Does this seem normal?
Posted , 4 users are following.
My symptoms of shingles started on Monday (2 weeks ago) with what I thought was a back spasm. By Wednesday the pain had spread to the side and front and my doctor diagnosed Shingles in a second. Prescribed Valtrex 3 times a day. She said because I was starting the antivirals within 48 hours that I had a good chance of it not progressing too much. By that night (night 3) the pain got pretty severe, though rash didn't look too bad, just some redness and a few small blisters. By Saturday, the rash had started spreading and by Sunday it wrapped all the way around my side.
Pain wise, the pain was pretty bad for Wed-Fri and started getting better by Sat-Sun, and by Monday (a week ago) I was pretty much back to my normal activities, with minimal pain and just burning skin like a sunburn. Since the rash had gotten so bad, I called my doctor on Monday and she said to take the Valtrex for 3 extra days just to be extra sure. I should mention that I am also 12 weeks pregnant, and when I saw my OB for a routine appointment that same week (last week), he said I could continue with Valtrex one pill a day for the rest of the pregnancy to prevent a recurrence (Valtrex is safe and not teratogenic).
This past Sunday, with the rash almost cleared, I noticed the pain was a bit worse than the previous days. By yesterday, the pain progressed to a debilitating 9/10 pain, much worse than during the acute disease, that has me mostly disabled. I thought maybe the shingles was coming back after i reduced my Valtrex dose, but I haven't seen any new blisters appear, rash just continues to clear. Since I'm pregnant, I am very limited in what I can take for pain. I am MISERABLE.
I keep reading about PHN- pain that persists after rash is gone. But I haven't found anything on pain being almost completely gone and then it coming back after the rash is healing. Is this normal? I am 38 years old.
0 likes, 3 replies
Merry19451 Miserable68064
Posted
I empathize with your pain. Sometimes as you increase your activity level back to normal, the pain increases. Also, your immune system goes haywire when you are pregnant, so that the regular dose of Valtrex may not have worked as well.
I have had recurrent episodes of Herpes Zoster-Shingles two and a half weeks after an episode. I start on another full course of Famciclovir for 7 days. Ask your Obstetrician to check your Vitamin D level. You are on prenatal vitamins....correct?
Merry Juliana
Miserable68064 Merry19451
Posted
Thanks Merry. I can't imagine having a recurrent episode so soon. I told my doctor they were going to have to pry the Valtrex out of my cold, dead hands to make me stop taking it, ever.
Vit D was checked in Nov. and it was in the 40s. I hadn't been supplementing recently but I'm going to start doing that again. And yes I'm taking a prenatal vitamin.
Reading more on this, it seems it does happen that the pain can get better and then come back as PHN. Yesterday I took 2 extra strenght tylenol since it's the only pain medication I'm comfortable taking, and the pain did improve considerably and I had about 6 glorious hours without much pain. I thought it was a good sign that maybe it was starting to improve in general, but it came back in the evening and worse if anything. It also seems to be spreading and it now hurts all along the dermatome. I was also given lidocaine cream and it also helps a bit with the painful itching (before this I had no idea itching could be PAINFUL). But I am not comfortable using either of those remedies round the clock.
My OB referred me to a neurologist. He thinks I'm still in the acute stage and I shouldn't call it post herpes neuralgia yet since I'm only on the 3rd week of illness and he thinks the pain should slowly improve in the next 3 months. But reading other's accounts about the pain lasting years has me so discouraged and I think the fact that it's so severe now is not a good sign for improvement. Has anyone's pain been severe and debilitating and then improved? I'm not even expecting pain free, just enough relief to be able to function.
Merry19451 Miserable68064
Posted
I would take the Tylenol continuously, as that has not shown teratogenic effects. If you can keep the pain level at a low level, it is less likely to become intense and become PHN. Use Lidocaine 12 hours on 12 hours off, or 6 hours on 6 hours off, as the nerve endings become habituated to the effects.