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HEADACHES FOLLOWING
SHINGLES
I have nerve damage in my head from the shingles
CONTINUOUS HEADACHES
– NEED AN ANSWER
My husband has headaches 24/7. There are
virus (It is not trigeminal neuralgia). It is a
literally NO pain-free moments for him. The level
nightmare. Could you explain how I would address
of pain varies. Laying down tends to make the pain
this when I have a flare-up? Biofeedback sounds
worse. He’s tried multiple treatments from various
interesting. – Patricia F.
medications to chiropractic care. Still no relief. Any
I assume you are referring to post-herpetic neuralgia,
which is due to the same herpes virus which causes
chickenpox. This type of nerve pain is quite intense and
I doubt that biofeedback would have any prominent role
in the management of such severe pain, because the pain
is so disruptive. Biofeedback may help reduce your stress
level, but a more aggressive approach is warranted.
This type of pain commonly responds to gabapentin
(Neurontin) or its cousin, pregabalin (Lyrica). Other
options might include some of the older anti-seizure
drugs such as carbamazepine or oxcarbazepine, depending
on the individual patient.
Edmund Messina MD, FAHS
Medical Director,
Michigan Headache Clinic
East Lansing, MI
suggestions as to what he tries next? We need a
fix, not a cover up med. – Joy V.
The “fix” would depend completely on the diagnosis.
Headache 24/7 is a symptom, not a diagnosis. Potential
explanations are numerous. Patients with constant
headache should be fully evaluated with a thorough
neurological examination, brain MRI, and possibly other
testing such as a spinal tap and blood work. Sometimes
patients with headaches worsening in the supine
position may have problems with the neck, and in such
situations, a spine MRI might be helpful. The majority
of daily headache patients do not suffer from some other
identifiable cause but are experiencing one of what we
refer to as ”primary headaches.” These are headaches that
develop due to biological dysfunction in brain circuitry
which does not reveal itself in testing. Both migraine and
tension-type headaches may evolve into patterns of daily
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