Postherpetic Neuralgia :: Shingles - Floaters And Blurred Vision
Apr 23, 2009
I am just recovering from shingles. I have never felt so ill in all my life or been so tired. I have been left with intermittent pain in my hairline where the blisters were and also in my eye. It seems to come on every afternoon and last all night. My eye waters and I have developed floaters and blurred vision. I have tried paracetamol which helps with the pain but not with the sensitivity to light and blurred vision.I go to bed with a cold damp flannel but it doesn't seem to help much, my scalp also itches unbearably.
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I have lost hearing in that ear and bad tinnitus and imbalance. what can I do
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Six weeks on after first ever attack of shingles at the age of 75, I am Completely physically, mentally and emotionally drained, despite plenty of sleep and rest. Appetite is fine. Still suffering some ache in head owing to an effect called Cradle Cap which I have been prescribed ointment.
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I had shingles in October 2013 followed by what was assumed to be postherpetic neuralgia. I have tried all the various medication prescribed but appear to be allergic or react to all of them and none take you pain away. I don't know what to do next, seem to go from pillar to post.
I had an xray done about a year ago as, (because I was involved in a car accident 3 months prior to the attack of shingles) it was thought the pain could be due to something else. It wasn't but the radiologist said that if I had a certain nerve 'snipped' in my back (left hand side) all should be well. Has anyone else heard of this. My doctor said they didn't have anything in writing from the radiologist to confirm this. I really feel as if nobody is much bothered about this sort of pain.
I do know for a fact that having nerve ends burnt off can stop pain. I had this done (privately when I was covered through work) in my neck which stopped the migraines I had suffered badly with for years. I no longer have private medical cover unfortunately.
I can can only sympathise with others who have suffered following shingles. The pain is HORRIFIC but the advice seems to be to take pill after pill and then If that doesn't dork have another ruddy pill.
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Suddenly today I noticed that I seemed to have a film over my right eye and I was experiencing floaters. I had multifocal lens replacement surgery a couple years ago. Everything went well. It was the best thing I had done. I wore glasses since I about 7. I had a couple small floaters before the surgery but only saw them now and then. I had put some oil on my face earlier today and was wondering if some had gotten into my eye , would it have caused this to happen? I put saline drops in my eye and visine thinking this may have been the cause. trying to rinse out my eye. It did not help and am getting worried that something may be wrong. What worries me is that it came on sort of fast and has been the same all day. I also have been under a lot of stress lately, working long hours. Would really like some advice on what to do.
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My 88 year old mother who has dementia has developed odd sensations and pain in her upper back. She's had two bouts of extreme pain which moved around but were in a similar area of her back - lower ribs on left side. The pain lasted only for a day each time and each time I saw what looked like sweat pimples but they were on her upper chest at the front - ie a different place. Now she often feels cold and shivery (when in fact she is hot) and puts more layers on to the point where she starts sweating, feels pain in her upper back and gets very anxious when she gets it (most days in the afternoon/evening). She gets night sweats. Does this sound as if it could be left over from shingles?
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I've been suffering from PHN for about 2 and half years. The pain is mostly around my eye, temple and forehead, sometimes the top of my head. Lately I've been finding that I get very drowsy after an "attack" of pain. Does anyone else ever get that? I can't work out if it's an effect of the pain or a side-effect of the medication I'm on (which is a mix of Cymbalta and Pregabalin).
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My 91 year old father contracted Shingles in November 2014 and from being totally independent - living alone and driving a car he had to move into care as has suffered postherpetic neuralgia since. He has shooting pains going down the sciatic nerve in his right leg. It seems like he has been on every drug known to man and although some of his pain has been alleviated he still has excruciating episodes. His only means of relief is to stand so can spend hours sitting/standing/sitting/standing. He has, however, since the shingles suffered edema in his right leg also. Amazingly he still tries to maintain some independence and tries to walk, however, this is so difficult now that his leg is so heavy and swollen. I don't seem to be getting any answers as to why he has this Edema. He never had it before the shingles and although he had it mildly afterwards it is now extremely bad. I'm wondering whether it could be the medications that he's on and would be interested if anyone else as experienced this and what the cause was.
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From reading many other threads, it seems to me that one frustrating thing about this condition is that there's no one-size-fits-all description or solution. Is there anything outside of heavy prescriptions that soothes your pain, and are there any triggers that make it worse?
