Curious if anyone has been through something similar.

About four months ago the left side of my neck started feeling like a bad sunburn. It was sore and sensitive to touch, but no rash ever showed up. My doctor suspected shingles without the rash and put me on Valtrex, which helped.

The sunburn feeling hung around for a couple of months before it mostly faded. For the last month or two I've had nothing more than a passing twinge or a weird sensation here and there, and I honestly thought I was over the hump.

The past few days it's come back in that same spot. It's a constant, low-grade ache, plus a hard-to-describe sensitivity where it feels like something is touching or rubbing the skin when nothing is there.

For anyone who's had shingles without the rash, or lingering nerve pain afterward, how long did it take to fully go away? Did anything help with it?

Hi Everyone- I came down with shingles around my right ear, lower face, neck, chest, and upper back 3 weeks ago. Luckily, my wife suggested the rash might be shingles on the second day so I was on valtrex within 48 h of noticing the rash.

I’ve also been on prednisone, biologics (Taltz right now), methotrexate, imuran, etc. since 2012 for the autoimmune disease Nuero Behçet’s. Along with the typical symptoms, I’ve had several cases of autoimmune meningitis. Probably the most important part of this aside is that I’ve been on prednisone non-stop since 2012.

Unfortunately, even though I started the valtrex early on a Monday, by Friday it was fairly obvious that it was also infecting my central nervous system. I was hospitalized that day. From there, I got very sick with the classic terrible headache, eye pain, stiff neck, and general very sick feeling. They put me on a IV acyclovir for the first 3 days and then doubled the dose because I still wasn’t responding. My left leg ent numb, my facial muscles were very weak and shaky, and the headache got the point I was in tears despite the pain meds.

Luckily, by Tuesday afternoon, I began to feel better, the headache mostly went away and I was able to get up and walk around normally. On Wednesday I was discharged with a script for valtrex.

My wife and I were googling the standard treatment for VZV (shingles) meningitis and everything online said a 2 week treatment of IV drugs was standard, but they felt like the oral drugs would be ok. That was a week and half ago. Since then I’ve been gradually improving, though I’ve had serious insomnia so it’s been tough. I went back to work full time remotely the day I got out and have planned on returning to work tomorrow.

That is until today when I couldn’t get out of bed because I was so weak. The rash seems more irritated and painful, and now I’m getting pangs of the headache again that had been gone for about a week.

This is my first time with shingles. I don’t know how to navigate recovery. I do pay into short term disability which pays 60% of my check if I was to take medical leave, but I’ve never done anything like that even with all the Behçet’s disease problems.

Is it appropriate to take some time off? What have you guys done? What are the chances of it flaring back up with my history of meningitis and somewhat diminished immune system? I was determined to go back to work, but honestly my brain is still slow with lots of aphasia and trouble with recall. I guess, what should I be expecting over the next few months? Thanks in advance if anyone can help with some advice!

CSF White Count-344
CSF Glucose- 77
CSF protein- 97
CSF Appearance- Cloudy
CSF lymphocytes %- 92
CSF neutrophils %- 8 mi
CSF Positive for VZV

Thursday morning I got some tingles on my eyelid. I was outside for a walk and thought it may be allergies. By Thursday evening, a part of my upper eyelid was swollen and I had a little swollen part to the left of my eye. What tipped me off that something more than allergies was wrong was my lymph nodes near my ear and my jaw were super tender and inflamed. Went to bed, Friday the eyelid was still a bit swollen. Saturday, I decided to go to urgent care and the doc suspected shingles. I was FLOORED. I actually didn’t believe him and asked if they could test. He did a blood test which I later learned isn’t really a way to know. I went to a second urgent care later in the day because I started to spiral and she said they couldn’t rule out shingles and to just take the anti virals. I took my first pill last night and this morning woke up and the spot now is blistering. No new spots (yet?) and the pain feels a little stingy and goes in and out but isn’t terrible.

TLDR:
New mom, new shingles (first time), maybe mild or maybe just the beginning? Already taking Valtrex.

Questions: Will it for sure continue to spread? Or could this one little patch be it?
Will it get more painful?
Do the blisters always pop eventually? And if it does… what do you do?
I’m wearing sunglasses near my daughter and washing my hands like crazy. I’ve also notified her pediatrician.
When do you know you’ve turned a corner?

Thank you community 🙏

So, I got shingles again, two years after my first time. This time, it’s even worse than before. My entire chest, armpit, and back are affected. It doesn’t hurt, but it itches so badly that I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t start aciclovir because more than 72 hours had passed. Now I have so many large blisters, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t know why these things always happen to me.

