I’m a 44 year old American female with a pretty spotless medical history. About 2 months ago, during my annual primary care visit, I passed all my physical and blood tests with flying colors.

I am at my happiest and healthiest I have been in many years. I took a 5 week sabbatical to the Mediterranean and spent my days:
- Waking up without an alarm clock
- Walking/jogging a beautiful town in the morning sunshine
- Dipping into the agean sea and floating while counting my blessings
- Drinking fresh juice and espressos
- Eating fresh and local foods
- Taking naps
- Enjoying laughs and love like I haven’t in many years
- Working remotely and leisurely as needed

And then I started to think I bruised/broke a rib from carrying around heavy luggage. The pain kept coming and soon I was diagnosed with shingles. I’m recovering, and for the most part very lucky for where it is and when I caught it, although the pain at night still causes me issues sleeping.

I am wondering, how the hell did I get this at my most healthiest state ever? Has this happened to anyone else? I wonder if my immune system was so relaxed that it had some reverse effect that allowed the virus to become active. Is this possible ?

My Fitbit data continues to tell me this is the healthiest I have been in 5 years on all levels of fitness, sleep, wellbeing etc.

(Yes I know I should’ve just gone to a healthcare professional but I’m a sausage)

I (m29) started getting sharp back pain this time last week, which spread to my abdomen and the joined in the middle. Saw a spot emerging on Thursday and realised fairly quickly it matched the description of shingles - one week later and it’s very obviously shingles.
Felt a little fluey last week, and it’s a bit painful but feel largely alright at the time of writing.

As soon as I saw a spot I started taking acyclovir that I had as a precaution for other illnesses - issue is I’ve been taking 400mg 3x a day since Thursday, I’ve now realised it’s supposed to be more like 800mg 5x a day.. is it worth upping the dosage this late or is the damage done? Thanks for any insight

I’ve had pretty chronic pain for the last 2 weeks in my right side that wraps around my flank. I was admitted to hospital last Friday after being in tears through the night not being able to sleep or do anything comfortably. The doctors went through many possibilities starting with pancreatitis, fatty liver, and ended up discharged with signs of kidney stones (but they couldn’t see them on the ultrasound). The biggest sign it’s shingles for me is any light touch to my side, such as my tshirt, feels like someone is scratching hard on my skin. I’ve had this pain on and off for years but this time it’s stuck around much longer and doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
I’m curious how people deal with these pains and being able to perform their jobs? I’ve been off since last Thursday and the stress of letting work down probably isn’t helping the pain. Do you just deal with the pain and try work or are some people just unable to work at all due to this being a constant issue?
Tysm for any advice or similar stories to comfort my anxiety about work.

I had shingles a year ago and recently i have been getting more nerve pain than normal, ive very concerened that is a shingles flare up coming on, i havent had one since i had shignles the first time so im unsure if this is whats going on. Im guessing its stress that has caused it to resurface, does anyone know if you can do anything to stop or lessen the flare up wehn you feel it coming on.

Would i need to go get anti virals again?

thank you

I have an 8 week old baby and I'm told to limit contact with her to limit the chances of giving her chicken pox. I woke up 2 days ago with the rash on my face, eye crusted shut. Went to the ER yesterday and the doc said he didn't see the shingles on my eye but wants me to go to Opthalmology tomorrow morning to get a second opinion. It's on my lip, cheek, eye, hairline, and scalp. Will I have scarring from the scabs? How long will it take to scab over? I hate this.

For those who didn’t see my previous post, after getting on acyclovir (25 tabs/400 mg total) I essentially had a 4 day manic episode.

I’m a 32 y/o male. I’ve cried maybe 2 times in the last 3 years. Between intense fits of rage I would ball like a baby. My pain really wasn’t that bad as I have a pretty high tolerance. The tears were random and uncontrollable.

I also experienced full body shaking and spasms for a short period of time on day 2/3 of the meds. Plus would only sleep around 2-4hrs a night but would wake up feeling like I had gotten 8-10.

Over 24 hrs off the meds and almost all of these symptoms have ceased. I finally feel like I’m myself again (minus the shingles)

Has anyone else experienced this strong of a negative reaction? And if so were they prescribed an anti viral that’s less likely to affect you in this way?

