VZV - Varicella Zoster-Virus

Here is a little poem I wrote about learning of my contraction of chicken pox and a little bit about it and my experience underneath. Truly an amazing disease albeit an unfortunate one.

Diddly-DO(sease)

A spectacular scene
Where all hope seemed lost.
My body was covered with
Permanent rain drops
and rose red spots.

So I went to the doctors;
"something is wrong but I'm not too sure,
My body hurts and I am covered in sores".
"take off your shirt!" he demanded,
I did quickly, not to be reprimanded.

He examined for a moment,
Every detail I told him.
My Spots and blisters
His big words and tongue twisters.

A bulb lit above his head,
"this is very rare" he said.
I queried "is it Amaryllis?"
"no, this is Varicella-Zoster Virus!!"
He explained and very intrigued.
But by now I was very fatigued.

He jotted down a description for a prescription
As i was ready to search for my weeks depiction.
unlike a chicken stuffed in a tin,
I could almost pluck a 'cluck' from his grin.

As an adult, I have been one of the lucky few to have contracted Varicella Zoster-Virus (VZV), better known as chicken pox, even though I have gotten the disease before and also the vaccine. VZV belongs to the herpes family so it will stay dormant in your nervous system for your entire life; It may also reoccur later in life which is known as Herpes-Zoster, better known as shingles. VZV creates little sores and blisters all over the body that is itchy and uncomfortable or even creates pain, not to mention it can even limit your ability to movement. The disease can be deadly for adults if complication occur, especially for those who havent contracted it, and the immune response is much harsher for adults than children. The amount of pox or spots that occur can vary from just a few 'dew drops' to more than 250 all over the body. For me I had counted just over 100 on my face and didnt bother with my torso,back , scalp, arms, legs and genital area. Fortunately, VZV is a self limiting disease, which means it will resolve itself although complication can occur. Usually in 5-10 days for children and the possibility of multiple weeks for adults.

In my experience with Varicella it was irritable and I also had a shingles rash on my scalp (as I have had it before) my torso, face and back were the most affected; I didnt feel like eating anything and i was constantly thirsty with a raging headache, it is highly contagious so I was isolated for 5 days as well. My parents are big on alternative medicine and the only conventional medicine i had taken was multivitamins, vitamin D/B/E/K and paracetamol helped the pain from shingles, the feeling is like someone has a sharp object and is constantly stabbing you with it within the affected area. I was prescribed with Phenergan an antihistimine (but with many different side effects), Calamine to soothe the sores (the use of this was unbearable as it dries out the spots and made the itchiness unbearable to the point of crying, even in the shower) and paracetamol for pain.

The alternative medicine I had taken was the "Fish mint" plant which is a natural anti-inflammatory plant. When i had started drinking this it appeared the spread of VZV had slowed to almost a complete halt, instead of seeing hundreds of new spots appear the next day I had only spotted about 15. The night before was when it blew up from my torso to my scalp and face into my nose and ears. I believe if I had not started drinking the fish mint tea it would have spread all the way down my arms and legs. However less than 50 are on my arms and legs put together. NOTE: I had also noticed that any new spots would not get any bigger and the only side effect for me was a slight increase in itchiness in heavily affected areas when drinking the tea.

I would not wish VZV on my worst enemy, throughout my experience my mind had had enough of what my body had gone through and I would rather have died BUT a great thing is too stay positive and keep in mind that VZV is self limiting. If you are wondering what Varicella feels like, it is like having constant itchy mosquito bites all over your body but they arent just red spots they become blisters and sores; So if you pop them more will show up around it and the popped area has a high chance of infection as they do not heal normally usually staying open for days and possible to turn black. You become so irritable and itchy you just want to scratch them, in my case parts of my body that were affected had become numb (this can actually occur when your body experiences too much pain) but this meant my body was in shock and i had chills which can lead to complications.

I hope this piece can be classified as a premium potato and that you have enjoyed or learned a little something from it. If you are interested in what it looks like here is a video that is similar to what my body looked like during my fight with VZV, I believe if I had not taken fish mint it would have been as bad on the arms, legs and could have become what this mans back looks like. It is possibly NSFW as it is a severe case, not for the light hearted.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3059224/Video-reveals-happens-ADULT-gets-chickenpox-s-not-faint-hearted.html#v-4198618948001 (careful possibly NSFW)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houttuynia_cordata (fish mint although not much is said about it)

PS: The taste of fish mint is absolutely disgusting, very hard to get down until you get a taste for it and DO NOT drink on an empty stomach as it can provide stomach aches.