Time to break out the oxycontin!
As you described it, it could be Shingles. So get to that doctor! Both my dad and I get that nasty little puppy, and in the same facial nerve to boot. In our case it is a nerve which involves an eye. I've been fortunate in that I've only suffered from one attack so far. But if my dad is any indication of how things are going to go, things are going to get worse as the years pile on. The fact that I take an immuno-suppressant to stop another problem which affects my eyes, iridocyclitis, doesn't bode well for my future where shingles is concerned either.
Shingles is very painful, to put it mildly. Last year my father had an attack so painful that enough oxycontin to kill a horse couldn't touch it. But then it was in his eye, attacks elswhere generally don't quite rise to that level of pain. He ended up hospitalized with a stomach lining which resembled hamburger more than anything else. As pointed out, antivirals are the only effective treatment for the infection itself. The sooner you get them into your system after you realize its started, the better. Believe me, you don't wont to waste time with this little puppy.
Forscher