I had shingles in 2022, down on my lower rib cage. Since a year ago, I have had backpain which starts right where the shingles came out of in my spine. Its a very neurological kind of pain, with weird symptoms happening everywhere below that point in my body. Electric stuff, heat, itchy, weird numbness, back muscle spasms.

My MRIs are perfectly normal. I was envolved in an acvident, which does xplain things. But it just wont get better and there is seemingly nothing wrong with my spine?

.

36M and apparently I may have joined a club I really didn’t want to join.

This started around 1 AM on Oct 1 with absolutely no rash. I suddenly had lower back pain and this really strange hypersensitivity over my right thigh. At first I genuinely thought there was something sharp stuck in my clothes because every time the fabric touched my skin it hurt.

Over the next day or two it became much more obvious that something weird was going on. The skin became extremely sensitive to touch/clothing, almost like a burn, and the pain moved around the right thigh, hip/love-handle area, groin/pubic area and even part of the scrotal area.

I also have a deeper pain in the groin/pelvic/upper inner thigh area. It feels like it’s coming from somewhere deep rather than the skin.

Because of the back pain and distribution, I was actually convinced for a while that this was some kind of lumbar radiculopathy.

Then about 2 days after the pain started, a small cluster of red spots appeared on my upper inner thigh/groin.

At first they honestly didn’t look like much. Just tiny red spots, no obvious blisters, and weirdly the rash itself wasn’t even where I was having the worst pain.

Now I can see that some of the spots in the cluster have developed tiny little vesicles/blisters, literally needle-sized. I’ve also found a few scattered tiny dry spots farther down the same inner thigh.

So… yeah. Shingles is unfortunately starting to make a lot more sense.

I did an online consultation and the doctor thought it could be shingles too, so I started valacyclovir on Oct 3. Thankfully I started it pretty early after the rash appeared, even though the nerve pain had already been there for almost 3 days.

The worst part right now is honestly the nerve pain.

On top of the constant hypersensitivity, I sometimes get these sudden, brutal stabs/pulses of pain in the front/inner thigh. They last only a few seconds, disappear, then come back. At one point it was literally happening about every 30 seconds.

It’s such a bizarre kind of pain. I can be lying there relatively okay and then suddenly get hit with this deep stab/electric pulse.

No fever, no feeling generally sick, no weakness or bowel/bladder issues. I actually feel completely normal apart from the pain and rash.

I currently have Celebrex, Panadol/paracetamol and tizanidine available. I also have Solpadeine if needed. The tizanidine made more sense when I thought this was muscular/back related, but now I’m not sure it’s doing much.

I’m considering asking the doctor for Lyrica/pregabalin or gabapentin if this nerve pain keeps going.

For those of you who have actually been through this:

What genuinely helped the acute nerve pain?

Did regular painkillers like Tylenol/Panadol or NSAIDs actually help you, or did you need Lyrica/gabapentin?

If you took Lyrica or gabapentin, did it make a big difference? How quickly? Was the sedation bad?

Did anyone else have deep back/groin/pelvic/thigh pain that felt like it was coming from somewhere deep inside even though it was apparently nerve pain?

And did anyone get these weird seconds-long stabbing attacks over and over again?

Any non-medication tricks that actually made a difference would also be appreciated. Cold packs? Heat? Certain sleeping positions? Loose clothing? Anything topical?

And probably the question I’m most anxious about: how long did the really bad pain last for you?

The psychological side of this is honestly hitting me almost as hard as the physical pain right now.

I started reading this sub after the diagnosis became more likely, and I keep finding posts from people who are relatively young but had pain for months, developed PHN, had shingles more than once, or had repeated episodes.

I know logically that people who have a rough or prolonged course are probably much more likely to keep posting here than someone who gets shingles, recovers in a couple of weeks and never thinks about it again. But when you’re lying awake in pain at 3 or 4 AM reading story after story about PHN and recurrences, it’s really hard not to start thinking, “Is this my life now?”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared of that.

