I have suffered with anxiety and depression (undiagnosed until my early 20’s) since my parents separation when I was nine. Subsequently this was when I first came down with shingles - at the time I did not see the connection. Over the past 17 years my anxiety and depression have got progressively worse, manifesting primarily in binge eating disorder and body dysmorphia. I have just begun teaching which I do not find overly stressful (in fact it’s the best job I have ever had) and have been renovating my house for 18 months (hardest thing I have ever done which has caused mountains of stress). However, these past two weeks I have spiralled completely out of control. I have been constantly anxious and low, on the brink of tears and restless. I constantly wake up in the night and have nightmares where I wake up drenched in sweat. On Saturday I began getting very sensitive skin on my stomach and then low and behold, the dreaded shingles rash appeared.
I’m posting on here to see if anyone else has suffered from shingles due to stress and anxiety and to also get some strategies to help reduce/manage my stress and anxiety. Any suggestions would be greatly received.
Thank you 