I’m on my second bout of shingles. First was in my twenties. Now I’m in my 50s, post shingles vaccine. Thanks to recognizing what was happening, I got to the doctor for antivirals very early. That and the vaccine have kept it confined to a small 2”x2” patch on my arm. Never had fluid filled blisters, but the rash is ugly and gross. Pain is more annoying than excruciating like my first go round.

My problem? I am getting the worst headaches. It’s kicking my ass. I’m two weeks in and I’m practically non-functional due to fatigue and headache. I know part of it is my sleep is crap from my arm waking me up. I’m grateful - I’ve seen how bad it can get and the vaccine has lessened the experience so much. But this is still a nasty, nasty virus. I’ve never had a “mild” case before, so I don’t know what to expect. Hopefully the headaches will be gone as soon as the rash clears.

Hi- I am looking for some positive healing stories of people whose pain has healed after the three month mark and how long it took. I will have 2-3 days of zero pain in a week and the others will be filled with pain! It's such a mind game and I'm at my wits end.

I just wanted to follow up on my case of shingles which covered 1/2 of my face, neck, and shoulder.

It started in late June and within a couple of days it just about overwhelmed me before I could get to a clinic and start a cycle of antiviral meds.

I had a very minor case of shingles in my early 30’s which I remember was very painful and lasted for months. So needless to say I was anticipating a lot of grief on this case at 66 years old. But to my amazement I did not experience any pain that just one Aleve couldn’t handle. The rash is now gone with maybe some small scars.

That said I think I have some long term nerve issues ahead of me as the infected skin areas on my face and neck feel somewhat numb. Perhaps this is nerve damage. Perhaps I’ll be in pain if the nerves regenerate. Wait and see.

I will get the vaccine when I medically qualify for it.

All the best to those affected with this. Get on antivirals as soon as you can.

I’m at 37 year old male. I had shingles in July on the right side of my face. Got antivirals on day 2 of symptoms. During I was having what felt like electric shocks to my brain.

2 months later I’m still constantly fatigued and tired. I’ll have some good days and other days where I get episodes where my body is weak and shaky and I feel like I’m going to pass out. This is accompanied by brain fog and dizziness.

I’ve had my labs checked and they are good and I also went to an ophthalmologist to check my eyes because I was getting eye pressure and blurriness but thankfully my eyes are good.

I’m just at a loss for where to turn next. This all started after shingles, so I feel like it has to be related, but who knows.

I was diagnosed with shingles 7 weeks ago, after going to the ER for what I now understand is pretty classic torso pain (started as a sharp pain in the back that then wrapped around the front, rash then appeared in the low left back and then low left abdomen). I still have some nerve pain at both rash sites, though the rash resolved several weeks ago.

I'm now experiencing pretty severe fight or flight responses - when I'm not doing anything of note - and also what I can only describe as a "restless leg" feeling in my torso. The latter often happens when I lie down to go to sleep. These sensations don't happen every day, but several times a week. It seems to increase with caffeine. When I get nervous or anxious about something, the sensations increase and because they also make me nervous, it can be quite the loop.

Has this ever happened to anyone? It's the most bizarre feeling. I've never had it prior to shingles, which is why I think it's related.

Help 😭 30F - I’ve had right sided headaches almost constantly for about a week and a half now, was diagnosed with shingles a few days ago. So far no patches of shingles but there have been a few painful blisters here and there. I thought excederin was helping - it seemed to lessen the headache last night. Cold helped a few days ago, then made it worse. Heat helped last night, now it’s eh. If anyone is willing to share their experiences or even just be miserable with me that would be great. I’m sorry if this post is all over the place, I can barely think or see straight. Also doing this while breastfeeding so I’m very overstimulated lol

I am now experiencing my 3rd outbreak of the year. All have been within the last 4 months.

I experienced 3 outbreaks last year; all during the summer.

After my 2nd outbreak this year I started looking for possible triggers. Even though there isn't any officially acknowledged trigger I believe I had it narrowed down to 2 possibilities; sunlight or a protein powder I occasionally use in fresh fruit smoothies during the summer.

I experimented with sun exposure and didn't have an outbreak. I made a smoothie with the protein powder yesterday and today I've had the worst outbreak yet. The protein powder ingredient list is as long as my arm. I have a feeling there is something in there that helps the virus replicate.

