Shingles Pain - Doctor Refusing To Give Me Pain Medication - What Can I Do?

[flowernm66]

hi. 
Ive had shingles now for over a month. The 'bumps' have gone but the pain is still lingering. I am NOT a baby when it comes to pain AT all but this is intolerable. I'd say it is an 8/10. I once had a blood clot on the lungs and this feels the exact same (it definelty isn't). 
Until last week my doctor was giving me pain medication. after trying 4-5 with no luck he then gave me Actimorph. It was the first one that touched it and bought it down to a 3/10. It allowed me to sleep and carry on with my daily life. Since then he has tried 3 other pain medication and none of them has worked. He then sent me to the hospital to check my heart, blood clots etc. They all came back clear. The doctor at the hospital said that Actimorph is really good for the pain of shingles and doesn't see why he's taken them off me as they're a low dose.

When i went back to my doctor he even said himself he is happy it's just the shingles pain.. Sadly he has said he doesn't think anything will touch it and has stopped the pain medication Bar one that just makes me sleep but doesn't stop the pain. I asked if they could give me some more Actimorph but he said "no" and "You shouldn't be asking for morphine". 
It's friday night and I'm in agony. I don't know how im going to get through the weekend. He said to come back Monday if it's no better but he wont give me Actimorph. I only want this as it's the only bloody thing that has worked. Should i ask for a second opinion or is that pointless as well? 


Addtional: I have tried all the home remedies, i have tried hot compresses, cold compresses, different herbal teas, pressure points etc multiple things to help with nerve damage/pain and NONE has worked. I just want to be out of this pain.

[Canary42]

Sadly Answerbank's one-time regular doctor (Sqad) has passed away, but hopefully someone who has experienced the same will call in. Asking a second opinion sounds sensible.

[Buenchico]

Try a call to 111.  You might be able to get a referral to an out-of-hours GP.  (I've done that in the past).

[Peter Pedant]

Sadly Sqad has died and I am not sure if anyone here knows about treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia

[barry1010]

I feel for you, my GP gives me Tramadol when my neuralgia flares up.

As Buen says, ring 111

[Peter Pedant]

You could ask him to prescribe Tramadol - that is quite strong ( esp with a decent white wine) - does cause hallucinations in a proportion of people. 

You cd also ask him to refer you ro a chronic pain clinic

[Barsel]

You are quite entitled to ask for a second opinion.

I asked my GP for Morphine after having a knee replacement last year and he prescribed it.

You could always ask him his reason for not giving you Actiporph.

[Hymie]

Many years ago I suffered a short bout of shingles that manifested itself as a rash across my chest area - the medication my GP prescribed did nothing.

 

During the daytime the discomfort was barely perceptible, but at night lying in bed it felt like my chest was on fire.  My cure (that worked) was to get drunk and sleep like a baby.

[Toorak]

I am not sure what you can do except ask for an out of hours appointment. They may be concerned about potential addiction to pain killing medication. The problem with shingles is that you need to get anti viral medication (which will relieve the pain and other symptoms) within a very short window - otherwise the pain can persist for a long time.

[calmck]

There are other medications that might work. I found gabapentin gave relief at night. You could also try oat baths before bed. If you cannot get anything from your doctor call 111

[jno]

not an answer, but if you're over 65 you can get a shingles vaccination.

https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/shingles-vaccine/

[Toorak]

Good to see that the age limit for the vaccination has been reduced - it's a nasty, if not serious, condition. 

[theshedman]

Toorak at 00.16 has given the answer my doctor gave me when I had it many years ago.  The pain was quite bad for a long time and even after the initial bout of it I kept getting pain in chest for over 12 months afterwards.  Not a pleasant thing to get and painkillers didn't really touch it.  Hope it eases soon for you.

[Maydup]

Are you in UK? Only it's very unusual to see the same doctor more than once, typical that it does happen when you could really do with seeing someone else!

Did you call 111? I hope you have found a solution and if not phone surgery on Monday and ask to see a different doctor.

[renegadefm]

I had shingles at the age of 18 which my doctor told me was extremely rare to have shingles at the age of 18.

But he gave me a strong dose of anti, istimine, a bit like a hay fever tablet but 10 times as strong. And within 3 weeks I was fully recovered.

 

But I must admit at the time I was feeling pretty ill, and had 3 weeks off work. I dread to think how it affects older people. I was only 18 and feeling like crap. 

[Ringlet]

Like you, I found Post-herpes pain to be excruciating.

I found that the post-herpes pain responded well to Lyrica (Pregabalin), which is similar to Gabapentin that someone mentioned above. 

The only thing is, it may take about 48 hours to fully kick in, and it will make you groggy.  But it helped me enormously with the pain of shingles.  

I do hope you can find relief, as I know what you are going through is sheer hell.  Good luck.  

[rowanwitch]

The trouble with post herpetic nerve pain is it can go on for so many months after the shingles have cleared.   I can see why a GP would be unwilling to prescribe an opiate for that amount of time, as it would mean a difficult wean off at the end.   It's interesting it was only reducing your pain to around a 3/10,  if not removing the pain completely the risk of addiction is a little less.

 

The most common option is amitriptyline which is usually effective in combination with simple painkillers like paracetamol or ibuprofen.  If it needs more than that  you will be looking at opiates all of which carry some risk of addiction.  Gabapentin or Pregbalin is the next level  of medication specifically for nerve pain.  

Ask for a referral to a specialist pain clinic but while you are waiting you might want to look at acupuncture which can be very useful.

[andres]

Had shingles when I was about 11yrs.old, 76 years ago. No pain medication back then just calamine lotion.  Shooting pains occasionally along the affected nerve for many years afterwards.