scientific medical studies on something my own GP hasn’t? I’m not a politician, why am I trying to reframe public perception of a thing society has collectively decided it really doesn’t care about? We have to realize we’re taking on a cause based on how it affects us personally in this small minority, not based on its actual effect on society. You didn’t ask for this, its not your responsibility to manage it.
We often think this is some isolating condition that keeps us cast out from society like a leper (another overstigmatized disease, its not even contagious!). In reality, society never cast us out and doesn't care. It's waiting for you to rejoin it, blissfully unaware of what herpes is or that they all have it.
You’re not “spreading” anything
Herpes has lived in humans, in an unbroken chain, for millions of years. You’re not spreading something, its simply passing through, like every other virus. Its why its tremendously hard to transmit: only 10% transmission between a positive/negative couple in an entire year of sex? That’s a decade of constant sex before a ‘statistically guaranteed’ transmission (roughly). If you’re an infrequent or casual sex-haver, its probably a 10th of that (essentially a lifetime). If you throw on antivirals, condoms, selective abstinence, you’re practically never transmitting.
There's a reason the world's most popular forum only has 13.7k members on the herpes sub. We're a medical anomaly.
Even if it does transmit, its not a big deal! That’s why there’s an 80% chance a person who catches it doesn’t even have noticeable symptoms. It’s why over 90% of cases go undiagnosed. It’s why 1/5 people never even break out once. If you combine the chance of transmission with the chance someone even has symptoms, it’s a fraction of 1%, and by that time you’re overwhelmingly statistically likely to either: 1. Be married or be with a long-time partner or 2. Be in an age cohort where herpes is well above the statistical average, so nobody is going to care anyways. We’re the ones holding a microscope to this, not doctors, society, etc.
Herpes is herpes
40% of new genital HSV cases are from HSV-1. You can get HSV-2 on your face (trust me). HSV-1 is not oral herpes and HSV-2 is not genital herpes. If you have HSV-2, you don’t have ‘worse herpes’ you simply have herpes. If you have GHSV-1 or 2, you simply have herpes. If you have GHSV-1, you can’t even give it to the 90% of the population who already has HSV-1 immunity.
Shingles is the most dangerous herpesvirus but nobody cares. HSV-1 is statistically more dangerous than HSV-2 and yet HSV-2 gets the bad rap. It doesn’t make sense because it shouldn’t.
Given how random the symptoms are, how it affects everyone differently, and how unpredictable it can be, I don't find it medically useful to even distinguish these things. In a way, these identifiers have become a social construct, as they have no scientific or medical value outside of a laboratory. You don't have the disease you think you do, its an arbitrary symptom from a family of skin conditions.
Everyone has herpes
Virtually everyone has herpes zoster (chickenpox). The vast majority already have HSV-1 (see above). This means they already have it, and already have some cross immunity. There’s no meaningful difference between HSV-1 and HSV-2, everyone who has herpes has herpes, and everyone has herpes. There’s a reason nobody discloses they have chickenpox or that during a shingles outbreak they’re contagious for chickenpox, it would sound ridiculous and that virus is worse.
You’re not giving it to that special someone
One of the most common things I read are that people don’t care about the personal symptoms, but lament giving it to someone else. Think: if the transmission fear is worse than having it, is it worth worrying about transmitting, especially given the person is almost overwhelmingly more likely to have less/no symptoms?
The percent chance that the person you're with isn't immune from having the other form of herpes already camped out there, actually contracts it, actually has symptoms, actually has noticeable symptoms, and actually gets diagnosed and has frequent enough recurrences for it to matter where they end up here is less than 0.08%. You may as well go buy a lottery ticket.
Secondly, you’re just a statistic. Statistics on herpes measures chance of contracting it based on the background prevalence (read: your community). If you weren’t in the picture, guess what the statistical likelihood of your special someone catching it would be: exactly the same minus 0.00000001%. You’re not giving anything to someone who wouldn’t otherwise get it. The same way you got it from a statistical chance is the same way someone else will. The same logic applies if you believe in fate (its fated to happen or fated not to).