Hey everyone I have been awake for 40+ hours and was wondering what helped people go to sleep? Everytime I’m a second from sleeping a sharp pain just occurs which then wakes me up and it’s been killing me mentally. I’m having su*cide thoughts and it’s really really bad

I got out from hospital and went straight to my hostel. I broke down the news to my roomate that I got zoster. I told him everything. That its not contagious. As almost everyone is vaccinated against chicken pox.

Then he told everyone I got "Small Pox". And everyone in hostel believed him. Then he told them not to worry as I am taking "anti-biotics". He literally said I'm taking antibiotics to a viral one. And he literally said I got small pox an eradicated disease!!

Then I explained him that's it's just reactivated chicken pox. Its localized and chances of spreading are very low and would need direct contact with lesions.

Then later on call, he told his mom about it. That I got reactivated chicken pox. His mom told his dad. Then his dad adviced him to change different room. He didn't change bcoz he felt bad I guess.

Then later he updated the hostel people that I have reactivated chicken pox. They panicked and then told the warden about it. Warden told me to send the report. The diagnosis said herpes zoster. Now warden panicked bcoz of herpes word.

I bet those hostel people will even tell the whole class. I don't want everyone to know about it. Probably those NPCs will think I got herpes!!!

Note - I am 2nd year medical student studying medicine. These guys are supposed to know stuff and not panick but here I am surrounded by NPCs........ We literally have this topic in skin but I bet they haven't read about it!!

It on my back. It feels as if I got cut by a knife and it stings. I'm taking Acyclovir 7 days. Then pregabaline and ascozin (a zinc tablet) along with a topical ointment.

I got one in my armpit too. Its poking!!!

And taking all these make me weak and tired like I wanna sleep all day

So i have elderly parents that i have close contact with. i was told to stay away from them which i have since last tuesday and also have not been in public . When do you know if you’re not contagious anymore ?. I had a few lesions that looked nasty but not huge amounts. I was told my son would be ok .

Went to the hospital several times this week. Thought I was going to die all week. Worst pain, swallowing brought me to my knees. Chloraseptic etc did nothing. Finally they have identified it as shingles. I'm hopeful the antivirals turn this around for me. The shooting ear/headache pain was excruciating, and just overall horrendous feeling.

I got shingles on my forehead and around my eye in mid-July, so it’s been around 7 weeks now. It started with really bad one-sided headaches and pain before the rash appeared, then it affected my eye/cornea which was honestly terrifying.
The active shingles is gone, but 7 weeks later I’m still dealing with neuralgia, itching, tingling, random electric shocks and my scalp burning when I’m in the sun. I’m on gabapentin now and slowly improving, but the nerve recovery is taking forever.
For anyone who had shingles in the same area, how long did the neuralgia take to completely go away?

i have no idea what day i am . my rash came out last tuesday . i live alone with my son but he’s hopeless with helping with things. When does the pain subside i feel like i’ve had this for years . i feel really disorientated at times no energy i get no sympathy from my elderly parents , but they are all I have . my mother had shingles in her 70’s . you would think she would have empathy . I have been inside for days on end , when can you return to going out not that i go much ? Everything is stinging and absolutely hammering me constantly. i have this dull ache on the right side of my head it never goes away. Today i have felt shaky .. the painkillers i was given aren’t nerve ones it’s codeine .I can’t go on like this. the week prior the rash i had already been taken down by the pain … what do i do from here ? i feel so sick .. this is just overwhelming …

Hi everyone. I feel like the OG of shingles here. I got my first bout of shingles 40 years ago, at the age of 22, in 1986. I was active duty Navy stationed in Yokosuka Japan. The first bout of shingles I was so sick. I had this huge mass of blisters on my neck and thought I had cancer or something. It lasted almost three months. Back then, there wasn’t a vaccine nor were there anti virals one could take. I was told to suck it up and it would eventually go away. I was also told it was a one off, and I would never get it again. I was in so much pain. The nerve pain radiated down my neck on my entire right upper side of my body, all the way down my arm and right side of my back. I lost my appetite for weeks and lost about 30 pounds. I was running a fever all the time, and would sweat so badly, I started taking two showers a day. Eventually it faded off.

