Shingles at 20 years old

Nicole,

I am sorry you are going through this disease.

If the Herpes Zoster Shingles started on your left back, then if it is on your left front below your breast, the virus is following the dermatome pattern of the sensory nerve root it hibernated on. The pain and subsequent rash comes out in crops or waves over a period of usually five to seven days. This is the disease process. I am glad you are on the antiviral, or the pain and rash would be much worse.

The best thing you can do is eat nutritious foods, rest and sleep and sleep and rest- and I repeated that on purpose. Do not try to power through this. Do not go to work. Do not think you are super woman and go to the gym. You will only increase the pain and feel exhausted. The accompanying symptoms are fatigue and exhaustion and can last literally months. The rash can take up to a month to scab over. Please do not think you get over this in 7 days. Fortunately, you are younger, and usually that means you are going to feel better more quickly, but you need to take it easy.

Hopefully, you are not experiencing too much pain, but if you are, PLEASE see your clinician to have the appropriate analgesic prescribed.

Best Wishes

Merry Juliana

Nicole,

BTW, the dermatome affected would be T4 or T5. T means Thorax. Google dermatome map and you will see the distribution of the Zoster, which means belt in Latin.

I hope the explanation helps you.

Best Wishes

Merry Juliana

Mine was similar I had rash on my back and felt pains in my chest. In fact I first thought I had heartburn but when the pain got to much and I got a rash I went to the doctor and was told it was shingles.

Merry 19451 is quite right,.Rest and sleep as much as you can.I'm older than you and on my 3rd week of shingles.Diagnosed pretty quickly,had antivirals right away and the rash didn't blister.But the pain is wicked.Sometimes like I've pulled all my back and chest muscles,other times like my left breast is on fire,and always the stabbing in the left side following the line of the nerve.A weird feeling like a tight band round the whole of my torso under my bust all the way round makes taking a deep breath difficult.About 2 days in,I was asking the doc for more pain relief than co-codamol and he gave me tramadol and gabapentin(it's a nerve soother and works really well for it's primary use in epilepsy and pain relief in shingles )The difference is remarkable,although the gabapentin makes me quite woozy so I'm not driving anywhere.Before the new meds,I couldn't even change my clothes,I was in so much pain.Reaching the loo,20 feet away was the only thing I could get up for.This is a seriously nasty illness and your family needs to help you as much as they can.Good luck Nicole111323.X