Shingles

I never took any meds except for the 7 pills that were too late for my shingles. My trunk shingles extreme pain lasted more than three months. I learned to live with it until the pain and most of the blisters disappeared. I sill have the itching (and fatigue) 9 months later and never touched it. Mabe some day the itching will stop. 

Woody don't want to alarm you but I got shingles labor day will make 2 years. I am going to a Neurologist, having test run, to find out why I'm still having pain on my scalp and face. When I had Shingles I got a prescription for Diclofenac sodium gel. Biofreese seem to help calm it down too,but don't try to power through Shingles Good luck

You may need to increase the amount of Gabapentin you're taking.  I have nerve damage throughout my body thanks to the virus but can manage it fairly well with Gabapentin.  Sometimes I will take Benedryl too in the evenings if the sheets are bothering my skin.  I also keep my skin well moistured which helps.

 

Hey Woody,

First let me say I understand what you are going through and it is indeed terrible!  It is THE worst thing I have ever had in my life. The pain is unbearable at times and the sensitivity to clothing and touch as well. I was diagnosed Dec 6, 2017 and it took me 3 1/2 months to turn the corner. I was first prescribed an antiviral med along with an opioid Pain med since over the counter meds did not touch the pain. If not for that I couldn’t have slept either! I could not take Gabapentin due to an intolerance of a similar drug. So I used prescription Lidocaine 5% patches which were very expensive and did not do that great. So I used OTC Icy Hot with 4% Lidocaine. It helped for a short time; went through several

Bottles of that. I also used ice packs frequently, the gel packs that you put in your freezer. So with all that together I made it one day at a time and sometimes an hour at a time. Interestingly, for me very warm showers were soothing. I spent a long time under the water....., lol!  It is pretty much trial and error seeing what works for you. I believe everyone’s experience is different and of course the location of the rash is significant as well. During the worst times, I experienced sharp, stabbing, stinging, aching, burning pain and sometimes itching all at the same time! Now that the rash is long gone, the skin in that area still has a numb feeling and ocassionally itches there as well as above and below. The aftermath is called post herpetic neuropathy or PHN. It occurs in about 10% of all cases. I hope you can avoid that. I also hope this information is helpful to you and your recovery is swift. 

All the best,

Jeannie

Right now, this minute, I am going through this same

head phn. I hsvr it since 2012.

is yrs in the scalp too

i used to usd magnilife nerve and itch pain look it up. It is homeopathic stuff. 

I don’t use any more after many 5 years of using it and costing me  20 bucks for a 1.5 oz. vial , you care see the expense , about $100 extra a month and non reimbursement of course, that’s $1200 a year for only a moderate decrease of pain.

i am learning pain techniques, Medical Mary, ice packs, opoidd , some of these I have known all along.

i go to a psychotherapy too , it’s terrible, I hsve not had a companion in six years because I am in so much pain all the time

 

Also I just got a kitty, and she is the best pain medicine ever,

Woody,

I am sorry you are going through this.

For the itching, you might try 1.Oatmeal baths- soothes only while in the bath, but worth it

2. Lidocaine cream

3. Solarcaine with Aloe

4. Vitamin E Oil liquid- helps with the dry skin, buy a bottle in the vitamin section in pharmacy

5. Prescription for Doxepin from Physician, stronger than Benadryl in relieving itching and helps with insomnia, used by dermatologists

Let us know what works for you, please, and how you are doing. The Doxepin helped me, as did all of the above!

Best Wishes

Merry Juliana