To ask you how you managed the pain of having shingles

I had a a terrible pain 3 days before the rash appeared. I caught it within a few hours of appearing and was put on antivirals. Unfortunately the rash spread really badly from my spine right round my rib cage to my right breast. It covered a large area. Four weeks later I am still extremely sensitive on my stomach and wearing a bra is like having needles constantly jabbed into me. The pain even went down my right arm into my fingers, this has subsided a bit. amitriptyline and co-codamol haven’t really helped. I read somewhere about mixing equal amounts of castor oil and coconut oil and applying it to the area. I have been doing this 24 hours and so far it has helped eased it!!

Never had it so no personal experience but a friend of my late mum was in a dreadful way, had tried everything available in the 1970's, pre anti virals.
She found almost instant relief with a combination of Amitriptyline and acupuncture.
Hope you feel better soon.

You have my sympathy - I had shingles on my optic nerve and all across my face - the pain in my eye and head was like nothing else. If it gets near your eyeball get thyself seen pronto.
I was misdiagnosed at hospital and the sores on my face were swabbed aggressively (don’t let anyone do that - the scar on my forehead goes down to the bone!). If caused havoc and my kidneys went haywire off the back of it too, I was in hospital for a week and no-one noticed it was shingles. When I eventually saw a consultant for my kidneys he spotted it straight away and gave the registrar looking after me a proper bollocking. By then it was too late for anti virals.
TLDR - get antivirals as soon as possible!

Have had it on my face multiple times. You need antivirals asap. The best thing I've found to take the sting and pain out of the rash (on top of painkillers obviously) is a medical grade manuka honey gel. Really works miracles for me, though very sticky so you might need to put a muslin cloth over it or something!

I agree , after having it twice on my torso once as a child then as a young adult my pain lasted for years ,i was not given antiviral meds -not sure they even existed then.
Not ideal i know but i got relief from going on a sunbed when i was having the worst pains ,this was years after i had shingles.
Over time mine thankfully has gone.

Worst pain I ever had. Agree re amitriptyline for the pain. Definitely get your eyes checked, my gp fast tracked me to the eye centre to get them looked into. I didn’t have any within my eye but I was told it could cause blindness if there was and the gp was very concerned that it should be checked

It's grand now thanks. The tingling only really happens when I'm really stressed weirdly. It runs on the nerve pathway down one side of my forehead and my eyelid. Makes me feel like Harry potter

The shingles on my face came at Christmas so I couldn't get the antiviral drugs for a few days. When I got them it turned the pain off like a lights.

It's a horrible pain, I do feel sorry for you and it's so miserable making too, I felt very down.
Try to treat yourself really well with lots of things to cheer you up - nice films, hot chocolate, staying cosy, a good book and some rest. Hope you feel much better soon.

I had it on my cheekbone/lower eyelid/temple a couple of weeks ago, bloody awful. I'm absolutely not a medical professional so take my experience with a pinch of salt but I used Metanium on the rash (just made sure to not get it on my actual eyeball!) and it really did soothe it significantly. Mine was mainly the burning/itching that was bothering me, the actual extended nerve pain wasn't too bad, just tingly/zappy in the trigeminal area.
I wasn't given antivirals but probably because I thought it was just some sort of reaction/eczema for the first few days.
Anyway, Metanium was the dogs bollocks for helping it.

Mine was very similar to previous poster and it turned into port hepatic, I've been left with numbness and tingling down my face but no pain. I'm about 4 years on now. The only thing that touched the pain was gabapentin, I took it for about 5 months and gradually reduced it. Really had to fight for proper pain relieve that works on nerve pain though, gabapentin, pregablin or amitriptaline seem to be treatment for shingles

Hello - is it swollen on your face as well as the blisters? I shingles around one cheekbone, nose and getting close to the eye, think I had one on the lower lid. It was all just (VERY) sore at first but I was admitted to hospital actually for 5 days - for the pain and also to monitor the eye (and I guess give antivirals etc - it was all a bit fuzzy on my memory). Valium also really helped me cope. It was almost unimaginable pain and as it progressed my face swelled and my eye was completely covered over.
i think it was classed as ophthalmic singles though my eyesight/eyeball wasn’t affected.
i recovered fine but was very tired for about 6 weeks - i could hardly walk!
my nerves never recovered (ie i lost feeling) but no long lasting pain
I had to see someone in person though from memory (a gp) and it was a couple of goes - I think I was fobbed off too by chemists in the early stages and given some random creams for eczema or something!
Sorry very long winded but I guess if you’re not getting much help from pharmacy I don’t think it’s outlandish to go to A&E if your eye is itching!!!! It progressed for me - peak symptoms on about day 7 from first irritation.

Get the antivirals - the 72hr thing is best for the existing rash and pain but they still stop the spread after that - if it's moving near your eye this is urgent. I had it badly when I was younger, misdiagnosed and past the 72hours by the time it was figured out, also all over my face, was horrific. I was lucky not to have post herpetic nerve pain but my dad had it more recently and did - tried all sorts for the pain and the answer was amitriptyline.

His GP practice is useless so we now make sure he always has aciclovir at home as it's recurred a few times and can nip it in the bud.

Also, I know it's a minor concern compared with the pain, but to reassure you - I was terrified I would be permanently scarred as my face was a mess. It does take a while to heal but I have no lasting marks at all, not like chicken pox.

Hope you recover soon, it's truly horrible.

I had it in the corner of my eye, hairline, eyebrow, lash line, and along my nose. I was in France at the time and didn't realise what it was. The only thing that helped with the pain was (hot) camomile teabags (ibuprofen didn't do much). I got antiviral tabs and ointment from a walk-in clinic about a week after it started. It's miserable - hope you feel better soon.

I was given acyclovir tablets 5 times a day. 111 made me an appointment at a& e. It reduced the effect and stops longer term nerve damage. You have to have had it less than 5 days though I think. I also carefully tattooed thick padded non stick dressings over mine with micropore to stop anything rubbing them.
Because it's cost to your eye where it can be a problem amd possibly be damaging in some cases id ring 111 explaining that and ask for help. They'll send you to hospital where you'll end up waiting but they might be able to help if think. Worth.a try. How long have you had it now? It makes you feel rotten generally so I feel for you. Wishing you better xx

I had acyclovir five days after shingles starting. Mine was also on my face - doctor told me to ring 999 if my eye got inflamed. It didn't, thank goodness!

I took ibuprofen and paracetamol together - nowadays Nuromol exists, which contains both and, in my slightly irrational opinion, works better. You could also take co-codamol (the pharmacy one) with ibuprofen.

It will go away 💐 Don't try and rush your recovery, you'll need a lot of rest. Shingles kick-started my ME-CFS and is a common trigger. Even if you aren't susceptible to this, post-viral syndrome is no picnic so give your system every chance to rebuild.

Get anti viral treatment asap to reduce the risk of post herpetic neuralgia - people end up with this neuralgic pain if treatment is delayed and it is very difficult to treat! It ends up being chronic. Amitriptyline is great BUT can make you drowsy and affect driving etc so be careful.

I had aciclovir - issued more than 72 hours before I'd first noticed the rash - it took me a while to realise what it was, I'd seen my GP the week before because of the shooting pains, first noticed the rash on Saturday morning, didn't realise what it was until Tuesday afternoon, and was prescribed them then.
After those I didn't have the rash but still had pains, and was prescribed codeine.
Good luck, hope it clears soon.

Call 111 now, they’re open 24/7. You’ll just wait longer if you leave it til the morning. Hope you get well soon.