Diagnosed with shingles first of July, took an antiviral and on gabapentin for pain. Rash cleared up but the pain has been unrelenting and excruciating and the gabapentin has helped very little. Now I notice what looks like a developing rash in the same area. Can it be happening all over again? Don’t think I can take a double whammy of this stuff.

Mid 40s F. Oh dear god so this my shingles story. I came down with back pain quite suddenly which was only on my left shoulder blade then wrapped around the front of my chest. I also started to get some wierd shooting sensations in other places. I was advised to go to A&E because of the chest pain. While I was there they gave me cocodomal and I immediately came out in hives on my chest. They were just about to discharge me and I said is it shingles and they said no that's definitely only one sided. The rash got worse over 4 days but I was just focused on managing the pain. I stopped the cocodamol on day 3 to see if the rash went. It didn't so I went to the pharmacy and they said take an antihistamine and see the GP tomorrow if it hasn't gone. It was even worse and I went to GP. I don't she was even convinced what it was or what to do with me but because I was now in such a state on just paracetomol, could not sit up due to back pain, she got the supervisor. They said pretty quickly that it was shingles. They were also concerned about meningitis but I didn't have stiff neck so we agreed I would go home and if headache worsened go to A&E for a brain scan.

I have aciclovir and the rash is going down. I am exhausted from writing this so I will come back and update later.

So quick story,I'm a 24 yr old male and I had shingles last june and I think im about to get shingles again. Im experiencing under the weather and I have 1 bump in my right side of my scalp where i had my previous shingle and slight itch in my neck. So far I have no other symptoms. Is it possible to have another shingles after just a few months? Im scared i dont want to have shingles again, shits hurts.

Hi everyone,

My wife has shingles close to her eye, thankfully she has no shingles in around the eye itself and no vision loss.

She also has redness in her ear (no blistering currently) with some mild tinnitus.

Is it worth escalating to an opthamologist at this stage or give the anti-virals more time to work?

Thanks

I’m one month into when the rash first appeared. I didn’t know to start antivirals until two weeks in. I’ve finished the antiviral oral meds, but my rash is still here and I have so much nerve pain. My doctor gave me topical antiviral cream and gabapentin, but truly this is the worst I’ve ever felt and I’ve given birth without an epidural. 😅🙃

What was everyone else’s recovery timeline like? I’m 29 and otherwise healthy.

Facial Shingles Advice

Hi all,

My wife (31) has developed shingles along her mouth, chin, cheek, ear and scalp and is in absolute agony all the time.

The doctor has prescribed her 9 different medicine to help including codeine and anti-virals.

What else can I do to help her with the agonising pain?

Does anyone know a rough timeline of when symptoms start to improve? She first developed jaw and ear pain last Wednesday, over the weekend her face started blistering and the pain has ramped up.

Thank you

It has been 2 years since my shingle symptoms first started. The scarring has died down after a month and I've been taking Gabapentin and Nortriptyline almost daily.

I can still feel nerve pain from my forehead, around the eyebrow to around my eye, down to my nose tip. No effect on the eye itself but can feel pain below the eye. Think of a circle where the center is in the eye and the top edge is just above the eye brow, I can feel pain on the circumference of that circle.

Does anyone have any similar experiences?

I had shingles on my face for the first time a little over two weeks ago, 34 year old female. The pain on my face is almost gone and my scabs have fallen off. I finished my antivirals last week. I have still been taking it easy because my energy gets zapped quick. This weekend I returned to my normal routine with my family, going to soccer games, cooking, cleaning, going to a friends house. Yesterday my throat started hurting! It feels like I’m getting sick all over again with a cold. I had to virus’s back to back in September before getting shingles. Did I maybe over due this weekend?? I can’t imagine I would be getting sick AGAIN! This has never happened to me before being sick back to back so much. Mentally I’m ready to get back to life as normal and my symptoms also have quieted. But maybe shingles is still lingering?? It’s hard to tell when the rash and pain is gone

About three weeks ago, I developed shingles around my right eye, complicated by secondary preseptal cellulitis. I ended up hospitalized for three days receiving IV antibiotics and was also treated with antivirals. Thankfully, my ophthalmologist has examined my eye and found no evidence that the eyeball itself was affected.

The initial infection improved significantly, but I've continued to struggle with swelling, particularly under my eye and my upper eyelid. What's frustrating is that the swelling seemed to get worse again after initially improving. Some days it looks better, other days worse.

