4:30 and going strong

Well I had a server migration tank on me today. For those who are not in the business, interpret this as super-nasty, you get to stay up and do all kinds of stuff just to get back to the starting line to try again, with no guarantee it will work the next time.

Oh well, it's what I do. I've got coffee on and high energy techno pouring through the speakers to keep me awake. So far so good. At this rate, I actually hope to be able to restart the migration process at 7 or so. At midnight I thought I had it all ready to go and found another huge issue I had to fix first.

Dr. M left me a voice mail today about my nuclear stress echo. He said I aced it. No issues at all with blood flow and he said my ejection fraction was 70% which he said was 'athletic'. Can you believe that? I was surprised, but at least we know beyond a doubt that my elevated CK levels have nothing at all to do with a 'real' issue.

The question now is if that is a side-effect of the meds (teriflunomide)? I cannot say precisely but I did read that there was about a 3-5% side-effect rate of elevated CK levels in patients using a sister drug (leflunomide). It doesn't change anything in the real world, but I suppose it could lean me toward being on the drug and not placebo, especially since blood work stands apart from the placebo effect. Oh well, we'll know in a year or so and until then I'll just keep my head down and keep going.

Here is a VERY interesting article (detailed) about teriflunomide and the Phase 3 trials that are currently underway with it.

Nothing like being radioactive

Well today I had my stress echo...except that it wasn't. It turns out I had the nuclear version where they inject you with radioactive dye that emits gamma rays. So, I can't hold infants for a day or try to fly. So I officially have a glow today. :)

The end of the year approaches

...and there is all at once so much and yet so little, to say.

I have been getting my blood drawn every two weeks now for months. Funny thing though, my CK levels have been high a number of times. From what I've been told that says my muscles are showing 'damage' but that happens when you work out. I repeat the test a day or two later and it comes down and they stop panicking.

When I say my CK is high, when it has been, it is off of the charts high. One was 3000+, another 1900+, and another more than 17000+ (no I did not accidentally add a zero). When it comes down, it still may be on the high side of the range, say 300, but it is no longer in outer space.

Anyway, I saw Dr. M and he wants me to have a stress echo just to make sure there is no heart damage, even though he cannot hear anything (in the stethoscope) and I have no symptoms of cardiac anything (no chest tightness or pain, no trouble breathing, no heavy chest, no neck pain, etc.). It is better to be safe when dealing with the heart though, eh?

I haven't felt as much fatigue recently, and I attribute that to the cold, yet I am now cold nearly all of the time. It is very hard to keep my fingers and toes warm. Mom got me some great mittens and those help a lot.

We are staying home for Christmas proper but will be heading to KS for the new year and seeing my family.

December is here

Well it is finally December. The year is rapidly coming to a close. I have felt yucky ever sine my overnight camping trip. I cannot kick the stuffy head. It is not terribly bad, but it really isn't getting any better either. That is frustrating. No real changes in symptoms to speak of. My blood work keep coming back with elevated CK levels. I'm pretty sure that is what it is called. I'll reverify that tomorrow. At any rate, it seems to get high after I exercise. I have had the issue a number of times and re-testing makes it go back down to more normal levels but it is getting annoying.

12 weeks in

Today I had another long visit with the Drug Study. The neuro re-evaluated all of my performances and I had to fill out a number of questionnaires about how I feel and changes in the last so many weeks. I had to take back in my unused study medication and got a whole new set of meds. I will still be on whatever protocol I got when randomized (drug or placebo), but the blister packs are all new. Nothing to note, my responses are the same more or less. I am still tired nearly all of the time, but the intensity of the fatigue is continuing to wane as cold weather becomes the norm.

Mom had her left knee replaced yesterday and she is doing very well.

Fatigue is easing

I feel much better and less fatigued over the last few days. My allergies kicked up over the weekend. Logan and I camped at our cubmasters house Friday night. It was very cold, but he had a great time (and I did too). The smoke from the campfire, the cold air, and the dust from falling leaves caused me to lose my voice over the last couple of days but it is better today. All in all I feel pretty good.

