No one took my illness seriously because they thought the name was funny

I got shingles at the age of 21. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

It was genuinely the worst pain I've ever experienced. It sends your nerves on edge and anything touching your skin feels like agony.

It starts off with a few small patches of a rash, that develop into huge painful boils that turn black and die. I still have scars along my left side where I got it. If I remember correctly, I was suffering for about 6 weeks with it, but the nerve pain persisted for a little while after.

I also periodically get nightmares where the rash comes back :'D

Anyways. One of the worst things about it was when I told people what I was suffering with, they'd laugh because they thought it was an "old persons disease". Even my own family members laughed about it lol.

I'm pretty much over it at this point, but god. It still stings sometimes to think about.

If anyone has had shingles/is suffering with it right now, I'm sending my love.❤️