I have never had chickenpox before yet i have shingles... how?

Can happen: You were exposed to the virus, you probably had a subclinical infection, but you were infected, and the virus remained dormant in your body, flared up when it had the chance and you developed shingles, hopefully it will be mild and you won't have it again

U had it or vaccine: Shingles is only a reactivation of the chickenpox virus, never a 1st time infection. That means you either had it and never knew it or had the vaccine (available in the US from the '90's) The rate after the vaccine is lower than with the wild disease but both occur. Some blister producing viruses are confused with chickenpox & some people only have a few spots.