Keep getting shingles

Good morning Nick! I don't think I will be of much help other than to offer a prayer for you. I do not understand why someone so young has to be going through something like you are! And I am so sorry. I have a grandson your age and love him so much and it saddens me to think that it could be him going through what you are.

I came down with shingles two years ago and I have had the nerve pain every since on my back right shoulder. It stabs and burns always and wears me down. When I got shingles I was fortunate enough to have insurance and get medicines right away. I have also had the newest shingles vaccine to hopefully keep me from getting an outbreak.

This is a really good forum that you have found here and I do feel that others will reach out to you here. I remember a nurse on this forum reaching out to me with valuable information. Please hang in there and know that you are loved.

Hi Nick, just read your post and really feel for you! I have only had shingles the once..a few years ago..and that was from my scalp down right side of my face..eye,nose in mouth..to jaw. Worst thing Ive ever had. Tried everything to ease the burning etc but nothing seemed to work. I try hard not to get stressed as supposedly that doesnt help. Its not always possible of course. Ive been left with PHN which for me is a constant reminder that i once had shingles but i live with it knowing things could be a lot worse. With the amount of times youve had shingles Im not suprised you suffer with anxiety. Just knowing its possible to get it again makes me feel a bit anxious and Im not old enough at 65 to get the jab. Have to be 70 here.There is a nurse practitioner called "Merry" on this forum who often gives people lots of good advice regarding shingles who may be able to help you. She has had recurring shingles for many years. Sorry to read you're feeling hopeless. Never give up hope. All the best.

Dear Nick,

I will be posting later this morning, but to give you encouragement, there are positive steps you can take to help prevent Herpes Zoster-Shingles.

May I ask where you live?

I am a retired Nurse Practitioner in the States

Merry Juliana

Thank you Georganna, and Debra for the kind responses.

hey nick can you send me an email at

Moderator comment: I have removed the email address as we do not publish these in the forums. If users wish to exchange contact details please use the Private Message service.

hi Nick I understand your frustration and how painful these shingles can be. I suffer with them re-occurring on my face since I was 18 years old I’ve had them about 19/20 times or more ive lost coubt!! they normally occur every one or two years but I had them there in December and I’m actually suffering from them again right now as I speak each time they come they are more severe twice they have travelled from my cheek to my eye where I have had to be admitted to hospital and put on a drip And stay in hospital for three days. I have a very low immune system I suffer with pernicious anaemia and was told that because of a weakend immune system I am susceptible to shingles although this still does not answer why I keep getting them. I have B12 injections every three months for pernicious anaemia although because of Covid I haven’t been able to get these injections not that it matters because I’ve had B12 injections since I was 18 years old and I’ve still got shingles re-occurring so the B12 doesn’t seem to make any difference. I have asked my GP for the shingles vaccine they told me ages ago that they only give that to people that are over 70 years old but I have begged and begged and finally they see that I am suffering and I’ve had these occurring to many times each time they come they severe facial nerves the right hand side of my face is constantly numb like I’ve been to the dentist my eye won’t open on its own I have to pull it open with my fingers.

i’m not sure if you get the same symptoms but I have been suffering with severe night sweats for the last seven weeks my doctor put it down to menopause because I am 50 years old but I was drenched from head to toe my bed sheets were saturated and when I got out of bed it was like I’ve been and stepped out of the shower you could still see the bubbles of water all over me I felt hot like I had a fever and exhausted. I suffered with pain in my ear my face and my jaw my jaw was cramping so much that I had to go to the dentist and ask him to pull out my back tooth because my back tooth was broken and I thought that was causing the problem now I finally realise that the night sweats and all the jaw pain etc etc was this shingles virus in my body attacking my immune system and my week immune system trying to fight back but couldn’t fight any more so the shingle blisters have finally appeared but they are severe this time one of them looks like a wheel nut on the side of my face my whole side of my cheek is swollen out red and angry looking I am on antibiotics and acyclivor here again but this is the biggest blister I have ever seen I’m still waiting for it to pop along side all other smaller blisters.

my vision in my right eye is blurry because I’ve had shingles in them twice. nobody understands unless they have actually suffered shingles and nobody understands that you can get it more than once but there is no answer to why it’s all to do with the immune system according to doctors specialists I have had scrapings taken off my face to prove that it is shingles I’m dealing with I just wish there was a cure the vaccination doesn’t cure it but it stops it being so severe I had to wait till spring to get the vaccine but it’s spring now and because I have shingles again I’m not allowed the vaccine I have to wait another 12 months to make sure the virus is out of my system fingers crossed that the next 12 months shingles doesn’t come back so I can get the vaccine because if it does come back I won’t be able to get it it’s a vicious circle.

so do you have any warnings your shingles are coming?? look out for sweating, aches etc flu symptoms coz that could be the vitus in body starting and waiting to attack skin for blisters to appear. like i said I had drenching night sweats for seven weeks without any blisters on my face I was told it could be menopause didn’t even crossed my mind about shingles because I had them in December didn’t expect to get them so soon again.

hope you can beg your gp for vaccine because people like us SHOULD BE ALLOWED IT INSTEAD OF US SUFFERING!!!

Dear Nick.

As I write this, I am having an outbreak of shingles: You are not alone!

I had shingles for the first time when I was eight on my leg and I have a nice scar to prove it! The second time I was 21, this time on my lower back and it's been recurring there several times a year since then and I am 50 now. There have been periods in my life, where one outbreak would start before the previous one had finished. And there were times when the clothes rubbing against the rash would make me cry from the pain. For many years, I tried treating it myself with various over the counter lotions like Zovirax and tea tree oil. Of course it had no effect. Then I learned that there were pills (Aciclovir) and they work really well if I take them as soon as I feel an outbreak is on its way (nerve endings starts tingling before the rash arrives, is that the same for you?).

When I had shingles at 21, the doctor immediately thought I was HIV positive (this was in '92 which kinda explains it), which I wasn't and am not. I do not suffer from any auto-immune diseases, nor any cancers or anything else linked to shingles. I have suffered from anxiety though which wasn't treated and I do believe that stress and worry have been the main triggers of my recurring shingles combined with other fun stuff that comes with anxiety.

Once I started managing my shingles with Aciclovir tablets, my life has really improved and the outbreaks are not as frequent as before. I am not very disciplined and sometimes I still struggle remember to take the pill five times a day as prescribed. But I've learned that what is most important is to catch it early on and start the pills before the rash arrives, and then you can avoid the huge blisters and scabs and scars and a whole lot of pain. Plus I have reduced stressors in my life as well as I see my shingles as a sign that I am overburdening myself emotionally and physically.

I may not be a nurse like Merry, but given the opioid crisis in the US and my own experience with pain killers, I would stay the hell away from opioids. They may offer you temporary pain relief, but you may end up with a permanent addiction and trust me that is far harder to deal with than shingles! And way more expensive!!!!!!!!!!!

Shingles is a b***h, and as you write there seems to be very little recognition of the fact that some of us have been cursed with this disease since we were kids!

BUT DO NOT LOSE HOPE! Find a free medical clinic and and ask them to help you learn how to manage your shingles! Any doctor worth his or her Hippocratic oath will help you!

Stay safe!