I came down with shingles in the middle of July. For the week before any rash and blistering, I had a bunch of weird pains in my ribcage and chest areas and even some stomach issues and was having a little trouble urinating. I was able to get a doctor appointment and he was about to do an EKG and looked at my chest and said "you've got shingles" as there was a red rash on my left chest and back. This was about 4 pm and there was no rash when I got dressed that morning. He prescribed Valtrex and I took it about two hours later. I already have Grover's disease, which is a red rash of a different type and itches like crazy. The shingles rash and eventual blisters were relatively mild, probably due to the Valtrex. But then, my skin started hurting where I had the rash and other spots on my chest and back. Some of the pain in my ribcage and stomach returned. While it didn't fit the exact pattern of postherpetic neuralgia, it was assumed that is what I had. After a week or two, the doctor prescribed Gabapentin, which I had taken for 13 years between 2008 and 2021 for my Grover's (which worked great until it just stopped working). The Gabapentin seems to work and I'm able to sleep again after having some sleepless nights. It's not hard to find forums with people who have all kinds of problems with Gabapentin. I've never had any problems with it or stopping it.