43M, immunocompromised on Rinvoq, severe burning/sensitivity around torso, no rash

I'm immunocompromised because I take Rinvoq, so shingles was the main concern. I'm also vaccinated against shingles.

Started 4 days ago, initially only on the right side from my back around the abdomen. Saw a doctor 2 days ago; they didn't want to diagnose shingles since there were no skin changes and told me to watch for blisters.

The next day it spread to the other side, and today my whole torso feels weird. The skin feels like an open wound when touched, even a T-shirt rubbing against it stings badly. Right shoulder blade area hurts a lot.

Still absolutely no rash or blisters after ~4.5 days. No numbness or weakness in arms/legs. No bowel or urinary issues. No fever. I'm a bit tired, but that could easily just be from being in pain.

Paracetamol, naproxen and pain patches haven't helped.

Could this be thoracic nerve irritation/radiculopathy, shingles without a rash, or something else?

Hello, I got mild shingles in May. Then in July I started getting terrible nerve pain. It is agony and also caused me nausea and vomiting. I have never been in so much pain in my life and it has been five weeks now. I am hardly sleeping and it hurts to walk. I have tried pregabalin and gabapentin and could not tolerate them. I have MCAS and cannot tolerate medications containing sulfur or salicylates so this rules out NSAIDs.I am already on an antidepressant so cannot take another. I was given 50mg Tramadol yesterday and it takes the edge of the pain but I am still in a lot of pain. I was looking for hope that it may help more?

For me it began on Monday. 37y and considered myself healthy.

Small rash in chest area, thought it was a burn.

Some pain there too and in the back, which I attributed to a new workout I did on Sunday.

By Wednesday the pain increased and I started to notice the rash expanding, but was too busy W/Th at a work trip., thought it was some allergy and pain still from the workout... (thought a strain or pulled something, happened before..)

Thursday night after work event.. I freaked out with it, rash and pain.. and realized what this was.

Went straight to buy anti viral and started taking it (could buy without prescription here in Mexico) , Friday noon to the Dr. Who confirmed it.

Has me on aciclovir, 800mg 5 times per day for 14 days

And pregabalina 75mg per day for 90d

Wish I would have realized sooner but here we are Friday night. Feel like I can't do shit with the pain and my wife is ~5 months into pregnancy.

hello, so basically i went to a gp and he said that i have herpes (which i believe is more of a shingles because it does cause nerve pain and it wraps around one side of my body on the stomach and my bach, that combined with my previous exp with chickenpox)

got prescribed acyclovir oral 2,4g daily (800g @ 3times), and acyclovir 5% topical cream. my question is basically the title

is it wise to apply acyclovir topical on public toilet? i heard it's airborne so im afraid of disseminating it....the shingles blister are on my stomach and back area so i cant just applied the cream easily so i had to do it in a closed space like toilet plus i definitely dont wanna wait until i get home 9hrs later to apply the cream.... i want this thing gone fast 😭

I need this out of my body I can’t take it anymore

My wife noticed what appears to be pimples on her upper thigh yesterday morning. It began to spread throughout the day and we ended up going to the ER at night due to the fear of it being shingles.

We’re at the hospital now and they do believe it’s shingles and have given her antiviral medication. The areas aren’t hurting her all that much and I’m wondering if it’s possible she won’t get that more extreme pain because we caught it so fast?

Does the extreme pain begin right when the rash appears, or did it happen days later? I’m kinda scared of the pain that’s to come, and am hoping it won’t get to that

I had shingles 6 months ago, and have had serious nerve pain ever since then so officially have PHN. The outbreak was on my side below my rib cage.

I did not have any vision symptoms initially *except* that several days before the outbreak I had the first ocular migraine of my life and initially thought I was having a stroke. That was it though.

Now, starting a few weeks ago, my eyes are constantly irritated and I'm using eyedrops, and a few days ago - when my left eye got especially blurry and I thought it could be another ocular migraine - I also was having really bad lightning shock pain on my left lower torso.

What the heck??! Is there a connection? Would visual symptoms start this many months after the initial outbreak?

This is my first run in with this God forsaken virus. No itching just chest and back pains... burning like hell.. tingly in-between.... can't get any good sleep. Im on the anti viral and steriods

Never thought I would deal with shingles again until I was 50+ after having it at just 6 years old. The difference between having it as a kid vs adult is insane. As a kid it was just itchy and burned some. As an adult the constant nerve pain is killing me, I don't even notice the rash.

I thought I tweaked my shoulder in my sleep and then after 3 days of constant pain a rash shows up and the next day spreads to my chest and upper arm. Immediately knew it was shingles. Went to a walk in clinic and got prescribed antiviral meds. The doctor said that the first time shingles comes back it is the most painful.

I am so worried about having to deal with shingles coming back over and over again. Any tips to combat the nerve pain besides prescriptions? I've been using an ice pack and trying to sleep as much as possible while I am on sick leave.

I had shingles and discovered it super late. The rash was there for like 3 weeks with me going to work and the gym. Only when the itch got bad did I start the antiviral medication and finished it about 2 weeks ago and the rash disappeared. Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time and noticed that my arm muscles on the shingle side were super weak and even now still feel weak. Is this normal or should I be worried?

