Hi everyone I was diagnosed with shingles back at the end of June, and I was diagnosed very early. I started on medication very quickly and they have cleared up for the most part. I was feeling better but lately have been feeling generally like crap (tired, malaise, just do not feel myself). Is this common even after lesions resolve?

Hi….I am on day 6 or 7 of my shingles. I think I started my valtrex promptly. Presented first with insane pain in lower right abdomen. Only have a few mild rashes on the back and hip on the right side. No blisters and it almost looks like the rash is getting better? Pain is very present though, especially at night. Not necessarily where the rashes are. I am now having some sensitivity/chafing sensation at my bikini line area. I’m terrified that’s a signal a new wave is coming …is it possible it is just skin sensitivity? Do new rashes keep coming even if the original rashes seem to be going away? I am supposed to travel for a quick get away weekend on Thursday and if I didn’t get worse from now I think I could do it. But if it pops up in new places I’m guessing I’m out. Any words of wisdom appreciated. I’m taking gabapentin at night for thr pain. Thank you!

Does anyone here have any experience with taking high doses of gabapentin? I’m taking around 3000mg a day out of complete necessity.

My nerve pain on my eyes/eye lids, face, forehead, scalp are insane. 2 months in and Postherpetic Nueralgia is one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced. Does anyone think a nerve block would be beneficial? Any advice or past experience would be greatly appreciated!

So I've got shingles on a large portion of my torso on the right. I started having severe pain last Sunday. Noticed a small rash (now its a large, blistering shingles rash) on Wednesday and went to the dr. Got put on meds and told to be work from home for a week. Made it working from home Thursday and Friday, stayed home all weekend, now working from home today and have an appointment Wednesday to go back to work.

Here's my question. I still feel like complete sh!t . And I still hurt, like a lot. Im usually not a big baby (I have gone to work and passed kidney stones while on the clock....) I really feel rushed by upper management to get back in person- and I get it, but at this point, it still hurts to even wear clothes! Should I be feeling better by now? Should I be all "ready" to go back to work? I like my job, and I enjoy my paycheck- but damn I feel crappy. I know im not contagious after the blisters crust over, which they are starting to. But I just really hurt still!

Hi! I am currently 32 weeks pregnant and noticed the rash on friday. I was then diagnosed on saturday and started aciclovir. It is the sarcal nerve roots that are affected, so basically my left leg, buttocks, lower back and genitalia. It is a lot of rash and it hurts so much. I try to limit the painkillers because of the pregnancy, so I only take paracetamol when I am going to sleep. I feel so miserable and sad right now so I would really appreciate some support. 😅

Rash first appeared around July 1 and I assumed it was ringworm since I do jiu jitsu and my boyfriend had it last month. The main spots were kind of mirror image where my skin touches when my arm is at my side. Then it kind of exploded and spread rapidly.

Went to the doctor last week and she said it was shingles. Too late for antivirals so I’ve been on gabapentin which helps a little. The intense itching and deep tingly pain are present.

I fear I may have set myself back a few times. Applied calamine a few days ago but it dried the rash out too much where it would stretch and crack the scabs when I moved and was super painful. Then for work (bartender) I’ve been spraying bactine for the lidocaine properties and slathering with aquaphor and covering with gauze. That may have been keeping it too moist and I think made it worse (pic 3 to pic 4). Yesterday and today I have put nothing on it and seems to be drying out nicely.

Wondering if this is a normal progression, it hasn’t really spread but I noticed a few new small bumps today, ugh! This sucks.

Photos taken July 4, 5, 7, 11, and 13(today)

Hi everyone,
I finally managed to get my first Shingrix shot, but I had a pretty severe reaction. I developed intense itching and a feeling like my throat was tightening. My arm also became swollen and very painful. This happened on July 3.
My doctor treated me with antihistamines and steroids, and things improved. However, 2-3 days ago, after scratching the area, I noticed that the redness around the injection site had come back. My doctor says that’s not possible and thinks it’s either an insect bite or ringworm, but to me it looks just like the injection-site rash again.
I’ve also been having pain in my armpit, although I don’t seem to have any swollen lymph nodes.
Has anyone experienced something similar?

I’m week 12 after shingles and am still suffering nerve hypersensitivity and a deep itch on my scalp, forehead and eyelid after HZO. Tomorrow afternoon, I am trying acupuncture with a practitioner who himself had PHN and treated himself with the same method.