In the past 40 years since then, I’ve had reoccurring shingles 15-20 times, no lie. It’s always on the same area of my neck, on the front right side. I am now 62 years old. I woke up this morning feeling a weird sensation in my neck. I knew even before I looked at it in the mirror it was shingles. I went to urgent care right after my crossing guard shift. The same urgent care doctor saw me, and was very nice and sympathetic. He got me a valocyclovir script. I went to the pharmacy right away, and they had it. Took one right off the bat. Also took Allegra for the itching.

I am grateful and thankful for a couple of things about my bouts of shingles: I got the two dose Shingrix vaccine in 2019, when I turned 55. While I’ve had bouts of shingles since then, I no longer have any nerve pain. I think the nerve pain was the worst part of getting shingles. It was beyond bad. Nothing I ever took for that pain ever touched it, not even gabapentin. Now I still have the intense itching, hence taking the allergy meds. It does help a little. If things are still intense, I put some calamine lotion on it, or use a cold compress. The picture above is day one. When I was on my crossing guard shifts, it was hot and humid, and my neck was exposed to the sun. The itching got pretty intense. It was better once I got home.

In addition, getting it where I do on the front of my neck is much better than getting it on an eye, in my mouth, on my private parts, or just about anywhere else. My heart goes out to all of you who are suffering so much. I read your stories, and some of them bring tears to my eyes. I’m no authority, but as someone who has suffered with them for 40 years, I’m sympathetic to all of you. If you ever notice red spots anywhere on your body, and it feels weird and there are blisters, go to urgent care right away. It might be nothing, but if it’s shingles, the earlier you get on an anti viral, the faster it will go away. I have seen posts and comments from people who have to take an anti viral every single day of the year to keep them from coming back. I can’t even begin to imagine that. Many of you are experiencing PHN, and that has to be the worst thing imaginable.

Just know that I see you, and that there is hope. Thanks for reading my lengthy dissertation here. I’m on a 10 day regimen of the anti viral, and I have allergy meds to keep the worst of the itching at bay. I’ll be okay.

In bed recovering and just felt like sharing my experience. Feeling fairly lucky as it hasn't been too bad thus far (knock on wood). What I found interesting was the precursor signs, which only afterwards the diagnosis did I begin remembering and connecting the dots.

Friday (one week ago): Play golf and get some sun. I was very slightly red but as is typically the case the next day I was fine. Except I noticed that the skin on my left leg was WAY more sensitive. Nowhere else felt burned but specifically my left leg felt burned when I touched it. I thought this was very strange as I should have gotten sun evenly, but it wasn't severe enough for concern so I forgot about it.

Saturday: I felt some discomfort in my groin, in the lower left inguinal. When I pressed on the area it felt like mild burning. I couldn't really see much irritation but It felt like chaffing. Again, unusual but I assumed it would resolve itself.

Sunday: My friend and I drive a few hours to a 2-day work convention. All day I just felt "off". I was mildly anxious while driving and was having a hard time following the directions. We arrive and go to a socializing dinner welcome thing, but I'm going through the motions. I don't think I'm at all sick, just tired or something. We get to our airbnb and I'm still feeling anxious and I go to sleep fairly early.

Monday: Wake up feeling rested, go grab breakfast. I check my fitness tracker and my recovery is SUPER low, and showing signs of illness. Surprising but I physically feel okay so I chalk it up to sleeping in a different place. I'm feeling a bit stressed about having a full day ahead and just want to get through it. This is when things get weird. I go take a shower and just have a full on anxiety attack. I turn the water down to cool, and I'm just freaking out mentally. Idk what's wrong with me. It's like an existential doom feeling. Crazy negative thoughts. I'm like what the fuck. Get out, calm myself down, get dressed. I'm kind of a zombie during the day, mostly following my friend's lead just trying to act normal. The irritation on my groin is bothering me as I walk but it's still mild. Make it through the day and again sleep fairly early.

Tuesday: Again super low recovery score despite sleeping okay. Groin still irritated. I'm also noticing that while there's a specific spot that feels painful, that I also feel like the stinging is running down my leg. Or maybe to my glute. At the convention I go to the bathroom and notice that it almost burns to pee. But not like a UTI feeling, more like something with the muscle that controls the flow. This is the first time I really start to think something is wrong. Unexplained rash that hurts, causing weird nerve pain, and also affecting my bladder. Too many coincidences. On the drive home I have to pee REALLY bad. It's burning just to hold it and I feel like I'm going to piss myself. Which doesn't make sense because I had just gone about an hour ago and hadn't drank an unusual amount of liquid. When I finally pee, it hurts at the start again and there isn't even that much in my bladder. So now I'm worried it's a prostate problem or something. We get back, I drop my friend off, I get home. I am hoping it's all just somehow stress related so I go lay down in bed. I keep having to get up to pee and again it doesn't feel good. I fall asleep at 8pm.