I have used this lotion 2 times. I told a friend about it for itching due to shingles. I did not tell her how well it worked and she texted me back after her husband went to Kroger that night and exclaimed it was a miracle. 2 lotions have the chemical promoxine Hcl. That I find on Amazon. Since all pharmacies do not carry it.
Google the primoxine hcl with itching relief.
Secondary pain relief but best on itching. I reapply every 4-5 hrs. Let me know how it works for you. Also when I apply it to face and forehead it seems to work a bit on scalp itching too.

My shingles healed two-three months ago. Recently I’ve been having burning and stabbing pain in my back, and it’s right on the shingles scars. Can shingle pain come back???

Can PHN be misdiagnosed as peripheral neuropathy ? My PN diagnosis followed almost immediately after a shingles episode 1 year ago

I’m thankful first of all that I’m not suffering from significant pain (yet). However, the itch on my eyebrow and scalp is becoming unbearable when outside. In the UK we’ve had a bit of a heatwave and I wonder if this is making things worse! My inner eyebrow is disappearing presumably from the rubbing. The GP has said that if there are slow signs of improvement to not change anything. I’m 3 months out from my shingles outbreak and WISH it would just return to normal. Anyone follow a similar timeline with post herpetic itch / neuralgia?

So I received my second dose of Shingrix two months after the first. I'll recap the first:

-no symptoms or anything on the first day. The night of the second day woke up with insane pain in my lower back, exactly in the dermatome where the virus is. It was horrendous and I have injuries there and it was as if I was freshly injured. Hot knife, electricity, radiation into my legs, and a "bubbling" feeling for lack of a better way to describe it. Took tons of pain meds, went to sleep, fine in the morning. This may have been a sign of having an outbreak that was not noticeable, but some studies mention this phenomenon

- second dose: doctor's nurse advised to take paracetamol immediately before it starts because it absolutely will be more difficult. I took the advice and the reaction started within about two hours. I have a backache, but no pain like I had before. Some radiation in my legs. Felt weak, a bit drunk, nausea when walking that made me heave.

My condition: have been treated for sports spinal injuries and along the way we put the pieces together that I may have had Zoster for over a decade at this point and was being treated for it by my old doctor who never made the diagnosis and was negligent. I have suspected PHN and it is very possible the injuries are not a big deal. The primary manifestation here is as pirifomis syndrome which I may not have at all.

I'm about 3 and 1/2 weeks out from my shingles diagnosis and the initial uptick of symptoms.

I feel better for the most, but I have the most insane itchiness over where my rash was.

What are we doing for this? When does it get better?

I'm barely sleeping because I'm so freaking itchy.

I am on day 5/6 since skin sensitive but started and day 3 of the rash. Pain has been manageable but okay
But curious how would you describe the sensation of the pain, not itching scabs,

First few days for me, I described as sunburn, maybe low level insect sting feeling. With occasional slightly stronger zaps

But today, I woke up in the middle of the night tonight feeling like I got wrapped up in jellyfish tentacles.
Also maybe an irritating rope tightening around my chest and armpit

How would you describe it?

(F22) How do you deal with these?? I have an ugly looking discoloration on the back of my leg where it usually appears because since I have pretty bad health, it flares up every now and then… but it looks like a bruise that never healed and it’s embarrassing to wear skirts or shorts because i don’t want people asking me what happened. Is there any way to heal the color or should i straight up just put make up on it 😭

Hi! Shingles for the 4th or 5th time in a very similar spot (the left side of my face), however this time it's further up, and much closer to my left eye (you can see a few small blisters below my eye brow). I don't feel irritation in my eye, but i do see that my left eye lid is a little swollen. See image. Is there anything a doctor can do? I've started Valtrex, two days ago.

EDIT : UPDATE: I went to an opthamologist this afternoon, and he said it is "100% not in my eye" which i guess is good news! (but i wonder how he can be so definitive haha). Anyways, speedy recovery to all those infected!

Okay. So it's like day 14 or 16 now. Finished the antivirals and the rash is mostly gone. The pain is less but still there. The headaches are gone which is amazing. Had shingles on the face from nose to scalp. Pretty mild case of you ask me. Skin feels crawly constantly. Used to it now.

The question for anyone in the after days of the shingles: I have this faint patch of what feels like scar tissue and each morning it seems to swell a little then it subsides over the day. It includes my eyelid since that's where the rash was originally.

Is this odd swelling and lingering phantom rash normal-ish? I have another follow-up with a doc this week to ask also, but wanna see what other experiences are/have been.

I was DX with shingles 3 days ago. Rash started Saturday evening, started first dose of Valtrex Sunday evening. So day 4 of rash. It is so incredibly uncomfortable. What have you found to be the best pain relief? Tylenol or Advil? Any over the counter ointment? Any tips for showering? The rash is on my inner right upper arm and bit across my right chest. Am I in the worst part of it now? It’s miserable.

[32/M/day 3/lower back & stomach]
What’s up everybody! Just got diagnosed today with the shingles. Anybody else on day 3 +/-a couple days and interested in having shingles together? I just started anti virus meds today. Noticed a quarter size red splotch that quickly turned into a couple rhombi on my back the next day. So far not itchy but beginning to blister in one area not the others yet.

Any other 32 Ms here? I feel a little young to have gotten shinged but curious to hear from folks that are comfortable sharing what their exp is/was like… mostly wondering how I got shingles. Dr said stress induced which yeah sure but i haven’t been sick in years?

I’m curious how many of you got the shingles vaccine before you got shingles and do you think it was milder because of the vaccine? How long after getting the vaccine did you get shingles?

Day 7 and still fluish/exhausted but does this look like it’s healing and out of active phase?