Its not ‘permanent’
Herpes is about as permanent as the common cold or a flu, in fact, you’re guaranteed to get a recurrence of the cold and flu, but not herpes. Just because one tags along (just like every other worm, parasite, bacteria, and lash mites (sorry)), and the other spreads around outside you, does not mean its anymore permanent than anything else. When its not flaring up, it doesn’t exist.
It gets better with time
The severity drops off rapidly with this. Most people on these subs are either longtime veterans who are in the uber-minority of freak recurrences, or they’re immunocompromised (likely from another condition I’m sure they will concede is worse than this but totally manageable) or they’re new so they’re getting their first few bad flare ups or are overstressing.
The people who used to comment on these threads panicking 10 years ago no longer get symptoms. They no longer care and life has moved on for them. It will for you too. Each and every OB is another chance for your body to develop even more antibodies and learn to deal with it better and better.
Disclosure is easy
I know most of the above may come off as a thinly veiled non-disclosure rant, but its not. Disclosure is easy, but it doesn’t need to be the university lecture you think it does. “Hey, just so you know I get cold sores sometimes. Some people care, if its important to you maybe talk to your doctor about it.”
Its not your job to educate people, its not your job to make it a bigger deal than it is. If your partner has questions, answer them simply and honestly. If you’re using the term ‘HSV’ in your disclosure you’re already making it a bigger deal than it needs to be and stressing yourselves both out.
You're not dirty
This is somehow the 'dirty disease'. Majority of people have eyelash mites (again, sorry). 31.8% of people suffer from halitosis (bad breath). Half the world's population have literal parasitic worms wiggling around in their body. Virtually everyone has chronic pus-filled, cyst-like bacterial sores known simply as 'pimples'. None of these even get the 'dirty' title (and they shouldn't).
This is a rash. You're not dirty.
There's other things to life
This is really the ‘taboo life changer’, but when you think about it, it really only touches on sex and relationships. You’re not losing any family because of it, you’re not losing any friends, your favorite hobbies haven’t disappeared, and the world is just as beautiful as before.
Given you’ve dealt with this trial and come out the other side, you’re gonna be stronger for it and life will have more purpose.
TL;DR
The mental aspect makes this so so much worse, but it doesn’t have to. While the physical symptoms suck, it becomes quite manageable when you’re not mentally spiraling. I really hope this helps those out there, because I know this is what I was looking for when I first dealt with this. Now do yourselves a favor: stop looking into this crap and realize its not even real, if you wanna stay around these circles, become a source for advocacy and positivity for people woefully misled by the media, stereotypes, and profit-hungry pharma companies.
Take a deep breath, take another, and then let it go. It was all a lie. This has all been a bad dream.

24 year old female from USA, I’ve had chickenpox as a child. 4-5 recurrent outbreaks of extremely painful itchy blisters on my wrist/palm with nerve pain going through my forearm. Usually it goes away on its own so I’ve never went to the doc about it I truthfully thought it was herpes, this time the blisters, they heal and a new burst around the same spot pops up and then again and now again I’ve had back to back painful itchy blister outbreaks on my wrist for over a month now. Pictures of the last one before this new one in the comments the blisters look distinct at first like clear hard bubbles with white around them and then they cluster into actual fluid filled blisters

Hey guys! Healthcare is non-existent where we are so hoping for some ideas to see if we need the hospital or not! Here is the link to the pictures with dates of how they looked (Jan 21/Jan 24).
Sex: Male Age: 16 Vaccines: UTD up to 12yrs (Covid happened through grades 7/8/9 making it hard to get those ones) History: late to vaccinate him as he was my first. He had a small case of chickenpox at 7mo old (like, 5 pox, total). Fully vaccinated soon after that point. Lots of seasonal/animal allergies. Generally the healthiest one in our house.
