r/shingles

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?

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?

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 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.

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.

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.

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?