Pager duty is over

I am finally off pager duty. It has been a long month that way. A lot of nights with interrupted sleep. It sure doesn't help the way I feel. Tonight though will be a blessing with no pager going off. I got a Mac at work (I know that isn't MS related but I'm excited about it). I hurt my ankle yet again over the weekend. Julie said she remembered me tripping over a door threshold and that would make sense. I have been wearing my brace about 20 hours/day since and it will let it heal. It is frustrating to be hurt, and to continue getting hurt in the same place(s). Next week I will go in again for a physical exam as part of the drug study. It will be another fasting lab that day too. I don't like fasting lab days. I don't think it is so much about not eating because I don't think I have a habit of eating late or right when I get up. It is more of just having the restriction in place. :(

Family birthday party

Julie's family is starting to have quarterly birthday parties for those in that 'zone' and that is fun. We just had one this past weekend and it was a costume party. Esther (I wonder if I'm spelling that right...) hand made chimichangas. Wow. Chicken ones for lunch, apple ones for dessert. Basically a Mexican theme for the food in general. The best costumes were a hard pick. Chandler won as Link, Logan came in second as Calvin (and Hobbes), and the 'G' Grigors came in third. All in all it was a great time. Sorry for the late post, I though this one had already been out there but it still showed draft this morning.

Another Tuesday, another lab

Yes every other Tuesday is lab day, at least for a while. It is not a big deal, they only take three little vials and sometimes want urine. Yeeha! At any rate, things are much unchanged. I still feel tired all of the time, or at least so much of the time that when I'm not tired it doesn't count. A couple of weeks ago I did though, and I'd like to see that again.

Work is very very busy and I am spending a number of evenings working (from home of course, but it still isn't relaxing). We hope to have a new person hired before the end of the year. That would take us to 7 people.

Don't you hate it when...

...you sleep funny (I guess) and you wake up with you neck hurting? I sure do. I did this morning! The whole rub it a bit thing has never fixed it for me. I usually have to wait until the next day after I've slept again for it to get better. Other than that I am fine, although I have had a couple of headaches this week and one last week and one the week before. It is kind of odd seeing that I did not really have any over the summer (that I can remember).

Back to 'normal'

The great energy lasted about a day and a half. Now I'm back to normal and have been. Not really much to say overall to say about how I feel. The fatigue is still a material issue although I am enjoying the cooler weather and have been able to play catch outside with the boys. I can go for 30-40 minutes before my leg has had enough and I need to rest.

WooHoo I feel rested!

For the first time in what seems to have been weeks, I feel rested, really rested. I don't know how long it will last, but I feel great today. I woke up easily with the alarm and am not running through honey today. I did do a lot of heavy lifting with Marsha last night, so maybe that has something to do with it? I wouldn't normally think so as exercise usually wears me out, but documentation for posterity is like that, sometimes you just write down the facts and see if there is a correlation later :)

Fatigue is easing

Yesterday and today are better. Not quite so bad when I wake. So far no real side-effects from the trial that I can attribute. Either I'm on a placebo or they are right in that there are nearly no side-effects. My allergies have been acting up in the last week or so; Don't you just love sneezing? I continue to lose weight slowly. Julie and I have bee eating much better and I'm watching my calorie intake. I'm down to 202 so far. I'm trying to lose about 1lb./week. It isn't that consistent, a little slower, but slower is better I hear.

So so tired

I don't know what it is but I've been feeling more and more tired. It is just ridiculous anymore. I go to bed tired and wake up tired. I don't want to really do anything and when I do muster some energy, I feel like I'm fighting my own movements through honey. I don't know why the fatigue is so intense, but it is.

Randomized

Yep today it is official. I have a number and have my packet of pills and am in the study.

Today was more of the same as last time with test here and there to see how I respond. I had to fill out a quite extensive questionnaire about my fatigue and health perceptions. Most were like "Because of my fatigue, physical activity is: not affected, slightly affected, somewhat affected, much affected, extremely affected". I had to check one for each line and there were perhaps 60 of them. No big deal, but part of the plan visits in the future.

The pill is some little thing the size of a Sudafed but plain white, no markings at all. I can take it any time of day, with or without food. Nothing to tell thus far (of course), but I will keep posting.

Post Ultrasound

I had an ultrasound of my pancreas Monday morning it was uneventful. I expected that, but it really looked like poor t.v. reception, not anything you could recognize. A few minutes and 20-30 pictures later, I was done. Two very cool things about it though. The first is that the lube they used was warmed so it wasn't a shock (Julie remembers it being cold at the OB when we had her pregnancy ultrasounds). The other was that this was the first thing on 'their' dime and not mine so all I did was give them my DL, no insurance card. Very nice indeed.

