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Shingles

Posted by ramona51 @ramona51, Apr 1 11:05am

Help! Since I threw my back out this past week, I developed a horrific case of shingles. Could the stress of my back pain have triggered the shingles? What have you used to treat shingles?

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bunnybear | @bunnybear | Apr 25 8:16am

Search for shingles on this site for discussions about what people suggest.

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elisabeth007 | @elisabeth007 | May 15 12:47pm
In reply to @springer1961 "Why is amitriptyline prescribed for shingles? Amitriptyline is an old medicine, originally used at high doses..." + (show)
@springer1961

Why is amitriptyline prescribed for shingles?
Amitriptyline is an old medicine, originally used at high doses (75-150 mg) to treat depression but now used at low dose for nerve pain. A small study published in 1997 suggested that taking a low dose (25 mg) of amitriptyline early on may help prevent post-herpetic neuralgia.

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Amitriptyline seems to be cv prescribed for many conditions of people and their pets. My cat was prescribed it for years for idiopathic cystitis. It helped her a lot.

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elisabeth007 | @elisabeth007 | May 15 12:49pm
In reply to @ramona51 "Update…got put on Gabapentin for nerve pain and damage from shingles. Only into it for less..." + (show)
@ramona51

Update…got put on Gabapentin for nerve pain and damage from shingles. Only into it for less than a week so unsure what it’s doing. Got a prescription for Temazepam so I could get sleep. I seriously was only getting about 2 hours of sleep a day for 2 weeks. Blood pressure was elevated because of pain and lack of sleep. It’s helping some! To those of you who have suffered through shingles, how long before the pain subsided? My rash is 75% gone? But the pain is real. Please give me some encouragement. I’m about 3 weeks into shingles and a month from my strained back.

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a dear friend of mine was in excruciating pain for about a week. Her dr prescribed very high doses of anti-viral drugs

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dmain | @dmain | Nov 2 12:46pm

I was just diagnosed with shingles this week after finding out that my sacralilac was out of whack ..had no idea I had shingles until the doctor saw my rash on my right side of my back ..and what made it worse the rash is located where my fatty tissue are between my ribs. So it is still not scabbing over .I gained weight over the past year because of depression..I also have it on my stomach but it is scabbing over a bit. Doctor said since it has been over a week since we realized it was shingles that it would be no use in taking prescription meds other than Tylenol/ibuprofen...so they started me on gabapentin at low dose..not helping much tho for nerve pain ..I do not wish this pain on anyone...how do you dry out so the infection scabs up???? Thanks prayers for all who are suffering like myself.

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1 reply
ramona51 | @ramona51 | Nov 2 1:00pm
In reply to @dmain "I was just diagnosed with shingles this week after finding out that my sacralilac was out..." + (show)
@dmain

I was just diagnosed with shingles this week after finding out that my sacralilac was out of whack ..had no idea I had shingles until the doctor saw my rash on my right side of my back ..and what made it worse the rash is located where my fatty tissue are between my ribs. So it is still not scabbing over .I gained weight over the past year because of depression..I also have it on my stomach but it is scabbing over a bit. Doctor said since it has been over a week since we realized it was shingles that it would be no use in taking prescription meds other than Tylenol/ibuprofen...so they started me on gabapentin at low dose..not helping much tho for nerve pain ..I do not wish this pain on anyone...how do you dry out so the infection scabs up???? Thanks prayers for all who are suffering like myself.

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I am so sorry for you. I would not wish shingles pain on my worst enemy. I am still dealing with postherpetic neuralgia 8 months after having shingles. At times, the shooting pains stop me in my tracks. The itching can also be extreme. At the beginning, I put calamine lotion on the blisters/scabs multiple times a day to dry them up. Then I started using coconut oil because as they dried, they got itchier. It was a vicious circle. Ibuprofen helped some. I tried Gabapentin unsuccessfully (nasty side effects) and had a little more success with Lyrica. I wish I could say time heals all wounds, but my neurologist said it’s possible the pain will never go away because of my age (73). I’m trying alpha lipoic acid supplements at his suggestion and may or may not notice some difference. I hope you have better success than I have had. I truly wish you well.

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1 reply
dmain | @dmain | Nov 2 2:25pm
In reply to @ramona51 "I am so sorry for you. I would not wish shingles pain on my worst enemy...." + (show)
@ramona51

I am so sorry for you. I would not wish shingles pain on my worst enemy. I am still dealing with postherpetic neuralgia 8 months after having shingles. At times, the shooting pains stop me in my tracks. The itching can also be extreme. At the beginning, I put calamine lotion on the blisters/scabs multiple times a day to dry them up. Then I started using coconut oil because as they dried, they got itchier. It was a vicious circle. Ibuprofen helped some. I tried Gabapentin unsuccessfully (nasty side effects) and had a little more success with Lyrica. I wish I could say time heals all wounds, but my neurologist said it’s possible the pain will never go away because of my age (73). I’m trying alpha lipoic acid supplements at his suggestion and may or may not notice some difference. I hope you have better success than I have had. I truly wish you well.

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Im sorry you have been going through this as well...you wouldn't think at our age this could happen..I'm turning 69 next month and this has been the worse journey of my life it seems ..even my sciatica didn't last this long . I too have been using alpha lipoic acid for the pain but very little relief .I'm not crazy about gabapentin either but I also have fibromyalgia so this is the only thing my doctor offered for it at this point. Taking Tylenol and ibuprofen doesn't help but a bit and I'm not a person who likes to rely on meds either. When you and I were younger there were no vaccines for chicken pox so that leaves us open to many childhood disease affects...it is sad we have to deal with these issues at our age..I pray you get relief soon as I'm praying for us all myself included...🙏🙏healing for us both take care my dear

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