Shingles
What is shingles?
A shingles rash can mimic spider bites including bed bugs. This rash usually appears on one side of the face or body and lasts from 2 to 4 weeks. Its main symptom is pain, which can be quite severe. Other symptoms of shingles can include fever, headache, chills and upset stomach. Very rarely, a shingles infection can lead to pneumonia, hearing problems, blindness, brain inflammation (encephalitis) or death.
About 2 out of every 10 people experience severe pain that may last even after the rash clears up and is referred to as post-herpetic neuralgia.
Shingles is caused by the Varicella Zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Only someone who has had a case of chickenpox or gotten chickenpox vaccine, can get shingles. The virus stays in your body. It can reappear many years later to cause a case of shingles.
You can’t catch shingles from other people that have shingles. However, in rare cases, an individual who has never had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine, may contract it from someone who has shingles.
Shingles is far more common in people 50 and older than in younger people. It is also more common in people whose immune systems are weakened because of a disease such as cancer, or drugs such as steroids or chemotherapy. At least 1 million people a year in the United States get shingles.
Causes or Shingles
No one is sure exactly what makes the sleeping zoster virus become active and multiply, but illness, trauma and stress are known to trigger shingles. People that have conditions such as AIDS, HIV, Radiation Therapy, Surgery and Chemotherapy are known to have week immune systems, something that this virus likes.
There is a vaccine for shingles which in the lab, stopped shingles in about half of people older than 60 years of age; this shingles vaccine may also reduce the pain associated that comes with this virus.
The vaccine may not be for everyone such as those that have had a life-threatening allergic reaction to gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin. Your doctor will explain more about this and ask all the necessary questions before giving you such a cure.
Identify Shingles
If you have, or think you have, shingles, please try to take a picture and post a comment so that others may see. Thousands of visitors view this site daily and many are more than happy to review your information and help you determine if it is Shingles, spider bites or bed bugs.
Written by Jim on June 16th, 2005 with
37 comments.
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My mom was supposenly diagnosed with shingles doctors are trying to treat her for that using some type ssd cream. She has had this for about 8 months she has extreme pain its located on her back she has not been able to sleep on it since. It started red with brusing and turned into a boil looking cist it has severly scared her back.
She now has a dip on her back with extreme drainage. After using the cream she now has neon green looking drainage…today its hurting her really bad even to the front of her chest i guess it attacks the nerves but no one seems to know how to treat it!!
Not even the specialist!!! I just found out that there is a vaccine only from reading your site. Please help, what is the vaccine called? I will up link some photos asap….please get back asap
Hello Monica,
Yes, upload some of the photos!
I had chickenpox when I was 24. I caught them from an elderly gentleman who had shingles while I was working as a nurse. No one knew he had them.
I very often get severe pain in the lower quadrant of my back on the right side- sometimes there’s a rash- sometimes not. This is always followed by a course of what my doctors calls “shingle-like” blisters in my mouth and throat. Can you shed some light? That too, is excruciating and I can’t eat when it happens. Stress can bring it on- and I have had a lot recently -I just wish it would quit already! I can’t even use the mouth rinse the doctor gave me to sooth these blisters because it burns. Even iced-tea and carbonated beverages burn!
My immune system is a wreck ever since I had the chicken pox -they were inside and outside. They wanted to admit me into the hospital but feared I would start an epidemic. I was fortunate to have children -they were low birth weight -one overdue and one under-do. Subsequently, all my parts had to come out.
I would like any info you can give me on this subject.
I am allergic to PCN.
I am willing to share, as well!
Best regards-
Linda
I have a pain in my back under my right shoulder blade for a week now no rash, went to my doctor today he said he thinks it is shingles took xray to rule out ribs and lungs, I’m in so much pain. It feels like a fist in my back, I can’t lay, sit or stand and often I feel sick to my tummy. No rash yet, how long till rash and blisters if it is shingles?
