r/shingles

has anyone else been told by their doc that there’s an elevated risk of heart attack during the one year after shingles diagnosis? my husband is 38M and was diagnosed in mid Feb and she just told him yesterday about this (4 months later). he had a bad case on his face/eye but caught it early so no eye damage, but does have PHN and fatigue as lasting symptoms. he’s super fit and healthy as far as diet & exercise, but his LDL cholesterol shot up because of the virus and is starting medication. any experience or insight into the heart attack risk is appreciated 🩵

Has anyone had this happen or know anyone it has happened to? I read that Shingrix doesn't work for 20 percent of people who receive it. In 2008 (I was 47), I had severe shingles that led to prolonged PHN. The trauma and pain from that left me with something like PTSD. Unfortunately, I went on to get shingles again about every two years or so until I finally was able to get the Shingrix vaccine in April/June 2020. Once I was vaccinated, I had no further shingles issues, no matter how stressed, run down, or sick I was with anything else.

Well, that was a nice six years. About 10 days ago, I started to feel that unique familiar pain on my back, under my shoulder blade. It hurt, it itched. I kept thinking, I don't know what that is, but since I'm vaccinated, I know what it isn't. I was wrong. On Friday, the pain and itching got much worse and one lesion appeared. I've been downing L-Lysine and applying lidocaine patches which is taking the edge off.

All things considered, this is a far milder episode than any I had pre-vaccine. Still, I feel like it shouldn't be happening at all. Yesterday I read that the vaccine is known to be effective for six to 10 years before efficacy begins to wane. It has only been six years for me. I'm sad and frustrated and wondering how I got to be such an outlier. Further reading revealed that despite the fact that the vaccine does lose efficacy, no booster is approved or recommended. So, do people like me just live with it returning then?

I’m a 24(m) don’t have any underlying medical conditions and would say I’m fit and healthy. I rarely get ill but now have shingles for the second time starting with sensitivity and pain under my armpit and now weirdly the rash has shown on my chest rather than my armpit. The first time I got it was in 2020 and was on the left hand side of my lower back and had no other symptoms apart from the painful rash. Need some advice as I have to now take time off work as I work face to face with the public and have a pregnant women at my work and wouldn’t want to run the risk. I’m just worried as it’s a very uncommon thing to get shingles twice, could there possibly be an underlying health issue I don’t know about or have I just been unlucky.

Curious to those whose shingles came on their backs, did you have any lingering back pain weeks after your shingles had already healed? I no longer have nerve pain, but when I lay down at night and even sit it feels like my
Back is inflamed and just kind of this pressure type
Feeling on my spine.

I am currently on day 21 of Shingles and the rash has mostly cleared up, leaving purple scars. But today the pain is bad again, as bad as in the early days. The area is around my left torso and I can’t wear anything on top of it so have to pull it down to my hips. I’m so fed up, it feels like this is going to go on for a long time. Any positive stories out there?

Hello. Anyone have both vaccines and still get shingles? It’s small on my back and this is times 2. It’s burning, painful, itchy and pins and needles. Rash is small and I feel like I may have missed the window for antiviral but I made an appointment with urgent care in the morning. Anyone else go through this after already having the vaccine? I understand it’s probably a smaller bout but damn it’s awful!

Hello, I got shingles for the first time 3 weeks ago. I noticed the pain Monday and the rash Wednesday and was put on antivirals on Thursday. My rash is still present on my left side but it is starting to go down after 2 weeks of antivirals. However, I have noticed my pain is becoming wider, it is now on my right side and left groin. The rash isn’t growing though. I thought shingles was contained to a single dermatome? Does the pain being bilateral mean the infection is? Thank you

I honestly hate how the antivirals make me feel. Ive had them 4 out if 5 times I have had shingles, all within a year. I was saying yesterday that I wasn't going to get the tablets again. However the pains worse today and I'm doubting myself...

Do you guys always get the antivirals ? Or do you let it run its course ?