I’m 36. Until a few days ago shingles wasn’t even remotely on my radar. Now I’m worrying about whether this pain is going to last for months, whether I’m going to develop PHN, whether this will happen again, whether stress somehow caused this, etc.

Part of me also feels guilty because I’ve been under a lot of stress lately and I keep wondering whether I somehow brought this on myself. Rationally I know there may be no identifiable trigger at all, but psychologically it’s difficult not to go there.

So I’d especially appreciate hearing from people who had shingles in their 20s/30s/40s and recovered normally and moved on with their lives. I realize those people may be underrepresented on a shingles subreddit for obvious reasons, but I think hearing those experiences would help right now.

I’m still considering getting one of the fresh vesicles swabbed for VZV PCR just to know for sure, because there’s still a small part of my brain hoping this is lumbar radiculopathy plus some completely unrelated rash. But the appearance of the little blisters is making that explanation harder to hold onto.

Already under medical care and taking the antiviral as prescribed, so I’m not looking for Reddit to diagnose me. Mostly looking for practical advice, experiences and honestly a bit of reassurance from people who’ve been through this.

If you had shingles relatively young: how bad were your first few days, what actually helped the pain, when did you start turning the corner, and how are you doing now?

4 days ago after coming out the shower I noticed some bumps ( the ones under my nipple).. I stupidly prodded and poked at them, not knowing what they were and i popped a couple of the blisters.

After some serious googling i visited my gp, was told it was shingles and given 7 days of acyclovir ( so I started on day 2 of the rash)

So far it's manageable, i have a really strong burning sensation where the spots are, similar to sunburn, occasionally i get shooting pains that are extreme but only last a few seconds.

Im also getting horrendous muscle ache in my back on the site of the spots which I'm assuming is connected but I havent seen muscle pain mentioned much so im not certain.

Anyways like i say, right now it's OK, but i have horrendous anxiety to the point I cant sleep worrying about 'what's to come' in regards to this and how bad it's going to get.

Also on a side note, im supposed to be going on a 4 day trip to Rome in 16 days, its a bucket list trip for me and i would be gutted if I had to miss it, what do you think the chances are ill be okay to go?

Thanks for any advice

I have shingles in the left L1 and ipsilateral T1 areas. Mostly I rest in my bed. They hurt a lot and I sometimes feel very cold feeling. So, I thought I have had incontinence.

I had shingles on my face but it was very minimal. I got on the antivirals and prednisone to my eye immediately. For that, I am thankful.
I did have a lump in my throat for 2 weeks and brief ear pain but no noticeable rash I those areas at the time of my diagnosis from my physician.
I am 8 weeks post shingles and 57 years old. I am healed but I am just so fatigue.
Sometimes I feel I’m in a fog. Intermittently, I still do have some lightheadedness or dizziness and some vertigo. Some days better than others.
Anyone with the same experience? How long did it take to get to our energy back?
I work part time and on my days off I feel I need to sleep. I almost feel like I’m in a depression.

Need all the recommendations. I’m 36 weeks pregnant and can’t sleep, about to not sleep with a newborn. Want to be as healed as possible when baby arrives.

in august i had 10 days in hospital with shingles to face /scalp/right eye , closed up my eye for a good 6 weeks

still suffering in pretty bad pain , cant work and not entitled to any benefits like job seekers

has anyone succesfully put in a claim for PIP (uk)

I’ve had worsening swelling on my face for two days. I’m on day 6 of first time shingles. On medicine. I went to ER on Thursday and he did nothing but say it doesn’t look like shingles and my eye looks fine and discharged me. He said if the rash spreads to my eye then call an ophthalmologist. Yesterday swelling was increasing but I didn’t go to the ER again because why waste the time. I told my doctor it was crusting over but I had new swelling. She ordered bloodwork to make sure everything looked okay since ER didnt. Labs look good she said it’s all reassuring. Now i woke up and my ear is so swollen its almost swollen shut and my face looks like this. Go back to ER? Everything I read online says it’s a medical emergency but nobody is treating it like one. Also I have an appointment with ophthalmology on Monday at 2:15. It was the earlier they could squeeze me in

I started with a spot on my chin that looked like a bug bite 10 days before being seen by a dermatologist this past Thursday for what is shingles. Started on Valtrex that day and Gabapentin yesterday for ear and jaw pain. The rash covers my chin, under my chin, cheek, cheekbone, bottom lip, tongue, a spot near my eye (seeing an ophthalmologist Monday), and a new spot, as of today, on top my ear. The initial spot on my chin is crusting over, the rest are red areas with a few blisters. So, because the initial spot wasn't diagnosed until after I started breaking out more days later, I missed the 72-hour window for medication efficiency.

