Or is this shingles?

[LeukaeLucky]

Hi
2 days ago I woke up with excruciating pain on my rib cage (left /back) which eventually spreaded to the side and front (still just left).
The pain is pretty much constant and alternate between feeling like I'm being stabbed or spasm / "contraction" type of pain.
I saw my GP who believes it might be a nerve / muscle and gave me some co codamol.
To help with the pain I used some tiger baume and hot water bottle.
A rash appeared yesterday afternoon after my GP appointment and I've tried to look it up and it could be a reaction to the tiger baume that you should never use in conjunction with a hot water bottle (who knew?)
Now, I somehow ended up on the NHS' page for shingles and I feel like the rash I have could be consistent with shingles.
I'm particularly worried because I volunteered to help in my son's class but obviously if there's a risk I might be contagious I won't go.
So what do you think? Allergy / burn Urticaria or shingles?

I don't think you should take voltarol as it's a NASID like ibuprofen which you shouldn't take if you have chicken pox and as the virus is the same family I would avoid.

Shingles

I've been prescribed some aciclovir it's shingles apparently
The pain is awful I feel like my rib cage is about to give birth
Thanks a lot I was trying to brush it off didn't want it to be shingles but the replies were unanimous so called 111.

Yes it’s shingles- you need to get the medication from the drs within 48hrs of it appearing to have a chance of shifting it quickly- good luck.

But if you've had chicken pox there's no need to do the vaccination right? @Willbeatjanuaryblues

I've had cp so this virus will be in me... And may come out as shingles.

You must have had cp too?

DS had shingle when he was 5 it looked just like that! He felt a bit run down with it but it wasn't painful. We kept it covered and hands washed after touching etc and it didn't spread to anyone else.

Hope you feel better soon!

@Willbeatjanuaryblues no I had leukaemia followed by bone marrow transplant but because of my weak immune system I get hit by literally any germ / virus that comes by

@LeukaeLucky glad to hear you have the antiviral meds now. Rest and tlc if you are able to now. You've been through such a lot battling leukaemia. Take care

Thanks @mrsglowglow.
The pain is so bad I can't sleep I can't do much it's awful so I'll try to rest as much as I can.
Did you have Co codamol for the pain? It makes me drowsy and nauseous :( and like @MorningsEleven mentioned, I'm super emotional due to the pain but this too shall pass right?

@LeukaeLucky I just remember being in a fog for about 2 weeks and pain killers every 4 hours. My kids were small then and because it was on my face and not able to cover I had to stay away from my daughter's nursery. My 2 also came down with chicken pox exactly 2 weeks after on boxing day! Dont worry you will feel better but rest is important.xxx

As long as you keep the area covered, & wash your hands thoroughly after touching the area, getting dressed etc, there doesn't seem to be any reason why you should pass the virus about. I had shingles a few years ago, & DD didn't catch chicken pox until this year. Sympathy though, its not nice! Hope you feel better soon.

I had shingles recently. Luckily my rash wasn’t too painful but massive fatigue kicked in after about a week and I was wiped out for a good two weeks (and then felt under par for another month or so). I think the rash took about two weeks to significantly subside.

Thanks a lot for the advise and testimonies @Laloup1 I'm a bit worried now. Really hoping for it to clear fast. The rash is not too bad but the pain is horrific

LeukaeLucky when I had shingles I took paracetamol and ibuprofen, but took them alternately two hours apart: a dose of paracetamol, then 2 hours later a dose of ibuprofen, and so on. I learned about doing that from here. I checked with the nurse who diagnosed me and she said that was ok up to the maximum daily dosage for either. It did help, perhaps also psychologically as it meant only waiting for two hours for the next pain relief.

Maybe someone who had a very painful rash can give you some advice on when the pain will go down.
Kooshbin - ibuprofen is not a good idea for shingles or chickenpox! (I can’t remember why)

My pain and itching lasted 7 weeks. The rash cleared up after about 2 or 3 weeks, but the stabbing and shooting nerve pain lasted a lot longer. The itching drove me to distraction. It was hell on earth. Sorry!

Laloup1 ibuprofen is not recommended for chickenpox as there is an increased risk of skin infection.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/chickenpox/

However, NICE recommends ibuprofen for shingles.

cks.nice.org.uk/shingles#!scenario:1

Omg @divadee seriously? don't know how I will cope if it lasts that long
@kooshbin just left the hospital to see my leukaemia consultant and he recommended something similar instead of the Co codamol I now have paracetamol and codeine tablets to alternate to get a better coverage of the pain. I hope it will help because the spasms last for up to 15 min without interruption :(

divadee, that sounds awful.

I didn't have it so bad, around 2 weeks when I really couldn't do anything much, except for taking the pain meds and watching trashy TV. Didn't get much sleep at night because the pain would wake me up after a few hours. But the rash took quite some time to eventually disappear and even then there were numb areas where the rash had been with some odd kind of tingling sensations.

Shingles does seem to vary in how it affects people. But I can imagine that having shingles on the face must be the worst kind.