I had written a follow up with a lot of info but the post was not recorded so here is a short version. I went to Mayo clinic and Merck medical manual and did a search for Varicella-Zoster Virus: the primary infection that causes chickenpox also a member of the herpes family. Herpes Zoster the reactivation of the virus that causes shingles. Deb you are right about the VZV being dormant in the body after having chickenpox, what caught my eye is that it lays dormant in the nerves of the body and if the herpes zoster erupts into shingles it travels the nerves paths of the body and can infect the spinal cord. My thinking is a form of shingles exists that just attacks the peripheral nerves which would be in the category of idiopathic neuropathy.