To ask you how you managed the pain of having shingles

[Allelbowsandtoes]

I'm lying here unable to sleep and my face is an itchy, painful mess. Holding a cold, wet wash cloth to the area is providing a tiny bit of relief but genuinely, this is horrible.

Is there anything that eases it 😭

Amitriptyline. That’s the only thing that stopped my pain. I had it on my head and it was like being attacked with an axe, but they switched the pain off. You should ask your GP to prescribe you some if you are in a lot of pain as shingles causes nerve pain and these drugs specifically work on that.

I don’t know why, but my pain also reduced a lot if I went out for a walk/run. I personally also felt the pain in bed was much better if I slept on the side where I had the shingles (counterintuitively!)

Hope you feel better soon.

You can buy zovirax cream otc. Have you asked for antiviral medication and nerve pain medication from your gp?
I know that doesn't help right now but you can ring 111 or a private gp first thing.
Maybe try an icepack wrapped in a clean pillow case.
I am sorry. Shingles pain is awful.

If the rash is anywhere near your eye you should ring 111 now.

Thanks, I'll see if I can get hold of my gp tomorrow though I don't know if they'll be open on Saturday.

I have a dog so have still been getting out for walks, not sure if it helps the pain but it helps me not go mad being cooped up 😄

Thankyou, I'm holding a couple of ice cubes wrapped in a tea towel now and it's very soothing.
I wasn't in the 72 hour window to get the antiviral meds unfortunately, I saw a pharmacist first (as advised by my GP) who told me it wasn't shingles. By the time I got a GP appointment it was outside of the 72 hours.

How near is too near the eye? I saw the GP on Tuesday and she said it wasn't too close to my eye but another bump has come up a bit nearer....

Is your eye sore or inflamed? I am sorry you got fobbed off by the pharmacist. I think there is too much of that going on tbh. Monitor the rash closely and if more blisters come up and are getting closer to your eye call 111 for an urgent appt.

My eyelid definitely feels itchy, it doesn't look noticeably inflamed though. I'll keep a close eye on it (lol) and call 111 if it gets worse. I might call them in the morning anyway as my GP will be shut and I need something for the pain.

My sister got antivirals after 72 hours having been misdiagnosed in A and E. I just looked up the guidelines and it says they can be given up to 7 days after the rash appears, especially if rash is on the face or head. Ditto pregabolin (sp) for the pain.
DH got antivirals prescribed urgently as his rash was on his forehead.

If you call 111 in the morning you can probably get an out of hours appointment if your local hospital has that service. They can then prescribe something for you.

Thanks both, definitely going to call 111 in the morning. This is absolutely miserable, wouldn't wish it on anyone!

Call 111 now, they’re open 24/7. You’ll just wait longer if you leave it til the morning. Hope you get well soon.

I had aciclovir - issued more than 72 hours before I'd first noticed the rash - it took me a while to realise what it was, I'd seen my GP the week before because of the shooting pains, first noticed the rash on Saturday morning, didn't realise what it was until Tuesday afternoon, and was prescribed them then.
After those I didn't have the rash but still had pains, and was prescribed codeine.
Good luck, hope it clears soon.

Get anti viral treatment asap to reduce the risk of post herpetic neuralgia - people end up with this neuralgic pain if treatment is delayed and it is very difficult to treat! It ends up being chronic. Amitriptyline is great BUT can make you drowsy and affect driving etc so be careful.

I had acyclovir five days after shingles starting. Mine was also on my face - doctor told me to ring 999 if my eye got inflamed. It didn't, thank goodness!

I took ibuprofen and paracetamol together - nowadays Nuromol exists, which contains both and, in my slightly irrational opinion, works better. You could also take co-codamol (the pharmacy one) with ibuprofen.

It will go away 💐 Don't try and rush your recovery, you'll need a lot of rest. Shingles kick-started my ME-CFS and is a common trigger. Even if you aren't susceptible to this, post-viral syndrome is no picnic so give your system every chance to rebuild.

