I am 65 and thought I had been bitten by an insect because the blisters appeared after I walked in our back yard in bare feet. After almost a week of itching on the bottom of my left foot, I went to the doctor. The first one said it looked like impetigo and gave me salve and oral antibiotic. The second doctor said it was shingles, possibly so he took a smear from the contents of one of the blisters and will test this. As it turns out, shingles it was.

I have shingles on the left side of my face, in my left ear and in my mouth. I was treated with antiviral medication for 7 days and I have pain meds to take but the pain in my ear is getting worse. The rash has cleared up on my face and my mouth feels better but my ear feels worse and it's so annoying to have constant pain inside my ear. It feels like something is crawling around in my ear.

I had what felt like a razor blade in my bra. I got home from work and noticed rash under my left breast. I thought it was hives and took some Benadryl and had no relief. My skin just "hurt" from middle of chest to back of spine on the left hand side. It was painful to touch, and I just all around achy feeling. Started Valtrex and Prednisone on Friday, it is now Monday and starting to feel a little relief after some sleepless nights.

I had a classic case of shingles 2 years ago. I had not had the vaccine on advice of my dermatologist. Shingles started with headache and malaise. Then pins and needles in my head followed. I received a medication and pain killers, and my symptoms took about 2 months to subside. Since then I have a session about every 6 weeks, headache, generally not feeling great. Then I get scabs in my nose and then finally a sore at the end of my nose, and then that's the end until next time. My doctor says it is another form of herpes not related to shingles, and some folks think I should still get vaccine despite the fact that I've had shingles. I'm confused.

I had chicken pox as a child. Last spring I got shingles. Shingles is a very painful disease. The blisters were on my left side of my scapula, down to my waist, and to my spine. The only thing I did was use the cream, and pain pills! It is still painful, and the area where the blisters were, has faded a lot. I wonder if I can get shingles again.

I have shingles and I've had severe pain off and on for a week under my left armpit and left chest. Then, the rash appeared on these same areas. I have flu-like symptoms. Even with Valtrex, the symptoms still persist.

I experienced bruised type pain on my lower back and swollen pus like pain below my left nipple for the first two days. On the third day I noticed three pimples on that location which was swollen so I thought it was just an insect bite. The fourth day I went to the doctor wherein he ruled out that I have shingles. It started at my back left (bruised type pain going around my left chest. Pimple type started to swell looking like a rash now. Pain sometimes feels like an itchy stab wound now. I'm taking two medications prescribed which are valacyclovir for shingles and hydrocodone for the pain relief.

The stated length of shingles is from 3 to 6 weeks and can last longer. Well I'm starting my third MONTH and although the rash went away very quickly, the pain spasams though not as sever have not changed a bit. I am definitely no stranger to pain but this is by far the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life of 66 years.