Hello:
I've been sick about a month -- a nasty, wicked pain in my back, right-side, about where my lungs are and then goes down toward your lower-back by the kidneys. The doctor originally thought it was pneumonia, so gave me Alevox (sp?) -- nope, that stuff didn't touch it; actually, made me sick. Then he tried Naprosyn (Naproxen) because I had inflamation -- nope, I found out I'm allergic to it. So, he tried Biaxin -- nope -- didn't work. Actually, it got so bad, I had a hard time walking or standing straight. He said that he thought it was the Shingles -- even though I'm not broken out anywhere. He prescribed Valtrex -- I'm 4 days into a 10 day prescription. It is a little better, but not a whole lot. Now the right side hurts too, but maybe I just need to wait until I'm done with the entire prescription. I've never had the Chicken pox before -or- if I did, not bad enough for anyone to notice. I've been under a quite a bit of stress but its been like that for years, even though it has been worse over the last year due to an accident and the loss of the use of my hand. Does anyone know how long you have to take this Valtrex before you can move without any pain? Plus, can you have Shingle and no rash? Has anyone seen this to be something else? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

yes you can get silent shingles without the rash. It stays internal and causes severe pain down the nerve pathways. It can be very debilitating but it usually goes in a band from the midline of abdomen around to the middle back.
Don't know how long you would have to take the Valtrex for. I took a 7 day course of antivirals when i had my first attack, with a rash. It cleared up after about 2 weeks but I felt weak for a while afterwards.
Perhaps it could be pain due to other causes, I don't know. Maybe an xray or scan could be helpful. I would certainly ask for other tests if you don't improve soon.

Hope you feel better, it sounds as if you have a lot to contend with.