One of the things I remember the most was not only how much it hurt, but how tired and run down I felt. Just awful. And then there’s the itch too. Not fun at all.

Treating shingles (herpes zoster) pain is hard because it’s nerve pain (neuropathic pain), the toughest there is to treat. Some doctors prescribe gabapentin, which has some success in treating nerve pain, but it doesn’t help everyone. I remember that not much helped me. But researchers have published a study in the journal Pain , that has found that oxycodone is effective in helping relieve shingles pain.

The researchers looked at 87 people who had shingles, half of whom tookk oxycodone and the other half a placebo, a sugar pill. More than half of the patients who took oxycodone reported at least a 30% improvement over their pain level.

Managing pain in shingles is important because many who have shingles go on to have a complication called postherpetic neuralgia. This is a condition where the pain continues along the shingles line, long after the lesions have healed. For some people, it’s mildly painful, for others, it’s excruciating.

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Post from: Blisstree

Oxycodone for shingles pain?

I’ve been fairly stressed out this week.

The state of the American economy, the housing market, health insurance (or lack thereof), my yet-to-be paid off student loans – in other words, money (or again, lack thereof) – all have me freaking out just a bit about my future and my country’s future.

I didn’t used to worry about things like this. Of course, I don’t remember a time in my life when things ever seemed this bad.

Anyone else feeling the stress? Have some suggestions for mellowing out? I’d love to hear them.

In the meantime, let’s check out what’s going on in the world of mental health.

This week at Mental Health Notes, I told you about National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month and our blogging event to raise awareness, as well as shared my two spins on the second and ninth steps. I also pointed you in the direction of an article about pharmacists’ secrets, told you where you could get free, condensed summaries of health books, asked you what you thought of electronic medical records in light of Practice Fusion’s new program, and shared a funny.

Regarding mental health advocacy, the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) has made it easy for us to urge Congress to get moving on Mental Health Parity, the Consumers Union shared the story of Kim, a lady who struggled to get health insurance because she dared to use the mental health coverage her former policy offered, and Mental Health American released its Fall 2008 issue of The Bell.

In the world of mental health news, Ireland campaigners believe their government is seriously lacking resources for suicide prevention strategies, researchers claim pregnant women who experience even moderate amounts of stress are putting their babies at risk for lowered intellectual development, more teens are putting their brain development at risk with a rise in oxycodone and hydrocodone abuse, and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) is developing self-guided, computer-based depression treatment.

Here at b5media’s Health & Wellness Channel, many of my fellow bloggers participated in our little event for National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Check out b5Media Salutes National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month to check out what they had to say!

Enjoy your Saturday (and if it’s anything like mine, i.e. rainy beyond belief, you’ll appreciate all the reading material).

Image: SXC

Post from: Blisstree

Saturday Sanity: Stress Abounds