My Mom & I wound up in the ER a day or so before the rash emerged. It has been months. Very, very painful. Long recovery. Given a med for nerve pain/nueropathy which didn't seem to do much at all. Priced the shot in my area at $225 not covered by insurance or Medicare. I'd look into the shot if you're over 50, had chicken pox etc.

Shingles is caused by the chicken pox virus that is dormant in your system if you have had chicken pox. People who never had chicken pox could get chicken pox from someone with shingles. You don't need to worry about someone else with shingles unless you haven't had the chicken pox or the shot. Someone with shingles can definitely have complications from it, but it's not going to just be passed on from person to person. You're more likely to develop shingles if you are immunocompromised for some reason, altho sometimes it just pops up out of nowhere.

I had shingles this summer. I caught it early and got antivirals. It was itchy but not too bad and was all cleared up in a few weeks. I was told that it can only be contageous if there is direct contact with puss from a sore. My husband didn't catch it from me. I know I was lucky though and it can be a lot worse.

My DH had it a few years ago. He was in the middle of a VERY stressful situation and while working got hit in the eye by a pipe and broke the bone around his eye. One night in bed he said his forehead was burning and itchy. Two days later we thought he had a rash from the anti-biotics he was taking due to the eye injury. Turns out it was shingles. He was down for days in pain, wouldn't eat and the worst is it was on the eye lid of the injured eye. The doctor told him that you would only get it if you had had chicken pox and it can be brought on by stress. It can come back and will always be in the same place. He had it on the right side of his head from the forehead to the back of his neck. He now has grey patches where the sores were the worst. We were told it can be contagious if open and puss.