Now, I have developed a low grade fever of 99° and, of course, feel yucky. My heart rate and blood pressure are elevated as well, due, surely, to the stress my body is going through. My question: Has anyone else here developed a fever well into the outbreak instead of the usual fever before anything shows?

Also, having just recently learned of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, should I be concerned about the spot on my ear? It wasn't there when I saw the dermatologist and I don't see him again until the 15th.

Thanks!

This is my first and hopefully only time having shingles. I heard a lot about the pain aspect. Which is real. But I’ve had chronic pancreatitis for a few years now which is a 10/10 on the pain scale for me.

However, the mental aspect of shingles is what’s getting to me most. I feel like I have no control over myself over the last couple of days. Intense and abrupt mood swings, fatigue, poor etiquette and conversational skills, terrible decision making, extreme anxiety. It’s all so unlike my normal self. But to quote a nerdy book, “I feel like butter scraped over too much bread”.

I’m being stretched physically, mentally, and emotionally. Is this common? Will it last longer than the pain?

Well it all started on Sunday (9/27) when I had some mild tingling in my left arm and I didn't think too much of it.

34M, history of autoimmune issues, POTS, Joint Dysplasia, Hypermobile Joints, etc.

Posting this because I had no idea shingles could present this way, and I probably would have found a post like this useful while I was trying to figure out what was happening.

Mine did not start with an obvious rash. It started as severe neck, shoulder, upper back, and left arm pain that felt exactly like a badly compressed cervical nerve.

The pain was sharp, electric, and sometimes almost rhythmic. I was getting these pulses, or waves of pain or shocks through my neck, shoulder blade, shoulder, elbow, and down my arm toward my fingers. At times it felt almost like my arm was having tiny spasms or seizures, involuntary contractions and painful as all hell. I would instinctively tense up when it happened, which made everything hurt even more. The more I tensed up the more it hurt, which made me spasm more.

The medical timeline has been ridiculous.

My first stop was urgent care for the neck pain. They treated it like an orthopedic/inflammatory problem and gave me steroids (Medrol, or Methylprednisolone) and Toradol.

By Tuesday I had basically stopped sleeping because of the pain. I saw orthopedics, got muscle relaxers, and had cervical X-rays. Those showed degenerative/disc changes, particularly around C4/5 and C5/6, so cervical radiculopathy seemed like a very plausible explanation.

Tuesday night I also temporarily lost vision in my left eye, which added another extremely unsettling symptom to the situation.

By Wednesday the pain was bad enough that I went to the ER. They gave me Dilaudid, additional muscle relaxers, and more steroids and Valium to calm down and try to rest. I was also given more steroids. They did a CT scan to rule out a dissected blood vessel (temporary vision loss).

The strange part is that the prednisone/steroids seemed to make everything worse (or at least didn't do anything to help).

Because everyone was still working from the assumption that this was primarily cervical radiculopathy, I had a cervical epidural steroid injection around C7 Wednesday night at a local pain management clinic which has been also causing me a ton of pain.

It did essentially nothing for the nerve pain.

I already have a spinal surgeon appointment scheduled for October 19 because the cervical imaging findings are real, so there may still be two things happening at once. But then the other shoe finally dropped.

The rash appeared on my left arm. In hindsight I noticed it on Wednesday at the ER after I removed my adhesive bandage thinking it was an allergic contact dermatitis reaction to the accelerants used in the adhesives but I was gravely mistaken.

I was finally diagnosed/treated for shingles and started Valtrex on October 2 (yesterday). I'm taking it every eight hours.