Drug Trial Here I Come

I had my first intro on Tuesday where I had to basically sign all kinds of forms and see two Dr's. It was not a big deal form that perspective, just time consuming. I also had to get my blood drawn and a urine specimen. Fun fun at DLO! at any rate, I have an ultrasound Monday morning first thing (8am, fasting before for 12 hours) to get a baseline on my pancreas. It will be much like what you think of in pregnancy circles, just obviously looking at different stuff. I am slated for the 31st to actually start meds and such, but if I get 'randomized' earlier I will post about it.

Dog Days of Summer

Well they certainly are here and in force. Temperatures near or over 100 (that's 36-40C for you Canadians in the audience :-) ) are just so draining. When I step out of the car (or into one that has been setting in the sun) I can feel my energy go away. Yuck.

My symptoms in my legs are worsening to a degree. They tend to want to bounce around more than they used to and when I stand they are tensing up (locking) more often than I remember. It really is not a big deal later in the day, as it is more common in the morning hours for some reason.

My arms also are getting a little odd on occasion like they did a year ago. A bit of alien arm, not too often, but they get that feeling like they are trying to go to sleep and then feel like they want to move on their own. It is a hard feeling to describe.

I am not too sure what is the cause for what I am feeling. It could be one or more of: true increase in my symptoms, the heat exacerbating everything, me no longer being on maintenance meds (and they were actually helping although I didn't notice until I went off of them), or the anti-placebo effect (now that I know I'm not on meds, my body is responding subconsciously, yada yada). I really have no idea which one or more of these it is, but I am not concerned about the increase at this time. The heat is such a big factor to my overall fatigue anyway, I lean toward thinking it is that more than anything. I suppose if this was happening in December I may feel differently.

I will be seeing my neuro and another on Tuesday the 17th. It is preparation for me entering a drug trial. There will be a number of tests that happen that day and then in the next two weeks I will have other tests (ultrasound, blood work, and an X-ray I think). I will officially enter the trial on the 31st as that is my 'randomization' day where I get a number and my meds to take (oral, daily). The study is double-blind, placebo controlled, with two drug dosages. The short description is no-one knows who has meds or sugar pills and there is a 1/3 chance for placebo, 1/3 for one strength of the drug and 1/3 for the higher dose. Pray for the drug at the highest dosage!

Lamenting my laziness

Well summer is here again and my posts are few and far between. Things are going fairly well with my symptoms. My fatigue is gradually getting more common as I expect in the heat of summer. Since I am not on any medications right now, it is nice to have my life 'back' and not feeling bad every week. I don't think I have had any regression of symptoms or the like to make me think I should have stayed on the meds. I will get to start the trial in August and will have plenty to post then with all of the additional medical supervision I will be going through. For now, I am in my zone of normal; working out with Marsha and letting my days run together :)

Vacation

Well five of eleven days draws to a close. We've done so much it gets
hard to keep it all straight. My most exertions have been in climbing
sand dunes and in a cave tour carrying a lantern. Yesterday and today
have been the highlight as we have traversed the Grand Teton national
park and Yellowstone. Wyoming is so so beautiful. I'd put it like
this: It is a beautiful sundae with beautiful topping, beautiful
sprinkles and a beautiful on top. At every corner, we came to a scene
we could not imagine, only to get another surprise around the next. I
must say that the Teton range simply shames in beauty other mountains
I've seen...simply amazing. And of all the states I've seen, Wyoming
is by far the most visually stunning. The geology and geography is so
incredibly beautiful and interesting. I just don't think I can speak
highly enough of it.

Getting ready for vaction

I got two new walking poles yesterday (because they don't sell what I bought before) and they seem to be very similar to what I had. I am going to take my other just to be on the safe side. We pulled down all of the luggage with wheels on it last night so we can go through what can go where. I am using the royal we here because Julie will most likely do the packing so at least one person will know where everything is.

A week and normal approaches

I actually feel human again. Its been basically a week and that seems to be what the last round did. A week o misery. I hope that the benefits start taking off. I have already noticed that I feel more balanced when I walk but won't know just how much better until vacation (in just another week!) and all of that activity. So far, so good.

Yesterday fight, today flight

Side effects can be bizzarre. At least that is the story I'm sticking
to. Yesterday I felt like a wookiee and wanted to tear everyone's arms
off. Today I'm so tired I just want to sit and not move. Let the
world go by. I know this too will pass but it is odd indeed.

