Shingles
My husband has shingles. The blisters are drying out and healing but he is still in pain. He is taking lortab 7.5 every 6-8 hours. If he is still it hurts less, but he is aggitated and wants to get back to work. He has been prescribed methylpred 4mg pak qualitest, which says "use as directed", which he was told to use when he's thru with the lortab. This is an almost 50 yr old man that detests taking meds, even though he is suppose to take Adderal 30mgXR daily that he has taken for several years (which he isn't taking because it clears his head and makes him want to get up and do the things he needs to do...) and he is taking an SSRI, celexa 40mg tab, which he's been on for just a few months (due to the anxiety of being unemployed).
He realizes that moving around doing even the lightest of chores causes the pain to be worse, so he has forced himself to take it easy for these past 2 1/2 weeks. He is aggitated and wants to know when he can expect to get back to doing things. He is trying to remodel an apartment that was destroyed after Katrina, which includes gutting the interior and rewiring and replacing everything, but he doesn't want to make his condition worse. He's afraid if he moves around too much, he'll end up being one of those patients that has the continuous pain, which he doesn't want to experience.
Any suggestions from anyone? He is getting restless. Thanks.
Answers:
Unfortunately he did not get to the doctor within 72 hours and the acyclovir that was prescribed really was too late to do any good. He also only takes the lortab when the effects of the last one wears off and he waits until the pain gets bad before taking another pill. Should he take the pill sooner, instead of "tolerating the pain"?Acyclovir is a priority. Regardless of whether he started it within 72 hours or not, a course of 800 mg x 5 for 7-10 days is what I generally recommend. There is a chance it may still reduce the likelihood of prolonged pain.
Other than that, if the pain persists, early treatment with drugs for neuropathic pain, such as neurontin, lyrica, carbamazepine, may reduce the duration of pain and possibly prevent the development of chronic pain.
Lortab is used to treat acute pain and will not have a beneficial effect on the outcome.
Please talk to his doctor about taking measures to treat the pain and prevent the development of chronic pain.
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