I am 45M and I decided to get the Shingrix vaccine due to there being anecdotal evidence it helps against herpes simplex (it seems like 90% of people say Shingrix did nothing for their herpes simplex but 5 to 10% of people claim they didn't have anymore outbreaks after the vaccine). After my first Shingles shot about a week or two later I got herpes in my ear. I assumed it was simplex but I found it very strange because I have only ever got the virus near my mouth/nose and it was a bit itchy and mildly painful this time which simplex never is for me. Then a week or two after my second Shingrix shot I developed these painful herpes sores on and around my eyelid. Again, in a very very strange location I have never got simplex at before and they are painful which simplex never is for me. I looked up the data and apparently in some cases Shingrix can cause the reactivation of the shingles virus.... specifically around the eyes.... specifically 1 to 2 weeks after the shots.

So it would seem I would have been better off not getting the Shingrix vaccine. And I do not seem to be one of those 5-10% where the vaccine helps simplex because although historically I have struggled with outbreaks, the last year has been very good and almost outbreak free, but between my Shingles vaccine shots I developed simplex outbreaks a couple times (very mild though). So if anything the vaccine helped activate simplex for me.

I understand how dangerous herpes is near the eye but so far it is not on the eyeball and I am taking double Valtrex doses but I am almost positive now it is zoster not simplex. Anyways Shingrix can definitely have some drawbacks (the shots themselves didn't leave me feeling bad in anyway other than a sore shoulder for a day).

Went to a GP and got told that the bumps on my abdomen and back are unfortunately shingles. Got given the usual antiviral and a cream.

I have heard about GI symptoms preceding the shingles outbreak. What is interesting is that I have been having minor ongoing GI issues about 9 months prior to the outbreak. Light tightness in my upper abdominal region. I went for an endoscope, an MRI and ultrasound all of which found nothing.

Could shingles really have been the cause of my GI issues all along?

I am a week in and on antivirals and last night was horrible. I had such a hard time sleeping between the pain and itching. I am trying to sleep now and same issue.

I’ve been getting recurrent shingles for about 10 years. I got the vaccine about 5 years ago and still get shingles. I think I went about a year without an outbreak then it started up again. I get it every month to every 3-4 months. I’m just curious if there’s anyone else out there having a similar experience?

My husband got shingles on his forehead scalp and eyelid this week. Had chickenpox as a kid. We decided to do post exposure prophylaxis vaccines for our children to try and prevent them from getting shingles since my husband is so young. But I got me thinking about how do they know that the vaccine reduces your chances of developing shingles if mass vaccination didn’t occur until 1995? Just curious what others experience has been.

Long story short, I was given an exemption to get Shingrix paid for by my insuror and my doctor took the chance of writing it for me due to a chronic pain issue where the the same nerves in an injured area are also affected. We want to be able to reduce my pain and see how much is actually coming from the Zoster virus (PHN) and what from the injuries.

Got the vaccine on Tuesday morning, took it easy, stayed a bit active. Wednesday was having pain in the lower back on the right side where I have typically two spots that appear and feel like mosquito bites. Came home, went to sleep and couldn't even stay awake. Had pain throughout the night in the affected area of my lower back and right leg and took pain medication for it. Today I essentially spent the entire day sleeping. Extremely tired, but no more pain and appear to be coming out of the extreme fatigue. Temperature was elevated, but not squarely into fever area. So I had the vaccine reaction and at least I can be happy to know for sure that there is something going on. The pain is a fascinating one, however.

I’m new to shingles. I have them on my arm all the way down to my hand. I started Valtrex generic 24 hours after the first rash sprouted and the rash just kept sprouting and finally stopped around day four I still have the rash. I can’t tell if it’s scabbing or not. I did reach out to my doctor, but I haven’t heard back. Is it normal to be done with the antivirals and still have a rash all over your arm? I’m terrified it’s going to spread more or go to my face or somewhere more sinister. ImThe nerve pain is still very intense. I can’t really take gabapentin because of other health issues. I’m trying calamine other things, but I’m just concerned that maybe I need more antivirals? Any thoughts or advice? Thanks!