Side effects after last infusion

The third and last bag was in last night. The bad taste has not been
nearly as bad as the first time. I don't know if that means it isn't
going to work as well this time or I'm just taking it better this
time. I know that I have been more on edge today. I need to go back
and re-read last time but my dexterity in my hands. They are very weak
and holding a coffee cup is difficult at best. I spilled my vitamins
this morning because I was so weak. I don't think this will last but I
want to be sensitive to it all and write it down. It is certainly nice
to have the iv out of my arm.

Solumedrol

Started my infusion last night. Three days, 3 grams, same side-effects (at least so far). Happy to get this done before vacation. Kept me up last night as expected. Woke at 3 and couldn't get back. That's ok, I got some WOW played :). More after tonights bag o goodness...

Drug Study

Well, I have decided to stop taking Avonex. It is just too much for me. To that end, I had a conversation with the drug study people and they say I am in once I wash out. I should start the real process around August. I think it is two weeks after the first visit before I get my meds, but basically it is a done deal. I'll keep everyone informed but for now, I'm zero meds (not even Ampyra). Well, I'm still taking my asthma stuff, but nothing for MS.

Oh how quickly I forget

It is times like these that I am reminded of how quickly I blow off my side effects from Avonex. Oh how I wish I was not out of Ibuprofen at the office. I only had one left; how woefully inadequate that is / was. At any rate, the flu is in full effect. Chills, my joints ache, no my whole body aches, I feel terrible. Bed is calling my name and there is not one handy. How unfortunate.

So for the record, the side effects are no less than they have ever been, the Ibuprofen routine is the only reason I can function with these shots. How I wish that I could get in that drug study.

The Walk and other stuff

Well the MS Walk this last weekend was great. There was a huge turnout which is always a good thing. Like last year it was a very difficult walk, but I made it through. It was fun to have so many show to walk with me (Thanks to all of you).

I just got my prescription filled for Ampyra (the walking pill). This is day two. No changes that I can tell yet, but then again, I'm not sure when I should see results.

I still have not heard from the drug trial a true yes or no. So far it is up in the air with whomever decides these kinds of things.

Symptom-wise things are very much the same. Since we are going to go on vacation in early June, I may try to get a round of steroids in beforehand to make the trip a little easier.

Shots on Thursday mornings

I have switched up my shot mornings all over and timing seems little to matter. I have settled on Thursday mornings and while it makes for a terrible Thursday, it doesn't interfere with working out or anything we may want to do on a weekend. It seems to be the best option.

I got a call today to start Ampyra (the new MS walking pill). It is covered by my insurance and so I may be able to start that soon. The word is still out on the clinical trial, and today was not a good day to call them. I will do it Monday morning and see what happens. I need the answer so I know whether or not to refill my Avonex.

Yesterday was a particularly hard day for me after the shot. Felt worse than I have in a while. In fact felt bad enough that I never ate dinner. Today I'm feeling closer to normal and that is nice.

Changes in shot timing seem to have little effect

It has been a few weeks since my last pots and I have tried my shots in the morning, evening, small and larger doses of Ibuprofen and little change takes place. Certainly more medication has a better result for some symptoms (fever) but my fatigue the next day is still crazy and I feel terrible. This morning was a prime example of how bad I can feel when waking up. Felt absolutely horrible, fever, barely enough energy to stand in the shower; I nearly fell down twice. Getting dressed as an adventure in that I normally sit, but just raising my arms to put my shirt on took a lot of effort.

Now I'm at work, have had two cups of coffee and the world is a little better. Thankfully I can sit here and I don't have to be up and around.

I met with my neurologist about two weeks ago now and he tends to agree with Dr. M and me that the Avonex is most likely depressing my immune system. I am looking into getting in a drug study because of my side-effects. It is still up in the air as far as approval, but they are verifying that I qualify. I may start LDN (low-dose Naltrexone) as I have a prescription for it now, but have not yet had it filled (it has to be compounded). Others have touted its benefits but it is purely anecdotal. I'd like to see what it does for me.

So far I have had sponsorships of over $1000 for the 1020 MS Walk. I hope to get over $1500. I have 3 more weeks to get donations in. Please consider donating or walking with us.

