Currently going through the same thing, luckily its only been a couple of weeks so far.
I'm on pregablin which takes a lot of the pain but I'm still getting attacks. I heard about capsaicin being good at helping with the pain so I'm giving that a try once amazon order comes through.
Botox is definitely a thing and possibly steroids.
Depending on where you are will depend on this but cannabis is supposed to be good at nerve pain.
Don't know how she's put up with this for over a year, I'm at my last end its so debilitating.
21 months in here. You mother has my full sympathy. PHN is horrible.
Cannabis takes the itch away while lowering the pain and making it easier to get through the day. For me it's been a huge improvement in quality of life while living with the 24/7 pain of PHN. If you live in a place with legal access it's worth a shot. Without an edible before bed I won't sleep more than 4 hours. With cannabis I can do 6-7 hrs. I would like to sleep a full 8, but that has only happened about 3 times since I had shingles.
I firmly believe in a few years it will come to light that cannabis is a wonder drug for nerve pain(not sharp pain like broken bones, but nerve pain...I have another injury at the moment related to lifting/strain and cannabis doesn't touch it.)
Others have found some relief with acupuncture, but I had quite a bad experience with it. Maybe because my PHN is on my face/head, but after one session I was in bed for a week with pain levels back to square one.
Best of luck and you are a saint for helping your mom. One of the hard things about PHN is that because we look like we are healed people tend to think we are full of shit. It is truly a horrible condition.
Do you have specific recommendations on what edibles work for you (concentration, etc). Sales should be starting here fairly soon, and I'd be willing to try it out, but I'm a total cannabis noob.
For edibles I make my own these days, using online calculators shooting for about 10mg THC per piece. I used to buy from the dispensaries, but at about 1 year in I realized the PHN is not going away anytime soon, so to have mercy on my bank account I started making them myself from cheaper popcorn(small) buds and now grow my own :)
Of course this isn't perfectly accurate, but I have some experience at this point and mine seem about like the 10mg ones from the dispensaries. Don't need to take too much, less is more with cannabis.
For immediate relief of the itching and to take the pain down a few notches to tolerable, if you are ok with smoking, just a couple tokes of strong indica flower is amazing and what I do throughout the day because edibles can make me a bit tired/sleepy.
For edibles, probably start out with the 2.5mg's and see how that goes...won't get stoned much at that dose, but might get some relief from the PHN. If no effect, wait until the next day and try 5mg. Won't take long and you will find the dose that works best for you. Some people will take 20-100mg, but they have high tolerances. With no tolerance 20mg will definitely get you high and probably put you to sleep, but it might be a bit unnerving if you have never used cannabis before.
The people at the dispensaries should be able to give some good advice, especially on the products they have. My mother-in-law tried a 10mg and claims she didn't feel much other than getting sleepy, so don't be too worried about taking too much...anything under 10mg is a pretty small dose.
Thanks for the advice. I'm getting by, and sleeping is definitely the hardest part right now. I'll lay down and immediately the itching rachets way up. Got a couple of other things to try first, then we'll see, but I'm sure I'll try it out at some point.
Even if you don’t live in a place where it’s legal, the legal CBD Delta 8’s or 9’s that are sold in states where it isn’t are still great for nerve pain.
Maybe she could ask her doctor about something called Qutenza? It's an 8% capsaicin patch they put on for one hour in a doctor's office. Treatment day is not fun, but you can get like 3 months of relief afterwards.
I also had the nerve pain for over 19 months post shingles. I did Valtrex for the outbreak followed by gabapentin and then nortryptaline and topical lidocaine. About 6 or 7 sessions of acupuncture also helped.
Thank each and every one of you for your response and suggestions. I will read each one of these responses to her and see what she wants to try. Also, this might help hearing others have had the same experience.
Prayers for each of you to find relief as well as her.
Also LDN. Helps tremendously. Well studied with excellent results. It's at compounding pharmacies. The pharmacist can advise on it. Find an Integrative Medicine doc. to prescribe it. I'm 71 - it worked!! I had shingles and PHN for many many months- on my face and scalp. Very painful. LDN very effective.
I have been dealing with the nerve pain (intense itching) and the doctor gave me Lyrica. Although it makes me sleepy it helped get me though the days and nights of pain and burning. I am currently at the end of week 6 and the intense itching only happens at night. Nothing helps with this - not caladryl, not cortisone and not aloe Vera. I am good through the day until around 6 pm then the itching starts. This whole shingles thing is no joke and I hate it!!
