1. Community
  2. Infections
  3. Shingles

Does this sound like shingles?

Posted , 4 users are following.

natalie1114
natalie1114

I keep getting a burning sensation in the right side of my body. I get it in my right arm, right arm pit, shoulder, my upper & lower back. I get pains in my right breast, under my rib cage & my chest, I even get pains in my right hand. When I touch the burning sensation its tender. I've been to the doctors twice in 3 weeks & going again tomorrow. The first couple of times they examined my breasts as I was & still am getting pains in my right breast & they said it's all normal. They checked my temperature & said I had a mild temperature & the pains I was describing sounded like shingles, I have no rash though, but you can get shingles without a rash. They sent me home without doing further tests, this happened twice & im really fed up with it. They keep saying they can't find anything wrong. I've got a doctors appointment tomorrow morning & im hoping they find out what's wrong then as its really worrying me. Also I'm 25 & I've had chicken pox when I was little. I went to the doctors again today & she diagnosed me with something completely different, she said its rotator cuff syndrome, I was expecting her to say it's non rash shingles. I keep getting a burning sensation in my right arm pit & the symptoms for rotator cuff syndrome is pain in your shoulder & outer arm. I feel as though they are not understanding what I'm saying to them & it's really worrying as I always think the worst. I have a blood test next Wednesday not happy that I have to wait over a week for it, but I guess the blood test will definitely say what's wrong with me.

1 like, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • jayneejay
    jayneejay natalie1114

    Posted

    Hi natalie 

    i just had shingles for third time .. In 6 months ..

    mine was deep burning pain in the butt cheek, only there.. Couldnt touch skin ached so much.. Then blisters came a week later on the butt cheek.

    only about 6 blisters ... then they itch and ache ..

    look up Vitamin D deficiency natalie as that makes ribs ache etc..

    ask for a Vit D blood test and a Vit B12 blood test..

    jay x

  • mar12
    mar12 natalie1114

    Posted

    If you are on Facebook go to the 'Shingles' Page.

    It has a lot of info.

  • Ellie1943
    Ellie1943 natalie1114

    Posted

    Hi Natalie. I had an op for a rotator cuff tear after a fall a couple of years ago. Extremely painful as this involved the nerves too. It improved slowly and was more or less back to normal until the last couple of weeks when one of my multi patches of shingles started in the shoulder. I've had four patches since Easter! All the others are improving now apart from tingling and occasional spasm of pain. Now, the shoulder has flared up again and is very painful and weak. I can't lift anything without almost dropping it. It's fairly obvious to me that the shingles has triggered the nerve pain where they operated to repair the R cuff. I'm fedup with the Docs as they can't see beyond their text books! I'm taking the pain killers prescribed for the OA which I have in my spine and multi joints. Don't want to take any of the neuro ones if I can help it as I find I'm really tired/exhausted all the time anyway and I think they would just emphasise that effect.

     Have you had any sort of injury to the arm/shoulder in question?

    I've been feeling pretty awful on and off for a long time before the shingles rash came and after the flu jab. I had a painful, itchy scalp first plus feeling fluey, headache, aching muscles and joints etc. several times and the GP's could find nothing in the blood tests and presumed it was the Osteo Arthritis playing up. I too had the burning pain. Must have been the shingles without rash which I've been reading about on here. At least I know the reason now and I try to rest as much as possible  as it helps with viral illness. Always sleepy since all this started anyway.

     Hope you find out soon so you can get the correct treatment. See a GP asap if you do get a rash. It works best to have the anti virals within 72 hours of appearance of spots even if only a few.

     Best wishes. X

     

  • hnybny
    hnybny natalie1114

    Posted

    Hi Natalie,

    Sorry to hear of your all too familiar situation.  I had Shingles without the rash this time.  I took the 7 day medication for the virus but am still dealing with the nerve pain.  I did have the intense itch in that general area (middle of my back) but never broke out in the rash.  I've had them 3 times before but with the rash.  It really makes you feel like crap!  Try to rest as much as you can and try to keep your stress level down as much as possible.  When you have this kind of pain, it is hard to not be stressful.  I had to try different breathing methods because just my skin moving with each breath hurt.  I thought I was having kidney issues so I was very surprised to be told it was Shingles.  I had always thought you had to have the blisters but that is obviously not the case.  I hope you can find relief soon.  Best of luck to you!  You are definitely not alone.  We all feel your pain and hope you feel better very soon!  :-)

     

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.