post herpetic neuralgia

I have had post-herpetic neuralgia for almost 5 years now. I have tried every drug on the market and some that weren't. I have also had gamma ray knife surgery which had no result at all. I am currently on the maximum dose of gabapentin. Is there anything else to try? Is the damage due to inflammation or some other type of damage to the nerve? Thank you.


This discussion is related to Trigeminal nerve damage.

[mini_d]

Hi,

It is difficult to treat such a persistent post herpetic neuralgia. If you have tried gamma ray knife surgery as well, then there is nothing much in the way of a treatment that can be done. You might have of course tried topical creams, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, steroids, local anesthetics, probably electrical nerve stimulation. If your doctor has not prescribed any of these, you may ask for them. There have been some cases where some amount relief is offered by meditation. You may try that, as there is no harm.

The precise cause for this is not known, but the most probable explanation is that the shingles damages nerve tips, due to whichthe area supplied by the nerve becomes hypersensitive and keeps sending pain signals to the brain.

Do get back with any other queries

Regards

[Chele1226]

I to have been put on Gabapentine but also at the same time take Allegra and Anacid. The Dermatologist mentioned H1 & H2 to take with the gabapentine.  I was never really diagnosed with PHN, The doctors for the past 10 yrs tell me I'm to young for shingles and PHN. I had dx myself.  I have everything for PHN. I have had lower back surgery and right after that maybe a yr later I started with the painful, burning, itching stabbing on my arm.  I was given last yr a viral med and it did go away from last June to Feb of this yr.  I will be trying to give him a call in NY to see if he will call me in a Rx as I live in FL now.  I hope because I did get a milder outbrake but the Dr down here wont give it to me.  I''m not sure why but I need to try it again.  I can't deal with the pain anymore..   Good Luck....

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Hi, Thank you very much for your question. Post herpetic neuralgia appears at skin after the outbreak of shingles (herpes). It starts when herpes crusted over and in fact it may even appear after absence of herpes virus. It will be best that you consult a neurologist and treatment options could be anticonvulsants such as gabapentin, antideprassants and topical lidocaine lotion. Now a day, few recent treatments could be rhizotomy (cutting the affected nerve to relieve pain) and TENS (a electrical pulse therapy). Hope this helps.