wish me luck. I'm going to the doc this week and asking for a scrip for Vicoden for

[CTyankee]

my shingles pain.

Nothing is working on the pain. I get stabs of pain off and on all day and I religiously take the Gabopentin and Percoset. And the lingering pain on my right side never really gets helped. I had a huge case of Shingles and you can still see the reddish outline of it far after the crusting over and all the dead skin came off and the new skin took its place.

I like Vicoden. I had it after surgery and was weaned off as the pain went away and had no side effects or problems at all.

I will give it to him straight and tell him he MUST help me more...

Don't worry, I'll let you all know what he tells me...hope it's not the usual bs...

[daleanime]

1. ........

[CTyankee]

16. thank you, sweetie?

[Siwsan]

2. Absolutely wish you luck

My experience with Vicoden is the same - takes care of the pain and leaves me totally functional.

Does aloe vera gel help, any? When I had my very painful run in with stinging nettle, which leaves a horrible blistering rash, I used that and some tea tree gel. I've also heard that taking lysine can help with the healing.

I hope you start to feel more comfortable, really soon.

[CTyankee]

10. I use a an aloe vera lotion that is very nice, if mild. I use it as a skin softener and moisturizer

but it's hard to get. I had to do an online search to find a drugstore that sold it and I finally did and bought several bottles.

I'm now putting it on the affected areas. I asked my hairdresser if she could get the oil for my scalp which is very scaly. She orders lots of hair stuff and I have asked if she could see if that is something she could order. She's a sweetheart and has said she'd try...

[Shrike47]

3. Good luck, but in my experience, Percocet is stronger than Vicodin.

Neither one, and the two of them together, could knock out the pain of a cellulitis/MERSA infection I had a few years ago, but the percocet did more than the Vicodin, and was harder to quit.

[Lochloosa]

8. I second the Percocet. Take one and go to sleep.

[longship]

4. I have a long history of kidney stones.

And yup! They are a real bitch at times. I mean crumple down into fetal position level pain. Vicodin saved me on more than one occasion.

But I don't like Vicodin very much. It clamps you up, which is not fun. So I would take a half dose in the morning to take the edge off. I was a teacher at the time and missed not a single class, even though I was often in pain. I am proud of that fact, but would not wish it on my worst enemy.

I hope you get your Vicodin, my good friend.

[CTyankee]

11. You can get different levels of meds to help the intestines do a better job...and you

can eat the wonder dried fruit, prunes! I have it with plain unsweetened oatmeal and it's fine. Raisins are OK but I don't like them as much.

I had the Vicoden after surgery and was just weaned off little by lttle by my surgeon. It was fine, no problem.

You are a real soldier, longship, and I salute you!

[longship]

13. Still anticipating your next art post.

And, as always, wishing you the best. You are part of which makes DU worth coming back to.

It is not the argument. It is the passion that makes the difference. Yours is visual arts. Do not ever think that your Friday posts have not been noticed. They have. There are many who have missed them and wish you well. I am one of them. And I know Dick about visual arts. However, thanks to you, I now know more. That alone should suffice for you to press on. You make a difference.

[CTyankee]

14. Wow, you give me much to be thankful for!

I am writing my essays even as we are speaking. It is distracting me from the pain and forcing me to concentrate on something else.

OK, this week will probably be my Edwardian piece which I was going to do last Friday but was fried from the shingles. It will appear this coming Friday. I am still working on one about Manet's "A bar at the Folies-Bergere" which I'll probably do the following week. Or I might switch them. I'm of two minds about that.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind words. The act of learning is one of the greatest experiences we can have and I have learned so much and am very thankful for the experience.

Take care...much love, dear longship...be well...

[longship]

17. Well, some DUers make a difference.

I can count them on only a couple of hands. You are one of them. Sadly, some of the others have bailed out. One must support those who have the faith in this forum and who do not wish to destroy it.

I have a fervent belief that Democrats are the type of people who support good. Sadly, that is not evident here recently. So things like art posts keep bringing me back. It is those who have a passion who make a difference.