Thanks for any help!
Barbara
I am young and have shingles. It is the most irritating thing in the world and i would just love to scratch it right now. I have read many things about shingles and i see that people over 50 get it. If this is the case why do i have it? I also read its because of stress and a weak immune system. All i really would like to know is how i got it at a very young age.
thank you for listening…
Gabby
Urgent care just diagnosed my “bed bug” like bites as Shingles. However, I am not experiencing any pain. I am 29, have had chicken pox as a kid. Bites are only on left leg and lower back. No other symptoms.
I have some scabbing, but just a dot in the middle of the each individual bump or the cluster of bumps.
Thanks for any advice
Shingles are the product of anyone that has had chickenpox. Usually they develope later on in life, around 50 years, and last about 2 week. You can develop shingles on the back waist area or on the facial area. Either area, they are very painful when developing. They are a strain of chickenpox so they will resemble them. There are medications that will ease the pain. One is the patch the you pour over the infected area. If you scratch the area, you not only risk the chance of spreading them, but you could also cause nerve damage. Shingles is an ugly word as is the disease, but once you have it, you won’t get it again. Just remember to keep your immune system charged up. It usually attacks the body when the immune system is low.
My daughter had the chickenpox when she was 2. When she was 4 she developed shingles. She was a normal, healthy 4 year old. Really no explanation why she got shingles. She had them from her tail bone down to the bottom of her foot. Bad raw blisters. We had to carry her (or she would just drag that right leg as she tried to walk.. very sad!) and she had tremendous pain. Moaning and crying nearly night and day. Took approximately 3 & 1/2 weeks from beginning to end. She is now 19 and has had no sign of them since.
The reason I am writing this here - when I googled children and shingles, there isn’t a whole lot of information or stories about it. I thought if I told my daughters then it might help someone else possibly looking for a common situation. It can happen to healthy, young children.
In addition, we were, and have several times since then, told that my daughter was more likely to get shingles again during her lifetime since she has had them already.
It’s my belief that though we live with so many stealth viruses in our soft tissues, proper diet can often save us from triggering the mechanisms that allow these buggers to take-over again. Shingles were making the rounds of my friends some years ago, yet some of us did not develop symptoms, though we were equally exposed. I think it’s because we observed healthy eating habits, which, done properly, discourages foods that stress, rather than nourish. Fried foods, red meats, processed wheat, transfat, high fructose syrups, etal, all stress the digestive tract, lowering our immune systems, and invite infections.
I suffered from mouth sores for years until I found out how important it was to maintain proper conditions in my digestive tract, how to eat right for my blood type and keep an eye on my skin, nails, hair, and bowel movements.
I haven’t had a cold sore in 25 years, in fact, I haven’t had a cold in as long.
I am 8 and a half months pregnant and just found out I have shingles after going to the er with severe back and chest pains then 24 hrs later the rash was all over the left side of my back , my breast and my side. So far everything is fine with the baby even after the medication .
I had shingles in the 5th grade and there is only 1 word to describe this disease….PAIN. I never knew what pain was until i had develped it. i was in pain for about 2 months at only ten years old. when i first realized i had it, i was in school in at a assembly and my friend pointed to the side of my face and told me i had a nasty thing in my face so i went to the bathroom and i saw it. it was nasty all right so then i went to the nurse thinking i had a ring worm and she sent me home early.
My mom took me to the hospital because it started hurting really really bad. My doctor looked at it and told me i had herpes! it was awful, so after getting tested they said i had the shingles. when i had it, there was no cure for it, so i was in bee sting, snake bite, burning tingling, knife stabbing type of pain for 2 months!! and it spread all over the left side of my face and all through my scalp and mouth….it was a awful 2 months to be 10 years old i tell ya….for anyone who has it, all i can say is hang in there…it’ll be over soon.
