PHN in young people - Shingles

PHN hurts so much. I have had shingles twice and now i have nerve problems all throughout my body. I am only 28 with no other known illnesses it all started out when I got to stressed and then got shingles. Now I have PHN and or some other thing that has occurred but no one knows what it is. I have all these eletric shock pains in other areas where the shingles did not occur. I had my shingles on my trunk half loop around to the breats. Exactly a year later I got another attack without the blisters. That is when I felt all the electric shocks. I am much better but now I am left with pain in the joints and in my body all over. 4 mri's and a million blood test and nerve tests did not show any signs of anything else such as MS or Nerve Damage.

I am 37 and this is my third outbreak of shingles in a year! Never had them before. I get in the same area on the left side of my head. Directly effecting my ear. This is driving me nuts. It is very stressing, which I believe does not help matters. The multiple blood tests are fine. No other illnesses either.

The two time i had it landed in the same month different year. Hell I hope it does not come back this year... I don't think i will make it for round 3. Round 2 effected all parts of my body and my shingles were only on my left back/chest. I have phn but also pins in needles in other areas of my body where the shingles never came. I guess this disease just creates more diseases or continues to spread.

i dont have PHN but i have had shingles, i got them at age 21, and now 3 years later my elder sister has them too. have any of you heard about it running in families?

I have had the shingles 16 or so times over the past 3 years. I am only 28 yrs old and have consulted many Drs. about this. PHN can only be in the area of the shingles, however, the pain you describe can be from nerve root ganglia, where the virus "originates" from the base of your spine. There are many pain meds. to help control the PHN, low impact exercise (walking) is also suppose to help.

I'm 27 and I've never had shingles until last week. I read that it can take a while to heal. I have it on the left side of my head and my scalp and ear are very sensitive. It's driving me nuts! What irritates me even more are the sharp pains I sometimes get in my left ear, it comes and goes. And I also feel like by brain is burning. How long can I expect these symptoms to occur? My energy level has gone down and I'm starting to feel depressed.

ive had 3 rashes since december. i am 17
and i think its shingles. its painful blisters filled with a gross clear liquid they last about 2 weeks tops. but im really young and this is kinda scary for me.
i had chickenpox really bad as a kid. maybe that has something to do with it.
is it normal in kids my age?
i need to see a doctor

icky rash wrote:

ive had 3 rashes since december. i am 17
and i think its shingles. its painful blisters filled with a gross clear liquid they last about 2 weeks tops. but im really young and this is kinda scary for me.
i had chickenpox really bad as a kid. maybe that has something to do with it.
is it normal in kids my age?
i need to see a doctor

i was 19 when i got shingles on my left side of my chest and neck, i freaked out when i found out because it was normal for ages 30 and up. i thought i was too young too. it was treated and the rash went away, however, my pain never went away. Some days i cant even lift my arm over my head its kinda depressing because my life is just starting and i have pain that keeps me from doing a lot of normal activities that make it worse

I first got shingles after my 3rd miscarriage back in 1999, it was not treated and comes back several times a year depending on my stress level...
My eldest son is 9 and has just got shingles, I always took care not to let my children or husband touch the affected area during the blistering stage, as soon as it showed I would cover the area immediately.
I had no idea you could get shingles at such a young age, the Dr immediately diagnosed it and also got a second opinion just in case she was wrong.
They say 'the younger you are, the easier it is to recover' what they fail to mention is the y9ounger you are the longer you live your life with shingles!
Apparently increasing your vitamin B complex helps and trying not to get stressed.... good luck with that one!
A good friend of mine had shingles in the head a few years ago, she suffered greatly for 18 months - she was 89 though - so hopefully all the younger people that have posted on here will up their B vitamin intake and get through life with ease.

You all were diagnosed by a doctor? It's just that shingles only recurs in 4% of patients and usually only once. If you're getting multiple outbreaks do you think it might be herpes symplex in an atypical location? You can get herpes simplex anywhere on your body and contrary to common belief, it can also cause PHN although that is rare.

My son was diagnosed by 2 doctors, I was also diagnosed by a Naval doctor.
Searching the internet for more info I found the following:
'Up to 1 million cases of Shingles occur every year in the United States according to a recent study. Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. If you've had chickenpox (over 90% of US adults have), you are at risk for Shingles.'

I got shingles when I was 7, it took them over 1 month to diagnose this then...and I have severe scarring on the left side of my body from above my breast to below it, in the back to the front. About 10 years after that, I got Shingles again, this time spreading from my front to my back. About 1 week ago, I thought I had it again...The pain was unbearable and I was sure I had it, but no rash...they did a blood test and it came back negative. I was diagnosed with PHN...which is just a bizarre case according to my doctor. Any one else experience this 10 years after the onset of shingles...I know that I had this pain for a long time after my first bout of shingles, I also have so much scarring I can't feel certain areas of my back. Any help?

