Shingles and Lyrica

[Biker Jo]

I've had shingles for about a week and a half, and I can't remember when I've experienced worse pain! On Monday my doctor prescribed Lyrica for the pain, and I'm supposed to take 50 mg twice a day. Because I had to work Tuesday and yesterday, I only took one (before bedtime), because my doctor told me it was sedating. (She did tell me not to work, but I'm self-employed, and as you all know, no work=no money.) I started the twice-a-day today, and I feel like a walking zombie, so it's a good thing I didn't take it and try to work.

Anybody else have experience with shingles and/or Lyrica?

And I'm also bummed out because the weather's beautiful, and we're supposed to have more beautiful weather for the holiday weekend, and I have absolutely no energy to ride.:(

[Dogmama]

Anybody else have experience with shingles and/or Lyrica?

.:(


No experience, but sending healing thoughts. My boss had shingles in his eye one time:eek:. Please take good care!

[Crankin]

My only thoughts are that I have fibromyalgia and I refuse to take Lyrica because of all of the side effects. I take a small dose (10 mg) of Elavil which is an older anti-depressant that seems to be used for a lot of "off" label diagnoses. Perhaps this might be an alternative?
Talk to your doctor.

[Chicken Little]

Did the Lyrica help with the discomfort? I have seen shingles make grown men cry, I would take it. You didn't mention if you had any underlying disease processes- I assume you are healthy enough to take this med and the shingles is just bad luck. Is that true?

[violette]

I'm curious; what is shingles?

[Veronica]

Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. Once a person has had chickenpox, the virus can live, but remain inactive, in your body. If it becomes active again, usually later in life, it can cause Shingles. If you've had chickenpox, there is no way to predict if you'll get Shingles. What's more, the inactive virus usually has no signs or symptoms. So Shingles can appear at any time without warning.

From shinglesinfo.com


It turns out that's what I had when I was on my Nova Scotia self supported tour in 2006. It started out as a bad headache, then my eyes got all puffy, then I got what looked like giant acne all over my forehead. I went to a health clinic, with the puffy eyes and headache and got treated for migraine.

I didn't know for sure that's what it was until I went to my eye doctor 3 or 4 months later and had some new scarring on my corneas and he asked me about it. When I described all my symptoms, he told me that's what I had had.

I'm guessing I must have had a rather light case since I cycled 19 days with it on the tour and had no drugs other than Advil.

They are not really sure what causes it to flair up. Stress can be a factor.

V.

[five one]

DH is a lymphoma survivor. Five months after his bone marrow transplant in 1991, while his immune system was still compromised, he came down with shingles. He got it on both his trunk and face. It moved very quickly, especially on his face, and before it could be controlled, it had destroyed the optic nerve in his left eye leaving him blind in that eye. The pain was horrible and he had to be hospitalized and put on morphine several times. The scarring on his face from the blisters messed up his tear duct, so he has to wear a patch on his eye at all times to keep his eye from drying out. Looking back, he has said that shingles was far worse than any cancer treatment (chemo, radiation, BMT) that he went through. Very scary disease, shingles. Be careful, Biker Jo.

[mimitabby]

yeah, no kidding. I have heard bad stories too. My aunt got it when she was 85 (2 years ago) it's the worst thing that ever happened to her. nerve damage on her face. Not pretty
and yes, lots of pain. whatever works you should take.

[salsabike]

My understanding is that they are now recommending people who had chicken pox in the past should, at the age of 60, get re-innoculated (or something equivalent) to protect against the development of shingles later.

[withm]

My friend got the shingles vaccine - it was VERY expensive - several hundred dollars if I recall correctly. But, why wait to age 60? What is the reason for that? Wouldn't a 55 yr old have just as much chance to get it than 60?

[Biker Jo]

Thanks to all for your thoughts and comments. I'm going to try to answer your questions in this one post.

Crankin, I'm not sure about Elavil. I've taken it in the past for moderate depression, but I don't know if it would work for pain.

Chicken Little, so far about the only thing the Lyrica is doing is helping me sleep. I haven't really noticed much of an improvement in the pain. I think I'm getting more relief from Extra-Strength Tylenol. And I don't have any underlying disease process. Just as Veronica said, I have no idea what caused the shingles to flair up.

Five one, I'm so sorry about your DH. I have the lesions on my torso, so hopefully when they clear up, I won't have any lasting problems.

Again thank you all for your warm and healing thoughts.

[salsabike]

From:

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/2008/05/16/its-official-get-your-shingles-vaccination.html

"The CDC recommends that people ages 60 and older get the Zostavax shot. The illness can occur in people of any age, but happens most often in those older than 60. The risk of getting the illness increases as people age."

[Crankin]

I thought about Elavil because it is used for pain (IBS, Fibromyalgia) in small doses. Both a neurologist and 2 rheumatologists recommended it for me, so I decided to try it.
Good luck with the shingles.
Gee, now I have another shot to look forward to in 5 years.

[malkin]

I had shingles in my mid 30s.

Before I broke out in earnest, my back itched intensely, and I scratched it with a knitting needle.

Once things got going, I sat in Aveeno oatmeal baths, and I took opiates for the pain. Reports are that I was pretty much in a cloud, but still have plenty of memories of severe pain. I also slathered my back with aloe vera and wore cotton t-shirts and sort of loved the feeling of peeling the t-shirt off when it was stuck on and dried.

I didn't go to work at all because there were medically fragile kids and because one colleague was undergoing chemo at the time. I would have been completely useless anyway, because normal clothes were torture and I'd have screamed at anyone who touched me.

Happily, everything resolved and I have no residual pain---except for every now and then, when I am at maximum stress, that one little place on my back that I could only reach with the knitting needle gets a focused stingy itch. When that happens I know it's time to relax and pull out the big guns of stress management.

I wish you the best.