Whole house had Covid this past month (my dad's funeral was ground 0 for it to spread). Said son had only been feeling better for about 3 days before this rash started. It is very itchy for him to the point he hasn't wanted to go to school because clothes are bugging him. It's only around his left hip/side (I've checked legs/arms/back/chest, and there's no where else). It stops just short of his belly button and wraps around to just at his spine. He shares a room with a brother who has nothing like this on him. We have animals and none have mites, irregular itching, hair loss, or anything of the sort. I've checked his mattress for signs of bugs or visual confirmation and nothing there either.
Any ideas?

In 2016, my knee unexpectedly swelled after a bachelorette weekend, leading me to Rothman Institute. They drained my knee and sent it for analysis. A while later, they informed me of a Lyme disease diagnosis, leaving me feeling off. Seeking further advice, I went to Penn Medicine, where an infectious disease specialist did more lab work. Despite being told the disease wasn't showing up in my blood work, I continued to struggle with severe fatigue, bodyaches, and motivation issues. Brain fog, digestive problems, and various physical discomforts persisted.
During pregnancy, symptoms seemed to ease, but post-childbirth, they returned. Scanning my military discharge papers, I discovered details about scoliosis and a virus resembling Lyme. Further research pointed to a potential connection with my earlier bout of chickenpox.
Doctors, unfortunately, lacked communication about critical details in my bloodwork. Subsequent pregnancy revealed high levels in what seems to be my white blood cell count, indicating a potential ongoing infection or immune system issues. Now, at 35, I feel like I'm 80, facing memory loss, joint problems, dizziness, and a slew of concerning symptoms.
Sharing a picture of my recent bloodwork, I'm seeking advice before my scheduled appointment on the 18th. Apologies for the lengthy text; my fingers tend to get tingly. I'm worried about my health's downward trend and need guidance on the right path for answers, especially as a parent of two.
Don’t bash on me too hard because I know some of you are straight up ruthless but you have me almost pissing my pants laughing at your responses .. just know that I love you Reddit fam❤️

This is Esteban (Estab) Lisht. He had chickenpox in some of these pictures so be careful, you might catch it! These were all made on Picrew :)

Disclaimer: Already tried posting this in shingles but the mods did not approve it.
This is probably going to sound crazy, but I'm just looking for some additional guidance or opinions on this situation. My husband (39M) began complaining of a severe headache and mild sore throat on 12/14 which continued into the next day when he noticed a bump where his right ear meets his face. By 12/16, he developed a swollen lymph node on the right side of his neck, soreness on the right side of his jaw, and his scalp on the right side of his head (above his right ear) became painful to touch. By Sunday, the bump had become a fluid filled blister that broke open and was surrounded by redness.
He went to urgent care Monday morning where they told him it was likely shingles based on the symptoms he was describing. He had chickenpox as a kid so we figured that must be it. The nurse practitioner swabbed the blister by his ear to test for shingles but insisted on testing for HSV-1 and 2 as well to be thorough. The results came back negative for shingles and HSV-1 but positive for HSV-2. The nurse practitioner followed up with a phone call and said it could be something like "mat herpes" which wrestlers apparently get sometimes. He has never wrestled.
To say the least, we are in shock by the results but are not entirely convinced. We have been together for 10 years and neither of us has EVER had anything like this before or since we got together. Not even a cold sore! He has already reached out to his primary care doctor to order another round of lab work to confirm the diagnosis. I'm not sure how common false test results are or how likely it would be that the lab work got mixed up. Everything we have seen online (pictures, articles, first hand accounts, etc.) suggests this is shingles. If anyone has an opinion on this situation, we would love some input from the community.

