Who's afraid of needles and heat?

Dear friends,

March hasn't been good to me. It has been incredibly hot. I'm born and bred in Singapore so the heat isn't new to me. However, this time around, it's slightly different. For the past few weeks, I have been experiencing daily hot flash. Hot flash plus hot weather - you can imagine how volatile I have been. Grr.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has predicted the temperature over the next fortnight will hit a high of 36 deg C on some days with other daily highs of 33 to 34 deg C. I wish NEA could predict which day will hit 36 deg C so I'll go hide in the public library. It's usually shivering in there.

If I continue to get hot flashes the next 2 weeks, I believe I will be roasted alive.

I'm thinking the same thing you're thinking. I must be experiencing perimenopausal symptoms. I've not yet hit menopause because you know that thingy... well they're still making regular appearances. I'm not enjoying aging at all. It's utter crap.

The hot flashes must have damaged my brain because I voluntarily went to my GP to get an injection. Since last year, my GP has been nagging me to get the Zoster Vaccine.

I contracted chicken pox in my 20's as my neglectful mother had not informed me that I hadn't caught it during my childhood. As such, I never got the chicken pox vaccine. Anyhoos my GP said I had better get the Zoster vaccine to prevent shingles as I already suffer from myofascial pain syndrome as well as the gastritis induced headaches and stomach pains. If I get shingles on top of all that, it would be hell.

But I am terrified of needles and other than the mandatory vaccines and blood tests/IV drips, I rarely allow myself to be poked with a needle. So I kept putting it off and putting it off. Thank goodness, the hot flash zapped my brain and I found myself holding queue no. 2 at the GP's waiting room one morning. The elderly woman ahead of me went in for a very long time. When she finally emerged, I saw she had plasters all over her arm. She probably had like 3 injections, minimum. My legs immediately went weak. Very quickly, I was called in. The GP assured me she would use the tiniest needle known to mankind. Also, seeing how scared I was (tears were already streaming down my face and I had curled up like a fetus), she sprayed my arm with something to numb it. Thanks to these measures, I physically barely felt the injection although mentally, I was on the brink of madness. After I left the examination room, I felt a wave of nausea. Honestly, I was just psychologically making myself ill. The nausea went away very quickly.

The injection site on my arm did ache a little for a couple of days but other than that, I did not experience any other symptoms.

My GP recommends zoster vaccine for anyone 50 years and above who has contracted chicken pox. However, there are some people who may not be able to get this vaccine. E.g. those with HIV infection, allergy to gelatin or neomycin, those on medication which weaken your immune system, pregnant women and those with active tuberculosis.

I'm just glad it's over for me (it's a single dose) and hopefully, this jab will prevent me from getting shingles ever.

I don't know if it was a combination of the heat and hot flash but March was a little dark for me. I went from sadness to tiredness to lonesomeness to hopelessness and all sorts of other ness.

Hello darkness, my old friend,

I've come to talk with you again

Fortunately there's always yam ice cream

<Notice how melted the ice-cream is? That's how amazingly hot it is in Singapore.>

Despite the threat of soaring temperature, I feel I'm starting to pull myself out of the ditch. I've been sewing test bags and kicking around some other ideas.

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