My husband had shingles about 3 wks. ago. I can’t remember if I wrote about it or not, and don’t have the energy to search forum topics or journals. I did look to see if there is a group for something like this and there isn’t. Don’t want to start one; takes too long for people to find new topics. And besides this is where I belong, with friends that I have come to care about. Surely some of you here have had shingles or know someone who has. I need so much help keeping myself going it isn’t funny any more. He has PHN (forgot what that stands for) but it means PAIN, AND LOTS OF IT. The drs. say there is no medication for that type of pain. It hits the nerve endings and just stays there and hurts. He is in so much pain he can hardly walk, eats very little, and sleeps a whole lot. He has always been a rotten patient and runs me ragged every time he is sick. Only this time it is much, much worse than anything he’s ever had. I need some first hand info on this disease. Like will the pain EVER go away? The shingles are dried and almost gone so that’s one problem out of the way. But if this is a permanent pain with no end in sight, I’d better stock up on Kaluha, even though I don’t drink. I’m a strong person, but I don’t think I could handle this for years to come unless he starts helping himself. So, if any of you know first hand of this disease and what happens in the long run, please, please let me know ASAP. I want to help him and I also want to keep my sanity at the same time. HELP!!! And thank you.
Hi, Annie, PHN stands for post-herpetic neuralgia since it is a side-effect of shingles (herpes zoster). There is a site called “aftershingles.com” that has all kinds of useful information- everything from the causes to tips for caregivers, etc… Since you asked specifically about treating the pain, I did a copy and paste on that section.
"How is post-herpetic neuralgia treated?
Because the virus is no longer present after the blisters dry up, the antiviral drugs used to treat shingles are not useful in patients with PHN.
There is no cure for PHN. Rather, treatment focuses on relieving pain. The most commonly prescribed medications are strong pain relievers containing opioids, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and a newly approved topical lidocaine patch. Most PHN patients have meaningful pain relief from one or a combination of these drugs."
As I said, the site has plenty more information. Apparently, PHN is even more painful than the shingles themselves and the pain can last for years after a shingles outbreak. I am providing the link and hope that you check it out.
http://www.aftershingles.com/phn.html
Best of luck!
Thank you so much, Warbi. I went to that site which lead me to about 3 other links, so I spent the morning reading. I found a good link to help for the caregiver. It gave good suggestions, which I printed out. One of the links led me to info. about a new treatment, the lidocaine patch. That sounds very promising. Gotta talk to his dr. about it. So from what you sent it led to lots of good reading. Thanks again. Now I gotta run and give him a pain pill, which doesn’t help, but it puts him to sleep so he doesn’t know he’s in pain. lol