I think that recommendation about timing of the treatment is outdated.

My husband had a horrible shingles attack that was all along his torso/chest for over 6 months. I was upNorth when he started, and he phoned the marina (this was before cell phones), to get me. When I called him back, he had already had his outbreak which was in one ear also...for over a week. I insisted he go to the doctor ASAP...and he was finally given the antivirals.

He did have one recurrance of just pain, the next spring along the shingles path, but since then has not had any trouble.
Shingles may present in unusual ways and be confusing to some doctors who expect certain presentations. It can also be confused with poison ivy. My shingles never blistered, but involuted and turned black. They were along my radial nerve. I sometimes get the pain along that tract with no blisters even today, 20 yrs later.

Alot depends on the person, and the status of the immune system. I was working long hours... on midnights no less, so I was pretty run down. Even though I was mild with the shingles I developed a pneumonia and 104 fever as a side effect and was very ill for over a week. My doctor made me quit midnights as a result. My doctor ran antibody titres on both Herpes simplex and Herpes Zoster to verify the shingles, since they were an atypical presentation. My Zoster readings were way higher, higher than the high range in fact.

Hubby didn't need the blood work...his shingles looked like a terrible road rash like one gets from concrete falls. But he didn't get the fever or pneumonia like I did. I didn't have nearly the number of vesicles as he did, but I was far sicker.

So I do believe the antivirals now are strong enough to override any delay in treatment.