hello concerned patient.Thank you for writing into HCM I have read your query and understand you have suffered from shingles and in the recovery phase. Shingles is caused by a reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus(also causes chicken pox).The pain of Post herpetic neuralgia, which occurs in the same area as the pain and rash of shingles, results from damage to nerve fibers during the shingles infection and i understand the pain can be severe,burning and agonising Here i would give you some suggestions,which can relieve the discomfort and pain to an extent. please understand post herpetic neuralgia will last around 3months minimum and might extend to 12-15months in some rare cases. Coming to my suggestions, continue the antiviral meds as prescribed by your doctor -try to wear loose clothes - drugs like amityptilline 10mg can be used at night and tablet pregabalin can be used twice daily for a month or two upon prescription and then based on further review and lab tests. Both these are proven effective to many patients in clinic with PHN to ease the pain a lot. then i will advise you topical treatments. There are two main types of topical treatment used for post-herpetic neuralgia – capsaicin cream and lidocaine plasters. when applying capsaicin just apply a pea sized amount and application can be done three to four times a day(sometimes a burning can occur,if so stop it and also dont use on broken skin) lidocaine plaster is stuck over the area of painful skin and the local anaesthetic is absorbed into the skin that is covered. stronger medications for like oxycodone can be used upon prescription by your treating doc Hope all this helps and may it help to tide over your agonizing phase soon.take care and good day