A few weekends ago I had the brilliant idea to get "a little sunburn" to help heal my psoriasis.
Comic con was coming up - I didn't want to go and win first place for having the best Freddy Krueger costume.

So we went to the beach.  I watched my besties frolic in Lake Erie while I sat like a sun goddess soaking up as much UVB as I possibly could.  There came a point where the UVB was making me feel a little crispy.  To solve this problem you would think I would apply some SPF 60 - oh no, I covered my legs with a towel.  Problem solved - or so it seemed.


Sunburn.  Over my whole body.  Arms...legs...nose... all a not so pretty shade of red. Not to mention the pain. I seemed to have forgotten that the medication that is supposed to help my psoriasis does not take so kindly to being fried in the sun.  I was a mess.  A big sore mess.

If I had quarter for everyone who commented on my big old sunburn, I would probably have enough money to buy a bottle of sunscreen - not just any sunscreen, the expensive fancy one.  I heard it all.  I heard about skin cancer and different types of sunscreens to use and home remedies.  It's not so easy to explain to people that you did this to yourself intentionally.

I started to panic a bit by mid week when the redness wasn't going away.  I had big plans for Comic Con that weekend so I really didn't want to be among hot sweaty crowds with my body temperature well into the 100's and my skin redder than Iron Man's suit.  

I guess you could also say this was the time I panicked to finish up EVILBOY's costumes.  Due to the pain of my sunburn I totally gave up on one costume.  The second one barely got done - and there was a lot of stress involved.  By Thursday night I had worked myself into a frenzy and I had also come down with a pretty nasty sore throat/fever/cough.

I'm actually starting to think they should make a show about people like me and call it "Losers of Cosplay" because I can never seem to do anything right in this little hobby of mine.

After what could easily be described as one of the most disastrous weekends of my whole entire life (my mom saved the weekend really, other than that the rest of it was the worst), I started to develop a rash on my back.  We were doing the whole touristy Niagara Falls thing and I just kept getting sicker and more and more uncomfortable.

By Sunday night I knew something was terribly wrong.  The rash on my back was so painful.  The only time it wasn't hurting was if there was pressure on it which meant I went to bed at 6pm and laid there feeling sorry for myself all night.

After consulting with Dr. Google, I had myself convinced that I had either shingles or skin cancer.  After consulting with my real family doctor, it turns out I have shingles.  Shingles is kind of like chicken pox, only for adults, and much more painful.

As it turns out, being on an immune-suppressant medication, getting a burn on a good portion of your body, getting a cold virus and being super-stressed is the perfect environment to have your old chicken pox virus come back for a visit. 

So I got kicked off of work for a week  - which may sound like a wonderful vacation to some people - but I've been spending it alone and in agony.  The only relief I am getting is when I mix my Tylenol #2 prescription with two over-the-counter Extra Strength Advil pills or when I sleep.  I usually choose the latter simply because I have nothing else to do at home.

I can sit up for a total of 30 minutes before the burning and tingling starts.  After tolerating this for another half an hour it becomes unbearable and I have to lay back down in my bed. Strangely, having pressure over the area feels best.

I am welcome to any tips on how to make this go away any quicker.  Of course I've been doing research and I'm trying a few things here and there but I really really need to get better. I need to work and I have to pack for our upcoming move.

I really don't know how to be sick.  I'm sure stressing about it is not going to make this better anytime soon.  It took me two days to write this post so I think I will end it here for now.

From the diseased blogger that nobody wants to be around - but I can't say I blame them because this is the worst feeling in the whole wide world.