I am 35 and I have just had my second attack of shingles which was brought on by 7 months of severe stress at work. This first time, about 10 years ago, I was lucky I suppose, I had the rash but it didn't last long as the doctor gave me treatment, but I was tired and headachy from it. I did not get PHN but I was left with chronic fatigue. On my second attack, I was a lot worse, stuck in front of the TV for two weeks couldn't move, a herd of elephants going through my living room would not have shifted me. I got a band of the blisters on my stomach up to my breast area and also my face. I have been left with PHN on the face. I went back to work too soon, thinking I could cope and promised myself I would not stress out again and now I have suffered, I am off work again due to a secondary bacterial infection in the side of the face where I had the shingles, a scattering of blisters on my chest and stomach and to top it all, an annoying electric shock feeling on the side of my neck near to where I had shingles. And I am now even more fatigued than I was in the first attack. I wish the doctors had a better understanding of this nasty infliction.

I was just diagnosed with shingles, i'm 27 healthy male. The doctor told me there was a good chance this could be from HIV virus. Which you can imagine scared the hell out of me. I got tested today but have a week to wait, I've recently been inbetween apartments and have been really stressed out on my job (which hopefully has caused it). Do younger people get shingles?

I was diagnosed with shingles when i was around 10 if I remember correctly, I could barely wear clothes because it hurt so bad, but when i'm reading up on it now, it seems odd that I had it, as it's supposed to be appear when the immune system is severly weakened and I can't imagine why mine would've been. I wasn't abused as a child or anything, so don't know why i would've been particularly stressed out. I had already had chickenpox, all that stuff checks out, and the doctor said it usually happened to older people. But what I find odd is how young I was and the fact that I can't seem to find anyone who was as young when they had it.

I was 36 when i was diagnosed with shingles on my face and scalp.
I found that I have a prodromial stage wheer it feels like I am getting the flu. Since i Get it on my face and scalp its very strange.
For me the chronic headache an dte feeling like I have been ounched is annoying. the itch in my eye and eyebrow makes me cringe at times.
I get about 7 outbreaks a year because of the type 1 diabetes and my stress level.
I found that B vitamins helps great with teh diabetes but not with the shingles.
If you had a case of any severity chances are good high stres slevels will bring about shingles at any age. what we have to watch out for is Ramsay-Hunt. I have a spot on the side of my nose that is aggrivated and this month my left eye was affected with a white light hole. Image always looking at the beam of a flashlight.
Its eased up a bit.
I did find that if you ave it on your face or scalp some shampoos actually help.
I found that when the blisters appear, head and shoulders works to heal up the sores. I ahve washed my face with it too.
herbal green colored shampoo, like the old herbal essence helps calm the area. helath food stores still sell that stuff.
I ahve been lucky that my chronic pain has been helped by aleve and milk.
I do manage to take off work when it gets too rough and painful.

the post with my name I am now 47.

merck manual of diagnostics:

Shingles is a reactivation of the herpes virus. It remains dormant in teh nerve ganglia. During times of stress or when teh body has the right balance of reactivators, teh virus reactivates and affectsthe nerve roots. Usually following one nerve, nerve root or cluster of nerves.
Those who had teh vaccine are less likey to get shingles. Bt for those who had chickenpox, of any severity, the virus remains.

Antivirals are the drugs of choice for outbreaks.
Topical preperations to prevent scratching and scarring are recommended. Aveeno topical cream for example.
NSAIDS, like tylenol, aleve, naprox for higher pain are also suggested.

There is some research to indicate that children who are freshly immunized, or those who are in the contageion state of chickenpox actually pass it on to reactivate or refresh the virus.

ayy this sux- im only 14 n i got shingles-
hurts hela bad
but i juss read sumtin that sed when its in young ppl, its a sign of hiv-
should i be worried?
DAMNNNNN

I was diagnosed a little more than a week ago, I am 31 years old.

I went to the chiropractor for pain in the shoulder and neck-which was caused from construction type work. He fixed it like he always does and I was off on my way. I went shopping for a couple of hours and after a while it felt as though I had something in my eye. It was burning, like a spice burns my mouth. It irritated me the rest of the night and I awoke in the middle of the night with sever itching around my eye. That morning I awoke to more itching in my scalp down to my cheek bone and my nostril was runny. Only one side of my head. I delt with it all that day and washed my eye out several times. I stayed in bed all day. The next morning the pain was worse. It was like thousands of needles poking me all over my face and scalp. And the itching was awful. So I made an appt to see the eye doctor because I thought what ever was in my eye I must be allergic too and it had to come out.

He heard my sysptoms and he said I was young, but it does happen, I think you have shingles. I have been on meds ever since. It took a day or so but the symptoms started going away. I am a week into it now and feeling better. I still have sharp pains and itching, but it is not severe. I am afraid that when the drugs are gone they will come back. It was awful and I would not wish this on my worse enemy. I did have two blisters in my scalp, but they went away fast with the meds.

I am glad I found others who are young also. Glad to know there are alot more out there than what they let on.

I hope everyone has no more outbreaks and can live pain free.