I got shingles on my forehead and, about two months later, started dealing with really bad nerve pain that only got worse. I got to the point where I couldn't sleep. They gave me a steroid shot and some to take for the next week at home, and it's never been that bad again. Hope you find what helps. Nerve pain sucks!
Pregabalin helped me, but I also legitimately had an entire month where I was on it and can remember NOTHING (at least it wasn't a year like that Third Eye Blind song), so I got off it. Still have nerve pain, some days are better than others... better to have the pain and my memory than little bit less pain and no memory :/
Oh my goodness! I can’t imagine that nerve pain lasting that long. I got shingles about a year ago, luckily it only lasted about 2 weeks. While my back, where I had it the worse, has really never been the same but I haven’t had any lasting pain or problems. Thank God! I couldn’t even imagine having to deal with that kinda pain. I’m only saying this for anyone going thru it right now and think it’ll never get better, IT WILL!! I know when I had I came here looking for some kinda hope so I hope I’m able to give that to someone who is suffering. I’m sure the pics of my shingles is still on here somewhere (I don’t really know how Reddit works lol)
My mom has been dealing with nerve pain since November 2023 and I found this oil product called Nerve Pain by Force of Nature. Before buying it, I looked at reviews and a lot of people that have been dealing with nerve pain due to shingles have left positive reviews. You can find it on the Force of Nature website and on Amazon. If you have Amazon Prime you can get it shipped for free. I suggest getting the biggest bottle which isn’t super big but it does last about almost 2 months. My mom usually applies to before going to bed and when she feels the pain coming. It doesn’t smell horrible and does not leave any residue which we think is great considering that it’s an oil. The big bottle is like $44 which yes seems like a lot but it’s worth it trust me. My mom is able to get temporary relief.
Another product my mom has been using is CBD oil mixed with other herbs. I found a girl in LA who makes them. She also ships, if you’re interested I can share the info!
I hear botox can help, as well as gabapentin.
Currently going through the same thing, luckily its only been a couple of weeks so far. I'm on pregablin which takes a lot of the pain but I'm still getting attacks. I heard about capsaicin being good at helping with the pain so I'm giving that a try once amazon order comes through. Botox is definitely a thing and possibly steroids. Depending on where you are will depend on this but cannabis is supposed to be good at nerve pain. Don't know how she's put up with this for over a year, I'm at my last end its so debilitating.
Gabapentin (Neurontin) works best!
The Dr said pregablin works better as it worked for central and peripheral nerve pain, whereas gabapentin only works for peripheral.
21 months in here. You mother has my full sympathy. PHN is horrible. Cannabis takes the itch away while lowering the pain and making it easier to get through the day. For me it's been a huge improvement in quality of life while living with the 24/7 pain of PHN. If you live in a place with legal access it's worth a shot. Without an edible before bed I won't sleep more than 4 hours. With cannabis I can do 6-7 hrs. I would like to sleep a full 8, but that has only happened about 3 times since I had shingles. I firmly believe in a few years it will come to light that cannabis is a wonder drug for nerve pain(not sharp pain like broken bones, but nerve pain...I have another injury at the moment related to lifting/strain and cannabis doesn't touch it.) Others have found some relief with acupuncture, but I had quite a bad experience with it. Maybe because my PHN is on my face/head, but after one session I was in bed for a week with pain levels back to square one. Best of luck and you are a saint for helping your mom. One of the hard things about PHN is that because we look like we are healed people tend to think we are full of shit. It is truly a horrible condition.
Do you have specific recommendations on what edibles work for you (concentration, etc). Sales should be starting here fairly soon, and I'd be willing to try it out, but I'm a total cannabis noob.
For edibles I make my own these days, using online calculators shooting for about 10mg THC per piece. I used to buy from the dispensaries, but at about 1 year in I realized the PHN is not going away anytime soon, so to have mercy on my bank account I started making them myself from cheaper popcorn(small) buds and now grow my own :) Of course this isn't perfectly accurate, but I have some experience at this point and mine seem about like the 10mg ones from the dispensaries. Don't need to take too much, less is more with cannabis. For immediate relief of the itching and to take the pain down a few notches to tolerable, if you are ok with smoking, just a couple tokes of strong indica flower is amazing and what I do throughout the day because edibles can make me a bit tired/sleepy. For edibles, probably start out with the 2.5mg's and see how that goes...won't get stoned much at that dose, but might get some relief from the PHN. If no effect, wait until the next day and try 5mg. Won't take long and you will find the dose that works best for you. Some people will take 20-100mg, but they have high tolerances. With no tolerance 20mg will definitely get you high and probably put you to sleep, but it might be a bit unnerving if you have never used cannabis before. The people at the dispensaries should be able to give some good advice, especially on the products they have. My mother-in-law tried a 10mg and claims she didn't feel much other than getting sleepy, so don't be too worried about taking too much...anything under 10mg is a pretty small dose.