Don't get me started about opera. I am tempted to start such a regular thread.

And as Duke Ellington said, "I love you madly."

My best to you, good friend.

[CTyankee]

41. OK, I'm going to try for posting my art thread I was ready to do last week except I felt too shitty.

Yeah, this sucks, but I gotta pull myself into my art thing which makes me happy.

See you Friday at 4:30-ish or after, if you are around and it is convenient. Hoping for a better day...

[virgogal]

32. I remember my grandmother

telling me years ago that kidney stones were the worst pain ever.

Hang in there.

[irisblue]

5. lots of luck!

I hope your Dr. has a backbone

[Paper Roses]

6. So many of us are following your progress. Wish you the best.

My late husband had shingles and suffered through the pain. He was fortunate enough that the pain went away after about 6 weeks. This is an under-reported affliction. More needs to be done to find a way to alleviate the pain. All of us are vulnerable to this affliction. There is not much we can do.
Hope you find relief soon.

[Turn CO Blue]

7. Good luck, also maybe ask for the scrip high dose capsaicin patches

the high dose ones are by prescription only. Can't hurt to try it maybe.

But if what you have doesn't work for you, then absolutely you should change it up for better pain management.

[CTyankee]

15. I tried the other patches and they hurt like hell and cost a minor fortune. I was disgusted.

I will ask my neurologist when I see him on Thursday...hope he will be listening to me...I'll let folks here at DU know...I know there are those DUers who are also in chronic pain and need relief. Anything they can learn that is helpful...

[Dustlawyer]

20. Since everyone is putting in their two cents I will too.

I suffer from chronic pain and have tried everything. I am allergic to most of it, but Lyrica may help and it's not narcotic. If you have to go narcotic, ask for an Extended Relief type. Take as directed and ween yourself off as soon as you can. Too many people get caught up in the pills, it's easy to do. I have several relatives hooked on that crap with some doctors only too ready to keep you hooked. Good luck!

[CTyankee]

21. I never did with my post surgical pain and the vicodin I got then. As my pain subsided

my surgeon wrote milder scrips of Vicoden for me. It worked out fine. I was off the med right on time and with no problems at all. So my experience with pain meds was a really good one w/o suffering one bit.

Why would it be different this time?

[Dustlawyer]

22. Shouldn't be then. The problem comes when people start taking more than their dose and/or

taking them too long.

[postulater]

9. Did they try Vitamin C yet?

There's evidence that it can help the problem heal, rather than just block the pain like the drugs do.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20424557

BACKGROUND:
Acute herpetic neuralgia (AHN) due to a reactivated varicella zoster virus infection is a common problem. Furthermore, about 18% of all patients with confirmed herpes zoster (HZ) develop postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). The leading factors of the prognosis and persistence of symptoms are patient age and the size of the lesions. Animal studies came to a similar conclusions that in both AHN and PHN, inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-8 could serve as predictive markers and that a positive influence of vitamin C administration, by modifying cytokine metabolism, could be demonstrated.

CASE REPORT:
Two patients (females aged 67 and 53 years) from an average and unselected patient group of a general practice with confirmed AHN were observed in the course of their illness. They received the basic analgesic (according to the WHO step scheme) and viral-static therapy. Furthermore, 15 g of vitamin C was administered intravenously every second day over a period of two weeks. Sudden and total remission of the neuropathic pain (measured on the basis of the visual analogous-scale, VAS) could be observed. Remission of the cutaneous lesions was noted within 10 days. (my bold)

CONCLUSIONS:
The use of the vitamin C appears to be an interesting component of alternative therapeutic strategies in the treatment of HZ. Especially for therapy-resistant cases of PHN, vitamin C administration should be examined as an additional option. To test and confirm the clinical findings, randomized clinical studies concerning the use of vitamin C in the concomitant treatment of zoster-associated neuralgia should be performed.

[CTyankee]

12. I will ask. It seems like a good therapy...it can't hurt...

[Omaha Steve]

18. Narcotics in NEBR are almost impossible to get now

It is under the state patrol now. NO GP can write a script here. Pain clinics, surgeons, orthopedics, etc are where you have to go.

