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Shingles
My husband has shingles. The blisters are drying out and healing but he is still in pain. He is taking lortab 7.5 every 6-8 hours. If he is still it hurts less, but he is aggitated and wants to get back to work. He has been prescribed methylpred 4mg pak qualitest, which says "use as directed", which he was told to use when he's thru with the lortab. This is an almost 50 yr old man that detests taking meds, even though he is suppose to take Adderal 30mgXR daily that he has taken for several years (which he isn't taking because it clears his head and makes him want to get up and do the things he needs to do...) and he is taking an SSRI, celexa 40mg tab, which he's been on for just a few months (due to the anxiety of being unemployed).
He realizes that moving around doing even the lightest of chores causes the pain to be worse, so he has forced himself to take it easy for these past 2 1/2 weeks. He is aggitated and wants to know when he can expect to get back to doing things. He is trying to remodel an apartment that was destroyed after Katrina, which includes gutting the interior and rewiring and replacing everything, but he doesn't want to make his condition worse. He's afraid if he moves around too much, he'll end up being one of those patients that has the continuous pain, which he doesn't want to experience.
Any suggestions from anyone? He is getting restless. Thanks.
Answer:
Shingles
Unfortunately he did not get to the doctor within 72 hours and the acyclovir that was prescribed really was too late to do any good. He also only takes the lortab when the effects of the last one wears off and he waits until the pain gets bad before taking another pill. Should he take the pill sooner, instead of "tolerating the pain"?