Yes I experiance the post shingle pains which are much worse than the actual shingles.I find the pain makes me anxious and fearful. I have recently been put on Amitriptline which is an anti depressant (I am not depressed) I am sleeping better and the daytime pains are not so horrible. I live in the UK.

thanks for posting, yes i use amitriptline and lyrica for the pain and they do help. I use lyrica the most and i also use the lidoderm patch. hope to see a pain specialist soon. would like to get on with my life...not that it was so glamourous but now it is very hard to "get things done". Take care of yourself.

I do not suffer from post pain, I was just diagnost yesterday even though I have had these for about 2 weeks without knowing what exactly they were. They started out itchy so i thought they were hives until I had the blister break out on my backside. Yes the pain and itchyness has made me go mad. I would snap at anyone for no reason and my anxiety had gotten much much worse then normal. My Dr. put me on Xanax for the anxiety, stress and depression that I have and also put me on Darvacet for the pain. They make you very sleepy, but for me that is a good thing seems how I suffer from Insomnia also,lol
The pain does go away and so does the anxiety.

I don't know if it was too late but you should have gotten a antibiotic since the shingles is a virus. It would depend on your age a great deal if you come down with the post shingles pain. The regular shingles is very painful too as I well know. I sure hope you feel better in the future and your life is shingles-free soon.

I believe it's probably your medication. If you are taking antidepressants or anticonvulsants they could be the culprit. Let your DR know what reaction you are having. My thoughts go out to you. Believe me I have been there, I feel I am getting better, but it's not a simple thing. Hugs are in order.....Dolores

I'm 31. My doctor said it was too late to give me a anitviral med or anything like that. She just said to watch it and let her know if they get worse.

i was not on anything at the time of the outbreak, but she put me on some because of the anxiety/stress/depression that I have,that there has nothing to do with the shingles,something different.

just rest eat healthy and take very good care of yourself. changes are you will just have to deal with the shingles. of course the itchiness and hassle of the whole thing can aggravate any anxiety. i am over sixty and that is probably why i came down with the post shingles pain. now i am using a tens unit and am feeling a lot better.

so long for now.

I havent had to take either one of my meds since this last Tuesday. I took my darvacet then and I was very ill for the whole day. My leg did itch a bit the other day but I just put some cream on there.
I was wondering though , how long do people generally have these nasty things? Does anything make them go away faster such as different foods, exercises? any help would be much appreciated.

Antibiotics are for bacterial infections so useless for shingles which is caused by a virus. Anti-virals are used within the first 3 days of onset of illness. Anti-depressants are used to treat the pain. It was found that this is another effect of this type of medication in addition to lifting depression. The pain originates in the nerve roots and does not always respond to conventional pain medication which work on the body differently. This type of pain is called neuropathic pain and is very difficult to treat effectively. Hence the reason so many people have tried so many different things, some more effective than others.