Post shingles pain.

I am new here, out of desperation for some help and advice for my husband who developed shingles last November and is suffering from post herpetic zoster pain on his right side and back, he has been treated with amilltyripline and diffrent pain relief lignocaine cream and none have worked, he is wai,ting for a new perscription from his gp. Any help or or advice would be appreciated. Or a good consultant in the Essex area.

[Hidden]

Hello Lavender

Welcome to our site you will get plenty of support here from people who are suffering from painful conditions

You say that your husband is suffering ( Post) Shingles, I see that your GP has prescribed an antidepressant and pain medication, Lignocaine cream., Amytryptalene will treat the neuro pain associated with Shingles, you also say that your GP has wrote out a further script to assist in the suppression of this condition.

Shingles is a Herpes virus and it generally effects several nerves, that run down one side of the body, they affect just one side of the body and do not cross a median line onto the opposite side, If is very painful so I understand how He must be feeling. All I can suggest is that you pick up the new GP script and see how it goes,

A very old treatment was to use something to cool the skin, CALAMINE LOTION my help if you apply the area of skin that is effected. This is an old wifes treatment so it may be a good idea, if it does not work blame the older generations

Also I understand that there may now be an injection regarding this complaint, your GP may help with that, you will need to check ??.

Good Luck

BOB

Ps Sorry for spelling getting late.

[Keelaandkim]

You can get lidocaine patches, much better than the cream

[Calceolaria]

I don't know if this works post shingles but while active, melissa ( lemongrass ) teabags brewed cooled abd dabbed on the site is effective, as is drinking the tea. I've had shingles three times and this worked for me. Getting the Aciclovir in time is the best though.

[Hidden]

Dear. All. He started the acyclovir About 3 days after the rash appeared,the shingles rash has cleared leaving red scarred area, it's the nerve pain which is left, we have tried calamine, and lignocaine. Cream, the painkillers he is taking are parecatamol as the codeine make him constipated, nothing is working, the amiltyripline just made him feel drowsy, how long does this pain last, he has had it now for 3 months,my husband has also lost weight he has had a endoscope camera down his throat which come back normal. He is drinking fortisor drinks to try and gain some weight, as the pain stops him from eating. So he says its just the pain which I am told is nerve pain in the area where the shingles were are causing all this, I don't think normal painkillers help. Just take the wedge of. Thanks . For replying. Please excuse spelling.

[jointpain]

Hi Lavender, you ask how long the pain lasts, I can only answer for myself. Since having shingles in 1977 when there was no medication given to me for the relief of the pain, which at the time was terrible, I remember it well! at the time the pain lasted a month, but since then I have had a similar pain around 3 times a year lasting around a month each time, I only seem to get one or two tiny nerve end blisters each time it happens. I can see why there is a vaccine for shingles, what I do not understand is why the vaccine is not given to youngsters. I hope your husband gets well soon.

[Hidden]

Thanks for the reply. There is a vaccine for shingles, I think it's for over 70s so they say on the web, my husbands doctor said some people have this post shingles nerve pain for life, I think the pain specialist has perscribed liocaine plaster or patches and a tablet I don't know which one we are still waiting for the medication, over a week now, thanks for you support. My husband has copd to cope with as well.so there is a lot going on. Wish I had a magic wand. Thanks.

[johnsmith]

Are you sure that it is "post herpetic zoster pain"? This is an important question. It is very easy to relate pain to something you have had rather than investigate possible causes for the pain. Small muscles contracting over nerves can cause nerves to complain.

Contracting or over contracted muscles can apply pressure on the nerve roots generating pain as a first effect or pain as a result of nerve dysfunction causing muscles to do funny things. The muscles doing funny things as a secondary effect generates pain.

See a muscle specialist eg chiropractor, Alexander Teacher or Masseur. They may not be able to remove all the pain. However if they can reduce the pain then your sleep will improve which also help reduce the pain. Sleep deprivation is very good for increasing pain in a condition you have.

The body is a physical system obeying the laws of physics and engineering. Applying the chemical approach to physical system is not always helpful.

Hope this helps.

[Hidden]

My husband has had a upper g.i endoscopy this week that was normal and two biopsies taken , because of the weight loss and pain you are right he doesn't sleep at night because the pain wakes him up. He is only taking paracetamol at the moment as he has been advised not to take inflammatory tablets because of his copd. We are waiting for the patches on perscription and more tablets which he doesn't want to take, it seems that the pain is in the area where the shingles were, as I have said earlier the shingles have gone but their is scar tissue and that where the pain is, what I don't understand is why he has lost two stone in two years I have been told its because of the copd, that is why the gp has sent him to the gastro consultant at our local hospital, they don't seem to think that the post herpetic zoster pain would cause loss of appetite and weight loss. I thought about accupunture treatment but I think he has had enough. Thanks for your replies.

