To "Red": In something you wrote last September, you mentioned that there is no evidence supporting oral herpes simplex leading to TN, and that it was far more likely that shingles could cause this . You mentioned that shingles can produce a rash that looks very much like cold sores. My TN developed after a huge outbreak of what I regarded as "cold sores." I immediately dismissed the possibility of shingles because I had the shingles vaccine about 3 years prior to this outbreak. In addition, the cold sores were distributed evenly on both sides of my mouth, tongue, etc. (My TN, however, is only on the right side.) Do you feel that, despite the vaccine and the bilateral rash, that I had shingles, rather than herpes simplex? Thanks very much. DD in Prescott