Yah... shingles is a nasty one. Dad got that sometime back, and it was miserable for him.
My poison oak episode was just plain bizarre. Got it on a camping trip with a friend out to an island in puget sound. Best we figure, some poison oak leaves got thrown into the camp fire along with some of the wood we gathered and I breathed it in with the camp fire smoke. I happen to be -really- allergic to poison oak.
I woke up the next morning and my face was so swollen I couldn't see. To make a really long story short... the doctor said that it would take a long time for the allergen to work its way out of my system. I reported for boot camp a few months later and was almost thrown out on a medical (because of a massive hideous rash on my leg) until I convinced the doc to call my home town doctor and get the OK that I didn't have leprosy or something. But... it still took maybe another two years for the rashes to stop popping out from time to time.
I'll tell ya... it made boot camp ~no~ fun at all. It hurt like hell. :-)
My first HH post. Has it been that long?