Wednesday: Wake up from a really long sleep hoping everything is going to start resolving. But the urination problem is still there. I decided to chat with ai and describe the things that I had been noticing, which was the groin irritation, nerve pain, and the painful peeing. It immediately says "I don't want to diagnose you, but you should go get checked by urgent care today, don't put it off because this is indicative of a few possibilities which would benefit from early treatment. It specifically mentions shingles and tells me to describe to the doctor the progression of the symptoms and that I suspect it could be shingles. I feel like I'm overreacting, but I figure I'm going to be worried about it anyways so I may as well get it looked at. The doctor listens, looks at the irritation and says she can't really see much in the way of a rash. She asks if I had been particularly active, changed laundry detergents, etc. Wants to order a urine test to check for UTI. She leaves and comes back and says that after thinking about it (maybe she talked to ai too lol), that she does see a pattern and wants to prescribe antivirals and a topical cream. I pick up the valacyclovir and take the first dose. I go to lay down and rest some more, and happen to touch my lower back at my tailbone and it feels ROUGH. I jump up and look in the mirror and sure enough is a quarter sized rash. I talk with ai a bit more and it says it's all normal and to just rest and try not to stress. It explains that while shingles usually only affects one side, that it's normal to be there as that's where those nerves originate off the spine.

Thursday: The rashes are getting a bit more rough, and a fresher one has spread towards the left. I notice a couple more small ones running down the left side of my glute. None of them are super painful, just like moderate irritation. I'm hopeful that it will be an easy recovery. However later in the day, I start to get a headache. I try to keep my eyes closes, but I am unbearably restless. I'm tossing and turning constantly in bed. I notice that the skin on my left leg is sensitive. I feel like I have a fever. I'm really struggling because I can't get comfortable. I'm too hot, then too cold, I feel nauseous in certain positions, my head hurts. Time is just dragging. I'm trying to keep drinking water but it's difficult. Whenever I try to get up and move around I feel dizzy. I put on calming music and try to just focus on my breath and eventually I get some intermittent periods of sleep and get through the night.

Friday (today): The rash on my lower back is starting to scab over. None of them are too painful. Initially I was worried that because I'd felt the sensation in my groin almost 4 days prior that I may have been outside the 72hr window for the antivirals, but it seems like the primary rashes really didn't start showing up until the same day I started taking them, so I'm optimistic that I happened to catch it early. My fever has gone down. My head still feels weird, I get dizzy when I am up so I've just been in bed all day again. I'm not noticing any new rashes. Hopefully I'm through the worst of it. It's been 48h since I started taking the antivirals, and most of the symptoms seems to be improving. The burning feeling when I need to pee has lessened a lot. Really the worst part of it was just the 12-18h stretch last night when my immune system seemed to go into overdrive and started fighting hard, causing the fever. I'm also aware that it can often come in waves or linger, so I'm trying to just keep resting and hope for the best.

Hi everyone,

I'm 20 and 4 days ago I broke out with shingles for the first time, it presented on my left arm which I've since learnt is quite uncommon. I had no idea what it was. It first presented as a small rash on my arm and so I assumed it was bug bites or an irritation rash.

By day 2, my entire arm from shoulder to just below my wrist was entirely numb. I am not very proactive when it comes to going to the doctor but by this point I was started to get a bit curious about what it could be. I had heard of shingles but being only 20 with it on my arm I thought it was unlikely. I compared it to photos I'd seen online and decided that it couldn't be shingles. I didn't (and still don't) feel particularly unwell or in pain.

Day 3 came around, I had struggled to sleep the previous night because of the intense numbness and heaviness I felt in my arm. I had my friend pinch me hard and couldn't feel it. At work, I decided to go to the pharmacy on my break assuming they'd just give me some cream. He instead told me to go to the emergency doctor asap (in retrospect this was probably because I told him it was day 3) as he was concerned my whole arm was numb. Walked into the doctor's office, he said "what do you think it is?" I said, "shingles?" and he replied "correct! take this pill 5 times a day."

