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Harvard Health Letter

Ask the doctor: What to take for shingles pain

Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D.

Published: April, 2013

Q. I've been diagnosed with shingles. Is there anything I can take for the pain?

A. If you're over age 50 and you've had the shingles pain for less than three days, the current recommendation is that you take a medicine that kills the virus that causes shingles—varicella-zoster virus. The two medicines recommended most often are famciclovir and valacyclovir.

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