re: Shingles- Tell me your stories of this illness

I noticed a small rash with blister-like bumps starting to develop on my abdomen between by chest and belly button. It itched a little, but no pain at all. I didn't think much of it until, out of sheer coincidence, I mentioned something about it to a friend who had recently had shingles. He said that's what it looked like and told me to go to the doc right away to start the medicine. If not for that encounter I probably would not have gone to the doc until much later as I didn't realize it could be shingles.

I started taking the medicine about 2-3 days after the rash appeared. The rash never really spread, nor was it (or my body) ever painful. It was just an annoyance that lasted about 7-10 with a slight discoloration that took about 2 months to fully go away.

Point being, if you haven't already, get the medicine ASAP!