sunshine1...its always bad but the past couple of days has been debilitating and I dont know what to do I'm about to go out of my mind... going to a new Dr. next week and I have to pray he does something to give me some relief... If this is indeed from shingles 2 yrs ago this is no joke and all of you out there please get the shingles shot as soon as u can..I think its for people over the age of 60 but ask your Dr as I apparently got this when I was 48.. I dont want to see anyone go through the pain and agony I go through every day..shine
Have a real hard time with this pain?
- Posted:
- 15 Jul 2012 by sunshine1109
- Topics:
- pain, persisting pain, shingles
Details:
Responses (7)
balbanese
Anonymous 15 Jul 2012
hi sunshine,
I'm very glad you've a doctor's appointment next week, but in the interim the pain can drive ya nutty. balbanese has a good idea by staying occupied, yet if you cannot get to sleep, maybe your doc could call in something for you until you get to see her/him.
would you please describe your pain? is it a burning sensation, or tingly pins and needles, or something else entirely? adding more description of the pain may help you get answers to your question.
hope it gets better, and fast,
philly
Anonymous 15 Jul 2012
thank you for the shot advice. i will get a shot next week at my pharmacy.
sunshine1109
15 Jul 2012
Hi Philly, my pain for the last 2 yrs is a burning, gnawing constant just so hard to describe type of pain... Its all around my left breast especially in the center of my chest just a lil left of the center... It does burn alot and is so annoying and uncomfortable its about to drive me insane... my family thinks Im nuts cause Im always up cleaning or something but they dont realize just sitting or laying down makes it so much worse because then Im concentrating on the pain as to when Im up doing something I dont feel it so intensely ... in the beginning its was just a lil burning and I could feel like needles and pins but now its just gotten out of control its not getting better its getting worse... this will be the 5th Dr. I have seen so lets hope he can help me, he is the head of Pain Management Dept. in Gainesville Fla.. U.F. Shands... I'll keep ya up do date..shine
15 Jul 2012
Dear 'shine, I'm so sorry to hear about your suffering. I know before I got pain meds I was absolutely miserable. I am very grateful that I found an understanding doctor who knew that the pain was more of a threat to my sobriety than the medication and relief would be. I almost threw away 4 years sobriety because I was so desperate for relief. Fortunately, I prayed to God and sat in front of my computer thinking, "I'm going to give this 5 minutes and then I'm going to the liquor store." Well that was all it took. In that five minutes God led me to a memorial site for my mom that I didn't even know existed.
Anonymous 16 Jul 2012
hello to all of you,
LisaZ, I empathize with you! my pain got so bad that i told my doc that alcohol was my next step, and he slapped me on the patch so fast that i was surprised, to say the least. with some breakthrough meds as well.
To 'Shine, please keep your chin up, your appointment feels like it's forever from now, I'm sure. but it's not. the day will be here before you know it.
this may not be shingles, it may be something else entirely. if it is something else, don't lose hope, there is help out there and doctors who actually care.
The Mad Man15 Jul 2012
I would advise reading about shingles to start. This is a very hard and annoying, hurtful and painful thing to go through. Read up on what causes shingles and educate yourself on what can be done. I know a friend who had side effects from radiation and he developed shingles. All they could give him was Tylenol 3 which I really don't think helped. I don't remember how long it took for this to subside but I am sure they have drugs out there to help and vitamins I am sure should help. Do some research, and ask more than one doctor. Ask about topical medication or anything that can help the burning sensation. I don't know any other advise I can offer but please ask around to get more information about this pain and how to get help controlling it. Best of luck...
sunshine1109
15 Jul 2012
Thank You and I have read so much on shingles its ridiculous and I have been on every drug they have mentioned for the pain of P.H.N. Im also on B-Complex and a few others my Dr has advised me to try, I think Im just screwed basically unless this new Dr Im going to has some ideas that the other Drs didnt try. So Dr. #5 I hope will be the one to save me he is supposed to be excellent and is the head of Pain Management at the University of Fla.. Shands... I will let ya know what happens and thanks again for trying to help me ... shine
endlessPred15 Jul 2012
Back when I was a young lass of 26, I became very ill from a necrotic spider bite, called the brown recluse. The doctor gave me a huge dose of penicillin. This bite causes gang green (sp?). Anyhow, about three weeks later I had a nasty rash I thought might be poison ivy. Turned out to be shingles. He gave me a huge dose of immuno globulin. It calmed down in two weeks.
I have no idea what they treat with these days. I still get occasional itch and sharp pains in the worse spot. Am now 62.
I get very angry with moms who won't give their kids the vaccination and hold chicken pox parties for their toddlers. It is crazy thinking. It is still very common around here to do this. We need more education for this debilitating disease.
