I know exactly how you feel! You and I have been discussing this in another post, but I totally get how you feel! I'm 42 and aside from getting a mild cold simultaneously with the Shingles, I am perfectly healthy, I take my vitamins, eat generally fairly well, exercise regularly, and I certainly didn't feel run down. I'm wondering if it is a combination of things, including hormonal changes as we .... mature... if you get what I mean!
My case has been very mild, and I'm now finished my week of Anti-virals, and the mild rash that I got is almost completely cleared up.
I think that we should just be grateful that this has happened now instead of in later years, with a weakened immune system, because we will be less likely to have a recurrence once we recover from this bout.
Chin Up!!! You aren't OLD!! ... which is how I felt initially :)

You are so right about being grateful this happened now!! :)
I have a visit with my Naturopath tomorrow and her assistant said she has a great explanation as to why younger people are getting shingles. I can't wait to hear it! I'll let you know! I'm just the kind of person who wants to know "why"!

I don't know the reason anyone gets shingles. Stress is a major cause for some. It was for Mom. All I know is--shingles is a horrible condition and I wish it was no more. So little is understood about it. Doctors don't know and most don't care.
Take care and rest while you feel bad. You will recover in time.

You're right - doctors don't know that much about it! I didn't understand my naturopath's explanation. It had something to do with the fact that kids get the chicken pox vaccine now instead of naturally getting the chicken pox and somehow that interferes with our immunity for shingles. I didn't really buy it! She's probably one of those who don't believe in immunizations!

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It probably is a combination of things. I first had shingles 25 years ago. After the third attack in one year, my PP gave me a standing prescription for an anti-viral I always kept some on hand because early treatment is so essential. If you have symptons on Friday, you need treatment before Monday. I had the vaccine 4 years ago - it cost me $300 but it was worth it. It does not prevent Shingles but they are very mild and a round of Acyclovir takes care of it.. I think some insurance now covers it but you have to be a certain age. Check it out.

Hey there. Do you mind if I ask where your shingles occurred?

I am also asking myself the same question. I am a 28 year old healthy female. I been getting shingles for a couple years now. The doctors say it's strange that I am getting the rash at least twice a year. This concerns me because of everything I been reading online. For example; a website said if your getting shingles at a young age.... You may have a weakened immune system due to something like cancer or AIDS or high stress. I am now searching for a new doctor who might want to look into this a little more. Perhaps I am extra stressed but what if I'm sicker than I think! Also another thing that bothers me is that the vaccine is not available to anyone younger than 50. This is due to the fact that the vaccine hasn't been tested on younger adults as stated by my doctor. Will someone please make a vaccine for people under 50 too! Geez

I hope you've found answers by now, but from my cousin's and my experiences, it likely is caused by stress. (I'm not a dr, but you should get checked out for other issues (like AIDs, etc.) if you are at risk or have concerns.) I had shingles (on my scalp) at 37 due to stress/diet--and now (three years later) when I get stressed it feels like I'm being stung by a bee on my scalp!

I don't buy the chickenpox vaccine story either, because I had the chickenpox! I think our lifestyles have just changed, and we have more stressful and unhealthy lifestyles, so we are getting it younger and younger and as more cases are documented they'll allow younger people to get vaccinated.

When I got shingles it wasn't easy to find stories of younger people with shingles --even just a few years ago--and rarer still to find info on recurring shingles cases. Some doctors and patients mistakenly think that shingles doesn't recur. My cousin also had meds on hand because she had recurrences so often. I had one recurrence, shortly after the initial shingles bout and I keep medication on hand so that I can catch and treat it sooner if it comes ever back.

I try to manage my stress better, focus on getting enough sleep and eat healthier--everything I did right away when first diagnosed. I also use a sublingual B12 supplement my naturopath recommended (1000mcg/serving). I like to think that it is helping prevent future outbreaks.

Good luck to you and I hope you don't have PHN in addition to your recurrences!

Healthy 41 usually exercise a lot but have stress a lot though I usually manage it well but I started redness on side of face and a painful area in scalp unfortunately just after mosquito bites so thought this was reason however 1 week later I go and get diagnosed by an out-of-hours & so late start on aciclovir antiviral, day 4-5 noticed shooting pains scalp, I'd now done 5 days work too, day 6 started with more pain, but day 7 eased because it was Sunday & had rested now day 8 and having to consider time off, have rarely taken any but had a 24 hr + bug 2 months ago & 2 days off and Bells Palsy 6 years ago caused by stress & herpes virus with pretty much total healing otherwise really healthy but maybe less clear this time but probably stress as also suddenly found out 2 weeks ago eyesight not as good as before, used to be very good now it's ok but very slight astigmatism & long sight, the shock of this discovery & thought of needing glasses soon probably added to stress already felt. Face feels a lot better probably rest helped but now needing to get some time off work not sure how much will be needed will have 1 day off I think will have to get my regular doctor to sign if needed, realise I'm too late to guarantee viral help from my antiviral from day 7 instead of day 3 but I did pray a lot on day 6 and believe God will help with recovery, hopefully not severe pain so far but will have to take each day as it comes

Yeh had 1 week signed off so clearly you might normally expect to need between 1-2 weeks if early diagnosis, guess I would've but too late I've already risked contact last week and can't take that back so just this week signed off and boy am I grateful as need time to rest & burning pain would make it too hard to sit down & type & concentrate well. Advice then is when diagnosed with rash present need minimum of 1 week off work you will need it as pain will tire you out I find I've almost stopped all exercise completely it's not worth trying to tire out your body while it's fighting the virus, best thing is treat things like you have a very long, bad cold & take it easy and shingles is different for each person too, me I had the face rash 3 days before noticing any headache (though then again I thought the face was mosquito bites so that's partly why I paid no attention until trigeminal nerve shooting pain started further up-even then I thought the lumps on my head must be either more bites or an earlier bump on the head)- one thing is it's very hard to get diagnosed quickly enough we need to get the word out there (somehow!)