Hi all, I got shingles almost exactly a year ago in my back and chest and have dealt with PHN since (I won't got into all the details, if you're here you're familiar with it). I'm controlling it with Gab (finally down to 1500 mg/day) 4% Lidocaine Aspercreme 3X/day, extra-strength Tylenol 3X/day and a previous prescription NSAID, Nabumetone. I'm slowly having some improvement, so I'm luckier than others.

I too found the article about Ted's and despite being very skeptical, I thought, well it does seem to make sense and it's not invasive or oral. I'll give it a try. However, I waited too long, and they were back-ordered. BUT a friend (smartly) ordered hers immediately. It didn't work for her--her pain is "mechanical" i.e. she's dealing with pain from sciatica and other causes, not chronic nerve pain. I've used it 3 times a day now for the last 3 days after discontinuing the Aspercreme and I believe there is an improvement. The pain has "muted" a bit. As you know, it can vary from day to day, but activities that normally elevate me from a 2 to a 5, went from a 2 to 3 and the pain didn't last.

I also got an update today that the back order (two weeks ago) went from 12 weeks to 6-8 weeks. BTW, if anyone goes to "Patient" and PHN or Shingles, I'm active there too. As NPR says, "Breakthrough pain treatment or snake oil", for me, I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll see at least a definite improvement.

Now I'll continue to explore your forums. I hadn't found this one before, so I'm glad to be here.