I thought I was the only one who had experienced this. Kind of a funny story really.
I was about 21 years old, in college full time and working full time as a personal trainer, waiting tables, and unloading trucks for a grocery store. I was studying computer programming and also dating this really great little country girl. Well once or twice a week, I'd have to pull an all-nighter and stay up writing computer code for my assignments. Just no other way to make it work with my schedule. I was waking up at 4am and going to bed at 11pm at the earliest. My girlfriend got the short end of the stick time wise and wound up breaking up with me, class was stressful, and I got the shingles! I looked it up, went to the Dr. and told him I thought I had shingles. My lymph nodes were swollen so I could tell my body was fighting something. Dr was cool and impressed I knew my anatomy / physiology but first thing he asked is if I was on gear. I was on my second cycle ever and was about 195lbs at 5'9" and sub 8% BF. I was working out 6 days a week, eating a clean diet but I guess it all was too stressful and shingles reared it's ugly head. I've struggled for years with cold sores, caught them somehow in grade 1 or 2 so I knew the virus was in me. The shingles hurt at the time but kind of funny how it felt like an electrical signal with slight itching. The Dr. gave me some cream, was skeptical when I lied and told him I wasn't on gear. He told me gear could cause stress to the body and make shingles come out esp since I had told him about my crazy schedule and gf dumping me. Shingles haven't come back and I'm now 36. I do get a cold sore a few times a year when I shave to close or get a bad sunburn, a fever, or am really stressed out. It's a pain the butt but nothing I can do about it except have a beard and mustache in the winter!
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