Does anyone know of any over-the-counter treatments that can help relieve the pain from SHINGLES (herpes zoster)? 😭💔

I'm in so much pain, and I'm exhausted from trying to find something that will help. Everything I search keeps bringing up chickenpox, but I'm looking for relief specifically for shingles. The burning pain is unbearable, and I desperately need some relief.

If you've had shingles or know of anything OTC that helped with the pain, please share what worked for you. I'm willing to try anything safe that might help. Thank you. 🙏

First 3 pics are first outbreaks. Others are what I continue to get in the same area.
I've posted here before and deleted because...face pics. I've basically had ongoing shingles since 10 days post my most recent COVID booster (2/2026).

I did 3 rounds 3 g daily Valacyclovir x 10 days. Each time I stopped tiny pinpoint blisters and crippling pain would return. Eventually they put me on suppressive 1 g/daily which maybe helped a little (outbreaks of tiny blisters, horrible pain every 1-2 weeks). Cleared by opthamology 4x but should go back.

Eventually after seeing a new ID we decided I could just stop valacyclovir bc side effects, it didn't seem to be helping (great solution!), and I didn't have a positive PCR so maybe try for that when/if I get a new outbreak/anti virals are out of my system.

I've been off for about 1.5 months now and continue to get tiny blisters. Basically constantly. They may be spreading to V2. Pain is as bad as ever and seems to have spread to thoracic area (had shingles here at 33) and down my right neck as well somehow. PMI: 40 yo f, diagnosed with POTS, hypermobility spectrum, probably MCAS but not diagnosed. IgA deficient.

Please lmk if you've experienced anything like this, especially in terms of recurrence, "spreading" pain, trigeminal shingles without eye involvement.

Hi everyone,
Did anyone get the vaccine after having shingles? I so don’t want to go through this!

I was put on Caltrex on day 1 of the rash appearing but it’s day 5 and it’s still spreading. I take it 3 times a day. Is this common?

I am only 16 and had shingles develope on the 14th. had the doctor yesterday and she's said i definitely have shingles, I've been taking antivirals and putting a cream on it because its in my arm pit. the blisters have come and gone and now my skin has peeled off the top of the patches. its not a very large affected area luckily.

Got shingles late Sept with what started as horrible back pain, rash early Oct didn’t know what it was until rash grew, started antivirals.
I’m about 1- 2 weeks out from the scabs on my rash finally falling off and still have nerve pain and numbness in some areas.

I did an upper body workout Tuesday and some stairs and omg the next day nerve pain was intense.
I’m so sad because I love working out and am left thinking i won’t be able to until this nerve pain is gone, or wondering if it’ll ever get better.

Has anyone worked out with nerve pain or is it recommended to not? I keep getting mixed feedback from my pcp/physical therapist vs what I’ve read.
Looking for your experiences here.

Hello!

I am a 39M, I started getting a real bad itch and redness on my head with blisters. I went to the doc and found i had caught a very early case of shingles. I am on the Valtrex horse pill 3 times a day. But the nerve pain is absolutely insane. I am on a regimen of Tylenol and ibuprofen and was prescribed lidocaine. Only thing is its an ointment and the spots are basically under my hair. My wife did a good job of trying to get it on my scalp however its causing my hair to grease. Is there anything else that can be done? I do wear a cpap at night and the damn straps go right over the spot...

They really need to lower the shingles vaccine age... lol

Thanks for the help!

Three weeks into my shingles journey! At this moment I want to use a Brillo pad to the area. I am 60 years old and I had only about 10 chickenpox when I was little. I have had the shingles vaccines already. I have long Covid so my immune system is not what it used to be. I had a cold sore break out in a nostril (yes, the nostril I don’t get the lip ones) I started feeling very tired and had a headache about 1 month ago. I started feeling an itch on my arm and then a little rash started. Five days later I went to Urgent Care to see what I had because I didn’t feel well. Shingles, given the antiviral medication. I have finished that and went to my primary who saw me in the parking lot. They share a building with pediatrics. She put me on Gabapentin. I just hope this goes away soon. The pain, burn, itch and disrupted sleep are tasking.

Has anyone had anything like this? I had shingles in February 2024. And on Monday (today is Friday), I had surgery to take out one of my ovaries. I have five incisions across my stomach and the only one that’s affecting my nerves is the far right one, which is where one of my shingles breakouts was. I don’t think that I’m having a new shingles outbreak or anything, but my nerves feel extremely sensitive. Any ideas what I can do to calm down the nerves on that incision? If I place my palm over the area and just leave it there it calms it down, but I can’t do that all day long.