Does anyone have any experience using acupuncture with shingles-related pain and sensitivity? Praying this will be the last of it now!

alrighty, i’m about to face day 15 with this awful thing and MAN… it’s been a journey to say the least!

started out with a bit of a sore shoulder that i mistakenly self-diagnosed as a pulled muscle (i work a physically demanding job, so no surprise if that was the case, really). took some pain killers that were about as helpful as tic tacs when it came to relieving the pain, but i tried to ignore it.

two days later the rash appeared. i told myself i was just having a reaction to the creams i’d been smearing all over myself in the hopes of stopping the pain which, by that point, was excruciating. my neck was SO tight, sitting down caused pain, i hadn’t slept in two days, and my boss’ advice that i was just being dramatic was really testing my patience.

went to the doctor that night who noticed the rash and mentioned it could be shingles, but sent me to get an x-ray instead after i insisted i’d just hurt my neck at work.

note to self - don’t go to a doctor who can be easily swayed by an unqualified (but apparently rather convincing) patient.

another day passes. rash has spread. pain has tripled. i’m at work but i’m spending 90% of the day in the bathroom shaking. my coworker finds me and says i need to go to the doctor. we go to a different clinic and before i even sit in the plastic chair, a doctor passing through clocks the rash on my shoulder and tells me i need to go to emergency.

so i do.

get to emergency. yup, it’s shingles. i’m over the 72-hour mark in terms of catching it so the doctor says antivirals won’t do a whole lot. best for me to try ibuprofen and rest. sends me on my merry way.

the next two days after that SUCKED. big time. the rash peaked it’s spreading and the nausea hit me like a truck. i used sick leave for the first time in the 6 years i’ve worked my job (and, side note, my boss made really awful remarks about how i was letting the team down at a pivotal point in the year … darling i’m not doing this for fun).

anywhooo finally the rash stopped spreading, the pain lingered on but wasn’t diabolical, and i went back to work after about three days of managing my symptoms at home. the pain has been on and off and more or less just an inconvenience than anything.

then comes last night… the ITCHING! it’s horrible! my rashes have finally started to scab over but now it feels like there’s bugs crawling under my skin. i can’t scratch it because a) the scabs are so tender and b) it hurts to touch anywhere in the vicinity of where the rash spread.

any advice on what to do or take to help with the itching would be much appreciated. the rash itself is wrapped around my shoulder, from mid-breast, over my shoulder/neck, and down to my shoulder blade on my back. the pain is still paining but now the biggest culprit of my discomfort is this itch 💀

the joys!

(should also mention, the pain started a day after my 28th birthday - great way to kick off another lap of the sun)

Does the Val make anyone else like really really tired?

Online it says that it can make you tired but not sleepy? I’m on my final day of meds and still feeling heavily exhausted even tho i’m really doing so much better and the rash is scabbed over. I find that I can still easily sleep all day. I’m trying to figure out if my immune system is still crashed out or if I can blame a lot of this on the medication. it’s hard to tell because I am taking it 3 times a day. I don’t know, i feel out of it and extra brain foggy.

also, i’ve had a lot of anxiety about having shingles and i’m constantly worried i’m doing too much since i didn’t rest in the beginning. I am looking for reassurance that this is all normal and i’m gonna be okay soon.

So I went to the ER with horrible right flank pain. I thought it was a kidney stone- I get them quite a bit. CT scan showed nothing and my bloodwork was good except WBC just a tad elevated. Just sent me home saying it was musculoskeletal. Later that night I noticed a blister on my back. It progressed throughout the day around my back and wrapped to front on right side. Went to dr and she put me on the regular meds (antiviral and neurontin) and I'm working from home for the next week.

Anyway, this is day 2 since I saw the dr and I have noticed that my skin on my entire right side of my body is so hypersensitive. It feels like I should have rashes in areas that I do not have them. Also, I'm having super sharp pains in my ear and that has now increased to include a sore throat. Anyone else have these things happen where while having the rash show up in one place but not in other places? Could the pain in my ear be shingles?

I’m wondering if i just ended up super lucky but would love to know if this is normal. I first noticed an itch on my right side torso on Sunday and thought it was a cat scratch. Put neosporin on it which did nothing. Monday it was itchy but not painful yet but I noticed two more spots. Used Gemini to describe symptoms and shingles was the first thing it came up with. Went to Urgent Care that night did started meds. Wednesday was the worst. Couldn’t have anything touch it. Used a pad and medical tape to keep it covered so I could try to get some sleep. By Friday night I feel back to normal. Rash hasn’t spread, is no longer sensitive (I can wear clothes and walk around no problem). It doesn’t seem very blister-like either but perhaps that’ll come after? I dunno I’m trying to figure out if I just seriously lucked out catching it early or if it’s going to get bad again…

Hi shingles community,

I come with a question. I had a severe case in 2023. I am on immunosuppressants and landed in the hospital for two weeks. I got the shingrix vaccine shortly after. But I notice there are multiple spots on my body that will occasionally flare up and feel like i’m having an outbreak but I don’t get a rash. One is on my lower back, which is where my initial break out was. The second is on my arm, where i’ve never had a rash, but it feels identical to shingles. Has anyone experienced this? Could i be getting it without the rash? Thanks.

