My husband was misdiagnosied with a migraine for a week before he was finally admitted to the hospital for evaluation. They treated him for a migraine on the right side of his face UNTIL the rash appeared. Immediately changed treatment to shingles. Shingles affted the nerve on the right top of head down the tip of his nose (including eye). Started all the meds - acyclovir, sterioids, etc. He is home now recovering. Unfortunately the shingles afftected his right eye nerves (motion and lid, actual eye is ok). Doctors say it is self limiting and will resolve in time. Anyone else experience this? He is in so much pain. We started percocet around the clock wtih gabapentin. The two biggest complaints he has are severe night sweats (needs to change clothes 3 times per night) and sharp eye pain and sensations in the head. We are 3 weeks out from the initial start of the pain (2 weeks out post rash). Any advice? When will he get relief? How long does this last? How long for eye muscle to strengthen? So many questions.....
Lisa take him to the eye doctor right away he could loose his vision. Asap I know just go
His event sound similar to my own only his above the eye mine below but the eyelid and surrounding area sound very similar. I am in week 3 since diagnosis.
The eye pain the most annoying aspect of this. I foud short term relief is a wash cloth dampened and frozen then let to thaw slightly so is just getting pliable then form to face a little press against my face / eye for about 8-10 minutes. It has some discomfort but I stick to it and get some relief. I do this a few time a day. I am considering an eye patch but already know my CPAP irritates things so not too sure a patch if going to do much good. He has hopefully seen his Opthamologist for eye concerns.
Keep posting and I will post any updates I get, best of luck to him and possibly its just one of those things we have to get through on our own with regard tp pain. Meds are doing very little for immediate relief thus far. I tried alcohol, it has no effect even in large doses. Sticking to water and stubborness to get through.
My dear Lisa and husband,
I am so sorry for the pain and suffering of your husband. Fortunately, on this site, we know all too well the excruciating severe lancinating burning pain your husband is suffering from.
To begin with, this is what to expect with ophthalmolgic Herpes Zoster-Shingles.
It begins with symptoms of a severe lancinating burning headache, one sided, with fever, chills and fever, aches and pains, malaise, photophobia, and fatigue. This can last for up to two weeks before the rash appears. With Shingles affecting the eye or ear, one can also experience nausea and vomiting as inflammationation of the eye center in the brain stimulates the nausea center there, as well.
Once the rash appears, you are in the acute phase. It can take up to five days for the vesicles-blisters to appear in crops or waves. Then, it takes one month for these vesicles-blisters toform a black crust or scab over, and fall off. When all the vesicles-blisters have formed scabs, he is no longer contagious. After one month, the acute phase is considered over.
It is vital to achieve excellent pain control during this month as those who don't often are at higher risk to get the dreaded complication of Post Herpetic Neuralgia PHN. As he is on Percocet and gabapentin, plus I am certain ophthalmic drops, steroids and acyclovir, he is on the correct medications.
He has a viremia or the Herpes Zoster-Shingles virus circulating in his blood stream causing the symptoms similar to the flu.
I have had Herpes Zoster-Shingles in my right ear every 3-5 weeks for the past 20 years and In my right eye twice I understand the agony your husband is having.
I am a Nurse Practitioner in the States.
Please let me know how i can help you.
Now that he is on the correct medications, including acyclovir, the fever chills and sweating should diminish, slowly.
It is difficult to diagnose Herpes Zoster-Shingles until the rash appears. I am a migraneur, and when the first episode occurred, initially I thought it was a migraine. It took three ENTs before the otoneurologist finally diagnosed it. It was 3-4 weeks before the rash made it outside my eardrum. I am 64 years old currently.
Hopefully, it is the inflammation causing the weakness with the cranial nerves and it usually resolves.
Best regards.
Merry Juliana
He's been under the care of an opthamologist since the beginning. He is still taking steroid eye drops. His actual eye is ok, but the muscle behind the eye and the one that controls the lid are not working. Thank you for your comment.
My husband's pain is awful. We changed meds to gabapentin and a higher dose of percocet. Very little relief so far. I hate these narcotics. The meds make him sleepy and very emotional.
My husband is complaining of lightning sharp pains that come and go and move around in his head. The doctor increased the gabapentin dose at night (300mg) and he also increased the percocet. I don't want him to become addicted to percocet but he really needs it. Hoping these meds find him some relief soon. Any other suggestions for pain? When will he turn the corner and begin feeling better??????
Lisa,
May I ask how old your husband is, when did the pain start, and when did the rash appear?
Also, what other medical diseases does he have? When was the acyclovir started?
Thanks.
Merry Juliana
He's 51 years old. Started acyclovir within 24 hours of rash. However, he had pre-rash symptoms/pain for about a week before the rash appeared. No other health issues.
Lisa,
The severe head and eye pain should slowly start dissipating over the next two weeks. I know that even a breeze in the room can trigger more pain. Your husband won't become addicted to narcotics when he is in this agonal pain. I also take oxycodone every three to five weeks for the 3-5 days when I need it. Then I stop as soon as the severe pain is gone. This painful episode of your husband's will stop, but the ophthalmolgic Herpes Zoster-Shingles is usually more complicated than Shingles elsewhere. The pain in the head is more severe and lasts longer. He seems to be on all the appropriate medications.