Took my shot friday

Well I did not plan well and while I wanted to take my shot early Friday morning, I ended up taking it at night and while the overnight stuff did not mess with me too much, Saturday was no fun. I felt terrible most of the day and it reminds me again how much I dislike feeling ill every week. Just as I get over a real illness, my shot kicks in and sends me right back. Granted, it only lasts 18 hours or so, but I am fast getting tired of it. I am even starting to think about getting into the oral med clinical trial. I figure there is a 2/3 chance that I will get the meds, and if I don't get the meds, at least I won't feel so bad. That decision is far off, but it is on the radar.

The MS Walk is April 24th and I'm gearing up for that. It will be fun. Come walk with me!
Heritage Hounds or David Heritage

Off meds, slowly improving

Well a little over a week has past, now I have no more antibiotics to take (that is a good thing I think). Have been incredibly tired. Not sleepy mind you, because I slept so much during the first 5 days of felling bad, I'm all full. I just don't want to move. Getting up and walking is an undertaking at least mentally. I'm still coughing like crazy, not much is clearing but that is supposed to take another week anyway.

Julie and I went to dinner on Fri. night to celebrate our anniversary (14) even though I didn't feel well. We went to The Melting Pot (our favorite restaurant) and took a good 3 hours to eat and talk. Just love that place.

The MS walk in Tulsa is April 24th so I'm putting together my team for this year. I'll be sending out emails this week about it. Feel free to bring it up if I miss you. The more the merrier!

Pneumonia

Yep. That is what my latest illness is. How wonderful. Yesterday left me with no improvement in any way. I napped a few times through the day and had a lot of chicken broth. Read a lot more and have no internet to speak of.

Today I went to see Dr. M (he worked me in) and found out I have pneumonia. I spent an hour or more at St. Francis to get a chest x-ray done. Walgreen's was hard to get in and out of since the street they are on is all under construction. Cox came over and we got the internet straightened out so I can at least blog and perhaps tomorrow actually get some work done from home. Supposedly these meds are going to make me feel even more fatigued so I am not looking forward to that. Oh for specifics, Levaquin 750, once daily with lunch for 7 days. Cough syrup with Codeine and Promethazine. Mucinex-D twice daily.

Anyway, Dr. M and I both are thinking that my illnesses are because the Avonex is turning down my immune system. Not a great trade-off but where I am for now. I'm going to start looking into Copaxone just because it seems like the right thing to be doing. It does not have the side-effects but is a daily injection. No decisions now, but we've got to start thinking.

Still feel terrible

No improvement and most likely worse. I went to bed about 9 last night and slept until 4 when I got up remedicate. I got to sleep in, read, and nap until I got up at 2pm. I'm still coughing and have a sore throat. I've read a lot of the Hitchhikers Guide today. I'm starting to think in guide-ese at an improbability factor of two to the power of four hundred thirty nine to one against. I'll write again tomorrow about how I'm doing.

I can't call it yet

I'm still not feeling well. A little cough and sore throat, still very tired. Now I cannot be sure of what my body is doing. Maybe I caught something. Maybe not. I'll let you know as time progresses, but for now I'm saying I'm ill. :)

A pattern is emerging

I've done a lot of maneuvering with my shot timing and one thing remains consistent... I feel terrible on Thursdays. Just right awful. Now I'll admit it is less now than when I was taking my shot at 5p.m. or so on Wed. nights and having to suffer through the nights with fevers and such, trying to take Ibuprofen by waking myself up. Now I am taking the shot early on Wed. morning and keeping my Ibuprofen levels up is a much easier task. That said, Thursday is still a bad day. So, I've come up with a theory.

It goes like this: No matter when I take the shot, and that being in my leg muscle, my body starts trying to absorb it. While I maintain the Ibuprofen to keep my fevers at bay, my body is doing well absorbing at whatever trickle rate it does. BUT when I go work out on Wed. night with Marsha my leg muscles do what I ask of them and keep me from falling all over the place but it gets the blood flowing 'faster' and changes my rate of absorption (or so I think) thereby making me ill the next day. Next week I'm going to take my shot on Thursday morning and see how I feel Friday. If all goes well, that may be the change I have really been looking for.

Stiff neck today

I must have slept funny last night. I can barely turn my head to the left. That is such a weird thing to have happen. I know it is common enough I would think everyone has suffered through it at least a few times. Just thought I'd mention it.

My neuro appt. got moved to April 22nd as my Neuro cancelled for my March 16th appt. No big deal as it is just a follow-up. I think I'll ask him about another round of steroids when I do get there. I would really like to do that again.