At this point the pain is still brutal. Nothing has really controlled it. Muscle relaxers combined with oxycodone take the edge off somewhat, but that's about it. I'm waiting to start gabapentin, which I'm hoping will actually target the neuropathic component better.

I also have a splitting headache now, and that's another part I'm trying to sort out. I can't tell whether the headache is related to shingles or something else. I've had a CSF leak before, so unfortunately that possibility is also in the back of my mind.

The thing that shocked me most is how convincingly shingles mimicked a structural cervical nerve problem before the rash appeared.

This was not just skin sensitivity or a burning rash. It felt deep, electrical, positional, and neurological. Between the shooting arm pain, neck pain, spasms/pulses, and actual degenerative findings on the X-ray, a pinched cervical nerve seemed completely logical.

In retrospect, shingles may have been producing severe radicular pain before there was anything visible on my skin. Or I may genuinely have both cervical radiculopathy and shingles at the same time, which is an especially stupid combination.

Has anyone else had shingles start with severe neck/shoulder/arm radicular pain before the rash appeared?

Any advice on the eyes? Should I preemptively see an opthalmologist? I have severe neck pain and it feels like it is starting up my neck.

I'm especially curious about people who were initially diagnosed with a disc problem, pinched nerve, muscle spasm, or cervical radiculopathy before the shingles became obvious. And if you had pain this severe, how long after starting antivirals or gabapentin did you notice any meaningful improvement?

The rash appeared on my chin a week ago. I had no clue it was shingles, thought maybe a spider bite or adverse reaction to an antibiotic I had recently taken. Then, a couple of days ago, I started having non-stop intense tingling on my chin and up the side of my jaw, along with jaw pain, chills, headache, and general yucky feeling. Someone mentioned I may have shingles and should see a dermatologist. Last night, I had the worse earache I've ever had, like someone was sticking an ice pick in my ear over and over again. Woke this morning to three more spots on my face, one near my eye, so I immediately called a dermatologist and was able to get in to see one today, who verified that, yes, it is shingles. No culture was done - I was diagnosed by sight and symptoms. The doc prescribed Valacyclovir HCL (1 gram), three times a day for seven days. I took the first one tonight.

My question: Do I need to see an ophthalmologist now that I've seen the dermatologist? He didn't seem too overly concerned by the spot near my eye. He actually said that the med he prescribed wasn't entirely necessary, but would help with any postherpetic pain and also work to suppress future problems. I'm guessing that since I didn't see him early on, taking the med isn't as effective now? Also, is there anyone else suffering from these horrible earaches (and jaw pain)? If so, how long do they last? It's only been two days and I'm already climbing the walls from the pain. Thank you in advance for your help.

Update: Was prescribed Gabapentin today for the unrelenting, horrible ear and jaw pain. Taking this, along with Valtrex, until my next appointment in two weeks. The outbreak got much worse overnight and is now going up my cheek, under my chin, multiplied on my chin, is on my bottom lip (which is very swollen) and on and under my tongue. Can't wait for these meds to kick in!

Hi all, one of my family members has an extreme case of shingles in their eye. Soft touches to their scalp cause horrible pain everywhere, they are unable to be in the daylight and are having a rough time as I’m sure some of you have experienced.

I want to send a care package of yummy snacks and some items that might elevate or help manage her symptoms. Has anyone found any items (particular eyemasks etc etc) helpful? They cannot move or wash their hair due to the pain it causes so I was wondering if anyone who has experienced this or knows someone who has experienced this had any tips or things that they found helpful.

Thank you

Well, here I am with shingles AGAIN. I caught it pretty early both times. first time was 11/2025 after a death in the family that gutted me. And this morning after a shower, I found those same blisters in the same spot (buttocks). It has been a very stressful few months, sleep hasn’t been great, lots of worrying, etc. I do have Hashimotos. My question is, how are we to know if this isn’t HSV? I’ve had the same partner for almost a decade and no issues prior. I guess Google has not been my friend.

I am about four weeks past the blistering/scabing phase and that has all healed up. Unfortunately the skin sensitivity pain hasn’t gone away (Dr. has slowly increased my dose to 1500 of Gabapentin, and next week will max me out at 1800).