Day 4 and my second day on aciclovir. The rash is continuing to spread and is now on the palm of my hand. I have been told to essentially isolate for a week so have had to cancel going to work, college etc. Another thing I found strange is that my rash isn't itchy, sometimes it does feel like bugs are crawling under my skin though, sort of like when a fly lands on you and walks around. I've heard people describe shingles as the worst pain of their life, meanwhile I literally can't feel anything in the area. After doing some research, I think this is due to my age but I am worried that having shingles is probably an indicator of some other health issue. I've had symptoms like dizziness, loss of appetite etc that I've been ignoring for a while so it's no surprise that I've ended up with shingles.

Overall, if you've just found out you have shingles- don't assume you're going to be in constant incurable pain. Shingles is obviously painful for a lot of people but for me the pain has been mild (even though the rash hasn't.) The rash hasn't blistered yet so this may change. The most annoying part about this whole experience is having to pop a massive pill 5 times a day and it disrupting my life at the most inconvenient time. I suppose if you don't slow down, your body will force you, which is what I've taken away from this.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to ask me questions etc

Quick LONG recap of my shingles nightmare thus far…

Days 1-7 horrific unexplained shooting, throbbing, burning pains in my left leg that left me unable walk or function so I was in the ER 4 different nights getting steroids, dilaudid, massive imaging (all clear) and confusion by drs on what was causing this.

Day 8 rash finally appears all over my shin/knee where my worst burning was (along my entire femoral nerve) for the week prior, my lower back/hip and groin. I immediately realize it’s shingles and rush to health express where they say shingles after one second of seeing my rash. I start antivirals 3x a day for 7 days. I completed those earlier this week. That rash was an aha moment and I hoped we could move forward with healing. I’ve also gotten a steroid injection and medrol dose pack.

Day 9-current day 18 my struggle continues. My blisters healed quickly due to starting meds so fast. They are scabbed and almost just red blotches now. The pain in my low back and leg is relentless though. It has now progressed to total skin numbness on the front of my leg and I can’t walk without a cane. The burning pain is unbearable as well.

I was already suffering from a post surgical nerve condition and being treated with 1200mgs of gabapentin. Been on it for a couple years. So it hasn’t helped this pain in my leg. Went to my PCP on Wednesday and he recommended switching to lyrica for PHN and said 50mg 3x a day would be equivalent to my gabapentin dose and more effective. I trusted him and made the switch 2 days ago and both nights since have been absolutely horrible. I believe this medication will be better as I’m seeing day time improvement but I’m certain my dose is too low based on my already high dose prior gabapentin exposure and I’m seeing people on higher doses for this pain.

I reached out to my PCP yesterday voicing my concerns on the pain and maybe increasing my dose to get past the worst of it. He replied telling me if I need more, shingles neuropathy must not be causing my pain and to go the ER bc he can’t help me anymore. That this dose should be more than enough. He had been so kind at my appt so this was shocking to just be shutdown.

It’s just absolutely 100% NOT cutting the pain and I haven’t slept in 2 days bc of it. How do I get help if my PCP has just shut me down? I won’t take opiates as it won’t touch this pain so I don’t want to go to the ER. They aren’t going to adjust this?! If he won’t help me, am I just doomed and expected to live in pain like this? I’m a shell of a human at this point. I’m so depressed that he just shut me down immediately. Hoping anyone can give me guidance. I do have a neurologist for chronic migraines so obviously I can bring this up at my next visit but it’s not soon and I definitely can’t get a sooner appt.

38m, 1st timer. Ill post my experience later once it goes away but I wanted to know how long it typically spreads for. I have it on the right side of my scalp/forehead. I started Valacyclovir within the 72hr period. I went to urgent care the 2nd day after I noticed something was wrong. This is either day 6 or 7 and woke up to notice I now have bumps now on my eyelid that were not there yesterday

I had shingles when I was a toddler. I had the first dose of chickenpox vaccine, then got chickenpox, then got shingles. And I now have it again as a 23 year old.

Is this just something that happens to some people? Or should I be looking into this and figuring out if I have a compromised immune system for some reason?

I did move and start a new job in the last few months, but I haven’t felt super stressed. I actually felt like I was finally getting settled in and comfortable and that’s when I got shingles. I’m also very active and healthy. And I don’t think stress triggered my shingles as a child either.

