Muscle cramp that wraps around side

[dewmara]

A few days ago I was standing in the kitchen around 6pm not doing anything strenuous when all of a sudden a muscle on the righ side of my back cramped up.  The pain went all the way around to the ribs in the front causing me to have a difficult time breathing.  I had to sit down and decided to take 600mg ibuprofen.  This did nothing for the pain.  It continued all night and in the morning I took 600mg IB, and again at lunch time.  By dinner my stomach was hurting so bad from the IB that I switched to Flexeril that I had from a previous injury.  The only thing that did was make me antsy...couldn't sit still.  Pain was still bad.  I could feel a knot in my back that I had my husband rub for me.  Still in pain today but not as bad.  More localized to knot in back. I went to the doctor who said I might have shingles because of the pain wrapping around the side.  He injected the muscle with something to relax it. It only helped a little.  My question is...Could this really be shingles? There is no rash present.  If it's just a knotted muscle what can I do for it?

[dewmara]

Thanks to both of you.  It seems much better today.  No muscle pain and still no rash.  I've been taking an antiviral med 5xDay.  Would taking this early enough prevent the rash from appearing?  Or is it inevitable if it really is shingles?

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Yes, it is possible to have shingles without rash, especially since your pain initially looked like this affected one particular nerve’s area of supply.
It could also be a pinched nerve at the thoracic level. This can also cause an excruciating pain.
Also get your serum electrolytes checked.
Hope this helps. It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[caregiver222]

Shingles can be very painful, and are often only on one side of the spine. Before jumping to conclusions, using good old Ocams's razor (the simplist explanation being the most likely) simple calcium deficiency is the most common cause of such "charley horse" cramps.  Muscle contraction is mediated by calcium. A calcium deficiency can cause a terrible cramp. A few glasses of milk a day often clear the problem up Try that. At one time quinine sulfate tablets were available (I still have a good supply) which were the greatest thing since sliced bread fopr those cramps, but the FDA, in it's wisdom, banned the medication. Thjose cramps can be so bad you can't move and, in my case would last for hours. Ibuprufin doesn't work. Sometimes a little magnesium glycinate will help do the trick.  It may be shingles, but I wouldn't be so quick to jump to that conclusion.