So, we're going on. I decided to do 13 episodes instead of 26 from now to remember them better: 1. The Return of Harmony I: 89 - So the story is... They got into a fight. I won't classify it as Discord's doings for it seems it was the display of discord that awoke him, so instead we have the CMCs getting into a fight out of nowhere, when I'm sure there could have been more interesting ways Discord could've been awakened. I still let it feel the warmth of the 90s because of the expanded lore we got from the episode. 2. The Return of Harmony II: 90 - Saturation, haha I said it! Just me having to point out every time Pinkie Pie goes grey - I was surprised to find out the fandom usually uses her fancy name "Pinkamena" for that. But let's actually talk about the plot: I like to interpret the conflict of Twilight struggling to get them together and working as a self-aware counter to how on a silver platter the elements themselves looked like here. The way Celestia handed back all the letters to show her the way made it all complete! 3. Lesson Zero: 84 79 - The longer you look, the worse it gets. That sums it up pretty nicely. Opening with Twilight overthinking about her studies (literally me), to address how awful it is to actually have to write down what you have learnt every week at least. Then she went the "making a problem and selling the solution" way. Then she used an infatuation spell for that. That's when the episode goes to madness, I think I wanted to skip around when I got there. But having Lesson Zero establish letters from everyone now was the redeeming factor. 4. Luna Eclipsed: 100 - Justice for Luna! Her comeback may have made her one of my top 12 characters already, specially as someone who wants to believe redeemability is always a possibility. I wasn't expecting this to be so early on. Coupled with the video Nightmare Virus, it was an absolute delight. 5. Sisterhooves Social (just realised the pun): 85 - Lovely twist at the end of the race; getting to see Rarity and AJ's families interacting like this pleased me, thus I conclude this chapter belongs up there with Look Before You Sleep. I almost didn't realise this was the first episode without Twilight! I guessed after Season 1 we wouldn't need the full picture for every episode. 6. The Cutie Pox: 85 - I was a sucker for fictional diseases back then, you know? I guess the interest died out since I grew up and got into SCP, where diseases are less "chickenpox with marshmallows instead of pimples" and more "let's just say contracting this disease is a fate worse than death". I was expecting the sickness to have an attention calling effect, but turns out Applebloom calling out so much attention was natural; it would make sense if it had that effect to make it spread, wouldn't it? Why did I pay attention to the implication that the letter O exists in their language? And getting more of Zecora and AB being friends, I'm all for it. 7. May the Best Pet Win!: 70 - Smth about monarch butterflies: my favourite animal getting a W is probably my favourite scene here. That already paints a concerning image about this episode. It was pretty obvious our reckless Rainbow Dash would end up with the least expectable pet to learn a lesson. 8. The Mysterious Mare Do Well: 60 - Pinkie sense is back... That's it. The problem once again is RD being so ARROGANT about it. She did an awful performance at some points because she also wanted to show off while doing it, and I saw TMMDW being her friends a mile away. And by the way, I think Feeling Pinkie Keen is better off as simply 50, worst one yet. 9. Sweet and Elite: 71 - I conclude that Opal > Rarity. With how I've always seen unicorns as any kind of high-class, this seemed to show the clash between bourgeoisie and nobility people like Voltaire in our universe faced. Back into my first statement, Rarity getting into having to lie to attend 2 parties at once was pretty shameful. However, Rarity knew that she had to snap out of it, and so ate her shame by confessing those ARE her friends, and I respect. 10. Secret of My Excess: 75 - Remember when I said that I recall an episode where Spike becomes a kleptomaniac? When I saw a thumbnail for this one, I deduced this was it, which gave me low expectations from the scenes I remembered. But when Zecora revealed that that's the way dragons are, it flipped the chapter on its head to me - and can we talk about how Zecora seems to be a last resort for knowledge? I love it. The problem's solved by having Spike recall his generosity, which opportunely is also Rarity's element, after Twilight made Spike hold the element of loyalty in The Return of Harmony. If Spike being a wild card is gonna become a running gag, I love it. 11. Hearth's Warming Eve: 95 - Equestria lore. If hostility causes THAT, I can assume how they actually manage to make such compromises in the MLPverse... For such an amazing episode, I actually don't have much to say, much like Friendship Is Magic II. 12. Family Appreciation Day: 100 - Ponyville lore: Granny Smith sure damn rocks! Towards the start I had some amusement seeing Smith be so cynical. I'm still very biased; her story was pure mind, ear and eye candy. Towards the end we don't see a Diamond Tiara regret anything, BUT instead being told to join in and eat her pride, a much funnier approach than having her repent because Smith wasn't as goofy as she thought. I'm looking forward to see what else Applejack's relatives will have on board. 13. Baby Cakes: 95 - There are a couple more episodes I got a glimpse of as a kid: one of them involved Pinkie dumping flour on herself to make babies laugh. The title sounded like an episode I'd dislike, but when I saw a thumbnail with a baby pegasus and a surprised Pinkie, realisation hit me. The memories weren't the only factor: I got confirmation to what happens when different species breed! The genes can get VERY regressive, it seems. I think that's all, folks.