I am 37 and have shingles I was so confused because I thought it was a dirty disese but its not I found out what its from but have a lot of un answered questions on why. My daughter is 6 and has been having an upset stomache and I am concerned I am taking her to the Dr. I found this website and thought it was helpful I wish the answers to the questions were posted to help answer some of my concerns.
I included a photo below of what I thought was a couple of spider bites on my back received while sleeping. I went to my family doctor who assumed that was what it was. I ended up in the ER two weeks later with pain down my spine area numbness like I’ve been stung by a bee or something.
I am 52 and never dreamed this could happen to me. The pain is constant is situated on the right side of my back by the spots. I am taking Lyrica which is to treat the nerve endings. Hopefully this will end soon. Still don’t know if this is shingles or not but am assuming it is.
Let me know what you all think.
Thanks!
Kathy
I’m a 26 year old mom and recently I noticed pain under my arm. Two days later a small rash started. I was diagnosed with shingles 4 days later. I had 11 clusters from my spine on my upper back to my breastbone near my chest. It is quite painful and I never expected to have shingles at my age. I’m on famvir to try to speed recovery and Darvocet for pain. The pictures below show what it looks like after 6 days.
Hello just wanted to know what I can do about this stuff.
I got this just a few days ago. I went to sleep and when I woke up the next day I felt a burning sensation. That same day I got a little fever. I thought at first that it was a rash. By the second day 6 bumps came out. And the small area was red. The picture above is actually a close up. And they are shiny because I put Vicks on top of it because it’s just too itchy. The area when it happens was between my hip and under arm.
So anyways 6 bumps came out almost perfectly aligned as u can see in the photos. A small liquid came out at the tip of the dots. No clothing can touch that area because it burns. 4 days later I’m still thinking it was a rash the tip of the area they have now turned black. That’s when I said “okay this can’t be no heat rash at all” seeing that they are perfectly aligned only answer is that I got bitten by a home spider. I live in Toronto Canada where right now we are in winter.
Now I’m not sure if it’s a spider? or what. I am going to the doctor tomorrow morning. But just want to see what you can tell me. I will get back to you and tell you what happen. And also share my story with the others if it turns out that it is in fact a spider bite.
Thanks and please get back to me ASAP.
Update:
This was not a spider bite; the doctor said it was shingles (herpes zortes) which is basically the encore of chickenpox. There is a chance that you can get it as you get older and is more common in adults aged 50 or greater.
In hindsight, my lower spine pain was the beginning of my ’spider bite’. I’ve never had back problems so I just assumed I’d slept ‘wrong’…. 3 nights in a row.
Four days later, In the wee hours of the morning, sitting at my computer, the tag on the waist of my jammies was bothering me…. except there was no tag on my silk charmeuse penoir ..er…… sweatpants.
Within 30 minutes, what started as sensitive skin, progressed to that ’sunburn with prickly heat rash’ thing….. unless I scratch it…. then it feels like that ’sunburn with prickly heat rash thing being scraped with a dry S.O.S. pad’…… which is why I’m thankful the back pain keeps me from doing that. Here are some pictures:
I guess, because I never found the spider, I just knew I had Shingles and scheduled a doctor’s appointment that very day. He said he’d never had a patient call for an appointment stating they had Shingles… they always say, “I have a spider bite.”
!#$% Blasted chicken pox!
Bk, how has your shingles progressed? Ive had it for 3 days now, and just started Valtrex. Im curious to know how you are doing.
i was wondering if you are a nurse an work around people with shingles and come in contact with them before you knew they had it.. Could it be possible to transmit this to my grandson that never had chicken pox’s?
No you cant, unless you touched the oozing blister, which would be odd. after you touched it, you would have to be around your grandson pretty soon. this all assumes you would have terrible hygine.
its not like chickenpox that gets into the bloodstream and respiratory system, so it can be caught in the air.