Good luck

K&R!

OS

[CTyankee]

19. hey thanks, buddy...I will see what happens when I ask...I dunno what will happen here in

CT...it might be different foryou in Nebraska. I'll let you know my progress...he IS my neurologist after all...

[Android3.14]

23. I've had shingles as well, and I've also fought hydrocodone addiction

Addiction is driving your pain. Your admission that you had vicodin after surgery with no side effects or problems at all seems unlikely as there is always a period of withdrawal. I've had to use the drug after three surgeries. Along with an almost overwhelming desire for more vicodin, I recall profound periods of sleeplessness, irritability and diarrhea from withdrawal from vicodin.

Another narcotic is not the answer to the suffering you are experiencing.

[passiveporcupine]

27. she's not on vicodin now...it's not what is driving her pain

eom

[catchnrelease]

24. For me it was the opposite

When I first went to the dr (at urgent care because I couldn't get an appointment with my regular dr on that Friday) I was misdiagnosed. Went back the second day and they got it right, but gave me Vicodin. It didn't touch the pain for me, and made me sick to my stomach. Finally on the Monday I got in to my dr, she gave me Gabapentin and it knocked it out. I was able to go back to work the following week, but those first 3 days with no pain relief were killer, and I have a high pain tolerance. I have also heard that Lysine helps but didn't know that until later.

Any time anyone brings up Shingles I always insist "Get the shot!!". I'm told it is only 60% effective in preventing it or preventing a recurrance--yes, you can get it again just not in the same spot--but it is supposed to make the severity less if you do get it. I got one 5 yrs after I had the original attack as recommended, as I don't ever want to go through that again!

I hope you get the meds that will help you!

[homegirl]

25. Alternative medicine

Have you tried acupuncture? Worked wonders for me while I waited for knee replacement and as a pain killer after surgery.

[Fuddnik]

26. Vicodin won't work.

The percoset was the stronger drug. But my father had shingles a couple of years ago, and nothing really seemed to work.

I'm so sorry for you. I wouldn't wish that on anybody. It's painful, and there's not much you can do. Hopefully it doesn't last very long.

My dad was eating vicoden, oxycodone (percoset) and oxymorphone (Dilaudid) like candy, and just couldn't do anything with it.

I sincerely wish you a speedy recovery. I got vaccinated last year after seeing dad. No way I want that shit.

[passiveporcupine]

28. I agree that not all pain meds work for different things

Go talk to your doc and ask him what might be better than what you are using now. He may want to try you on a different one, or maybe even a stronger one.

I use hydrocodone (vicodin) and oxycodone (a little more relief than the hydrocodone), and sometimes I need the first one and sometimes I need the second one. It depends on how bad the pain is and what I need to do. I use very low doses of each and still only take a half tablet at a time because I'm very sensitive to meds. But when I had pancreatitis in the hospital they had me on dilaudid (way strong). Neither of the meds I take at home worked for it. Your doc should be able to help you. Good luck and I hope you get some real relief soon.

It sounds like this is what you are dealing with:

http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/postherpetic-neuralgia

Postherpetic neuralgia is pain, headaches, and nerve problems that occur as a complication of shingles (herpes zoster). Postherpetic neuralgia lasts for at least 30 days and can continue for months to years.

People who develop shingles after age 50 and who have severe pain and rash during shingles have the greatest risk for having postherpetic neuralgia. It most commonly occurs on the forehead or chest. The pain linked with postherpetic neuralgia may make it difficult to eat, sleep, and do daily activities. It may also increase the risk for depression.

Early treatment of shingles with antiviral medicines may prevent postherpetic neuralgia. If postherpetic neuralgia does occur, certain over-the-counter and prescription medicines can relieve pain.

Sounds like it's time for this:

Nerve block injections.
Tramadol and other opioids, such as codeine, oxycodone, and morphine.

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-medications

Vicodin might work fine for you, but be open to your doctor's suggestions too, as long as he doesn't try to deny you the real pain meds you need.