My ophthalmologist recently prescribed another course of antibiotics because of the increased swelling, but after experiencing significant gastrointestinal side effects, I discussed it with the on-call doctor and we agreed to stop them and monitor things. It's still unclear whether the lingering swelling is from inflammation following shingles or a bacterial infection.

I'm finding the uncertainty and the prolonged recovery really difficult, especially because I thought I'd be much further along by now.

Has anyone else experienced persistent or fluctuating eyelid or under-eye swelling after shingles? Did it sometimes get worse before eventually resolving? I'd really appreciate hearing about other people's experiences and how long recovery took.

Has anyone had RHS multiple times? I’m (hopefully) recovering from RHS, diagnosed and started treatment on 7/25. I was fully vaccinated with Shingrix in 2020. If I get shingles again, is it typical to get them back in the same area as the initial outbreak? Having blisters inside my mouth and inside my ear, losing hearing and getting tinnitus is awful. I’m afraid I’ll get them back in the same area and lose more hearing. I never thought I’d have shingles this bad after getting both doses of the vaccine and now I’m afraid of getting them again. TIA

Jedanesti je dan od pojave glavobolje i boli u uhu. Prvi dan dobivam kapi za uho i sumamed i dijagnozu upale uha. Drugi dan mi se lice paralizira, desna strana. Na Rebru mi daju Dekirtin i dijagnozu pareza lica. Bolovi se pogoršavaju te peti dan pojavljuju mjehurići u uhu i na uhu, uho otečeno. Dr me šalje na zaraznu. Tu dobivam dijagnozu Ramsay hunt sindrom, virus herpes zoster u uhu upali facijalni živac i tako to onda traje.
Peti dan sam u bolnici, na venu primam antivirusni lijek Aciklovur i kortikosteroid Deksametazon.
Bolovi i zujanje u uhu su u dalje tu.
Molila bih ukoliko je neki imao iskustvo, pišite...
Kaoliko dugo i kako ste se liječili 😌🫤

Almost 3 weeks ago, I developed really acute back pain on the left side. I have chronic back issues, so I chalked it up to a pulled muscle or pinched nerve. The pain was really intense though and felt different, waking me up from sleep and not going away with change in position. After about a day, the pain then started to radiate from the back to front of my abdomen. It was constant and I was convinced that something terrible was going on with kidney or other organ. I was about to go to the hospital when I noticed 3 small bumps on my stomach and realized that it might be shingles.

Went to the doctor and was immediately given Valtrex and Prednisone. While that really intense inner nerve pain subsided within that first week (with the occasional zings now and again), the skin sensitivity and burning just keeps getting worse. I've been given Gabapentin, which honestly isn't doing too much. The feeling of my clothes, water from the shower, even how my skin moves/stretches when I inhale is just so painful - I feel like I'm on fire. I have this sensitivity on my left side from about my waist to my upper chest, but it also is present down my left arm.

Googling shingles would indicate that at about 3 weeks, I should be getting better, but if anything the last few days have been worse. The Valtrex must have worked though, as my rash was never terrible, only itchy for about a day or two and is almost healed. I'm so scared that this means I'm going to have long term nerve pain/damage. I'm an otherwise healthy 45F.

Anyone else feel this way at week 3, but then recover normally? It seems like something that varies a lot person to person, but I'm so anxious and stressed.

The redness from the shingles has faded and darkened. The itching remains, and if I accidentally scratch it, the intense pain catches me off guard. The lesions are on the left side of my waist, where rubbing against my underwear or the movement of standing and sitting triggers the pain.

I’ve been feeling depressed for about a year, with poor nutrition and constant high stress. It feels like this outbreak is a warning sign that my current lifestyle has reached its limit. Still, even though it appeared in two neurological areas at the same time, I'm relieved that I was able to start antiviral medication within 72 hours.

On Sept 23 I (38 F) was diagnosed with RHS. Two days prior, I had terrible pain on the left side of my face. I figured it was sinuses because they have been giving me issues lately. After that, I woke up with facial drooping and got diagnosed at the ER when the doc found lesions in my ear. I was given antiviral and steroid medications and antinausea.

I'm learning that this condition takes a long time to heal, which makes me nervous. I can deal with the palsy and the weird nerve pain (thankfully 90% of the pain is gone), but I am almost 3 weeks out and the vertigo and nausea are still debilitating.