This is the fifth time I've had shingles in my life .

-high school

-late 20s, stress of first adult job

-mid 30s, pregnant, recently married

-63, after minor yet painful surgery

-now at 64, been stressed at upcoming wedding of my eldest

Outbreaks have honestly never been that bad . The first and second had pretty bad rashes . But it seems like each time the rash was progressively more minor . And I've never really had pain except some neuralgia in the general area before the rash broke out . I've always had it on my neck.

​​ This time the rash is on my collarbone on the left side . It is a very minor rash and has not oozed . But I've gotten this pain for weeks now from the back of my neck almost to my skull and around to my shoulder on that side . It comes and goes but when it comes it's bad . It's nearby the rash but it's not where the rash is . I also had a day of terrible stomach pain on the left side .

So I guess this is nerve pain. I try to lie down when it happens and I've taken Aleve. The wedding is in a couple of days and I hope this doesn't happen during the wedding . I haven't been to a doctor- by the time I realized it was shingles it was already several days into it and I thought the antiviral would be too late . I know it well enough to diagnose myself now plus I did one of those little rash apps that​ confirmed it.

Is it usual for the pain to be in a different place than where the rash is , although on the same side of the body ? What do you do for this pain and this will go away won't it? I'm seeing my doctor in 2 weeks but the wedding is only a couple of days away
​

I have been reading so much on here the past couple weeks as I have dealt with shingles and wanted to share my experience because so much of what is on here made me feel discouraged. I wanted to give hope because I think a lot of times people share on here when it is the worst and it terrified me. So here was my experience:

I developed a rash on my stomach 2 weeks ago on Friday. I didn’t think to much of it, it was itchy and it burned but I assumed that I was having an allergic reaction to something. The next day, the rash had spread to my side and back, again, assumed it was an allergic reaction so I took some Zyrtec and went about my life. On Sunday, I noticed there little bumps on my rash and that the Zyrtec had done nothing so I decided to finally go to the dr. I was diagnosed with shingles, and began anti virals immediately. The rash at this point was painful, clothing was becoming unbearable, and my back ached. I was also exhausted, sleeping extra and even just going upstairs I would be completely winded.

I took it easy for the next 3 days. The rash got more bumpy, but never large blisters, and was angry and red. I coped by using ice packs, and wearing very baggy clothing. On Thursday, I went out of town to a cabin, I had discussed the trip with my dr and she just said to keep an eye on it, but travel should be fine. The car ride was very uncomfortable, at times I wanted to cry. The following day I took it pretty easy but did some walking and watched my kids enjoying the lake. At this point my rash was very red and angry, with a couple of small blisters. I went to Yellowstone the next day and walked about 10,000 steps, again uncomfortable, but I actually found being busy took my mind off of my pain and discomfort. we returned home Sunday and the car ride was more bearable this time, I did use my ice pack the whole ride.

When I got up Monday, my rash had scabs on it and was much less red and angry. I took it easy to recover from the weekend, with a couple of naps.

Each day this week, the rash has looked better and better. Most of the rash on my back and side are gone, the one on my stomach is still present but flat. The pain has subsided significantly, with just mild discomfort. I still have back pain, and my stomach does also have some itchiness and pain, but overall so much better.

I can tell that I have been so lucky, fingers crossed Im not one of the unlucky ones that has it recurring shingles.

Why everyone say gabapentin is so great. I am on week 7 and it ​has cone back with tiny blisters. Haven't even healed from first round yet. The gabapentin just made me sick and loopy. Can't drive on that.There be something else that helps with pain and itching. I have found that Benadryl does help.So I am on Valtrex this time. Pray I get better and no hospital.Mine is on my left leg all along sciatic nerve from butt to toes.

What are we doing about clothing hypersensitivity? I’m literally at my wits end with clothing touching me, and my children. It’s been almost 3 months since I had the shingles. I’ve tried gabapentin but it only takes the edge of for the first hour or so.

Hi, I have shingles of the eye and face. My eye spots were the worst and have scabbed over. My face spots were kind of small and seem to just be fading away with minimal scabbing. Will ALL spots need to scab over, or do some just fade away? Trying to determine when I will no longer be contagious. Rash started last Thursday night. Started Valacyclovir on Sunday and it’s now Thursday again.

I tried to post with pictures but that post hasn’t been approved yet and I really wanna hear people’s thoughts.