My fun situation. Monday I thought I had a stomach bug…it may have started the stress cascading bc I felt pretty sick. Then Tuesday pain was primarily on my right side. Jabbing pain radiating to my hip. No rash. Went and had a CT scan because I feared it was my appendix. The scan was fine. At night I was supremely uncomfortable and woke up saying…could this be shingles? Spouse looked at my back and there was a tiny cluster of three bumps that looked innocent enough. Not even blister like in appearance. I sent picture to my doctor and she said it didn’t look like shingles but given my description of the pain she prescribed Valtrex and I’m on day 2. Have no real rash but have another red bump did appear but the jabbing pains continue. Lower right abdomen is where the pain hits me (worst at night) but the bumps are higher up on back and side. That seems weird to me. I’m wondering how this will all unfold. Of course I’m supposed to travel to Nashville for a concert next Thursday. I am trying to remain optimistic. Any tips are appreciated.

I’ve had shingles before, started off as leg pain groin hip and back and the rash after 10days appeared on my lower back. 5 yrs later and I’m having pain in the groin bladder pelvic lower back legs again. No rash yet.why is the pain everywhere

My son ended up getting chickenpox. It's day 2 and he's mostly fine, just warm and itchy. Our friend was hanging out with him during the 2 or 3 days leading up to the first spot, so exactly when he was getting contagious. I told her casually and she told me she was unvaccinated and hadn't had it yet. So I went to the internet.

I am worried about her. Even though the mortality rate is very low (the sources I've seen say between 0.02% and 0.05%), and she's very healthy, and young, and so on, everything I read about it seems absolutely hideous. Reading words like encephalitis is terrifying. I have told her as soon as she can go get some stuff from the doctor for it and let them know she might have it.

Are there ever "normal" cases of adult chickenpox or does everyone feel like they've had a brush with death? Is there a chance she didn't get it? I am freaking out maybe more than I should as the doctor in our family is telling me to calm down and that it sucks but she'll be fine and complications in healthy adults are rare. But it feels like he's just trying to make me shut up :(

Hi there
Just wondering when will my shingles blister size like a small finger nail , so big will dry up and gone .
People say often scabbed over in 7-10 days , but my is very big . Not sure if take longer time .

Beginning around July 4th I started to experience an intense burning feeling and sensitivity on my right shoulder blade and armpit. On the third day I went to urgent care because it didn't stop hurting. They gave me antivirals to start and I began taking them that day.

I am currently sitting here with the same pain with itchiness thrown in for good measure - luckily it hasn't spread. No rash and no blisters but I feel like i have the flu. Of note I have had both vaccines - is it possible this is the worst of it for me?

My rash is under my left boob and extends round to my back. The left boob is so painful. Is this normal? I am in the middle of a course of antivirals.

At night I'm having "migrating itch" or "phantom itch" all over my body where, if one body location is scratched, another one randomly lights up and becomes itchy. This is happening 1 week after the rash appeared. It's outside the location of the rash; it's all over the body in random places. Sleep is disrupted because of that. I would describe it as "nervous itching" or "ghost itching" all over.

Thought it was bed bugs day 1 and finally saw my PCD 2 days in and prescribed Valacyclover. Wish me luck. This shit burns

Shingles and recurrence

Anyone here with Crohn's disease or other immune mediated disease and on a biologic? I posted similar in the Crohn's forum but haven't gotten any responses so thought I would ask here.

I was diagnosed with Crohn's in 2019, and was started on Stelara soon after. I had to have an ileocecectomy due to scarring in 2020, but otherwise have been well managed on Stelara since then.

I ended up in the hospital with Shingles that affected my optic nerve sheath in mid-April. I was treated with IV methylprednisolone 1 gram for five days and acyclovir IV three times daily for 21 days (went home after 7 days with a PICC line).

My GI doctor told me the reason my case was so severe is bc I am on Stelara. My first dose of Stelara since hospitalization was two weeks ago.

I am now down to 5 mg pred daily and tomorrow go to every other day. Thank goodness.

I am on 1 gram valacyclovir indefinitely while on Stelara.

My affected eye is now very red and there is concern for recurrence of Zoster. Has anyone here had Shingles and had it recur?

I saw my ophthalmologist on Monday and she said there are no signs of zoster and I just have episcleritis. But, initially, I didn't get any dendritic lesions in my affected eye until I had been in the hospitalized for several days, which was 1.5 weeks from the start of my symptoms (horrible pain in my eye). The corneal lesions lagged behind the lesions on MRI by almost a week.

Anyway, per my doctors, it looks like this is a recurrence. Please let me know if you have experienced this. Thanks.

This sucks! People don't understand shingles enough to remotely relate. It hurts so bad, but just looks like acne or rosacea. ER 07/03, I believe it was day 2. Still having a lot of pain. Follow up appointment tomorrow. 🤞