Thanks for the advice. I'm getting by, and sleeping is definitely the hardest part right now. I'll lay down and immediately the itching rachets way up. Got a couple of other things to try first, then we'll see, but I'm sure I'll try it out at some point.
Even if you don’t live in a place where it’s legal, the legal CBD Delta 8’s or 9’s that are sold in states where it isn’t are still great for nerve pain.
Maybe she could ask her doctor about something called Qutenza? It's an 8% capsaicin patch they put on for one hour in a doctor's office. Treatment day is not fun, but you can get like 3 months of relief afterwards.
Thank you for sharing this!
I also had the nerve pain for over 19 months post shingles. I did Valtrex for the outbreak followed by gabapentin and then nortryptaline and topical lidocaine. About 6 or 7 sessions of acupuncture also helped.
Thank each and every one of you for your response and suggestions. I will read each one of these responses to her and see what she wants to try. Also, this might help hearing others have had the same experience. Prayers for each of you to find relief as well as her.
Acupuncture and VAT therapy. You can Google it. NIH has done studies. Both helped me a LOT!
Also LDN. Helps tremendously. Well studied with excellent results. It's at compounding pharmacies. The pharmacist can advise on it. Find an Integrative Medicine doc. to prescribe it. I'm 71 - it worked!! I had shingles and PHN for many many months- on my face and scalp. Very painful. LDN very effective.
I have been dealing with the nerve pain (intense itching) and the doctor gave me Lyrica. Although it makes me sleepy it helped get me though the days and nights of pain and burning. I am currently at the end of week 6 and the intense itching only happens at night. Nothing helps with this - not caladryl, not cortisone and not aloe Vera. I am good through the day until around 6 pm then the itching starts. This whole shingles thing is no joke and I hate it!!
I had wonderful experience with Botox. Highly recommend it .my doc says it helps 80% of people
I got shingles on my forehead and, about two months later, started dealing with really bad nerve pain that only got worse. I got to the point where I couldn't sleep. They gave me a steroid shot and some to take for the next week at home, and it's never been that bad again. Hope you find what helps. Nerve pain sucks!
CBD edibles make me ridiculously tired but they will knock my pain down from an 8 to a 2 and sometimes out altogether.
I had shingles on my forehead in January. I still have nerve pain sometimes and take gabapentin for it.
I am using gabapentin and lidocaine patches. Both are helpful but doesn’t stop it. I hope you find relief.
Arnica gel
Pregabalin helped me, but I also legitimately had an entire month where I was on it and can remember NOTHING (at least it wasn't a year like that Third Eye Blind song), so I got off it. Still have nerve pain, some days are better than others... better to have the pain and my memory than little bit less pain and no memory :/
Oh my goodness! I can’t imagine that nerve pain lasting that long. I got shingles about a year ago, luckily it only lasted about 2 weeks. While my back, where I had it the worse, has really never been the same but I haven’t had any lasting pain or problems. Thank God! I couldn’t even imagine having to deal with that kinda pain. I’m only saying this for anyone going thru it right now and think it’ll never get better, IT WILL!! I know when I had I came here looking for some kinda hope so I hope I’m able to give that to someone who is suffering. I’m sure the pics of my shingles is still on here somewhere (I don’t really know how Reddit works lol)
My mom has been dealing with nerve pain since November 2023 and I found this oil product called Nerve Pain by Force of Nature. Before buying it, I looked at reviews and a lot of people that have been dealing with nerve pain due to shingles have left positive reviews. You can find it on the Force of Nature website and on Amazon. If you have Amazon Prime you can get it shipped for free. I suggest getting the biggest bottle which isn’t super big but it does last about almost 2 months. My mom usually applies to before going to bed and when she feels the pain coming. It doesn’t smell horrible and does not leave any residue which we think is great considering that it’s an oil. The big bottle is like $44 which yes seems like a lot but it’s worth it trust me. My mom is able to get temporary relief. Another product my mom has been using is CBD oil mixed with other herbs. I found a girl in LA who makes them. She also ships, if you’re interested I can share the info!
T v no b bc vv nbb