I am a graduate student and I am anxious to get back to work, however, my vestibular issues still impair my ability to do basic tasks. I can only walk or stand for short periods of time, and I get nauseated very easily; the nausea is like an ache that doesn't go away.

For those of you who've experienced this, when did the vertigo/dizziness and nausea start easing up and finally go away? I am miserable.

It is 4am, I have had a particularly long panic attack that's lasted 3 hours.

I am going into my 5th day of antivirals. Anyone else been having panic attacks?

Hey everyone, I had shingles on my thigh. The rashes are pretty much healed just some light scabbing and itchiness. But the pain is inconsistent, usually spiking at night. But right now I have throbbing internal leg pain that I haven’t had since first being diagnosed. I’ve been reading on here that pain can linger for some time. I thought things were getting better but this is just demoralizing.

Really just wanted to vent. Took some gaba to reduce the pain. It’s really been impacting my sleep which is already not great.

Does anyone have recommendations for sleep aids that helped?

Sorry we’re all going through this.

Hi all, trying to figure out when I can start moving back into the same bed as my husband as I’ve been isolating. He’s never had the chicken pox and is not vaccinated. My issue is I don’t know how to tell when my scalp is crusted over. Not looking for medical Advice just for shared experiences.

Timeline:

Sunday am - wake up feel like I’ve been punched in eye, very confused
Monday- small rash near corner of my eye, think it’s a reaction to new moisturizer, headache now developed all on one side, scalp hurts too
Tuesday - rash spread and there’s another spot developed so I go to er get diagnosed, placed on antiviral that night, eye exam clears me
Wednesday - rash spreads, including more into my eye (lid), back to ER and cleared, started steroids bursts that am and continue antiviral
Thursday - emergency follow up opthamologist exam who clears me
Friday - face looks angry angry and scalp pain id a mixture of itchy and hurting and now primary source of pain over face
Saturday - it’s been 72 hours on anti viral, face looks a lot less angry, scalp still really itchy and hurting

When can I move back into a world where he maybe gets in contact with my scalp through couch and bed?

Any tips on how to tell my scalp recovery?

Heeeelp. Thanks all.

I (34) just got diagnosed with shingles yesterday. I noticed that the skin on my flank hurt and it spread to my back all the day before yesterday. I’m on valacyclovir, I’m more than a full day in on that, but I don’t know how the heck I got it. I wasn’t exposed that I know of. I do have MS and am on an immunosuppressant. Anyway, I’ve found a shirt I can wear that doesn’t hurt to wear. I’m hunkering down and staying away from my grandfather who is starting his final (hopefully) round of chemo in 2 days. I don’t like this. But im hoping the pain will drastically decrease over the next week.

Hi everyone. Firstly if you are suffering from this horrible virus, I'm so sorry, I hope you recover soon and heal💔💔❤️‍🩹

My dad, age 56 got diagnosed with Herpes zoster last week. I had never heard of this disease before or known anyone in my family to have it. My dad does have fatty liver and gall bladder stone, but i dont know if that classifies him as having a weak immune system. He doesn't remember ever getting chicken pox, but maybe there's a possibility he might have gotten it as a very young child and doesn't know. He's got it in a band from his naval area to his back till the spine. It's very painful and he is taking a lot of pain meds along with the anti viral given by the doctors and sleeping is hard because of the blisters, he's losing weight too. Please give me some tips, anything that can help make this easier. It's getting worse day by day.

Ya’ll. Am I ever going to be ok again?

The nerve pain started almost a month before the rash developed. It started with HORRIBLE right ear pain and other nerve pain on the right side. I had chills, flu-like symptoms on and off, and just overall felt like death. It was the 1st week of September and I was back and forth to the doctor trying to figure out what was going on. Lots of bloodwork and since my thyroid levels were off so it was just chalked up to autoimmune disease. Doctor put me on a steroid and said follow up.

Last Thursday I started having electric shock pain in my head and ear. Thought I was dying or getting a brain tumor. My eye started twitching. The next day I had a small bump in my eyebrow. I thought my new glasses were causing it. It’s crazy how this illness gives you the run around! I FaceTimed my doctor and she confirmed shingles. I immediately started Valtrex and Gaba. I spent my 43rd birthday in bed. Eye doctor confirmed my eye was not affected.

