Hi. I am 29 Yes old. I am diagnosed with shingles for a week now. I still wonder how I get shingles I never had a chickenpox ever. Is it possible to have shingles without having chickenpox? A year ago I was diagnosed with bells palsy. Is there any connection between the two? Is it possible to have chickenpox without any symptoms?
You dont have to have chicken pox to get shingles, you only have to have the virus.
I couldnt figure why I got shingles as I never had chicken pox, the doctor told me that I must have been in contact with it and of course I was when my children were ill with it. In fact, apart from a cold, shingles was the first illness I had and that was aged 50 odd.
Hi Emziekerah Could it be possible that you had chicken pox when you were very young and don’t remember ? My daughter had only Two little chicken pox on her neck when she was two years old and she doesn’t remember. Her brother at the time was plastered with them. So she was definitely had diagnosed as chick pox. You can get blood work done and it will tell you if you had chicken pox . Shingles is the chicken pox virus that lives in your system and that is the only way you can get shingles.
Hi sheila24138. I never had chickenpox. Not that I remember. Even my parents told me that I never had chickenpox. That's why I was shocked when the doctor said I have shingles as I know you get it from chickenpox.
Thanks Steve. If that is your case then I guess we are no different. I remember I had been in contact with a girl at work who had chickenpox last year. After a few weeks, I had Bell's Palsy. I had a feeling that the Bell's Palsy incident is connected to her chickenpox virus and so is my shingles.