Here are things that usually provide some relief:
1.Epsom salts compresses - help calm down the skin sensations
2. Rose geranium oil - helps with the skin pain and stabbing, and the scent is calming to me
3. Heating pad - helps when the pain is deeper, or maybe it just relaxes my tense muscles
4. Ibuprofen - helps with the aches
5. Acetaminophen - I don't think this works as well as ibuprofen, but I haven't given up on it.
6. Sleeping. I usually wake up at a level 0 or 1, and it builds up as I go about my day.
7. Sitting quietly. No friction when I'm not moving.
8. Exercise. Maybe it's true what they say about endorphins.
9. Sometimes stretching or scratching provides relief.
Things that make it worse
1. Coffee
2. Lack of sleep
3. Possibly my hormone cycle; I'm not certain about this one
4. Sometimes, it's worse if I stretch, scratch, exercise, or sit still. Yup, these are also on my list of things that sometimes help. [eek]
5. Random triggers I may never be able to identify.
Do any of these things sound familiar to anyone else? Or is there a good possibility this isn't PHN but something else? Like, losing my mind?
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Having deal with PHN now for 7 years it still is important to me to share information with others that are afflicted by this terrible condition or with others that suffer from chronic pain. Important because it is reassuring is to hear how others are impacted and trying to cope in their lives. It is terrible to constantly have to turn down or cancel social engagements because you cannot bare the pain, are so distracted that you can't focus on a conversation or do an activity that you enjoyed before. You get tired of responding to people "how do you feel" "how is it going" and many times you don't look that bad. One doctor said PHN is like the pain of cancer but without the relief of death. Not looking for sympathy from others but it is tough on family and friends given they don't really understand. I tell people now best the pain of a stinging nettle and worst is like a bad burn/scalding and rubbing sandpaper on it. People also don't understand (as I dont as well) why it strikes when it does. Everyday for me - but usually later in day after I have had too much irritation from the clothes. I want to say thank you to a number of people on this site for giving me my sanity back.
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Two weeks ago my eye began to tear continuously, and I was sensitive to sunlight. The next day my eyes were paining and were red and tearing, and I could not stand the presence of light. Whenever light appeared, I had sharp pain in my right eye and constant tearing. I tried to sleep that night but could not. I went to a local eye doctor who said I had a corneal ulcer due to bacterial infection through contact lens and referred me to a cornea specialist. The specialist prescribed me a number of antibiotic drops such as Vigamox, Amphotericin B etc. Next time I visited( 5 days later), he said the ulcer was healing. He cultured my cornea scraping and it was determined as pseudomonas spp. So I was prescribed ciplox(as it was determined sensitive to ciprofloxacin) and Vigamox. 7 days later, my eye is now almost clear and the pain and redness is gone but my vision is incredibly blurry, as if I am looking through a cloud. At times, my vision seems to be getting better, but then, particularly in the morning, it is blurry. Can anyone tell me how their vision came back during the healing process? Was it a steady progression or uneven? When did the blurriness go completely? How long does the recovery process last? How do I know how much scarring has or will occur?My doctor tells me that he does not know how much scarring I will have or how much of my vision will return, so I am very scared. I am a software developer, and now I can't read anything clearly and all activities have been on hold. This is particularly hard for me as I just can't sit at home all day. Would someone please share his experience or knowledge? Thank you, Sananda.
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I'm currently on 600mg Pregabalin for anxiety, and it seems to be helping a little. The only side effects I seem to get is blurred vision and a little bit of tiredness. The tiredness doesn't bother me, as before taking this med I really struggled to sleep.. so this actually helps me a little.
Does anyone else get blurred vision?
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I was at my doc apt and she sent me to l&d to be monitored and have to do blood work cause she said my headaches and blurred vision could be a sign of preeclampsia ...
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I posted earlier about a corneal abrasion from ten days ago and vision still blurred, though I believe abrasion is healed. Still had corneal edema causing the blurriness in one eye.Doc giving me steroid & antibiotic drops & anti-inflam drops. Nothing helped much till he added Muro 128 and that made a big improvement in blurry vision getting better. Wondering how long one takes this and if anyone else has had an experience with it? Is it taken instead of, rather than in addition to steroid drops?