Best regards
Merry Juliana
I had the same thing, in my head , forhead and eye, and now after 4 months I get such terrible itching in the area where the rash was, and it is worse in the eye area,it is called PHN, The pain went weeks ago but the itching remains . it comes and goes every day, and I still see the eye dr regularly, My vision is good, I am sorry for your husband's pain, i know it gets excruciating, I even cried at the surgery one day as i was in so much pain, and felt so awful and was getting depressed with it iall, but then after being given stronger painkillers and amytriptyline at night, I started to be pain free and finally sleep at night, Good luck, I hope he doesn't get the complications!
The 'lightening' description of pain is so accurate. I've been dealing with shingles on my head and left side of face and left eye for about 8 weeks. It does get better. I used ice packs, lidocaine, pain meds, anything for relief. Saw the eye Dr every week.
I think it varies from person to person on how long it lasts and with the eye area involved, from my experience, it takes longer. Keep in contact with the eye Dr and do not hesitate to go back and see them. In my opinion,they should be checking his progress on a regular basis
I am now dealing with this amazing fatigue that will not resolve. Some days I can almost function normally. Other days, like today, not so much. I have to plan what I am going to spend my time on and ration my energy. Taking a shower and getting dressed can wear me out completely.
I don't ever remember being so sick with anything, ever.
Kerri,
I ration my activity daily... otherwise I have been known to sleep 26 hours straight.
My phrase of Herpes Zoster-Shingles pain in the ear is giving birth via the ear canal while having a cattle prod inserted, or more modern, being tased, or electrocuted via the ear.
All My Best
Merry Juliana
I am so amazed at the variations of this stuff. I try to explain it to people and hear things like "my husband had it and its not so bad" or my dad had it and he was miserable" and "really? You can get it on your face" then I hear about people who had / have it on their face and every one is different. I think with the variations of sensory function all located on your face / head, ears, eyes, nasal, mouth, teeth and any mix or match plus more, its really anyones bet as to what you get, where you get it and how much it impacts your lifestyle.
I have a pretty good tolerance to pain and have most of one side my face and head involved with this stuff and its no fun. I try not to let it consume me but in all honesty, it sucks and my biggest drain is the loss of sleep. If I could sleep a full night I think it would be much more tolerable.
Hello,
Week 1:
I had a lightning bolt like flashes of excruciating pain in my right eye, almist every 5 seconds. On day 3 of pain, went to walk in clinic, got sent to urgent care, got sent to emergency room. Nobody could diagnoze and sent me home. Pain was so bad,
went to an eye clinic and the doc there suspected Shingles but wanted to see a rash. Finally on day 7 of pain, I got rashes. On my right, and on the tip of my nose, on my eyelid, in my eye and so on. Mother of all pains. On day 7 of pain, got on valtrex.
Week 2:
Felt better, scabs started falling off, pain was under control, started chores around the house..Eye was swollen, eye lid was swollen and droopy
Week 3:
Felt very sick again, and was told by eye doctor there were lesions in my eye again. Then the PHN burning pain started. I was alone in my room and I had a 40 second bout of burning where I felt my face was on fire. I wante to throw up, could not make a sound, just breathe and count seconds waiting for the wave to pass. It started at the bottom of my face and slowly made its way to my scalp and then went away. The next day, I had the wave, at 1 AM. It was excruciating. Ran to the doc the next day, got on valtrex again, steroid 4x a day. Eye was still swollen and droopy. All the rash was gone and what was left was greyish black sponts and swelling on the right side of my face.
Week 4:
Started having blurred vision and was diagnosed with Iritis, was given drop to dialte my pupil for relief. Light sensitivity, tearing, swollen right side including very puffy drooped eyelid. Took two weeks off work and got on Lyrica 50mg. Now have regular mild burning pain but not the scary 40 second wave of pain.
Week 5:
Today is first day of week 5. My enegry level is somewhat back. For the past 3 days I have been watching TV and working on my computer without glasses. Wearing glasses makes it harder for me and brings back pain as the glasses rest on an area that had the rash and then my entire eye hurts.
I can understand what your husband is going through. I hope he feels better soon.
I want my pain to go, swelling to go, and want my eye to look and feel normal again. My doctor says the eye puffiness is because of nerve. Biding my time for things to get back to normal.
There are so many stages to shingles, but I didn't keep track of them as you have, it is over 4 months since I was diagnosed and although I have no pain now, my itching eye is HELL and all the eye drs ever say is use face cream on the eyelid, which is much too painful!! Products used on the forehead cannot be used on the eyes, and the drops do not stop the itching, I really hope for your sake you do not get this complication!
Thanks, hope the itching goes away for you soon. I cannot imagine how hard it must be.
A friend of mine came by with dark chocolate, advised me to vegetate and watch TV and eat chocolate. And I did for two days. Also noticed I had pretty bad PHN itching that I did not have before. Off chocolate now and itching is a bit better.
When did the swelling disappear for you? I cant wait for my eye to look normal again.
I didn't really get swelling but in the mornings my right eye is a bit puffy just above my eyelid.
This stuff is HELL.
I'm eight weeks and it is a lot better but still dealing with left eye and extreme fatigue.
I still have to use the steroid eye drops at least 5 times a week. It helps with the pain and burning and irritation. I also had some pressure type pain in that eye, so eye Dr gave me a drop that is for glaucoma, even though I do NOT have glaucoma. It relieves the ache from behind the eye.
Good luck.