From the pages I have read and medical persons I have dealt with, I want to post real live information:

1) Shingles only affects one half of the body... if you have rashes on two sides the you don't have shingles... yes, it can be off by a cm or so, but half to half.

Onset: If you get strange itching, red spots or depression for a few days.. maybe, but Shingles will not come in disguise. Expect 1-30 blisters in your chest/abdomen/back or... worse the face. They look just like pimples or simple herpes blisters, (Shingles is 'herpes' just the Zoster)

They will likely pool into one scab maybe 10-20. See my photos, they can go into thousands of blisters/hundreds of clusters. You may get then on your face, eye, in your mouth... seek Emergency relief ASASP...... there is no 'toughing' this out.

Do steroids bring this out? No, I am very open with my doctor. to include drugs and dosage/frequency, Just bad luck.

Stress/low immune: AVOID THEM... that is two weeks of my life and my wife's life,,,

Good luck