Tender head 5 months after shingles

Posted , 3 users are following.

Please can anyone tell me if they have still have PHN   4 months after shingles? I had no pain or neuralia for a while, but now not only has the itching in and around my eye got worse, but my head is now tender again with occasional headache if I rub my forehead too much. I have had regular appointments at the eye clinic but each time I ask about something to stop the itching i am told there is nothing and that is will go eventually, well, when?!! it drives me mad once it starts and my eye has got really sore as it's sometimes impossible not to rub it as it just carries on itching! Will there be any permanent damage to my head after having problems all this time? I never realised that problems like this after an illness, went on for so long!! I would rather have pain as that CAN be controlled but itching can't. I was told i had the worst type of shingles , affecting the eye, forehead and head.

1 like, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • Posted

    Yes. I still have pain that continues to fluctuate from mild to moderate for the past two years. I am so sorry for your suffering.
    • Posted

      Thanks for replying, did you have shingles around the eye area and head?
    • Posted

      It did not originate there. Mine started behind my right shoulder blade, but I did begin to have eye pain and headaches. I have only had the rash on my back. I experience nerve pain from my upper back to my neck. It has been very strange and broke the shingles rules by appearing on the opposite side behind my left shoulder blade the next year. The more I have learned is that they have found the virus can pass over to both sides. Basically, dr.s do not really know much about this virus and it really depends on who you talk to on what kind of opinion you will get. I'm sure Mary (a NP on the site) will respond to you and she has a more similar case like yours. Best thing I found that helps is a lot of rest, be gentle and patient with yourself, eat clean, think positive, massage, accupuncture, vitamins, and regular exercise (as mild as yoga and walking). Take care.

    • Posted

      I do live a healthy lifesyle, that is why it is so annoying to be ill for so long. I don't smoke, I like a drink but not too much, I am not overweight and I eat healthily, The problem is that shingles is caused by stress in the first place. I never thought I had low immunity as i was never ill until shingles! I did have a lot of stress though that I think has built up over time!

    • Posted

      I hear you. That is the same for me. It's very frustrating when you make a conscious effort to rake good care of yourself, and you still end up feeling like this!! I even did things over the years to "manage" the stress I have been under all these years. I guess my stress management didn't work. ???

    • Posted

      I always thought that something would happen one day and then it did, and it certainly goes on for a long time!! It's so depressing waking every morning with a sore itching eyem then throughiut the day my forehead and eyebrow also itch so much, I just long for a time when it stops, if it ever does!!!

  • Posted

    So sorry to hear about this. Shingles is the pits. Zyrtec (so long as it has no other effects on you) taken once per day seems to do the trick for a lot of people with remaining neuropathy or intermittent neuropathy. Did this myself and it really helped. Need to take it for a while to really desensitize the nerves. Don't forget to drink lots of water so that your kidneys etc get a break from all of this stuff we have to take when shingles flares up in any form. For your eyes, you might want to ask your eye Dr. About using over the counter preservative free eye drops (individual vials are best vs. the larger bottle in order to avoid potential infection). These drops won't cure anything but can provide relief without side effects and if nothing else will lubricate your eye. 

    • Posted

      I do have 3 kinds of eye drops, Maxidex which is a steroid, one drop per day, Clinitas which is like a gel that coats the eye, twice a day, and then Carmize which are little seperate phials that I can use anytime throughout the day. Nothing stops the itching unfortunately!

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