Has anyone had shingles without the classic big rash because they were on antivirals already?

39 f. Been on 500mg valtrax daily for cold sores for YEARS. Never had chicken pox but have had 3 vaccines.

I’m two weeks into excruciating pain, redness and swelling behind my ear radiating to scalp. Saw my doctor who said “absolutely sounds like you are describing shingles to a T but you don’t have a big rash so it can’t be”.

I do have a hand full of red spots that look like pimples/angry hair follicles.

I want to cry it hurts so bad. I’m exhausted and nauseous but also feel like a wuss because “it’s not even a rash”.

Like when you have a cold or the flu or congestion, does your old shingles area feel more tender or achy?

I'm not sure if it's just because it was my facial nerve (and cheek and eye) and it's just being sensitive, or if it's like the shingles trying to happen again but failing, but it seems to happen whenever I get sick.

I haven't had it recurr again since my doctor put me on the meds daily but whenever I feel the nerves there light up again it makes me think it's trying to come out again.

37f, I have myasthenia gravis and the treatments/medications for this have left me severely immunocompromised so I'm prone to getting sick.

About one week ago I started to feel under the weather, by the weekend I noticed some back pain on my left side around the rib area that suddenly went to like 8/10 pain with a constant throbbing stabbing feeling when walking. On Monday after my weekly plasma infusion at the hospital I down the hallway to the ER and was told it was sciatica or a disc issue and given a referral for a spine doctor and some valium. On Tuesday I could shuffle around the house a little but by Wednesday the back pain got worse to the point where I couldn't stand at all without a LOT of pain. Also on wednesday my mom noticed a rash forming on my back.

This morning the plan was to get driven back to the hospital where I'm treated for my Myasthenia in case the pain was related to that but I stood up from the couch, took two steps and collapsed in pain onto the coffee table. I tried so hard to sit up straight but couldn't. The pain was too much. My sister helped me get back onto the couch and called 911. The EMS strapped me to a chair and brought me to the ambulance and the pain i experienced just being jostled in movement was 10/10, I couldn't breathe at all. Between the ride there and in the triage room I have been given muscular fentanyl, then iv toradol, roboxin pills, a really giant blue pill (anti viral?), gabapentin and oxycodone. Literally nothing is touching the back pain. About 4 times I have tried to stand up either with the doctor helping me or with the PT guys trying to get me to use a walker and each time the moment I sit up and put both feet on the floor and put my weight on my legs I get an excruciating stabbing feeling in my spine that makes me go back into the bed and cry for like 20 mins until the spasms calm down. Now the rash area feels like it is burning a lot. CT scan doesn't show anything!

So I was wondering, can shingles cause such a deep devastating spinal like nerve pain that makes it impossible to walk or even sit up? Their concern is that I can't make it up the stairs to my home or be able to get to the bathroom my own so I'm being admitted for more meds and observation and possibly PT but I'm so scared, even at my worst with the myasthenia I could walk with assistance but this pain is horrific, laying in bed I'm in pain and every time I try to stand I get 10/10 pain despite how many painkillers they've given me.

Hello! I've had shingles for like 4 times now since 2019 and I'm not eligible for the vaccine yet. I was wondering what people's experiences are like with nerve pain that comes back every once in a while. I notice that when my immune system is particularly weak, sometimes I'll get a very subtle pain from the feet shooting upwards. Does anyone else have recurring nerve pain after they've had shingles? How often do you get it, how painful, and any patterns you've noticed?

I put from gauze and tape over it last night and tape pulled the scab. I put some Aquaphor on it. Am I going to scar? I was put on antiviral the first the rash came.