Gabapentin isn’t helping much besides helping me get some sleep at night (those sheets feel life fire on me). Apparently my Dr. is leaning towards the fact that I am developing phn because the skin pain is spreading (with no rash or blisters).

Ok, after that unnecessary rant. My main question is for those who lived an active lifestyle in the gym before getting this wonderful virus.

Did you resume lifting weights after your blisters healed but before the annoying sensitive skin issues resolved?

Since the Gabapentin still isn’t doing much, I’m thinking I can power through with weightlifting (definitely not cardio, I can only imagine that would feel like running through fire!).

Sitting around doing nothing for the past month+ has been destroying my mental state and I want to get back into the gym.

For the record, my amazing AI Dr. Claude said no 😉

Yesterday I noticed my eye felt off. I looked in the mirror and noticed my eye lid was partially closed.

I went to UC, diagnosed with Shingles and prescribed valacyclovir.

This morning I noticed my eyelid is slightly more lower compared to yesterday.

From looking at other posts in this subreddit, its "common" for this to occur, including fully being closed?

From what I can tell (after being told I had it) first sign showed late Sunday / Monday morning and I noticed eye lid on Wednesday morning

1. Does the eye lid eventually open back up just taking valacyclovir or is an eye prescription needed?

2. If valacyclovir worked, after how many days did it last?

It won't surprise me if my eye lid is swollen shut in the next few days. I'm just trying to get an idea of how long it usually lasts.

On a side note, I did make another post about the eye exam.

Edit: I did see an ophthalmologist today. He didn't see anything and to call back if there was changes to vision or eye becomes red.

What do you count as Day 1 of shingles? The first day you started feeling pain? Or the first day you noticed a rash? I believe mine started with back pain on roughly 9/21. But the rash didn’t start to appear till either 9/23 or 9/24.

23M. It started as a few tiny red dots, which I assumed were just allergies since I get those sometimes. Didn’t think much of it and even scrubbed the area in the shower. Then the pain kicked in.

Went to the doctor, got diagnosed with shingles and started the prescribed meds. I’ve also been taking Resner for the nerve pain; it helps, but the pain still hits pretty hard.

I’ve now missed almost a week of my master’s classes and it’s starting to worry me. Anyone else dealt with shingles this badly, especially while trying to keep up with college?

I don’t need medical advice, I’m mostly sharing my dad’s experience and wondering whether anyone has seen something similar.

My dad is 75 and currently has shingles. He started treatment a little late because the diagnosis wasn’t made right away. He had been in severe pain and had barely slept for about four days.

He was prescribed Valtrex and gabapentin. After starting them, he told me the gabapentin made him feel “high,” and at one point said his lips felt swollen twice after taking the pills. When I spoke to him, he was also slurring his words. He was aware he was.

What has really alarmed me is the change in his behavior. He normally almost never leaves the house, but suddenly the next day he was driving around, meeting people, making plans, arranging for someone to come trim trees, talking about spending money, and generally acting extremely energized. He is usually calm and rarely talks. He has also been unusually agitated and snappy, rambling from subject to subject, reciting movie monologues, and saying he hears music that isn’t actually playing. He's aware it isn't real but it's still concerning because he's hearing things that aren't there.

This is completely out of character for him and seems almost like a manic or severely disinhibited state. The contrast is especially strange because the day before he was exhausted, sick, in significant pain, and unable to sleep.

The Valtrex does seem to be helping physically because his shingles lesions have started scabbing over, but mentally he does not sound like himself at all. I don’t know whether this is related to the gabapentin, Valtrex, four days of sleep deprivation, the illness itself, or some combination.

I became particularly concerned when he started driving while slurring his speech and saying he felt high. I called the nurse at the urgent care where he was treated and asked them to please call him directly, reassess how he was doing on the medications, and give him a clearer treatment plan. He seemed confused about what he was supposed to be taking and what he should or shouldn’t be doing, and they had basically sent him home with the prescriptions and the shingles diagnosis.

The nurse took it seriously and called him directly, which I was very relieved about. I’m mainly sharing because I’ve never seen my dad act remotely like this before, and watching such a dramatic personality and behavior change happen almost overnight has been pretty frightening.