My 97-year-old mom has a shingles outbreak in her arm and the pain is still unbearable after 5 weeks. How long can she go on with this pain in her arm?

I am so sorry for you and your mom and I can't offer any advice, but you and your mom have a prayer coming from me and mine.

My mother also had shingles in her mid eighties and her pain and discomfort were terrible. I did research and found that sometimes Wellbutrin, an anti depressant provides significant relief. It did help her. Also Lyrica helps with neurologic pain. I know how terrilbe it is to see your mom suffer this way........I will pray for you both. My mother's bout with shingles inspired me to get a shingles vaccine.

Cardia, it might sound a little unconventional but when I had shingles - under my breasts and around to my back, I stayed in the bathtub for hours just soaking and it did give me relief from the pain. Obviously with your mom being frail that wouldn't be an option for her but maybe if you are able to keep her arm in water somehow it might help a bit. I'm guessing she is bed-ridden so maybe a little plastic blow up pool or baby bath of some type would allow her to keep her arm soaking and you could keep adding warm water.

I feel so bad for you, I know I couldn't stand it when my mom was suffering with some problems. It's so difficult to see our Mom's in pain. I will pray that your mom gets quick relief from her pain. God Bless!

I think Palliative Care is the best option rather than Hospice for these reason:
Palliative care (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It is focused on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. Palliative care is provided by a team of doctors, nurses, and other specialists who work together with a patient's other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided along with curative treatment. Palliative care relieves the symptoms of these diseases, such as pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite and difficulty sleeping. It helps you gain the strength to carry on with daily life. There are no time restrictions. Palliative care can be received by patients at any time, at any stage of illness whether it be terminal or not. Try to find a Palliative Care program that includes Outpatient treatment most palliative care is for inpatient care.

Hospice:
You must generally be considered to be terminal or within six months of death to be eligible for most hospice programs or to receive hospice benefits from your insurance.

My mother is almost 92 and had shingles on her forehead 5 years ago. Unfortunately it went into the post herpetic nerve pain and it took many different doctors and medications, narcotics & shots for over 2 years to get the pain where she can at least tolerate it. The medications she is now on for this after shingle pain (5 yrs later) is the Fentenyl patch 50 mcg/h replaced every 72 hours, gabapentin 300mg (1 every nite), and Lidocaine 5% Ointment (this is applied directly to the forehead very carefully to numb the area and she is now on an anti-depressant Citalopram. It is very sad to see them go thru all this knowing now that this horrible pain is probably here to stay. But at least she is able to tolerate it a little better now. Hope this helps.

I had shingles pain that affected my forehead and hair earlier this summer. I used Infrared light by Anodyne Therapy. I treated my painful areas for 20 to 30 minutes 2 times per day for about 5 days and obtained remarkable results. I am no longer in pain. I was able to avoid a witch's brew of medications that would have slowly poisoned me. Look into this product called Anodyne Therapy. It is "infrared light" It great for reducing swelling and pain and other things as well. Some PT clinics and in house therapy services us it. Be informed in advance that it is not paid for by most insurance companies. Most insurance providers consider it" Experimental" when in fact it is not. It has been widely used all over the world. Research it on PubMed.gov It has been used more frequently because it is more holistic and non-intrusive. It will not interfere with other medications since it is a vasodilator. That is why it will decease the pain that she is experiencing. A lot of medical professionals will offer to increase her pain medications without trying something less intrusive . With what little quality time you have I would try to keep her quality of life and her mental awareness and her pain at a minimum. Increasing medications may not be the answer. The results I received were very quick and decisive. Check it out before you explore hospice or other venues.

I agree, call in Hospice. When my mom had hospice, they bent over backwards to help her manage her pain. And if you end up with a nurse you don't like, ask for a different one. Not all nurses mesh with every family. Life is too short,( literally for your mom), so find a hospice nurse that you all like. We went through the private sector for hospice too.

I don't have any advise on this one but you and your Mom have a prayer from me. Reading sites and things in the local papers this seems to be happening more. I never saw things about shingles years ago. I had my husband to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and at that time they asked if he would like to get the shingles shot. Currently they are out of the vaccine and wanted to put him on the list to call when they received it. He doesn't want it. I have signed up!

When my mother in law had a breakout of shingles, the pain lasted for several months. FINALLY, the doctor prescribed Nuerontin and that was the only thing that helped. Nuerontin is an anti-seizure medication that was effective for her for the nerve pain associated with shingles. I hope you find a solution for your mom.