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Postherpetic Neuralgia (Shingles): Any successful treatment?

Posted by oran baughn @oranbaughn, Feb 27, 2012

Postherpetic Neuralgia (Shingles) nerve damage around eye, eyebrow, forehead & scalp (8 years) has anyone had any sucessful treatment other than drugs

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ruthec | @ruthec | Nov 16 1:58pm
In reply to @layla123 "@ruthec Hi, I had a very bad case of Shingles at the end of April 2024...." + (show)
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@ruthec
Hi, I had a very bad case of Shingles at the end of April 2024. It settled into the areas where I had had previous surgery: right middle back, right side under arm and under right breast to middle of stomach. I now have PHN. I take Gabapentin 300mg 3x day lidocaine patches as needed. Sometimes a Tramadol. I find exercise and yoga to be my best friends. I get a massage quite often. At first I couldn’t let anything or anyone touch me, but it’s tolerable now. I am going to try physical therapy soon. You might ask your doctor to switch to Lyrica it sometimes works better than gabapentin. Weather affects mine.
I’m 73 years old in good health. I try to keep optimistic, but it is a really tough sometimes. I know what you are going through. I just keep on walking, exercising and yoga these things keep my sprits up.

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@layla123
Thanks Layla. I’ll follow up on your suggestions. It’s hard to motivate myself to exercise when I feel exhausted and discouraged. But I’ll make more of an effort. Best wishes on your own journey back to health. — Ruth

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ruthec | @ruthec | Nov 16 2:06pm

Hi John — Thanks for your reply. I’ll look at the link you sent. It’s hard to know sometimes whether I have a side effect that means I should stay at the previous dose, or that I should push through and see if my body tolerates a higher dose. Will post again as this progresses. Everyone has written how draining this is. I thought it would be over and done by 3 months max, but that was clearly overly optimistic. — Ruth

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layla123 | @layla123 | Nov 16 3:18pm
In reply to @ruthec "@layla123 Thanks Layla. I’ll follow up on your suggestions. It’s hard to motivate myself to exercise..." + (show)
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@layla123
Thanks Layla. I’ll follow up on your suggestions. It’s hard to motivate myself to exercise when I feel exhausted and discouraged. But I’ll make more of an effort. Best wishes on your own journey back to health. — Ruth

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@ruthec
Ruth, thanks. I hope things get better for you too. It just takes time. keep looking and researching you might come across something that works for you. Pain specialists might be able to help you. Make sure you take B vitamins to help repair nerve damage.
Let me know how things go for you.
Mary

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