Oh man, I forgot how exhausting recovering from this virus is! I have been feeling a little better but have my good and bad days. Insomnia seems to be a theme in my world at the moment (thank you prednisone for flipping my sleep schedule while I was taking you) so I am sleeping when I feel tired and trying not to get down on myself about all that I should be doing when I am sleeping half the day.

It is so strange how getting knocked down and being forced climb back up again gives you a new view at old problems… I was so hysterical when I was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome almost five years ago and I continued to be hysterical for so long after that I was never really able to separate the physical symptoms from the emotional backlash they caused.

I feel like I should begin by explaining my lengthy absence from these forums. The last diary/blog post I made here was made about a year and four months after my onset of Ramsay Hunt. At that point in my life the emotional effects of this illness had taken a serious toll on me. I was horrible depressed, suffering from anxiety attacks and feeling completely lost in the world. As you well know, this illness changes your life in unwelcome ways. I had reached a breaking point (although I was not really aware of it yet).

Well I called all week trying to get in to see my ENT earlier but I ended up having to wait until Friday anyway. My regular nurse practitioner called me because she got wind of the situation and wanted to check on me and she called in more Acyclovir for me.

During the week I developed a nice little patch of new shingles behind my ear! YAY!!!! My ear gets real red a swollen and if anything rubs against it… woo! It is like electricity!

Well it has been a slow week. I have continued to feel tired and run down. I started having symptoms of a cold later in the week and I think that is why I have been feeling so terrible. It seems that when you have RHS and catch another virus it really kicks you behind! Along with this cold I have been having increased ear pain and my tongue is getting numb again. This all really started on Friday so I will have to call my doctor on Monday and see if I can get in sooner.

Well it has been a weird week. I got a call from my ENT’s office on Tuesday and apparently he has taken an “emergency person leave” and they had to change all of my appointments. I will be seeing a new doctor and I have mixed feelings about it. I am bummed because I know my doctor but I am also excited to get some fresh opinions.

I saw the naturopath this week. She was very nice and had some suggestions. She wants me to continue with the lysine. I had been taking it when I had the shingles and it really helped the go away much more quickly than they usually do so I am going to start taking it again. She also said that licorice root is a natural anti-inflammatory and that it may help with the ear pain that have been having. I am not sure if it would have happened anyway but I have gained some facial movement during the last part of this week.

I had a bit of ear pain this week. Mostly when I was up and doing a lot of house work etc. I am still feeling rather drained and not sleeping well. No improvement that I can see this week either. I have been busy with trying to help my youngest brother plan his trip home. He has been out of the country for almost four years now. That is bringing me a bit of cheer. I had a visit with my ENT today and another hearing test. The little hearing damage that I had before has started to correct itself so that is good. He does not feel that the slight damage will be permanent.

I was still feeling very drained from my cold this week. I have also been having trouble sleeping again. I can’t sleep when I am sick like most normal people do and this has messed up my sleep cycle again. I did no housework and have been very depressed. I feel like I have been in a self-inflicted social coma! I have started having anxiety attacks. I did go to my son’s open house for his middle school. I can’t believe that my only baby is in middle school! That wasn’t so bad.

Fever didn’t go away until Thursday evening. I think I may have gotten a bit carried away last week. I was miserable all week long. My husband and I got tickets to see our favorite band a few months ago and I didn’t want to miss it. We actually got them for our anniversary back in June and I hoped that I would be better (RHS gone… ha, ha) by now. We met five years ago at a one of this bands shows and we haven’t missed their yearly stops yet. I was feeling a little better by Sunday so I went. I enjoyed the music but I had a terrible time. I was so insecure.