[CTyankee]

34. My neurologist said "No" to the whole concept of a nerve block injection.

I keep hearing that suggestion here but doc says it's not an option. I'll copy that article and bring it in to him when I go on Thursday...

[grasswire]

29. when I had shingles in whatever year it was of OK City bombing...

....I was given Empirin with codeine for the pain. It worked. I was sick for a month.

I have some vicodin in the house from an old trip and fall foot injury two years ago. When I have a lot of pain, I just take 1/4 tablet, and I'm fine. The script was twenty tablets, and I still have twelve left. Booze might do the same thing, but I rarely have any in the house.

[underpants]

30. Vicodin ain't worth spit

I had a Dr. give me a prescription months ago. Didn't ask for it he just said I could have it. I didn't take any until yesterday - I have a knee injury (bursitis)and figured what the hell. Dosage is 5/325 -??? Anyway it doesn't do much for me.

Good luck.

[Warpy]

31. Vicodin is actually a step down from Percocet, a slightly milder pain killer

Since it has fewer side effects for you it"s probably a better choice

Oops my keyboard has gone crackers

OK, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by a keyboard that wouldn't play nice with a Win10 update (and something always doesn't want to play nice when they update), Vicodin is a step down from Percocet, so the doc should be very willing to write the scrip. Just be aware that it still has some of the same side effects like constipation, so you'll want to make sure you don't start running into trouble in that department.

Funny how painkillers work on different people. They gave me oxycontin in the hospital last spring. When I got home, I found that Ultram did a better job on my broken leg even after I've been on the stuff for almost 10 years.

[winter is coming]

35. Everybody's wired differently. I wish they didn't combine narcotic painkillers with Tylenol.

My personal reaction to Tylenol is that it's fine for fevers but doesn't do shit for pain. Given how low the threshold for liver damage is, I wish it were prescribed/recommended a lot less frequently, and wasn't part of things like Vicodin.

[Warpy]

36. They did that for 2 reasons

First, the Tylenol potentiates the narcotic, albeit slightly. Second, they thought there would be less potential for abuse if the consequences involved frying your liver and dying. The first isn't necessary and the second didn't work all that well. Combo pills are trading briskly on the black market.

I can't take them any more, my kidneys are shutting down. It's narcs or nothing.

[winter is coming]

37. Reason #2 shows a profound lack of understanding about the nature of abuse.

Given a choice between people who are addicted and people who are addicted and need liver transplants, I'll take option 1.

[Warpy]

38. No kidding, it's always better to keep an addict or dependent person alive

and healthy, hoping some day s/he gets off the merry go round and gets clean. The drug war is 100% wrong, 100% backward, and an extreme waste of money, international good will, and people's lives.

[lexington filly]

33. I feel really badly for you.

I've taken narcotic pain medications over my lifetime for various reasons like dental surgery, broken ankle, reg surgery and never had an issue. As the healing progressed and the pain diminished I switched to non narcotic pain management without a problem because all I craved was relief from my physical pain, not meds. I used them judiciously and always had leftovers. From my experience, each of our bodies is unique and the type of dosage and med may be helpful to one person but not another. All I can say is listen to your own body. Chronic pain is really debilitating both physically and emotionally and I'm so sorry. Things will get better but in the meantime, it must be terribly hard to be your own advocate when you're at your lowest.

[irisblue]

39. any update CT yankee?

[CTyankee]

40. Yes, I was there today. He gave me a scrip for Cymbaltan an anti convulsant and we'll

see how that works.

The thing is, I already feel sedated with these meds. The fear is that if I go even deeper into them, I'll be even more restricted in my daily life. He asked if I had tried a topical and tried a cream on my skin while I was there. It did nothing. So basically, I need to be on the Cympbalta to see if I can get pain relief without putting me practically in a zombie state.

the bad news is that at my advanced age I am more at risk for post hermetic neuralgia. I still have a few more weeks before that can be determined (after 3 months).

So we'll have to wait and see...

thanks so much for being so caring and asking on my behalf! You are very kind