I am 11 weeks pregnant and i belive that my shingles are coming back!
i was diagnosed with this skin condition last year i am 17 years old and i dont want it to affect my baby!!
what should i do??
i get these horible things on my eye lid and they make my eye lid HUGE and it makes my eye close up..
i have to wear sun glasses or i feel like everyone is looking at me im so embarassed and it scary when someone asks what happened to your eye???
im like its a alergic reaction to my makeup!!!
when i went to school i would take off a whole week just so people wouldnt see me b/c the kids would always ask what happened??
and one girl said it looks like herpes..i almost cryed..
so if anyone knows what to do b/c i still have some of my creams and zorvax pills left over from last time but i really dont wanna take theim b/c im pregnant
if anyone could help thank you soooo much!!!
I’ve been dealing with my daughters “illness” for the last 5 years. She is now 19 and at college. When she was 14 she got pnemonia and terrible pains around her lower left lung. The area would swell and when I touched it, it felt spongey-like. Even the doctor came to our house because she was in so much pain she could hardly move. She continues to have these “episodes” about every 2-3 months since she was 14.
After blood test, ct scans, x-rays, and more blood tests; the diagnosis was shingles around the nerve on the inside under her skin. The pain went from lower left lung around to her back following the nerve area. The strange thing is that she never has any rash that appears on the skin. Even the doctors say this is strange but seems to be shingles under the skin.
QUESTION; HAS ANYONE EVER HEARD OF THAT? The several doctors that we have seen, have never heard of that. We continue to treat it with the Lidoderm patches and Ibuprofen, which helps. It always seems compounded with stress.
I woke up last sunday morning with several large red spots on the side and front of my stomach, looking like welts. I assumed they were mosquito bites or spider bites. As the week progressed, each spot has gotten dark red spots in the center. MY side and stomach area, where the spots are located, are very sore as are the spots. No itching. None of them have gone away and I almost feel like something is in my system on that side of my body. I guess a tip to the doctor is in order. I also have muscle pain in the area, down my left leg and into my knee.
Hello, I’m 23 years old and I think I have shingles!!!
Can someone help me diagnose it?? Could it be be bed-bugs??? See the picture below.
Last Tuesday (Feb 19), I noticed a rash near my right-lower ribcage… NO pain until the rash started to dry out. It isn’t severe pain but it does hurt here and there, not constantly like some other stories. And I’m stressing out and I think it’s making the pain worse.
Help!
Vanessa, get to a doctor right away. When I was 8 months pregnant my 6 year old daughter contracted chicken pox. My doctors asked me if I had ever had it and I said yes so they thought I would be alright. It turns out that because I got the pox right after turning 1 I was too little to form a full immunity. I came down with a very mild case and I learned from my doctors that chicken pox crosses the placenta. My baby most likely got it but I was far enough along that it probably did not affect anything. If I were in my first or second trimester, as you are, there could be cause for concern because the baby is still developing. I do not know if shingles crosses the placenta, but it is caused by the virus that causes chicken pox so it would not hurt to get to the doctor right away.
According to a British Medical School’s website shingles when activated is different than chickenpox and does not cross the placenta. I am 34 and 7 months pregnant and experiencing my third episode of shingles. Seems to occur when I am under a lot of stress. The can’t sleep kind of worry. I would definately go into the doctor to see what they can recommend to help with the pain and to prevent secondary infection in your eye. I have a doctor’s appointment in two days but I only hold out hope for tylenol and some kind of cream. Remember don’t take any meds when pregnant without asking your doctor first this could cause a lot of harm as many meds do pass through the placenta and effect the baby’s development!
Ok I’m 20 y.o. Male and I have Shingles. I’ve been doing lots of research on it and it has really scared me.
When I get really stressed I tend to break out in hives. I’m also alergic to Cats. Also when I was younger I got the ChickenPox 3 seperate times….
