Hello All,
I recently had a conversation with a long-time Nurse Practitioner.
He suggested having a herpes immunization shot due to the chronic stress of ATN/TN.
He said chronic pain stress can result in the development of herpes zoster,
especially in older people. I'm 62.
Anyone know anything about this'
SFBill
Herpes Zoster is the virus left in the nervous system by a case of chicken pox. When it becomes active again at later times after Chicken Pox has cleared up, it causes Shingles with the characteristic painful, flaming red rash, and sometimes post-herpetic neuralgia pain. As far as I know, PHN can cause chronic, long-lasting pain in some people, but not the other way around. For authoritative information prepared specifically for questions such as yours, Bill, see the US National Library of Medicine article at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001861/
Regards and best,
Red
Thanks Red
Very helpful article.
SFBill
Hi, SFBill,
I’m not sure about what was suggested to you. Every time I pick up my meds I see the “Shingles Vaccine Shot Here” sign and I laugh my posterior off. My TN originated from Shingles. And let me tell you friend, TN is awful but Shingles comes in a hare’s whisker behind it.
I can say that my TN bloomed out of a rosy pairing of Shingles to PHN. I was diagnosed with Shingles on 06/19/11 which went into PHN on 07/06/11 which went into TN on 08/10/11. These are just diagnoses dates but you can see how quickly one went into the other. Now mind you, I’m new at this whole crummy thing. I thought Shingles was painful enough but when the PHN started I thought I was going to lose my mind. I was raised in the ‘stiff upper lip’ fashion and rarely have cried in public like I did that day in the emergency room curled up in a ball. Then after taking Gabapentin and Lyrica the pain in my arm gradually went away. The pain in the ear though, and the side of my face has not. Hence, the TN diagnosis.
Sorry for the gabbiness. I say all that to say, I would seriously look into the Shingles Vaccine and see if it is right for you after consulting with your doctor. I myself don’t believe in most Vaccinations but had I known about it before my experience, I would have told them to pick a an arm and fire away! Shingles bites man!
Best Regards,
RH
Hi SF Bill,
There is a wonderful Dr. in Arlington TX that has a protocol for treating TN patients. He says that TN is in the family of virus's like the shingles and travels in our DNA, therefore it can be genetically hereditary which in my case TN is very hereditary. I think is protocol is very logical. His name is Dr. Sprinkle and he is located at Pride Dental in Arlington. He has a web site for his Dental office also. I went and met with him and he really seemed very intelligent and knew what he was talking and very sincere. I haven't been able to follow is protocol are to take the medicine that he prescribes unfortunately. (The medicine made me very, sick, nauseous). But, again he has studied this theory with other Dr.s and as patients that have been treated and cured. Just thought I might mention this to you.
Thank you Linda and Rockhopper.
The info is appreciated . I'm going to present it to my Doc..Hopefully this Discussion will continue.
SFBill
Linda, if I may ask, what medicine and dose did this dentist prescribe?
And FYI: it's easy at times to get one's terminology mixed up, so let's be careful not to. Trigeminal Neuralgia is not caused by viruses. But Trigeminal Nerve pain can be caused by Post Herpetic Neuralgia that co-occurs in some cases of Shingles.
Regards, Red
This is “his theory”. It was a study conducted by a Dr. Omaru and is a combination of different over the counter medications such as cilantro, folic acid and fish oil some reflexology is also included in the protocol. In your suggestion of getting terminology mixed up, I wasn’t aware it was a proven fact that TN couldn’t be caused by a virus. I would like to know what exactly does cause the brain to drop at one point and then the blood vessel to start touching a nerve. Dr. Sprinkle is also a Dr. of Pain Management and Dentistry.
Richard A. “Red” Lawhern said:
Linda, if I may ask, what medicine and dose did this dentist prescribe?
And FYI: it's easy at times to get one's terminology mixed up, so let's be careful not to. Trigeminal Neuralgia is not caused by viruses. But Trigeminal Nerve pain can be caused by Post Herpetic Neuralgia that co-occurs in some cases of Shingles.
Regards, Red
Actually, the brain does not drop. Particular blood vessels can "sag" with age, just as varicose veins develop with age. I don't believe medical science has fully defined the processes that cause such changes.
Please note a distinction: I didn't say that TN "can't" be caused by a virus. I said that "TN isn't caused by a virus" -- meaning that the primary mechanisms are not virus related so far as mainstream medicine knows. Obviously, Post Herpetic Neuralgia in the trigeminal system is caused by a virus -- Herpes Zoster -- associated with Shingles. The two are discrete disorders that are treated by somewhat different means. In the absence of active Herpes Zoster virus in the bloodstream, most neurologists would not treat a patient with face pain by means of an anti-viral med. But both PHN and TN respond positively to Neurontin (Gabapentin).
Regards, Red
I do understand what you are saying. My Neurosurgeon explained to me before my MVD surgery that for some reason of age, nature, perhaps as the result of an accident etc. one's brain tends to shift, sag, are perhaps the blood vessels do in-large and therefor it causes the blood vessel to come into contact with the trigeminal nerve. My neurosurgeon thought it strange that there were a total of 7 of my family members with TN, starting with my Grandmother and most have it on one side are on both. Maybe so, that varicose veins are hereditary. I know you are a Dr. and you understand TN very much more than I do. I do apologies for adding any comment regarding this to SF Bill's post.
Linda
No apology necessary, Linda. And lest I accidentally misrepresent myself, my Ph.D. is in engineering, not medicine. I'm an information miner and technical writer with 15 years of immersion in the literature. But I'm not a "doctor".
Your family history is fascinating -- possibly the largest family cluster of TN patients that I have heard or read about.
Regards, Red