Shingles, or Fibromyalgia and fever blisters?

[socrateacher]

I have fibromyalgia, which flares up when the barometer swings wildly and also during times of stress or when I am exposed to 'subwoofers' speeling out lots of high-amplitude vibrations.

Had a very, very bad attack of generalized pain, worse than any I've had before, on Sunday and Monday.  On Wednesday I woke up with what appeared to be a huge fever blister on my right lower lip.  (I get fever blisters from time to time, but usually they are on my left side, and give me fair warning, major 'prodrome' symtoms. Not this time)

My husband wondered if perhaps the two were connected. Called the doc, whom I'd been to see for the pain. She treated it like a normal 'fibro flare'... anyway, after the lesion came up, she was unavailable.

So, now i have this huge gooey blistery lesion, and pain in the roots of my teeth, my skin feels funny in the lower quadrant of my face, and my eyes feel weak.

Is it possible that this is an attack of shingles?  It's unilateral, and only affects the lower right quadrant of my face. Even the right side of my tongue hurts -- and feels uncoordinated. Jaw hurts, skin feels thick all over that part of the face.

MAIN QUESTION:  With shingles, is it possible for the affected area to get larger and more painful even after the initial lesions appear?

[belinda05]

I've had similar symptoms.  I had shingles in Dec., then again 30 days later in Jan.  Now I have had 4 fever blister crop up in the past week.  I don't understand how this is happening every 30 days.  I was even taking Valtrex for the 1st fever blister.  Is there a cure for this or is fibromyalgia the root cause. I'm so confused.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!

Yes, it can be Herpes Singles. “Shingles start as small blisters on a red base, with new blisters continuing to form for three to five days. The blisters follow the path of individual nerves that comes out of the spinal cord (called a dermatomal pattern). The entire path of the nerve may be involved or there may be areas with blisters and areas without blisters. Generally, only one nerve level is involved. In a rare case, more than one nerve will be involved. Eventually, the blisters pop, and the area starts to ooze. The affected areas will then crust over and heal. The whole process may take three to four weeks from start to finish.” Refer: http://www.medicinenet.com/shingles/article.htm

However please do consult your doctor regarding this as it is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage without examining. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[crambone]

sure,as the infection could actualy be mostly under the skin,,kinda think of an iceberg mostly being under water,,understand?
it is possible to have shingles inside,and not even present itself on the outside,and that can be dangerious from what i understand...not saying yours is dangerious,,,but yes it can be the way you describe.