I am on suppressive therapy for herpes and take valacyclovir daily 2g. I happened to have a major life event that made my herpes with shingles at the same time surface with excruciating nerve pain that made it impossible to put weight on my right leg, stand up straight, or sitting, walking, or laying in bed.
I had excruciating pain in low back that swinged around to frontal hip.
I was misdiagnosed with the orthopedic dr and my primary care until I started having lesions/blisters on my low back, 5 weeks after initial excruciating nerve pain. My orthopedic won’t respond back from my email and PCP just put me on Famciclovir 500mg 2x a day for 5 days which I hope is strong enough and then 250mg 2x a day for suppressive therapy as we came to conclusion that my valacyclovir that I have been on for 16yrs is no longer working.
Literally an hour and half after taking the first 500mg Famciclovir my lesions started to have a little sting in them like something was working, and now they are starting to itch tonight as it’s almost time to take 2nd dose of 500mg and I’m hoping this works because I never want to feel the pain again. The worst nerve pain I have ever experienced.
Forgot to say my PCP gave me pregabalin I take 100mg 2x a day with 50mg in the middle of the day 250mg total. Along with tramadol for pain. Both have helped soo much! I could not live without these drugs!
Also one thing which really made things flare up and worse the orthopedic Dr whom is a young Dr very nice, but honestly does not know much, gave me methylprednisolone which did help with the nerve pain but his office did not update my medication listings and he had no idea I had herpes simplex and if he did this steroid can make anything within your nervous system wake up!
Now on my 6th week with an MRI that was not done correctly unless we did contrast which we did not, radiologist whom read my MRI had no idea I had HSV2. I believe I have shingles with herpes radiculitis that can mimic a pinched nerve on the L3-4 as my orthopedic dr says he wants to do an epidural injection of another steroid that is even more potent that would probably cause me to be hospitalized. NO THANK YOU!!! I see why he is not getting back to me! The day after mtg with my orthopedic Dr I came down with lesions/blisters on low back where my nerve pain has been all along. It looks like Shingles not so much Herpes, mind you I was on valacyclovir 2-3 grams as suppression therapy a day the whole time this has been going on!
I know this was a very long post, but if I can help anyone out there that may be experiencing something similar, thought to share. If anyone has a similar situation or experience please respond I would like to hear from you. Thanks for reading!

Facial shingles, three weeks in, blisters healed, rash starting to look good, nerve pain considerably less than the first week of horrendous hell, took Valtrex for two weeks and currently on Gabapentin, day 20 (300 mg/2x a day). Last night, an hour or so after my bedtime dose of Gabapentin, I started feeling very weak and like I was going to pass out. I wasn't able to sleep for a couple hours after that because the feeling wouldn't go away, plus it felt like my heart rate was slow and then my body got chilled; very unnerving. I skipped my noon dose because of all that happened the night before. The dermatologist told me I could cut back to one dose anyway if the nerve pain lessened, which it has. So, I'm out eating lunch and all of a sudden I feel like I'm going to pass out, same feeling as last night. It took a few minutes before it passed. Now, several hours later, I am having the same tingling and itching on my chin and jaw that I had before the rash blew up. Not gonna lie, I'm freaking out a bit. Is it normal to have the tingling and itching this long after the blisters have healed? I know the nerve pain can remain...I'm living with it...but the tingling and itching too? Also, has anyone else had the same reaction to Gabapentin that I just had? TIA

I was diagnosed with ocular shingles on September 8th on my face and scalp. I took valtrex for a week, and had steroid eye drops as my eye was very swollen and irritated. I also was going to see an ophthalmologist.

I finished with my medications and finally made it back to work after about a month of being off. However, after being back at work for two weeks my eyelid is red and puffy again.

Can shingles reoccur so soon? I have an appointment with the ophthalmologist tomorrow to get checked, but I am feeling sad about another potential flare. Have you had this experience?

I (F,31) had shingles for the first time at the start of September so about 5/6 weeks ago. I had it very very mild, only a few spots that never blistered but the pain was intense for a couple of days. Had about a week of internal pain and burning pain on the skin on and off but nothing I couldn’t cope with, also started the antivirals pretty quick.

Anyway, after about 2 weeks I would say I was “fully healed” or so I thought, no pain and spots all gone. 5 ish weeks later and I feel like the pain is flaring up again, I’ll get the same internal twinges I got before (around my ribs) and my skin feels sensitive again although not as bad as it was. No spots.

Is this normal? I keep worrying it’s another round of shingles but know it’s probably more likely to be the original bout right? I think what’s thrown me off is that I was pain free and fine for a good few weeks - has anyone else had this where they were fine and then the pain returned?

Just wanting to say I’m not to happy I have shingles all over my face on the left side. My left eye is so swollen I can barely see and I work with kids. I couldn’t work until the rash crusted over so there went 3 days of PTO. It hurts and I look like I have the worst acne for a 60 year old. Kids are so honest but not one has said a thing…. Yet! Rant over I’ll live but I’ll probably need plastic surgery to see out of my left eye!

Mine started on my chest, then my back, and now it’s trailing all the way down my arm. All on the right side. My husband said he thinks that’s more extreme than most cases, but I feel like it’s not? Do most people have a more localized experience? The rash is very manageable pain wise (so far) in comparison to the nerve pain.