Anyone else have irritated nerves??

I have been in very intense burning pain for 9 days. It started in my lower back/left side area. Healing....so you move on. Well the pain has come around the left side to by my belly button. The whole side just burns like fire. The doc at the er said its the nerves being irritated and that's why it hurts so much. How long will it be like this??? I feel like I am going nuts!! If clothes rub against the skin or the water in the shower hits it it burns even more!! I take my pain meds and muscle relaxer but it does very minimal to help. Would a nerve pill help like they give people with nerve damage???

I hate to scare - but it sounds like shingles pain.. 

I thought the same thing.  That's how shingles feels.  I would check with the doctor, if it isn't shingles, there are pain killers for nerve pain that might help better than what you have at home.

Would there be any other signs?? The burning is the only thing I have. Otherwise I feel fine!

typically - you may also see blisters... google shingles images.. 

Jus****ch that area... if you see blisters develop you have only 48hrs to start taking the antiviral.. for them to work. So if you see skin lesions - go to near urgent care and don't wait till Monday..

How long would you have the burning sensation before the skin would change?? I have been dealing with it for 9 days now.

Hi radze09,

I know exactly what you are talking about, I experienced the same thing.

I had excruciating pain shooting through my right thigh - started around my butt and came around and goes about 3/4 of the way down the front and side of my thigh. The pain started a couple of days after surgery - I ended up going to the hospital for fear of clotting. They sent me home eventually stating that it was nerve damage from surgery. Two days later it was even worse - I went back! The doctor I had that time was more thorough and explained exactly what was happening. 

The pain is excruciating. Shooting, stabbing and burning sensations. If I moved the wrong way, it was torture. The sharp burning and shooting pain is now gone, however, I have a constant dull pain in the entire area. If I lean on it the wrong way it hurts so much! I am almost 7 months out and there is no end in sight.

They put me on lyrica (a pill for nerve issues) for a while and that stopped it from being excruciating eventually.

They say the damage was caused in surgery as they lean, pull, poke and prod you, and because you are "under" you aren't able to let them know when it is being damaged or hurts.

Good luck! :)

Well I feel better! Someone else knows what I am going through. I think the pill would help. Day after day pain pain pain. It didn't come on till I was exactly two weeks out from surgery. It is hard to stay active and do what you're supposed to when you feel like you're short of breath and might pass out cause the pain is so intense. Up to this point I was doing everything around the house, walking on the treadmill, grocery shopping, etc.... Now I am glad to do dishes maybe a load of laundry or picking things up around house. When I do it takes all of my energy to do it.

One out of three get shingles . Sure sounds like the symptoms . I hope not

Unfortunately, no one can tell you how long it will last (even your physician).  Even though you have had the pain for 9 days already, it can apparently sometimes take a couple of weeks for the skin symptoms of shingles to appear. If you start to feel any flu-like symptoms, though, even without any blistering or rash, get to the doctor right away because that is the third piece of the shingles symptom triad and may appear before the skin issues.

If it is nerve damage from surgery, something like Lyrica might be helpful, as might some other types of medication such as "off label" use of the tricyclics anti-depressants (e.g., amitriptyline) and/or something like gabapentin/Neurontin.  Muscle relaxers and pain pills aren't likely to help much, though.

Get in to see your doctor as soon as possible.

Lora