Did you tell doc you had a bad rash some weeks back too? Very rare to have several parts of the body involved- did you show all areas affected? OH has never seen, nor heard of, shingles presenting in several areas at once.

And as said by BM, no cream.

Yeah, I told him, it was exactly 3 months ago on the right arm nearer to the elbow joint. It was not bad like this one though. It was only 10% raised surface compared to the current outbreak on the left side.

There was nothing to show on the right side. It looks completely normal, even thought I showed it. He was not that interested on the right side. Maybe he thought that it makes no difference as treatment has to be carried out anyway.

How come there are so many Shingles creams though? The whatever outbreak that I had on my right arm, reacted well to eczema creams and was fixed in 7 days or so. My peasant logic was that creams will keep the area soft rather than crusty and painful.

:-) thanks for the confirmation of the hypotheses. I should have finished my medical studies :-( but i got discouraged by the fact that we still cannot cure even a simple cold

Regarding the question if you have passed CoVid, did you have an antigen, or an antibody test? antigen test only will tell if you are infected NOW. Antibodies tests shows if you have built immunity because of a past infection.
Personally, i thought i had passed the disease, as in January I was sick like a dog (with all the symptoms later associated to CoVid)....but i paid for the test, and, no... it was a normal flu...

What did you end up doing?

It was a "Schnelltest" and not a PCR test. So I assume it just tested my current status. The SMS I got also stated that there was a higher chance of False-Negative with the Rapid-test

Well see how it goes- and don't hesitate to go back and check again. There is nothing worse than internet medicine, on a non medical Forum even less so.

But if it was on the other side- that would indicate even more so that it would be very unusual to be shingles, according to OH who qualified in 69 and specialised for a while in dermatology- shingles does not occur in several, unrelated patches. So needs careful follow-up if it does not improve. Bonne chance.

It’s entirely possible, in fact highly likely, that the two things are completely unrelated and are in fact two completely different things.

Shingles is pretty easy to diagnose so unless the doctor you saw is completely incompetent I would trust his diagnosis.

In my ex it was on patches - but at the same height on the body and later joined up to form a band around the chest and back. Really really painful - had to go on strong opiates.

TTYL - I'd get some rest to try and get some recovery. You don't want to make shingles pain worse..

Just wanted to thank all of you for your help and empathy

I am not in much pain (tolerable level), the one under the armpit is a bit uncomfortable as it is a soft elastic area and I have these spots/patches that are getting crispy maybe. No fever and I feel normal. It was my fitness day, but I will stay in bed to relax and not put additional stress on the immune system.

From all the research I have done, Shingles is nothing to mess about with. It can seriously mess you up internally or externally, can also make you permanently blind People with shingles seem to compare the pain with childbirth level and more

Moral of the story- See a Doc asap when in a similar situation and get on the meds!

I’d heard about the horizontal band in some folks.....I wonder if it can be lengthwise as well.

Hope you feel better soon, TTYL

Didnt have any pain or fever either, but it itched like crazy.

Are you stressed at the moment? Mine flared up after an stressfull event.

I went to the doctor to late for any medication to be effective, but he prescribed me a cream (cant remember the name except that it was hydrocortisone based).

Everything cleared up after 3 weeks without any problems.

I am a very chilled out guy, but I am suffering with another issue, and it is caused by unexplained reasons or stress.


So I am basically dealing with 2 medical issues where stress could be a cause. Thing is that I don't really feel stressed. I have been told that I am a very caring guy People close to me have been dealing with medical issues for the last 2 years and I might have taken it all to my heart.
I personally won't take cortisol based anything. Long story but it is not for me


Today I feel like I am being bitten by 126 fire ants under my armpit! Still not too painful. Back and chest wounds don't hurt, but my chest seems to be sending some electric shocks to my armpit. Overall I would say pain level is 3/10.

The theory I was mentioning might have some legs. Found few medical reports that mention-

"Herpes zoster (Shingles) might be an indicator for Latent COVID 19 infection

We are here by suggesting that the clinical presentation of HZ at the time of the current pandemic even in patients giving mild or no suggestive history of upper respiratory symptoms should be considered as an alarming sign for a recent subclinical SARS CoV2 infection."

Although my Covid rapid test was negative I might have had Covid earlier and my immune system has gone haywire.

Time to get a Covid antibody test? Where can I get it? How much will it cost?

Are you sure you are not overanalysing? It sounds stressful

Anyway for peace of mind https://www.onedoc.ch/en/covid-testing-center/zurich under profile you can find the tests they offer plus you can directly make an appointment

Ha! No, just chilling in bed and in the name of science as I have to go city today.

There is another concomitant condition that you might also suffer from (I do, inherited from my grandfather), called SSD (Somatic Symptom Disorder)...aka ....Hypochondria . Well, we will know that in several hours.

Seriously, I am curious about the outcome of your test. Incidence of asymptomatic CoVid19 is up to 10fold reported cases, so you might have a point on your statement.

F***er!!! Nah, I am not Hypochondriac. I have been in life altering medical situations where multiple Docs have said all is normal, when I clearly knew it was not, and each time I was proven 100% right. I am dealing with multiple real issues. Hence, I am careful and a bit sceptic, only got one life and body

I was busy today and the Covid testing place that I passed by did only normal tests, not antibody tests. So I could not be asked to look for any other place. If I had Covid in the past then what difference would it make to my current or future situation, I decided to leave it and get on with my life.

Don't tempt me again


20 min had an article yesterday regarding Swissmedic talking about the side effect on people who reacted to the vaccine, Shingles was one of them-

• Fever (24 cases)
• Shortness of breath (18 cases)
• Corona infection (14 cases)
• Vomiting (11 cases)
• Headache / migraine (11 cases)
• Hypersensitivity (11 cases)
• Herpes zoster (10 cases)
• Anaphylactic reactions (8 cases)

I have the benefit of having the rapid antibody tests....at home

No, no...you said you didn't want to be tempted

(p.s. of course, it is illegal to undertake the tests outside of medical facilities - as it happens with most of these communicable diseases - TB, HIV, etc, the State wants to know who, where, when, what....

So Talk to You Later- how are you doing now?

Just read on the official NE site about reactions so far to the vaccine after injection- it quotes several cases where shingles was re-activated.

Hope all is good now.