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34 with mild Shingles, no pain, weird?

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Shingles34
Shingles34

SO happy I found this community! I've been treated like a leper by 2 doctors when I was diagnosed with Shingles. Apparently it's "unheard" of in young people (I'm 34) unless we're immune compromised, but reading other young, healthy people on here who have had Shingles is a big relief!

My outbreak was kind of strange.. on my upper butocks, a small, isolated area with maybe a dozen blisters. Mild itching, almost zero pain, scabbed over and healed in less than two weeks. If I didn't get it checked out I would have assumed it was just an allergic reaction or bug bites. I had a lesion swab that came out positive for herpes zoster and was put on the valacyclovir  beforehand, about 5 days after the rash showed up. Either the meds did the trick or I just healed naturally. So I guess my questions are:

1. Why did I get it at my young (and presumably healthy) age?

2. Why was it such a mild case? The pain-free seems to be unheard of.

Thanks!

8 likes, 77 replies

77 Replies

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  • Foxxy
    Foxxy Shingles34

    Posted

    Catching early and beginning treatment right away helped you as well as your youth. One thing to consider in the future is acupuncture. It works very well for prevention of future outbreaks. Best of luck!  
  • 1roswell
    1roswell Shingles34

    Posted

    I have had breakouts of shingles since the age of 20. It started as a small patch on the base of f my spine, just above my buttocks. I can't exactly explain why , except that some people are predisposed to having autoimmune issues early. In my case it started early and progressed, later.

    I have had it in a couple of different places; but, it has primarily been in the same

    spot. I don't normally have pain,just the raised sensation, irritation type feeling, and itching. I've had severe bouts, and small bouts(one spot). As I've gotten older, and had more health issues, I have had more quantitative bouts, and for the past 3 to 4 years, have had to be placed on Valtrex or Valcyclovir, daily, to prevent lots ofreoccurring shingles. It was monthly.

    I still once or twice a year, get shingles. I also get other debilitating symptoms, before and after. I first get mouth cold sores. I then either feel sick like a virus or flu, or get the sensation in my normal spot of itching and potential break out. If I don't get sick before, I get sick after,with the viral or flu like symptoms. Thus the reason for the prevention of the shingles outbreak, not because of pain. I almost always h ave diarrhea before or after. I also have noticed the larger the bout, and the area of shingles, has affected level of pain. Once on the stomach, was much worse, than on the regular back site. I did have a severe, huge bout, on my back in the only place on ur body where you can have it on both sides. At the last nerve endings, in the form of a horseshoe. The worst I've ever had.

    If I can tell you anything else, let me know.

    Sincerely

    1Roswell

  • ukulele_girl
    ukulele_girl Shingles34

    Posted

    Hi, I had my first outbreak of shingles in my early twenty's even children get it. I to thought it was some kind of bug bite. Wasn't that painful wish I could say the same now, since then I have had it about 10 to 12 times a year, and it has been very painful. I had the shingles vaccine back in june this year, and yesterday my shingles are back. I have to say it is the longest I have been without them. I cannot take the meds for shingles as they make me sick. Hope you don't get them again, some people only get them once in a lifetime, hope you are one of them. Good luck.
    • mw95
      mw95 ukulele_girl

      Posted

      You mentioned your shingles outbreak looked like a bug bite. Was it just one bite? Or a whole cluster of them? I had what seemed like a bug bite on my scalp. Just one. It was a raised area/bump like a mosquito bite may have been. Just curious if yours was similar, or looked more like a cluster.
    • suzkpa
      suzkpa mw95

      Posted

      You can have just one. You may have had a slight odd sensation like a tingle before it popped out. Thats the clue. Twice I have had just one in an odd area, but ive read that it can happen.
  • yvonne34003
    yvonne34003 Shingles34

    Posted

    i wanted to say my daughter is 34 and they said it was only the older people back in the 60 who had this shot as a child 
  • Surferrobin1
    Surferrobin1 Shingles34

    Posted

    i searched and searched and found the advice of lysine and mushroom complex and sublingual b12...if i use this there is no recurrence and if i forget to use and it starts to come back i start it up and it goes away immediately...i dont know where i found the advice but it was such a miracle i had to share it!!!
  • yvonne34003
    yvonne34003 Shingles34

    Posted

    The doctors think they know everything but they never listen. Your age has nothing to do with it from what I readed  a shock surgery or some kind of trauma can cause this also.
  • patty1213
    patty1213 Shingles34

    Posted

    My children age 8 and 7 got shingles not long after they had chicken pox..so you're not so young...I wouldn't worry about it...
  • cindie44671
    cindie44671 Shingles34

    Edited

    I also have Shingles without pain. I had the rash for about 10 days before I went to the doctor. I thought it was an allergic reaction to something, but then I started getting more blisters. Like yours, mild itching, almost zero pain. The antiviral is speeding up the process of healing the blisters and has kept them from spreading. 
    • kayemmdee
      kayemmdee cindie44671

      Edited

      I had a diagnosis of shingles in my late 50s that had almost no pain.  A dermatologist made the diagnosis.  I wanted her to biopsy it, but she declined.  I should have insisted.

      I admit that it looked exactly like shingles and exactly followed the dermatome route on my lower left leg.  The only pain I had was from swelling.  But, if I kept my leg elevated and the swelling at bay, I had essentially zero pain.  My doctor prescribed an anti-viral and I think it was over in less than a week.

      I am the only person I personally know who has had a diagnosis of shingles who didn't experience severe and prolonged pain.  I have come to accept that I was in the minority and also lucky.

    • jessica54497
      jessica54497 kayemmdee

      Posted

      Just curious did you have the itching that’s associated with shingles? My husband was just diagnosed with shingles after taking him to the urgent care. It’s on his forehead  and swelling around the eye. He went to eye dr. and the eye is ok thank goodness. I was just wondering if it is a mud diagnosis because he had no pain except pressure from the swelling and not itching at all. He’s on acyclovir and an eye ointment. He’s been on that for a few days and woke up with more swelling near the jaw line. Wondering if that’s the natural progression of shingles or if it’s getting worse. 
    • trey18711
      trey18711 jessica54497

      Posted

      I am currently experiencing virtually identical symptoms to this.  I am wondering how his condition progressed.   How long did the swelling and visible symptoms last?
    • dcrt
      dcrt trey18711

      Posted

      Mine ended up being Lichen Planus another autoimmune disease.  Started out with what appears to be big red blotches and small red very itchy like I had poison ivy on legs wrists arms abdomen.  The allergist was not accurate.  She thought I had a reaction to a weed. I later experienced vertical nail like vein ridges and lumpy on my nail bed and it was tender currently about a year later.  Did my research and once again my symptoms pointed to Lichen Planus.  The exact symptoms as the images when I looked up images of Lichen Planus on nail beds.  So since I have Crohn’s Disease the door opens for more autoimmune diseases.  I had three and now I believe I have this 4th one. Lichen can pop up anywhere including the mouth. Not much can be done.  I did use allergy meds and Cortzone cream for the rash including Itching lotions. I’m seeing my Dermo doc this summer and have taken pics of my rash and my nail.  I’m about 99% sure this is what I have. Allergist was not the right doc for me to see for what I have.
    • sandeep_16032
      sandeep_16032 trey18711

      Edited

      I am also having same symptoms i.e zero pain herpise zoster. I hope it will be cured soon.
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