[Hidden]

John. You say do I think it's the shingles causing the pain, it must be because the pain has been prominent in the shingles area in the last 3 months so what else would it be, I have been told that it can sometimes last forever. It's very strange that the pain isn't getting any better. Thanks.

[Zizzzl]

You might consider topical gallium maltolate, available as Gallixa skin cream. A friend of mine's mother had great postherpetic neuralgia pain relief from this product.

[pinknosedcat]

Hi Lavender, sounds to me like he needs an immediate refferal to a pain consultant.Paracetemol is pretty useless for nerve pain but with the cOPD there may well be better pain killers that would help. How long has he been on the Amytriptolene? It usually takes around a month to get any useful effects from it and that is only if it works. There are loads of different neural suppressants that could be tried if the Amytrip' isn't helping. Prescribing Amytriptolene is usually the first thing GP's do when faced with chronic pain, as you probably know it is a tricyclic antidepressant when used in higher doses , but when prescribed in low doses it acts as a nerve supressant, supposedly taking the peaks and troughs out of the nervous systems functioning, it has been around for a long time. It didn't do a thing for me and I know loads of other people is hasn't worked for. There are also nerve suppresants he can take along side the Amytrip', he really needs to see a specialist. Other meds they use for supressing the nervous system are things like anti-epileptics and other antidepressants in low doses. Re his weight loss, I personally don't see any reason why he couldn't have lost weight due to the pain...when you can't sleep and you've got no appetite due to chronic pain it puts so much stress on the body. You mention scarring from the shingles, how bad is the scarring? Scar tissue itself can be a big problem is it still inflamed and looking angry or has it settled down? If your husband is depressed would he benefit from any talking therapies...just until he can get to see a pain consultant or get refferred to a pain clinic. It is finally being acknowledged in the medical world that chronic pain alone is a medical condition and doesn't neccessarily need to have a pathological cause and about time to. Living in chronic pain is a bloody awful way to live but it can be done, there is a lot more that can be done to help him than has already been done but you really need to fight his corner at the GP's if he's not up to it. Keep a pain diary...mark his pain levels from 1 to 10 where 1 is very mild and 10 is unbearable scream your head off and black out time. If you can include what he eats, drinks, his activity levels and sleeping patterns in the same way it will be much more useful than trying to explain everything in subjective language...this way you can just hand over the info and there's no misunderstandings. Keep him away from caffeine and alcohol in the mean time. Alcohol will counteract the amytriptolene and caffeine is a nervouse system stimulant. Pain clinincs are really good in many ways but even at a very simplistic level it makes things a lot more bearable when you know you are not the only one and pain is so very isolating. You may need to start thinking in terms of the pain itself being the problem rather than the shingles and COPD if you know what I mean..unfortunately there aren't always easy answers for neurological/pain related problems and in that case a pain clinic will help you both adjust to life with chronic pain. Alexander Technique, Tai Chi and Chi Kung/ Body mapping and mediatation are all useful tools for helping, possibly even Yoga depending upon how fit he is, i find Yoga too strenuous though. Don't let him do anything that causes him to strain his body in any way...he's body has got so much to deal with it won't cope. I hope some of this is of some use to you and don't forget we are always here to chat about anything..you are not alone. Ttfn Heather

[Hidden]

Thanks for your reply, my husband has seen a pain specialist at my local hospital las Monday, the doctor examined him and perscribed the lignocaine patches and tablets which he said he would recommend to my husbands gp, which he hasn't got yet, even though I have rang the surgery every day since last Monday, I have also rang the specialist secretary numerous times and left messages, which haven't been returned, so now I am waiting for this perscription to come through so as my husband might have some relief. I went to the chemist this morning to buy these lignocaine patches , which the pharmacist said were a hundred pound to buy, and I could only get them on perscription. Thanks for your helpful and kind remarks. I don't know how this is going to go. As I have said previous the amiltyripline just knocked him out, I might have to go private in the end to get some proper help for him. Thanks

[ladywhy]

I've had it for over a year now, and I'm on Lyrica, which really is helping. Mine is on my torso, on the right side, from bust line to waistline. I've found that wearing compression garments help tremendously. But he'll need to wear smaller than what is advised for his size. It needs to fit really snug.