Postherpetic Neuralgia -- and medication - Trigeminal Neuralgia Message Board

StephMA · 11-15-2008, 08:25 PM

Hi all,

My elderly father had a nasty case of shingles last month. It started right at the hairline on the right side of his head and spread back into his hair and down across his forehead, all around the eye to his nose. Luckily the eye itself was not affected and it was caught fairly early he took the medicine and applied bacitracin liberally and his appearance is fine.

However, there is still pain. He's been taking high strength tylenol for it. He has vicoden but doesn't want to take it because it makes him sleep. Also he seems to be suffering from early stages of dimentia and vicoden exacerbates that, leaving him very confused.

A therapist recommended that instead of the vicoden he take something else that sounds something like Neurotan ... problem is I wrote it down and can't find it and I'd like to research it a bit. The therapist sent the recommendation to his doctor who he will see in a couple of days.

Does anybody have any clue what medicine I'm talking about?

Thanks-in-advance!

Aussie100 · 11-15-2008, 10:38 PM

Hi, Neurontin is probably the one, the generic name for it is Gabapentin.

Aussie

dolores98 · 12-07-2008, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StephMA

Hi all,

My elderly father had a nasty case of shingles last month. It started right at the hairline on the right side of his head and spread back into his hair and down across his forehead, all around the eye to his nose. Luckily the eye itself was not affected and it was caught fairly early he took the medicine and applied bacitracin liberally and his appearance is fine.

However, there is still pain. He's been taking high strength tylenol for it. He has vicoden but doesn't want to take it because it makes him sleep. Also he seems to be suffering from early stages of dimentia and vicoden exacerbates that, leaving him very confused.

A therapist recommended that instead of the vicoden he take something else that sounds something like Neurotan ... problem is I wrote it down and can't find it and I'd like to research it a bit. The therapist sent the recommendation to his doctor who he will see in a couple of days.

Does anybody have any clue what medicine I'm talking about?

Thanks-in-advance!

also check with the doctor Pregabalin(brand name is Lyrica) I had ulnar nerve surgery and I had both drugs, Lyrica had less side effects.....both are also used in cases of psychiatric problems and epilepsy (it prevents seizures) blocks certain neurotransmitors....

The only solution for my pain....check it...
I really wish you good luck

feelbad · 12-08-2008, 08:53 AM

there is a form of topical lidocaine for this type of pain too that he can try. the lido patches actually came out first then the ointment. it is the same strength as the patch. i use both for some really ugly pain syndromes that just do not respond to even the strongest narcotics. the lido ointment can be rubbed right into the skin and into the hairline too. the patch has its limitations. i cannot use these in my hairline at the base of my skull,so instead i use that lido ointment. ask his doc about rxing the "lidocaine ointment 5%",thats the name of it. this can help with at least some of his pain by simply numbing it. what other meds besides the vicodin has he tried. neurotin or the suggestion of lyrica would be good tries for this type of pain. the only drawback with the lyrica,and considering what he is already exhibiting as far as confusion symptoms,the lyrica 'can' create some worsening of these types of symptoms as well as vision problems too. i think the neurontin would be much safer given his age and other symptoms. but thats just me. i have taken both meds myself. lyrica just has a tendency for some really off the wall types of side effects. it is still a pretty new med yet. neurontin has been around for much much longer. but do try the lido ointment,i really do think it could help,with no side effects either. good luck to him and you. please let us know how things are going. marcia

dolores98 · 12-09-2008, 08:56 PM

thank you so much for your hint....I really appreciate the time you took....I'l absolutely look into it.....sweety....that nick of yours....why don't you try something ....optimistic?....I mean, maybe helps!!

why not?

best of lucks, and thanks again