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Are there any prescription treatments for shingles?

Shingles, or herpes zoster, is a skin condition caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Common symptoms include pain, burning, or tingling in the face or body, followed by blisters or a rash.

Prescription antiviral medicines don't cure shingles, but they can shorten the duration of symptoms. Examples of antiviral drugs include acyclovir (brand name Zovirax), famciclovir (>Famvir), and valacyclovir (>Valtrex).

If taken within the first 72 hours of symptoms, antiviral medicines may speed healing and relieve pain. These medicines can shorten the time it takes for the rash to heal by 20 to 40 percent. They typically cut the time pain lasts by half.

Doctors prescribe many different kinds of medicines to treat pain associated with shingles. Some will use corticosteroids such as prednisone (>Orasone), a lidocaine patch (>Lidoderm), or oral pain medicines.

For people who continue to feel pain months to years after the shingles rash has disappeared, prescription antidepressants such as amitriptyline (>Elavil), or seizure medicines such as carbamazepine (>Tegretol) and gabapentin (>Neurontin), may help.

Sources:
Habif, T. Clinical Dermatology. Mosby-Year Book Inc., 1996.
Mandel, G.L. Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. Churchill Livingstone, 1995.
The Merck Manual of Medical Information: Home Edition. Merck & Co., 1997.
Micromedex Healthcare Series. Micromedex Inc., 2000.
Wallace, M.S. "Acute Herpes Zoster and Postherpetic Neuralgia," Anesthesiology Clinics of North America 15 (1997).
Comer AM. “Lidocaine patch 5%”, Drugs (2) 2000

This answer prepared 5/17/00.