I had a very mild Shingles attack, which does make sense since I only had a mild chicken pox as a baby. But, out of consideration for the folks who have not had chicken pox, the elderly and little kids, I stayed home from my congregation until it was all over with. I was mainly concerned with the elderly and the babies, because they are the most vulnerable. I had some other horrific virus right after that that almost killed me, so it's a very, very good thing that I didn't expose the vulnerable to this very contagious virus. I hadn't gone anywhere either when the other symptoms started happening. It was right about then that I learned I had also been dealing with vitamin D deficiency.
So, two lessons here: Shingles is very, very contagious. It is from a different Herpes virus that is in the same family as Chicken Pox. They are so similar that they are almost the same thing, even though the viruses are slightly different. This is why kids with chicken pox must stay away from anyone with a weakened immune system and why adults with Shingles must be so careful that they don't spread the virus to other people. It is also actually possible to catch chicken pox more than once in a lifetime. I know, because both of my brothers had it twice when we were kids. I have no idea who I was exposed to when I got the Shingles, but in my case the theory is that I had such severe vitamin D deficiency that I was open to catching just about anything, including whatever that other horrific virus that almost killed me was. I wasn't around all that many people either.
The other lesson here is to keep your vitamin D levels up to par, and it's okay to take a little extra temporarily if you're sick to help fight the virus. This information is from the Vitamin D Council, so I definitely recommend looking up their website for more specific information. When supplementing vitamin D it is critical to also take magnesium. Besides, most of us are actually deficient in magnesium as well. While it is possible to take too much magnesium, for a lot of us, it is very difficult to get too much. You will know when you've taken too much, because you will have to run to the bathroom. If that happens, take less the next day. But, definitely take the magnesium when supplementing your vitamin D.
http://www.medicinenet.com/shingles/article.htm
Yes, shingles is contagious. Shingles can be spread from an affected person to babies, children, or adults who have not had chickenpox. But instead of developing shingles, these people develop chickenpox. Once they have had chickenpox, people cannot catch shingles (or contract the virus) from someone else. Once infected, however, people have the potential to develop shingles later in life.
Shingles is contagious to people who have not previously had chickenpox, as long as there are new blisters forming and old blisters healing. Similar to chickenpox, the time prior to healing or crusting of the blisters is the contagious stage of shingles. Once all of the blisters are crusted over, the virus can no longer be spread and shingles is no longer contagious.