New week, same story

I am just tired all of the time. Over the last couple of weeks I was blaming it on my work schedule with late nights and such being common. Recently though it hasn't been doing that and I still cannot seem to get rested. I'm alert (or so I claim) but I just feel so fatigued. I was talking to a friend yesterday and (I know I've said it here before) I was explaining how I felt. The whole idea of fighting gravity is such a good visual picture. It just seems to take effort to move at all, let alone any meaningful activity. Lifting my arms off of the desk feels difficult and even as I am still, I feel pulled into whatever I am resting on. My arms feel bolted to my desk. I feel like a blob of silly putty, how it kind of runs into a puddle and doesn't want to hold its shape. I've felt this way before, but I guess I've had better excuses than now.

At any rate, I really appreciate how many people are concerned with how I am doing, but all in all I am not materially different form day to day or week to week. There are changes as my activity levels change, but overall I change very little. Perhaps if I look back at the last year or two I can identify differences, but other than how fatigued I feel 'today', my symptoms are fairly static.

So ask me how work is going or the kids are doing. I'm doing fine. I cannot change the way I feel and neither can the doctors or anything like that. To be sure, pray, but I am not nearly as 'sick' as some people may think and I understand that it make some people uncomfortable to talk to a person who has a chronic illness (I can only imagine it is similar to the way I feel about talking to people in wheelchairs. It is obvious there is 'something' there and how do you handle the 800lb. gorilla in the room.). You may think that by bringing up how I am makes you seem more compassionate, or by the opposite, NOT bringing it up means you don't care. I certainly don't feel that way, and wouldn't want you to. I know that you care about me by you asking me about all sorts of things going on in my life, and while my MS is certainly out there, you shouldn't feel like you have to bring it up.

Today is another day

My shingles are still here but much less painful. My back is not irritated like before; the pain has migrated to my side. Sleep is still the most irritating thing but overall it is not a big deal.

I have been boxing Julie on the Wii and that is very exhausting. I've been trying to do 30 mins / day of cardio on the Wii but I don't have the daily habit that Julie has yet.

Just got our information about the MS Walk for this year. I'm excited about raising money again.

I went and saw Colin again this past weekend. Was good just to have dinner and chat.

I really do not have a lot to say, my MS is what it is and my fatigue during the day is currently my biggest challenge. My balance is off as I would expect it, and by the end of the day I am just worn out. I've been working some late nights in the last week or so and that contributes to that. I have had pretty good success with my shots on Wednesday morning so I plan on continuing that habit at this point. It seems to take less ibuprofen to deal with my side effects when I'm up and about.

Shingles are better

I have much improved over the last few days. I still hurt at times but the intensity has gone down. I'm out of the LorTabs and that is ok now. A little ibuprofen is what I'm using now. I still have some antivirals I'm taking but the predisone is also over with.

The steroids helped my symptoms and I suppose still will for a while. My workout with Marsha last week went very well balance-wise and if it weren't for the shingles it may have been even better. We'll see how long this little stint helps.

Work is better under control with our new person Aaron. He is working out very well and my stress level is down because of it.

Long time no write, lots has happened

Well the new year has come nad gone and I've not gotten better about my blogging. Many have asked how I'm doing and I've been remiss in posting. I'll try to cover things as linearly as I can remember.

The new year was fun with family in KS. No real stories there other than feeling bad due to the climate changes and such. I felt bad for a few days but nothing much to write about.

I started trying to take my shot on Wed mornings to see if taking my Ibuprofen through the day would be better to not miss doses and keep me from feeling so bad.

It went pretty well the first time around. The next day though was terrible. All of the bad things I thought I avoided, I got. Turns out it was not the meds. I was getting shingles! Woohoo!.. but I didn't know that then.

So now I'm on antivirals, prednisone (steroid for the inflammation), and pain killers (good stuff). If you look on WebMD for shingles and pictures it does it justice. It looks just as bad and it hurts really, really bad. I would say I walk around with it being 4-6 most of the time, spiking to 8 if I rub it (on my shirt sitting down, etc.) or bump it at all. If I let the LorTabs wear off it is more sensitive. It wraps form the middle of my back around the left side nearly to my belly button. That said, it isn't evenly distributed that way. It is more on my back and less as it wraps around.

I took my shot again this week on Wednesday morning and had no issues at all. That is great so I think it will work out best this way in the future. Time will tell.