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My family has history of type 1 I have a constant thirst and sometimes blurred vision and itchiness in certain "areas "
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For almost 6years I have experienced an attack involving a pounding head, dizziness and blurred vision. I am unsure of what this is. It started at the age of nine when I was in Egypt. I was getting food when all of a sudden I felt dizzy and couldn't see clearly (may I just add my vision on a day to day basis is very good) I was unsure of where to walk and couldn't see my family at my table. This same event has been taking place every once in a while, I do not know how often as I have not yet realised that .They usually occur in the morning. I have to take a few minutes to sit down with my head in my hands. I have not talked about this before.I am unsure what to classify this under so I have put it under anxiety as I have also identified some of the symptoms in my day to day life regarding my social life.
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I don't know if im posting in the right place, but here it goes!! So this all started about a month ago, all I noticed was I was a bit more tired, no big deal I thought it was the change of season or something. I was like this for maybe a week before I woke up march 20th and felt very off. My normal routine is to go the gym in the morning, so I got myself up to get ready and realized I didn't think I could go, I felt very dizzy, lightheaded, pressure behind my eyes, stuffy nose, extremely heavy eyes, very fatigued, and a little spaced out. I drove to a walk in clinic by my house, they did routine blood work, checked my thyroid, checked for Epstein barr, and for mono, all negative. I did have a low grade fever if even that it was like 99.5. Now lets go back a few months...i have had a stuffy nose since November constantly blowing it with bloody discharge and i attributed it to the dry heat and the winter weather. I have also had many sinus infections in the past year. I didn't realize it until I thought about it. I also had a concussion, my third one back in August. Went to the ER and got a CT scan, everything was normal and they released me. 2 days later I went back to the ER, I was nauseas and it felt like my head was on fire and on CT scan they said I had inflamed nasal sinuses. Everything else was normal so they gave me antibiotics and i was released again. At that time I thought nothing of it and I got better in a few days. Now back to march 20th and the Dr. They knew of my previous sinus infection because I had went to them in December and they were surprised that since I saw them I was still stuffy, they gave me nasal spray and sent me home. A week later I still feel the same, exactly the same, maybe a little worse. I saw an allergist who tested me for allergies and of course everything was negative. I was so tired at work one day I had to lay down and close my eyes. Im just exhausted even after a full nights sleep and my eyes are so heavy. My headache lasted from march 20-27th and then subsided but still had all the other symptoms. Over that weekends I actually started feeling better everyday! I was sk happy and thought it was some sort of virus or something and it was going away. I still felt off but it started getting bad again April 3rd. This time it was all my symptoms but very exaggerated. Extreme fatigue, extremely heavy eyes, poor concentration, confusion, blurry vision in my right eye, spacing out, brain fog, sensitive to light, pressure behind my eyes, im forgetful, still a little stuffy but not nearly as bad, im a little pale and my headache is gone but my head still feels weird with weird pains that last a second. I went to my pcp on Monday and told him the whole story. He put me on a strong dose of antibiotics and some steroids. The next day I saw an optometrist and i am nearsighted and have an astigmatism in my right eye so i'm getting glasses. It was weird to me though because my vision just became blurry a few days before, unless i just didn't notice it before that and my eyes are always heavy, even as soon as I wake up which I think is weird. So the next day I saw my ENT and told him the whole story and he looked in my nose, flushed it, and took a sono of my sinuses and said my right paranasal sinus in very congested and I need a CT scan of my sinuses. I'm nervous about the CT scan because that will be the 5th CT scan I have had since my first in 2010 from my first concussion. I feel like that's a lot of radiation to my head and face i'm only 25 years old and I feel like that cant be the only reason I have all these symptoms. As soon as I got home from my ENT i noticed this painful hard lump next to my ear on my jaw. my dentist told me to come in and he said my TMJ joint was inflamed on my right side only and that it should go away in a few weeks, I do grind my teeth at night, but I think its weird that my right eye is now bad, my right paranasal sinus is very congested, and my right TMJ joint is inflamed! I see my neurologist. I have a neurologist in the first place because back in 2009 I had a what I thought was a vaccine reaction to the HPV vaccine. A few hours after I got it the room was spinning and I was so nauseous and weak. A week after that vaccine I was having trouble walking, tingling in my legs and arms, severe fatigue and weakness, severe headache. I got an MRI back then to rule out MS and did an EEG and an EMG all normal and after several months all the symptoms went away. So yesterday my neuro did a vertigo test which came back normal, now she wants me to get another MRI next week to rule out MS again and I'm terrified. I don't have any numbness or tingling or trouble walking but i'm so scared. My life was so normal and I was actually in the best place I've ever been in my life before this happened and now its all turning to ****. Im crying everyday because from the moment I wake up until the second I fall asleep I feel all the symptoms. They are getting worse, I am getting more frustrated, I am getting more scared that this is something serious because its not going away. Did this ever happen to someone else? Does anyone think this is really MS? I'm assuming my optometrist looked at my optic nerve and would have said something if it looked weird. I have also heard of silent migraines where u have all the symptoms of the migraines except the headache because I have also recently felt like im seeing flashing lights or its hard to explain but its like when im looking at a bright wall, its like I was just staring at static on a tv and then looked at the wall, except im always seeing it I find myself staring into space I have to like snap myself out of it. This whole experience is driving me crazy and i am so irritable and upset. I've also lost my appetite and i cant stop crying because this feeling wont go away it is affecting my life so negatively. I don't even know what to think i want to feel normal and I want my life back its affecting my job, my relationships with everyone, and myself and my happiness I want to do the things I used to. Im sorry for all the jumping around in the story and how long it is, I am very overwhelmed.