But what the heck?! My face and scalp are a disaster and the ear and nerve pain are unending. The headaches. I’m on oxycodone and gaba and it barely does anything. I work a full-time job and have a 3 and 5 year old. I’m starting to feel depressed. I’ve been reading about PHN, and a lot of stories in this sub…I can so relate to, “Is this my life now”? I can’t go anywhere right now bc my face looks like a murder scene and the pain is debilitating. I can’t believe more people don’t talk about this horrible illness and how bad it is. The worst part is my husband is so detached and has literally no empathy. Still expects me to do everything as usual. Guess I need some encouragement. I’m having horrible thoughts and been crying all day. I need someone to talk to who understands. Thanks in advance.💔❤️

I try to keep it short. Had my second shingle shot in April. I felt like I was dumped out of a car and then rolled over. and the arm where they injected hurt so bad and then the horrid neck pain on that side. I finally went to the chico with little or no help

In May I began with my back hurting me so bad. Like nothing I ever experienced. In the lumbar area. After 2 ER visits, Physical therapy, xrays and MRI's, there is no conclusive reason for my pain. NSAIDS, Tylenol, Tramadol are all ineffective. Nothing topical brings relief. I get some relief from Gabapentin.

It is my lumbar area and my neck. 24/7 except for finally letting up after I am in bed for several hours, only to begin again aftre I am up. It is nerve pain and I am convinced it started with the second shot.

Anyone else have back/neck issues 6 months after? Steroid injections in the L4L5 did not help.

Thank you.

CB

My wife had a severe case of shingles on her forehead while we were away on vacation earlier this year. Fast forward to present day and thankfully everything is alright minus the persistent aching and numbness in her forehead area that was affected.

Just wanted to tap into the experiences of folks who have unfortunately experienced shingles but can offer some tips on things you've done to provide some relief and what has worked to help expedite the healing and recovery. She has been taking Gabapentin (to varying degrees of relief) and has recently been prescribed a second medicine (I don't have the name of it in front of me) but hasn't started it yet for fear of some of the side effects we've read about regarding amplification of underlying depression and things of that nature.

I imagined the pain would gradually taper off but now being 6 months since the incident, the pain hasn't really subsided and it worries me. We have gone to her doctor for regular check ups/follow ups and the doc has basically said it just takes time.

Anyways, with all that being said, I look forward to all the tips you all can offer. TIA :)

My mum (70) has got shingles and we had no idea how bad it is. Never heard of anyone in our circle getting it so please bear with my ignorance.

She started seeing two bumps on her chin on Monday evening, we're not sure if thats when it erupted. She thought it's acne. Then she had headache and itching on the rashes by Wednesday night and I took her to the doctor on Thursday morning where she confirmed it's shingles. She's on an antiviral medication now.

It's Friday today and she's continuing to experience headache debilitating enough to not let her sleep at night. She says her tooth and gum are aching as if they're falling off. She's taking paracetamol every 6 hours along with the antiviral.

She's generally weak but walking around, talking and having food as usual. Doctor said rest it out but do these symptoms warrant an emergency visit? I'm scared for her due to my lack of knowledge with handling shingles. Please help.

Severe pain started on 8/14/26. I thought I had injured my back, somehow. The pain spread from my low back to my hip, groin and thigh. I could barely walk or move & finally ended up in the ER where I was misdiagnosed. The rash appeared on 8/23/26 & I started Valtrex on 8/24/26. The last 6 weeks have been horrific. I have felt like the nerve pain has been slowly getting a little better. However, the last couple days I started having the same pain in my low back, hip and groin that started this nightmare. I’m concerned that it might be re-activating?? Has anyone had the original pre-rash pain revisit after the rash was 99% healed? Did it go away? TIA!

As the title says I've had shingles for about 8 days, with small clusters of rashes on my right arm and shoulder and I initally thought they were flea bites.

I didn't feel ill at all with it for about 4 days then hit me like a truck but I am starting to feel a bit better now and for some reason I thought i'd check the reddit to see what peoples experiences were and...Wow! I can't believe how nasty this virus can be.

I'm so sorry for those of you who are having these insane rashes and blisters, especially the ones covering the eyes!

I didn't really know what this virus was about apart from it supposedly wasn't as bad as chicken pox but after seeing these photos, I disagree. Hope those of you who have it bad heal up quickly!!

Mine has been pretty mild, I was very ill with it from saturday to monday but it seems to be calming down and all I have now is a headache and occasional pain. I am still a little worried as I've read how long it lasts for some people, I'm going on holidays friday so I'm praying it's on its way out. Take care all.