Immune System Problems - Shingles Related??

Age: 26 yr old , healthy male

About a year and a half ago i got shingles.  I got it from working too much and not eating 3 meals.  Some reason just got in a cycle and didnt realize i was working so much.  Well it got the best of me and i got shingles.. Now, i take much better care of myself, eat vegetables, fruits, drink plenty of water(no soda and limited greasy foods), excercise, take vitamins and get much more sleep than i used to.  I also drink green tea.  

Every few months one or more of the lymph nodes become swollen.  Usually its under one of my armpits and its not always on the same side.  Now the right side of my neck(i believe the submandibular gland) feels swollen, it hurts a little bit when i swallow.  This is the first time my neck has been hurting, but the armpit usually lasts a few days and then goes away.  The one gland on the side of my neck(not sure what its called, has always been large, even when i was younger, sometimes it would get big and people thought it was a tumor)  I remember my doctor then telling my it was fine.  Maybe its not??  I dunno

Anyone else have this happen.  I am not sure why it keeps happening, sometimes i will go months before it will happen again.  I think it my be related to stress/over working myself.  I try really hard to get to bed early and get 8 hrs each night usually on the weekends.  I am extremely active, play sports and work around my house remodeling.

Anyone have any suggestions on what this might be.  Would a biopsy of one of my lymph nodes tell me anything?

any help greatly appreciated..

[star queen]

Shingles is a Herpesvirus (not sexually related).  It is originally contracted as Chickenpox and afterward outbreaks are called shingles. The eruptions of the skin are usually on the chest, but can erupt on the head causing headaches, vision problems including blindness in extreme cases. You can get a Shingles outbreak once or many times.  It often begins as a tingling or burning sensation of the skin and then effect the gall bladder, liver, appendix or regional lymph nodes.  It can cause severe itching and Pleurisy.  Intermittant lymph node enlargement is common.  In some cases even after the eruptions heal and go away the skin continues to be painful (herpetic neuralgia) and can be that way for years.  Herpesvirus never goes away and cannot be cured.  Managing stress and other life factors that effect your outbreaks as well as pain is the way to manage Shingles.

[pingjockey]

I am having this same exact problem!  It is driving me crazy and I question my health almost every day because of it.  Am I dying from cancer/lymphoma?
I am 37 and have a very high stress, high pace job.  I, too, work long hours, eat terrible (once a day), drink coffe and stay dehydrated for the most part.  I also smoke....at least until a couple of days ago.  Just can't do it anymore.
For about 2 months prior to getting the Shingles legion, several of my lymph nodes under my arm were tender, but not really enlarged.  That same side of my body was sore periodically and that side of my chest was tight.  Then, one legion developed on that same side of my back.  It was not very large and only lasted about 10 days.
The legion went away and I felt better.  Now, several weeks later.  My chest hurts, those same lymph nodes are sore (still not really enlarged, but sore), I'm tired most of the time.  I do not have tenderness where the legion was.  So, can post neuralgia be internal and in lymph nodes and other systems?  My lungs hurt, etc.
I went to the doctor and he said that it is probably the post shingles neuralgia.  They did a blood test, a chest x-ray, and prodded and poked.  Nothing.
It is scary when you read on the internet about how young people getting shingles is usually due to cancer weakening the immune system, specifically lymphoma, and then your lymph nodes start hurting.  Doctors are usually pretty quick to dismiss it, but "what if?"......
If you find anything out....please post it.  I will as well, but it sound like we are about at the same point.  It probably is the shingles and we have nothing to worry about.
Thanks
Chad

[pingjockey]

eclipsys2002,

Have you been to the doctor for these symptoms in the year and a half since your Shingles subsided?  If so, I am curious as to what the doctor told you.

[silvertear924]

Feeling another potential shingles outbreak is stressful in itself, yet stress makes it worse..... Has anyone figured out a way to pacify it before it gets worse and blisters?