I’m lying in bed. I’d rather be walking, or swimming, or working out, or practicing, or cooking. But I’m lying in bed, worn out from spending three hours (just three!) up today, during which time I made brunch, answered some email, and put some clothes in the dryer. Then I went back to bed. This is frustrating.
Two weeks ago tomorrow, I was diagnosed with shingles (the nasty adult version of chicken pox), on my face, with some of the blisters on my eye lid. My left eye was red, meaning I had conjunctivitis, and so I had to see an opthamologist ASAP in case the virus had attacked my eye (luckily, it hadn’t). It was caught soon, and I was prescribed Valtrexx, and anti-viral medication, and that evidently lessened the severity of what could have been a much worse situation. My skin is 90% or more cleared up.
But I’m more tired than I was. No fair! As a matter of fact, the tiredness seems to be getting worse even as my face gets better.
What gives?
Evidently postviral fatigue. [Expletive deleted.]
The symptoms became acute when I was 800 miles from home, having driven 750 in one day. I prepared and performed in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary performance, the rehearsal process for which filled with a lot of healthy, honest, but stressful creative tension. After the concert, I drove 105 minutes to where my daughter was staying and the next day drove her two hours into Manhattan to move into her NYU dorm. A day of rest, then two days driving back to Indiana. The day after I got back, I drove my mother to Carmel (IN) for a neurologist appointment, and the next two days an hour to Bloomington to sit on lessons given by Janos Starker at IU. Tremendously stimulating!
Evidently I pushed myself too hard. I’ve just gotten more tired over the weekend.
The Internet is great–I’ve found out so much about shingles, and fatigue. Feel less alone. And a bit dismayed that this may take longer to get over than I’d assumed. That at only 52 I probably was susceptible to shingles because my immune system was worn out to begin with. Now my body is insisting I relax–when I want to be super busy. There’s some wonderful lesson about non-attachment here somewhere.
Well, back to the doctors. And to find a holistic healer, which is what I sense I need just as much.
Eric Edberg 