Shingles pain worse at night

Shingles is a viral infection of a nerve root

There's good information here that may be helpful https://patient.info/skin-conditions/shingles-herpes-zoster-leaflet

I had shingles years ago, on the inside of my leg from my groin down to my ankle. I can honestly say, i have never known pain like it. Doctor prescribed a mild tranquiliser as shiingles affects the nerve endings. Would not wish it on anyone.

Only in so much as you might want to rest with any virus. Trying to work full time with shingles is likely to cause significant fatigue. Having a nice walk at your own pace is likely to be helpful, so if your dad is not feeling overly fatigued don’t stop him walking!

I didn’t, I had to ride it out. It was weird how text book it was from appearing to going. It lasted 3 or 4 weeks but was still painful after that for a while. Luckily there was no nerve damage and pain stopped altogether after a month or two if I remember rightly.

If I hadn’t been breastfeeding a young baby I would have definitely had antivirals. I was told they wouldn’t cure it, as in make it go away once it had started, but would stop its progression and it from getting any worse.

Do you have to rest with shingles? My 94yo dad has it and still walks every day. He has anti virals

when I had it, I was in my 20s, and so ill I was off for 2 weeks, and fell asleep on the sofa in the middle of the day. I could barely move. I have never done that at any other time in my life, even post partum. It’s really nasty, you need a LOT of rest.

I think the first time I had shingles I took the amitriptyline for nearly a month.

I’ve had shingles a few times subsequently and the next time I used a few left over tablets I had from the first time. It was only a small dose and only one tablet every night.

The last time I had it the pain was not quite so bad and I took normal painkillers, but the pain did go on for a few weeks.

I occasionally get random stabs of pain back at times when I don’t have a rash as well.

You can only develop shingles if you've had chickenpox in the past as its a reactivation of the CP virus. Not everyone who has had chickenpox will develop shingles.

Ive had chickenpox but never had shingles. My son had chickenpox at 6 months and shingles at 3 years old.

I got shingles a few months after having my daughter. I thought it was something older people got, then I read up and apparently it’s not uncommon for new mums to get it due to stress and what your body’s been through for 9+ months. I couldn’t take anti-virals bc I was breastfeeding (my choice) but my god, the pain! You’re right it’s worse at night. Mine affected my whole arm and it felt like it was on fire while being electrocuted, no one has an any idea what nerve pain is like until they have it. Get anti-virals asap is my advice and regular pain relief round the clock til it subsides. Hope you feel better soon!

That’s not how this works. You only get shingles if you’ve had the chickenpox. So if you have the shingles now you’ve had the chickenpox.

if you haven’t had the chickenpox then you get the get the chickenpox.

Either way,,, I do think there is something true about pain being worse at night scientifically speaking.

@PerkyOchrePeer if the rash can be covered and you feel ok then you can go to work as shingles can only transmit chickenpox with direct contact with fluid from the shingles blisters

I’ve been prescribed amitriptyline for nerve pain caused by shingles before and it worked really well. It literally just shut off the pain where I had been taking more that the max dose of paracetamol and Nurofen with no improvement.

The shingles I get is on one side of my head. I do get pain at night but surprisingly I find that sleeping with that side of my head pressed into the pillow much reduces the pain. (Whereas the wind blowing my hair really can hurt!)

I hope you feel better soon.

Sending sympathy. I had shingles last summer and the pain was definitely worse at night. Apparently it is a common problem. Although it has been 6 months since I was diagnosed, I still have some residual pain at times. It's a bastard of an illness. Take care of yourself.

Sorry to hear you're coping with shingles. Years ago, a relative in her 80s told me that, 'I thought I was tough; I had gave birth twice; but shingles is excruciating.' All the stoic people I know who've had shingles have said how miserable it is. And it is definitely linked to tiredness and stress.
DH took gabapentin, which is also used for depression. He said it didn't make things hurt less, it just made him care less that he was hurting ...
Most people with a painful condition (or indeed any illness) of any kind will tell you that evening is the toughest time. Your body has worked hard all day, the time for meds is far off and your body is tired because fighting/ignoring pain is tiring. Most people delay their evening meds until bedtime to help them sleep through.