I don't go on Twitter much anymore. Even before the name changed to SEO hell it was an objectively terrible experience for me. One subject I have kept up with has been AI art, which was the focus of my minor in college and a special interest of mine.
AI crafted art feels like magic. I don't mean hokey 'wow, something from nothing, magic!', magic. That's what regular art is, which is cool, but AI feels like dark magic. It hasn't been crafted; it has been summoned whole from the void, like Athena born from Zeus' skull. You can feel how unnatural it is. Just looking at it or reading it makes me uneasy and that's why I love it.
So of course I still follow 'This Person Does Not Exist'. The website's nice enough, but something about a curated selection made by another human being really does something for me. So I check every day, and think about who the person might have been if they had existed. This has been my morning routine for over a year.
Last Monday it was my face. It was amazing. I got to think about how many faces got rolled together to make mine, and the odds against this situation occurring. Then I went to work, and had a normal day.
Tuesday it was my face again. I laughed at first. I had never seen them double post, but of course it would happen now! I said goodbye to my cat and my roommate, and left for work.
Wednesday there I was again. I genuinely was not uncomfortable until then. I pulled up the last two days and compared the three, hoping for a difference between them. I found some. On Tuesday the picture had added a chickenpox scar on the right cheekbone. Today, it had that and a small portion of a tattoo just barely visible under the left ear. That was my tattoo. That was my scar.
Except, when I looked in the mirror, they were gone. My scar and my tattoo were gone, and I couldn’t find a single selfie where I had them.
Thursday the picture was me again, with the earrings my girlfriend gave me. I can’t find them anywhere.
It’s Sunday, and I haven’t checked since. I uninstalled Twitter, and blocked the website. I don’t think it’s enough, though. My cat’s been missing since yesterday, and my college diploma isn’t on my bedroom wall.
I’m so scared that by the end of next week the website will be right. I will not exist.

Age: 15 Months Sex: Male Weight: 23 LBS Race: White So we recently all had Covid, and he recently got his chickenpox vax. Not sure if any of that is relevant but I’m just noticing tonight that he’s breaking out in red blotches like in the pictures attached. It’s late at night at the moment and he doesn’t seem to be sick or have any symptoms otherwise so I intend to bring him to the doctor in the morning. Could this be lymes? It looks similar to the lymes rash I got when I was a child. He was but by a tic earlier this year but promptly received antibiotics for it. Any information is much appreciated.
Images

Ok so, this is back when I was in grade 1 so I was probably around 6. I’m 19 now. I lived in a ratty old trailer park in a small town, and this one trailer, had a lot of bad stuff happen while I was in there, which I blame on whatever the hell was in there before us. I really don’t know where to start, I’m no writer but I just want to get this out. So I don’t have many memories from this place, mostly just pictures, but they’re all bad, very very bad. My parents were both heavy alcoholics, they kept each other going. My mother was working at some place where they sell or rent rv’s, and my dad was one of those mechanics who would work for whoever paid him. So they had money to drink pretty much every day. I knew once one of em walked in with a few cases of beer, it was time to disappear. Anyways I’m rambling, the point is once people drank in that trailer, they’d transform. Anger. Screaming. Every form of abuse. One night I’m laying in bed, asleep facing the wall, and I feel a hard slap right on my back. From what I remember I turned around terrified, and looked under the bed, then ran to my parents room and told them what happened. But my mom says she’s never ever heard a child scream like I did. They ran in my room and turned on the light and I was freaking right out. From what she made out from my blubbering was that something hit me. They lift up my shirt, and what else do they see but a huge red hand print, right on my back. They moved me to their room, and i slept with them until I was about 10. Never ever slept facing the wall until I was about 17. It’s funny too because my mom says she was talking to my auntie on the couch there before or after this event, and my auntie was facing the hallway, moms back to the hall. She says my auntie looked toward the hall while they were talking, and her face turned white. My mom turned around, didn’t see nothing, and asked auntie what she seen. My auntie had to calm down a bit before she told my mom. She had seen what looked like a little old lady, around 4ft, and some kind of sheet or cloak over it walk from my parents room towards my room. But there was a fucking tail dragging out from behind it. They were dead sober this day. In this house I’ve gotten asthma, and sent to the hospital with a combo of chickenpox and pneumonia, went deaf. This house was just awful. Moved out with my mom when I was maybe 8, happened to drive past there one day to see it getting demolished. I’m just wondering what happened there before we moved in, or why or how that thing ended up in there. That place was old. Just happy that thing didn’t follow us

