Some info if you don't know about shingles and PHN.........

I got a slight case of shingles (what you get later in life if you have already had chicken pox) while I was pregnant. It put me on bedrest for the last month or so because of the pain. I couldn't sit up for more than 10 minutes without the burning getting just too much. I had a nice rash, but thank goodness didn't blister, and it didn't spread either, just had it follow one nerve line from my spine around to my belly along the bottom of my right ribs.

Fastforward 10 years and I've had the pain again for over a year. Thought it was gallbladder-related, but it still took me over a year to drag myself to the doctor! LOL! I had an ultrasound done last week and everything was fine, not my gallbladder. So it turns out I have postherpetic neuralgia (leftover pain from having shingles because the nerves are damaged). It won't ever go away and it varies in intensity from day-to-day. The skin is sensitive, almost numb, in the area, but I don't have a rash. Doc said it could flair up at any time, like if I'm under intense stress, etc.

It isn't bad enough to want to take a prescription pill every day, but wondered if anyone else has it and what they have found to help with the pain on bad days.

Thanks!

My sister and I have both had shingle. My sisters happen when she was just 10. She had to be on bed rest and was out of school for three weeks. She got the blisters and she got scars from it . I had shingles about 10 years ago due to stress. It was such a mild case that I would not have know if is was for my sister. We both still get the pain. The pain comes whenever I am really sick or very stress. But nierther one of us get the pain bad enough to be on pain pills. I have read up on it a little and they suggest numbing cream on the area of the pain. They even say that there is a patch that can be used. Here is the link to the site that I found the information
http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/commoninfections/a/shingles_3.htm

I hope this helps you with your pain.

well I have not ever had shingles however my grandma just recently had a case of them and she did not even know that she did have them she just noticed something on her "upper chest area" anyways my mom took her to the dr and the come to find out she was just getting over her case of them .. now my moms neighbor also had shingles around her left eye close to two years ago and she claims when she is stressed out that is the area that hurts and she can always feel tension in that area ... my aunts husband had a ton of pain recently so bad he went to the emergency room and the dr said .. guess what buddy you got shingles ... they gave him a pill of some kind to take and he got so sick from it that he fell down in their hallway at home and had to crawl to a phone the room was spinning so bad .... I dont know much else about them just hope I dont get them when Im older!

Thank you! I will check that link out. I think I remember my gram using some sort of cream for her arthritis. It had a weird name and was hard to find.

I've been dealing with shingles pain for over a year now. It flairs up when I get stressed or really tired. I used patches for the pain at night so that I could sleep. I still can't wear an underwire bra because of the pain. If it gets real bad then I take ibuprofen otherwise I"ve learned to live with it.
Leslie

That's how I am right now, just learning to live with it. It's just an annoyance really, sometimes it burns, but most of the time just an annoyance. I'm only 30...too young to have pain every day!