Initial Symptoms: Redness of face and extremities, swelling of lips, mouth and tongue.
Condition worsening by the day. Swelling continually growing. By 4th day legions forming in mouth, on tongue and in various other parts of the body, patient only able to eat soft foods. On 5th day patient is no longer able to eat or drink. Urination and defecation have become painful. Walking is painful, resulting in patient using a stilted limp to move.
Cause: Unknown
Kinda sounds like I was a zombie, right? Well, it wasn't exactly that bad, but it was pretty bad. Turns out I had what's called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. It's an auto immune disease that makes one's immune system attack his body, anywhere in the body. WARNING - IF YOU GOOGLE THIS YOU WILL BE GROSSED OUT! If left untreated it can result in loss of vision or, in extreme cases, death. As far as the cause being unknown that was a bit of a stretch: it turns out I'm allergic to naproxen sodium (Aleve), the reaction to which resulted in my developing Stevens-Johnson.
The point, however, is that after I started treatment I most definitely felt like a zombie: after lesions ruptured I would spit out bits of skin followed by blood. Yeah, it was pretty gross. Further than that, though, was the fact that most people don't generally think of a zombie being caused by an auto immune disease. Quite frankly, I find that to be a pretty plausible way for zombism to occur.
Think about it: there are plenty of reasons why a zombie virus would never work. It's a horse that's been beaten past death so I won't go into all the reasons here. Also, I'm not a doctor so there are probably a lot of holes in my theory but please hear (read) me out. Where a virus wouldn't work, an auto immune disease would. Although my experience would only convey superficial signs of zombism, there could be, and probably are, auto immune diseases that would attack the brain in such a way as to create real, true zombism. Before you ask, I'd like to point out that Stevens-Johnson attacked my mouth but left my eyes and respiratory system unscathed, so in my mind that makes it possible for an auto immune disease to attack certain parts of the brain while leaving others alone. Granted, this would make for a rather hodge-podge disease that wouldn't create zombies out of all, but there could be some.
Combine this brain attack with a little Stevens-Johnson and BAM! There's your zombie: shuffling down the street, moaning in pain, half brain dead, dripping blood and skin from the mouth.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really terrible disease. Both my parents are doctors and they have some books covering different areas, Dermatology included. While I was flipping through that book I came across this abnormally gross-looking disease in which the patients lips were crusted raw, eyes were swollen shut, they had conjunctivitis and a blistering, peeling rash. There was also an even more serious version of the disease, called Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis. In this scenario, the blistering rash spreads to the point that the blisters start to run together and because of that, the outer layer of skin separates from the rest, dies and sloughs off in sheets. A truly dreadful condition this is. Fortunately, you've suffered a minor case, even though having your mouth's lining blister and peel off is a serious pain. :)
ReplyDeleteI was lucky.. my 'punishment' was watching several episodes of Star Trek. It's also a very extreme weight loss regimen... I lost 10 pounds during the course of this.
ReplyDelete