shingles?

Man, I am cranky. Like I want to yell at everyone and everything.  I did, in fact, yell at DH after dinner today for doing something he does all the time: challenges me on a detail when I have just, in fact, said I wasn't sure about said detail.  I had already warned him I was super cranky, so I quite loudly asked him to give me a break and could he just knock it off for once.  I think he's afraid to talk to me now.

I'm blaming whatever is going on with my back for all this negativity.  I noticed it yesterday afternoon, an odd kind of itchy, burning sensation in a strip between my spine and shoulder blade.  It varies from killing me to being totally ignorable, and I dug around a bit and found the symptoms are consistent with shingles.

Great.

I used my entire lunch hour being on hold with my doctor's office but finally getting through at the last minute, and then miraculously getting an appointment with a PA during my prep time.  I was gone just a smidge over an hour, but the PA was great and agreed there's a good chance that it's shingles.   Right now I don't even have a rash, just a tiny area of redness, but the area of sensitivity is much larger and apparently now wrapping around through my armpit to my breast (yay)... but that's off and on.  The back discomfort/pain/weirdness has been steadily getting worse all evening, to the point I broke down and took some ibuprofen, then hemmed and hawed for another 10 minutes, then finally took the first dose of the anti-viral.

I read the info sheet.  I think I should  never read the info sheet because then I know about the side effects and immediately think I have all of them.  But screw it, I don't want to wait any longer to see if this gets worse, because then the anti-viral will be basically useless.  On the other hand, the PA assured me that taking the anti-viral if it's not shingles isn't going to hurt me in any way.  

The pills are HUGE and really bright blue.  Very weird.  I hope they work.  I hope the ibuprofen kicks in soon, and I hope this chip on my shoulder goes away in the process.  Wanting to bite everyone's head off is no way to go through life. 

I am taking myself off to bed in the further hope of feeling better.  Nerve pain is the worst.