I Got shingles about 3 months ago, like everyone else I thought it was spider bites. It was all along my left rib cage. After taking Valtrex it went away but, now it came back a little. One popped up. But, I took initiative and gulped down a Valtrex. Thats the only one that popped up. The thing is that Shingles aren’t what scares me. The thing that really scares me is the HIV, AIDS, Cancer thing… Since I’m young and I have this Virus does it mean I have a Weak immune system? I’ve only been with one girl and she’s STI free. Has any other younger people in or around there 20’s been checked for STI’s?
I’m going to get checked out soon.
I am 26 years old and I have Shingles. I am so afraid , this is so painful and im afraid of getting tested for fear of worse news. I hear that most people my age dont get shingles unless they are HIV infected of have Cancer is that true? I have them on my face but seems to be almost cleared up . I caught them within 72 hour period does this make a difference on the spreading or healing process?
My wife is 15 weeks pregnant. Today we came to know (from dermatologist) that she is caught with shingles. 5 days back, a small rash started on her right leg then 2 or 3 bumps came out. Initially there was some pain around the rash and some itching. We used calamine lotion, itching was relieved. But on her 3rd and 4th day there was a lot of pain in right leg. We went to our ob-gyn; she mentioned she doesn’t have a clue at this stage. She suspected that it is shingles and referred to a dermatologist. Dermatologist found that she caught with Herpes Zoster (Shingles) and asked us to use the Acyclovir for 5 days (5 times in a day).
At this point (During second trimester of her pregnancy), I am not sure..
- What are the side effects of shingles on un-born baby?
- What is the side effect of using Acyclovir on un-born baby? (I am so scared about birth defects etc.)
- How shingles (during pregnancy) going to affect my wife…
- Do I need to more worry about wife’s health or un-born baby’s health?
Has any one experienced this before…? (Especially in second trimester)… I am new to U.S and I am experiencing all weird problems. What kind of questions/ clarification I can seek from my doctor…
Sorry for my bad English…
Thanks.
Hello - I accidentally stabbed myself in the palm of my hand with the blade of the liquidizer just under 2 weeks ago. 2 days later I developed an ache in my hand and arm which worsened over the next couple of days to the point that I could not sleep in any position and paracetamol didn’t do anything for the pain.
A small rash appeared half way up my arm on the 5th day after the trauma. On the 9th day the GP confirmed shingles and put me on a 7-day reduced course of Acyclovir (3 rather than 5 tablets daily so as not to further reduce my sole kidney function).
I am half way through the course of tablets. The rash has spread down to the bottom of 2 fingers and up to the elbow in random patches and is still spreading as of today, the 12th day. The pain has eased and then heightened over the last couple of days so am hoping that is a good sign. Have also had stabbing pains in the side of my head which is probably the same nerve route.
I had chickenpox as a child and also caught it from my young son in my mid-30’s. I have not been in contact with any children whatsoever in the recent past. It’s possible my immune system is lowered as I have been on steroid medication for a year. But, this would appear to confirm that you can definitely activate the virus by injuring yourself perhaps along a nerve path.
Mrs S.
Fives hours after i thought i was bitten by a spider on my very upper thigh and buttock. Pain was horrible woke me from sleep. One week later it turned into a scab and is still very painful. The area around it is painful as well.
I’ve included these pictures below:
My heart goes out to all of you suffering from shingles, especially you pregnant moms! I got chicken pox when I was three weeks old and got shingles when less than a year old. It lasted a month.
My dad walked me every night for the entire night, because my mom was too slim (bony) to be comfortable. For those of you suffering now, it really does get better, but I remember when mom got it at 65, it is REALLY painful.
Hi, I’m 20 and i have had Shingles for the last 5 years. I get them 3 times a year in my hire and eye and no one can tell me way this happens and what makes it come out so many times? and i have it again for the 1st time this year
Hello! I am 23 years old and I was just diagnosed with shingles. It started out as pain along my right rib cage (right on the bra-line no less). I thought it was just a pulled muscle or irritation from my bra or something. Three days after the pain I woke up with a rash in the same spot. I went to urgent care on the third day of the rash, and they confirmed my suspicions with a diagnosis of shingles. I am on acyclovir for the virus and hydrocod/IBU (vicoprofen) for the pain.