16 Jul 2012
Hi Shine,
Don't know when your next doctor appt is with the head of Pain Management. I hope it is very soon. A lot of times, there is a long wait to get into those clinics. It could well be the next drug that you try that could help your pain.
Most people I think have no idea how horrible the pain is from the post herpetic complication like you have from your shingles.
I would far rather have suffered tremendously from severe migraines 24/7 from a stroke. I have needed at least 12 hours of sleep a night, or the migraines get even worse. I'm hardly able to do anything. I've had many many visits to the ER when I was vomiting for hours from the pain. But from what I know about shingles, the pain never subsides, just keeps coming. I would rather have the migraines than shingles. So I do really feel for you.
Sara
sunshine1109
16 Jul 2012
I have a appt. next week, I just hope he does something that will help me... this will be the 2nd Pain Dr I have been to, the first one tried all kinds of stuff that didnt work so he has referred me to this one he is supposed to be really good so I guess I will see.. Im sorry you are suffering from migraines I know thats no fun my sister and my daughter gets them, they arent to bad anymore but they used to get them really bad... Pain is no joke for anyone and your right this pain never ever goes away and the past few days its been at its peak for some reason and Im just about to go crazy with it.. I'm trying to keep busy I tried to go shopping with my daughter in law and grandbaby today and its so hard to enjoy it when I feel like I have a torch stuck in my chest... and its these times when its quiet and everyone is sleeping that I suffer the most..well my dear I hope you have a peaceful night and I pray your pain leaves you for good here real soon... I'll update you after my dr. appt... shine
sara12345
16 Jul 2012
Shine,
I'll be very interested in what your new doctor has to say and what new treatments.
Because my migraines were caused by my stroke, it's likely to last the rest of my life. Plus I'm suffering more than usual from fibromyalgia which can never be cured. Plus I have a whole lot of other medical problems.
Sometimes I get severely depressed, then my wonderful husband points out the little that I can do and how much worse I was previously. I worry about him getting tired of all that now falls on him with me and all that I can't do, but he told me tonight that he's not going anywhere. I'm trying to believe that. When things are so bad, the worst seems possible.
Sara
16 Jul 2012
You mention the shingles vaccine. It used to be recommended by the FDA for people 60 years and older. Now the FDA has changed that to people 50 years and older.
As soon as I found out, I got the vaccine at 59 years old. It used to cost $300 in our area (cheaper probably elsewhere), but now through ObamaCare, all vaccines and preventative care such as mammograms are now free. The risks of the injection are very minimal and the risk of getting shingles is very high.
Even if you have had shingles, you can still receive the shingles vaccine to help prevent future occurrences of the disease.
20% of people will contract shingles in their lifetime
50% of those age 80 and up will have developed shingles
40% of shingles patients over age 60 develop postherpetic neuralgia.
There are 1 million cases of shingles that occur in the U.S. each year
YIKES!!!
sunshine1109
16 Jul 2012
I didnt know they changed the age, well I was 48 when I supposedly had them and I'm not sure where you live but Obamacare isnt doing squat for me, I was told it would cost 200 bucks and mammograms free I just paid $150 for mine.
The pain sure is disastrous Im going on my 3rd yr with this and your telling me he has had it for six yrs that scares the hell out of me... when my Dr. told me I had Post Herpetic Neuralgia it made me sick to my stomach, I am so scared of never getting relief from this I dont know what I will do... Cry I guess... shine
sara12345
16 Jul 2012
Age is a big factor in treating it. My mother's boyfriend is 96 years old!!! So don't compare yourself to him.
I'm sorry to hear that you are getting charged for preventative care. Maybe it's because you don't have health insurance?
The site below states, " •Any new health plans must provide preventive care (mammograms, colonoscopies, etc.) without requiring any sort of co-pay or charge. ( Citation: Page 33, sec. 2713 )" My health insurance is not new. It's almost 20 years old and the health insurance company doesn't pay for ANYTHING that they don't have to. I've had to fight about charges thru the State Insurance Commission.
I sure saw a big difference after ObamaCare passed with my costs.
See the following after adding the http and the com before it. That's so that this site might not delete it. I got it from one of the other postings on this website, but can't remember which one.
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Im in the same boat, I've had this for over 2 yrs non stop every second of every day and have seen every Dr. you could imagine and have been given every drug they use for the chronic pain from shingles and not a damn thing has worked. even had nerve blocks all for nothing... I have to keep myself busy or I would go insane, but when Im laying in bed at night it drives me crazy and takes me forever to get to sleep... what I would give for one night to lay down and be pain free... but then u know what im talking about,,, so sorry for your pain hope u find something that helps you... shine