I was given acyclovir tablets 5 times a day. 111 made me an appointment at a& e. It reduced the effect and stops longer term nerve damage. You have to have had it less than 5 days though I think. I also carefully tattooed thick padded non stick dressings over mine with micropore to stop anything rubbing them.
Because it's cost to your eye where it can be a problem amd possibly be damaging in some cases id ring 111 explaining that and ask for help. They'll send you to hospital where you'll end up waiting but they might be able to help if think. Worth.a try. How long have you had it now? It makes you feel rotten generally so I feel for you. Wishing you better xx

I had it in the corner of my eye, hairline, eyebrow, lash line, and along my nose. I was in France at the time and didn't realise what it was. The only thing that helped with the pain was (hot) camomile teabags (ibuprofen didn't do much). I got antiviral tabs and ointment from a walk-in clinic about a week after it started. It's miserable - hope you feel better soon.

Get the antivirals - the 72hr thing is best for the existing rash and pain but they still stop the spread after that - if it's moving near your eye this is urgent. I had it badly when I was younger, misdiagnosed and past the 72hours by the time it was figured out, also all over my face, was horrific. I was lucky not to have post herpetic nerve pain but my dad had it more recently and did - tried all sorts for the pain and the answer was amitriptyline.

His GP practice is useless so we now make sure he always has aciclovir at home as it's recurred a few times and can nip it in the bud.

Also, I know it's a minor concern compared with the pain, but to reassure you - I was terrified I would be permanently scarred as my face was a mess. It does take a while to heal but I have no lasting marks at all, not like chicken pox.

Hope you recover soon, it's truly horrible.

I've read about this and it sounds awful! Really don't fancy that.

I have called 111 and they've advised me to go down to the pharmacy as soon as they open at 9am to ask for something for the pain. If the pharmacy can't help I need to call back. Lucky its a different pharmacy to the one that told me I don't have shingles 😬

Thanks everyone for all the comments and well wishes, sounds like some of you have had an awful time with it too

Hello - is it swollen on your face as well as the blisters? I shingles around one cheekbone, nose and getting close to the eye, think I had one on the lower lid. It was all just (VERY) sore at first but I was admitted to hospital actually for 5 days - for the pain and also to monitor the eye (and I guess give antivirals etc - it was all a bit fuzzy on my memory). Valium also really helped me cope. It was almost unimaginable pain and as it progressed my face swelled and my eye was completely covered over.
i think it was classed as ophthalmic singles though my eyesight/eyeball wasn’t affected.
i recovered fine but was very tired for about 6 weeks - i could hardly walk!
my nerves never recovered (ie i lost feeling) but no long lasting pain
I had to see someone in person though from memory (a gp) and it was a couple of goes - I think I was fobbed off too by chemists in the early stages and given some random creams for eczema or something!
Sorry very long winded but I guess if you’re not getting much help from pharmacy I don’t think it’s outlandish to go to A&E if your eye is itching!!!! It progressed for me - peak symptoms on about day 7 from first irritation.

Oh wow that sounds like it was a horrible experience for you! My pain definitely isn't as bad as yours by the sound of it but I am concerned that it's so close to my eye.

I went to the pharmacy as advised by 111 (after waiting 3 hours for them to open) and was told by pharmacist that due to the proximity to my eye that I need to see a doctor. So I'm now awaiting a call back from out of hours doc.

It's sore but not agony (seems worse at night) but I have noticed what I think is a new bump right on my eyelid which is concerning me.

Mine was very similar to previous poster and it turned into port hepatic, I've been left with numbness and tingling down my face but no pain. I'm about 4 years on now. The only thing that touched the pain was gabapentin, I took it for about 5 months and gradually reduced it. Really had to fight for proper pain relieve that works on nerve pain though, gabapentin, pregablin or amitriptaline seem to be treatment for shingles

Wow I'm sorry to hear that, I've read about it and it sounds awful. Good that you've not gorlt the pain but tingling and numbness are miserable. I hope it gets better for you 🙏

I had it on my cheekbone/lower eyelid/temple a couple of weeks ago, bloody awful. I'm absolutely not a medical professional so take my experience with a pinch of salt but I used Metanium on the rash (just made sure to not get it on my actual eyeball!) and it really did soothe it significantly. Mine was mainly the burning/itching that was bothering me, the actual extended nerve pain wasn't too bad, just tingly/zappy in the trigeminal area.
I wasn't given antivirals but probably because I thought it was just some sort of reaction/eczema for the first few days.
Anyway, Metanium was the dogs bollocks for helping it.