I too am kind of worried that I have shingles at such a young age. I haven’t been tested for HIV but I’ve only had a few partners, and my current boyfriend I’ve been with for 5 years. I wonder if I should go ahead and get tested, or if I’m just being paranoid. I’ve never had any major health problems that would indicate a weak immune system, so I’m hoping it’s just stress related.
My doctor also told me that the earlier you had chicken pox as a child, the more likely you are to have shingles at a younger age. I had chicken pox when I was 3. So far the rash hasn’t subsided but it has stopped spreading.
The pain medications help a lot, but they also seem to cause more itchiness. Good luck to everyone else going through this! Hopefully insurance companies will start covering the shingles vaccination so that nobody has to experience this discomfort.
my boyfriend whom ive been with for 7years is 26 and was diagnosed with shingles on one side of his face. Im really scared. Could someone please let me know if it is ok for people younger than 50 to get shingles if they are perfectly healthy. He has usually been a healthy person and experienced almost no pain at all, so this scares me even more. its been less than a week but it is clearing up. All the scabs are gone but if it comes back should i be really concerned? he has been a bit stressed lately and gets cold sores often in the summer time
I am 47 y/o and was diagnosed probably 10 years ago with shingles. I wondered then how you could get just 1 shingle. I still question this. I get this 4-6 times a year always on the same side of my face. It starts out with me knowing it is coming by the feeling of numbness on my left side of my face. I also feel like a lymph node is swelling right under my left ear. The “shingle” always appears somewhere between my eyebrow and a little higher. Depending on where it comes in at my eye sometimes swells appearing to be hanging down. It has a scab and swelling. From my ear to the spot it remains tingley and somewhat numb. My life is always full of stress. I question if this is actually the shingles since it keeps coming back as well as only having 1 scab. Any ideas? Anyone else out there only get 1 scab? Thanks for any advice.
I was diagnosed with Shingles this past Wednesday (june 25).
-It started as a pain in the back of my neck last week., it was a burning/stabbing pain that radiated down my back and down my right shoulder. I thought i pulled a muscle at work or something.
-On Monday i got one sore. It appeared in the very center of the neck, at the back of my head in the hairline. It looked like a spider bite, or a boil.. so i used a hot compress thinking i could poke it with a pin and squeeze something out of it.
- Tuesday i went to work, and the rubbing of my uniform collar caused a burning rash all across the back of my neck. So Wednesday i went to the doctor.
I started my 3 pills a day, for 5 day prescription of valtrex, (holy moses, is IT ever expensive!!), and now its Saturday. The rash is drying up, with the exception of the ONE Shingle that doesn’t seem to be responding to the meds.
I wasn’t give a prescription for pain, but i guess either i have a mild case, or a really high tolerance for pain, but i’m finding Tylenol Extra Strength works for me. Yes, the pain is intense at times, its not constant like i thought it would be.
One minute i’m feeling pretty good, then BAM, it feels like my back, neck, arm, and hair is on fire!!
It sucks that this darn Chicken Pox virus comes back to bite us in the butt again. As if getting it once, wasn’t good enough!
I’m 44 and have had Shingles at least 8 times over the past 5 years.
I have been treated with Valtrex and now Famvir.
The first few times seemed to have been the worst.
I am able to recognize it quickly and get on meds within 24 hours. The last time I had it was about 4 weeks ago and I got another mild case a few days ago. It’s beginning to scare me a little now.
I know stress is a big factor, but this is insane!
I plan to finding an Infectious Disease Specialist to hopefully get some more infomation because my Dr. is just as puzzled as I am.
(I have also mistaken the early stages for spider bites)