I’m on it now...Valtrex.
1 gram 3x per day.
Forget the prescribed dosages. Depending on how the rash responds start with 1.5 grams, then drop a 500 mg every hour and a half or so. Your bod will tell you. If you can couple oral with topical all the better.
As a kid a few different people put the fear of God into me re shingles. I got ‘em at 65. I was waiting for the horrible but it never came. Fortunately, it was not a sever case. But it was no fun! After a couple days I got the idea to try the Acyclovir I had lying around the house, away. I could feel the virus stop advancing.
The next year I got my first flu shot ever. Somehow it triggered a new bout of shingles. WTH? But I recognized it early, hit it hard and it was no issue.
I guess if your rash is advanced the Acyclovir won't be as effective.
If anything in life is true it's that severe, unrelenting pain is Hell. Real Hell. Hope it goes away soon.