Shingles without rash?

yes.  I am recovering from a bout also and most of my pain moved from where the blisters were to another part of my body.  I am still having reoccurring pain where I never had blisters.  The first time I had shingles, the blisters and pain were in the same areas.

Recommend you discuss with your medical provider on taking the new shingles vaccine Shingrix (2 separate doses required with the 2nd dose taken within a timeframe of approximately 2 to 3 months). Shingrix has a 90%+ of preventing shingles or preventing the return of shingles. Asked your medical provider to examine you to see if you have post herpetic neuralgia (PHN, which can be devastating. Depending where the shingles appear, a person may have to see a dermatologist or an ophthalmologist. In my case, I got hit with Opthalmic Shingles, the worst type, in July 2013. I got PHN once the shingles blisters disappeared. In time my PHN has become a mild case. But from time to time I have to take antivirals for my eyes and valacyclovir 500mg or 1000mg tablets, depending on how I feel. I wish you best......

The rash is only one symptom of shingles. It makes it the easiest way to know you've got it but many people, like me, have either no rash (there's a technical, medical name for it) or such a tiny one, they don't realize it. PHN is usually diagnosed 8-12 weeks after the initial symptoms, so you  may have PHN, Post Herpetic Neuralgia. That's the pain (and other symptoms such as rash, burning, "ants crawling on me" caused by damage to the nerves. It may improve, it may not. I've had PHN since my October 2016 shingles in my chest and back, on my left side. Technically it's a specific nerve that's affected, for me the one that would be along the bra band, but that pain can also show up almost a foot away, either higher or lower and even on the opposite side, which they claim can't happen, but it does.

With me, the blisters were on the front of my chest, and the pain along the equivalent bit at the back of the chest. I think the clue to where they appear is that it's either just the one place where the nerve leaves the spine, or a nerve very close by to the original one, which can be affected as well,. Nerves at the spine are all closely connected, and when they are playing up, they can be a bit unpredictable.  From that spot, the nerve will radiate out a bit and can be a bit away from the other nerve at the extremity of the skin on your side, though not excessively far. Having just about recovered now, the question for me is whether to seek out a vaccination, which I know I'm not yet entitled to on the NHS, being 68 and not the threshold of 70, 

This group has been so great for me.  I guess to sum it up, shingles is atypical and you can have pain where there is no rash. My rash was never blisters, just red dots that looked like chicken pocks. However, the internal pain was very real and my feet remain totally numb from the first episode two years ago. I find that if I get too fatigued I feel the nerve pain again. People think you are crazy if you complain but have no evidence of the rash. This is why this group is great-we do understand the craziness of shingles and discover that some of our crazy symptoms are shared with others.