PHN after Shingles

Hello ..

about 11-12 years ago I came down with Shingles in the scalp, forehead, left eye and nose. I didn't go to the doctor soon enough, and waited until the rash was present to get on Valtrex.

The result was significant damage to the vision in my eye, and even worse, Post Herpetic Neuralgia.

The pain was truly unbearable. My doctor gave me Dilauded which actually did very little for the pain, but " whacked " me out enough that I didn't really mind.

After a period of time on Dilauded, I developed a dependence on the opiates. I switched from Dilauded to Oxycontin and basically became a full blown opiate addict. I am not proud of it but also not ashamed of it any more. I used strong opiates daily for 10 years, some legal but near the end most where bought illegally.

Today I have not used an opiate in 2-1/2 years. I did a cold turkey detox which I do not recommend and have been treating the problems related to the addiction.

My reason for posting is that the pain of PHN after a decade became really mild. A simple advil would eliminate it 90% of the time . Bearing in mind this is 12 years after the shingles.

In the last week however, I have had a full blown attack with the pain, just like 10 years ago . .

The pain is a burning and throbbing sensation in the forehead, my eye pounds and actually goes bloodshot. The area around the Iris actually appears to be bleeding.

This brings me to a question ..

I am wondering if anyone here has any information on the effects of emotional stress on nerve damage ?

I ask because in the last 2 weeks, I have had a large amount of unusual stress put upon me.

(1) My father was hospitalized with a Gaul Bladder and the MRI showed a tumour on his pancreas.
(2) I arranged to buy a new business and had to tell my current business partner I was leaving him. I like the guy and feel bad. I have been jumping through hoops, worrying etc.
(3) And another old friend who was very dear to me told me a week ago that he has lymphoma and was given 12 months.

I would admit that this last two weeks has been extremely taxing on me. I have not been sleeping well, and been really tense.

Does it make any sense to anyone that emotional stress and tension would have anything to do with the worst flare up of nerve damage pain I have had in years ?

I cannot take Opiates for this pain, so I am taking it off the chin. Its been over 100 hours of agony as of about now and I am exhausted.

I want to hear about the connection between emotional stress and nerves .. Anyone ?

Hi there....

I absolutely agree with Matt...I have a few friends who had bouts with shingles and they were told that stress can affect them with having another outbreak..

You need to get to the Dr. ASAP to get on a round of antiviral medication to help with the pain and limit the duration of the outbreak.

They can also give you some antibiotic ointments to put directly on the skin to help stop any infection.

Or they can give you a round of steroids (in a Medrol dose pack)..

And as mentioned...there are specific nerve pain medications that are non narcotic that can help. They are Lyrica, Neurontin, or Cymbalta.

Please get in to see a Dr. asap so you can get treated quickly and aggressively so that you don't have to suffer as there are plenty of things they can do that don't involve narcotics...

Good luck..

Hi Beagles and welcome to the chronic pain forum. Wow, you have had a long road to follow for quite a while it sounds like. I have never had shingles but do understand the pain can be unbearable. Nerve pain is a different type of pain altogether and needs to be treated differently than physical pain. Narcotics have little effect on nerve pain.

Most people with nerve pain take medications, like Lyrica, Cymbalta, Amitriptiline, Gabapentin which is generic Neurotin. Hopefully you can get put on one of these to see if it will help. You may have to try a couple of them to find the one that works. I would not suffer with pain knowing there is something available that is not a narcotic.

I hope you get some relief soon. Take care...Susie

Glad to hear you went to the Dr...

May I ask what you mean by the "drama" that comes with Prednisone?

If the pain keeps breaking through...you may be able to go back and request something like Lidocaine patches or as Matt mentioned...a cream that contains this and a nerve pain medication mixed together.

I certainly hope things will start to calm down soon for you...

Trudy...I think that this type of cream can be made at a compounding pharmacy. It just needs to be ordered by your Dr. and then they can pretty much make up anything that you need.

*And for those who may get nervous about compounding pharmacies because of the recent steroid injection issues...it's really very safe as most places are reputable and only make up prescirption medications one at a time for patients. The place that got shut down was making them in bulk and shipping them all over the US.

Ahh...thanks for clarifying...For me, the main side effect with steroids is that they make me a bit wired so I have trouble sleeping..that definitely makes me grouchy! LOL

I do hope that you will get some relief with both medications and start to feel better soon!

Rocky,

I wonder if you took a maintenance dose of Valtrex if you would avoid shingles on a regular basis ?

I am right now taking 6 per day ... but read the little book that some people take 1 or 2 daily.

Wonder if that would work for shingles ?

I had shingles in 2005 while I was in the hospital to get my gallbladder removed. I had a rash on the right side of my torso from about T-4 to T-7. A few weeks after I got out of the hospital, the PHN started. I was put on lots of various drugs as well as many nerve blocks in my spine. The pain level never dropped below a 6. I got down to 85 pounds from a normal weight of 145. Luckily I had a loving partner who took very good care of me. For a while I was under the care of a hospice.

I finally pulled through it but still have the pain somewhat under control. At one time I had a spinal cord stimulator implanted, but had it removed as it didn't help all that much. Now I have a pain pump that works a little better. Currently the pump has three medications; bupivacaine, dilaudid, and clonidine. My normal pain level now is about a 6, with intense spasms at a 10 level. The spasms occur about 20 times a day. I can barely wear a shirt and so I only wear one when I have to. I'm on full disability. I don't have any friends, except for one who helps me when I need it. My partner died 3 years ago from cancer. I keep working with my pain doctor, changing the levels of medications in my pump.

I've noticed lately, in the last 6 months or so, that I wake up at night after breathing in gastric juices from my stomach. It takes a while to cough out the stuff in my lungs. It reminds me of when I has asthma as a kid. As a result I've had to sleep almost sitting up. I'm thinking this might be due to the bupivacaine in my pump. I know that if the level is too high, my right leg goes limp easily and I can be incontinent at night. Has anyone else had this experience?

Hello Steakeater & welcome to the chronic pain forum. We do ask all new members to make a separate intro post so that all members will see it & be able to respond & give you a proper hello & welcome aboard. By posting on an older thread that has not had much activity in almost 2 yrs, not many folks will see it & sometimes the original poster is no longer active here at the forum.

What you have written above is perfect for an intro post so if you want to copy & paste it, that would be perfect. To make a new post click Post New Topic & be sure to type in a heading.

I will lock this thread as we like to keep the older threads off of the main page. We look forward to getting to know you. I too have a pain pump & have some ideas.