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A year and three months ago I was taking pictures with my camera, and using an on camera flash. The brightness of the light did not bother me while I was taking pictures, or I would have lowered it. A few minutes later I started to get pain in my right eye, and then burning, soreness, throbbing, and then my eye began feeling like a rock. My eye felt this way for months. I did get to an optician a week or so later, and she checked my eye and said that it was just severe dry eye. She told me that she checked the surface, back and around my eye, but did not see anything. I have been to her three times since. At my last exam a month ago I was told my left eye got worse, but my right eye was fine...my eye still feels like a rock on most days, but it's also very sore and like I have something burning the inner corner. I am sensitive to bright light, and if I cover my left eye I can see that my right eye seems to be less clear overall. Everything seems darker, colors aren't as bright, and I can barely see any detail in my eye right. My left eye seems fine, and I can see clear. I was told to use eye drops daily. I have been for over a year. The only ones that work and didn't aggravate my eyes are the Systane gel drops. However, even they do not seem to be working anymore. At this point I am very scared, and I am trying to find an ophthalmologist under my insurance. I figure a real MD might know more. Anyone ever experience this or something similar. I feel like my vision has gotten so much worse in just a year, and the thought of it getting even worse so fast is horrifying.
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I was prescribe gabapentin and on day one I has blurred vision and felt like someone was sitting on my chest it was hard to breath I gelt winded and anxious now day three and its getting worse I had my pulse and oxygen level checked it was 97 pulse and 10 oxygen level this time I was feeling tremors, winded, heaviness to my chest, blurred vision, extremely dizzy (I actually feel), numbness and tingling in my hands and feet...
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I have had this condition for 4 weeks and am becoming depressed.
It started on the second day of my Cruise holiday. But on reflection I now realize that there were some signs leading up to it. Firstly I had several headaches which is unusual for me.. I also had an ache in my jaw which I thought was Neuralgia. I asked my sister to check my ear for a spot as my ear was getting painful. I had a watery eye and one nostril was runny. I passed a weird motion on the flight out which was the color of a new born babies first pooh.! Several day after diagnosis I passed several little lots of blood from my back passage preceded by back pain.
I recently started using an electric toothbrush and caused a small abrasion on my lower gum whilst brushing between my teeth. I can't help thinking that there is some connection as the symptoms started soon after.
I have had the usual steroids and also been treated for an ulceration on the cornea caused by rubbing of the eye before the paralysis came on.the ships doctor did everything expected of her. Once home I saw my own doctor who says to keep using the eye drops and an ointment at night with tape to keep the eye closed. The tape comes off all the time so given up on that as just wakes me up at night.
After 4 weeks and very little improvement I am getting scared that it may be permanent and find it difficult to face people and frustrated at not being able drive due to blurred and reduced vision.
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Was diagnosed with pmr a year ago by my family doctor, was put on 15mg prednisone and my entire life changed, the pain was gone and my quality of life restored. Was sent to a rheumatologist to confirm diagnosis and was Told there was nothing wrong with me and to discontinue prednisone. My gp agreed to keep me on it. Here's the problem, my gp now wants me to taper down to 5mg. About the same time as the pmr diagnosis I also started having problems with my eyes, blurred and double vision, this condition has gotten quite bad and I'm really struggling with my vision. I have been checked out by eye specialist and mri and told nothing is wrong. I'm at the end of my rope and just don't know what to do. The tapering of the prednisone is not going well as the pain is all coming back again, and I just can't
keep going through this. I feel like the doctors don't believe me and have nowhere to turn. I know that I can not go back to living a life of existence only. Is there anyone out there that can help me?
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