Postherpetic Neuralgia - Trigeminal Neuralgia Message Board

GriffSS · 09-09-2007, 09:56 PM

Hello All

I am new to the site. It looks like it might be very helpful. This was the only board that seemed remotely related to my situation. I am currently recovering from Shingles and Postherpetic Neuropathy, have gone through scores of drugs such as Gabapentin (Neurontin), Percocet, Vicodin,
Clonazepam, Citalopram (Celexa), Divalproex (Depakote), Venlafaxine (Effexor). And a few others . It wears ya out! The Shingles are gone, but the
Postherpetic Neuropathy, or PHN is still very much here. I've had this since
January 15 of this year and I was just wondering and hoping that there's
someone else out there to share support with. Thanks,

GriffSS Mike

teri1978 · 09-11-2007, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GriffSS

Hello All

I am new to the site. It looks like it might be very helpful. This was the only board that seemed remotely related to my situation. I am currently recovering from Shingles and Postherpetic Neuropathy, have gone through scores of drugs such as Gabapentin (Neurontin), Percocet, Vicodin,
Clonazepam, Citalopram (Celexa), Divalproex (Depakote), Venlafaxine (Effexor). And a few others . It wears ya out! The Shingles are gone, but the
Postherpetic Neuropathy, or PHN is still very much here. I've had this since
January 15 of this year and I was just wondering and hoping that there's
someone else out there to share support with. Thanks,

GriffSS Mike

I am new to this health board also. First all started with undiagnost lower back and leg pain, for 2 yrs I had lots of test xrays, mri, bone scans, emg, saw @ 6 drs then i had another mri finally something shows up ,bad disks arthritis blah blah,,, well in the mean time i develop shingles smack dap in the middle of my butt, so now i also have PHN to deal with on top of everything and reacurring shingles, it just sucks so bad i am only 47. I kinda blame my dr.
for the shingles i kept telling him how much pain i was in, i dont know if he didn't believe me cuz all my test were ok for so long and he wouldn't prescribe nothingfor pain cuz he doesn't believe in it!!!!! finally i went into pain mgmt. got the shots, put on medication, lyrica and vicodin, it helps, but there has been so much physical and (mental damage done from chronc pain)
Its been 4 yrs of hell and i dont think i will ever get much better, i wuold be happy if i could just walk with out looking like an idiot well gotta go i could go on all night but i wont Thanks Take Care

feelbad · 09-12-2007, 09:50 AM

getting any real relief from shingles pain,as you know is slight at best.using narcotics doesn't really help alot either but it does help to disassociate from it somewhat.i don't see any lidocaine listed as something that you actually tried for the pain?the lidocaine patches(which are the only thing that actually help with alot of my pain caused by spinal cord injury)were actually invented by a man(who was a pharmacologist) for his wife who was suffering horribly from shingles pain.these patches contain lidocaine gel that when placed over the most painful areas(when the blisters are not actually open and weeping)can really help tons in reducing the intensity or even ,if you are lucky enough,completely take away the pain caused by shingles.there is also a lido ointment that works well too,but unfortunetly not as well as the actual patch does.but in areas where you just cannot fit the patch(like in the hairline or the face areas) this is an option.just a suggestion for you if this should rear its ugly head again.they have gotten me thru some really awful pain flares with some really horrid pain syndromes that are neuropathic in nature.hopefully you wont have to ever deal with that crap again,but if you do,give the lido a try.it is truely a lifesaver for me.marcia

teri1978 · 09-12-2007, 03:30 PM

I used th lidocaine patches for a while couldn't tell that they helped my pain i wish the would would be a great alternative instead of being goofy and tired all the time

GriffSS · 09-14-2007, 07:21 PM

Unfortunately that's part of the disease sweetheart. Because of the long
duration of Postherpetic Neuralgia, it seems (and I am saying it SEEMS) that
healthcare providers get tired of the maintenance of the disease. Oh there's
Mr. Vandergriff again, ya know--it's just a job. Doctors are forced to comply with Insurance company guidelines and can't properly perform their calling,
which is healing people. It's all about MONEY. Anyway, God Bless you and speed your recovery I pray.

GriffSS Mike