Spent two weeks with my right arm just absolutely for no reason feeling an itch. Not just an ordinary itch. It was off and weird. Then last Wednesday, I felt it intensify and watched my wrist throughout the night begin to form bumps. Last Thursday night new ones formed on my forearm. As they formed, the skin would raise in lines then sink leaving the bumps. It was itchy but more than that...it started to hurt. That hurt began increasing to unbearable over the weekend until I showed up at my PCP on Monday. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but it has reached the level where I was beginning to question if I actually needed my right arm.
It didn't take long for my doctor to pull in a second doctor and both confirmed that my suspicion was true. Shingles. They somewhat scolded me for not seeking care much sooner (how was I supposed to know?). I was told I'm their youngest in their office with shingles and they asked me about my stressors. I don't really feel I have much emotional stress these days. I was definitely under more years ago. But I told them about the fact that I was just diahnosed with a congenital heart defect that had been missed my whole life. "Any chest pain?" "All the time. It's why I started going to cardiology." "Well. That definitely explains it then." So I guess for me it's a physical stress? I mean, my body is under a lot of stress lately...
I started Valacyclovir three times a day and pregabalin twice a day. It's been absolutely miserable.
Thing is they had said to stop the pregabalin once the pain stops. But I'm not sure when that is. There's been layers to the pain. It's gotten down now to where it's just sporadic and not constant. Sometimes I don't really think there is pain but other times it'll feel like I'm being stung by a dozen angry wasps that live under my skin or that I'm being burned in a vice. One moment it'll start to feel better, the next I could be back to wanting to remove my arm. When this first started the pain was consistent and persistent but layered. There was an intense muscle tightness and fatigue like pain, a distinct electrical pain that felt like I was having my nerve study but worse, wasps, and the burning and pressure pains. Now it all just fluctuates moment by moment. It makes me feel insane.
The other part to this is...the pregabalin is really making me feel messed up. I'm on topiramate for migraine control and the two are not playing friendly by any means. When the pregabalin hits in the morning, I can't function from 8:30 am until about 5:30 pm. I struggle to walk, have almost fallen from complete loss of muscle control, feel disoriented/dizzy, and have blurred vision. My doctor was very serious about stopping when pain stopped and the side effects are so severe but they also told me that if we don't get the pain under control I could have pain for my lifetime. So I've just been running in circles.
I thought I'd post here while waiting for the MA to get back to me with clarification. I don't want to just stop my medication without the doctor saying explicitly "stop". With pregabalin being a medication that has possible adverse withdraw effects, I am trying not to worry about that either. I thought too that it'd be a good place to come for some solidarity at the least. I can talk about it with the people in my life but they really don't get it because they haven't had to really go through it. Which is fortunate. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. The only real good news is that it seems I did start treatment in good time, I think. My spots are looking not so bad in the pictures I have (only started taking since Sunday. They were worse looking on last Thursday/Friday). I've been making sure to really keep the area clean and covered since some of my family and coworkers never had the chickenpox and since my doctor said I could work so long as I covered them during the contagious stage. Rather wish I had done like...FMLA or short term disability though. This week has been a nightmare for trying to work. (Trying to use my right hand has been literal torture).