Hi. My mother had a terrible case of shingles. She was hospitalized and had post hermetic neuralgia. She was on neurontin for over a year. She also had fear that the pain would never go away. It did though, and she has been fine for many years. It is not easy to cope with severe chronic pain. And whether it is 100% TMS, nerve damage, neuropathways conditioned for pain, some combination of both, there are some things to try that can help. Believe me, I know how hard it is to be trapped in a body that is screaming in pain. The pain calls us to action and it does not let our mind or body truly relax. This constant focus on the pain just fuels the flame and it can be an extremely difficult cycle to break. So, to begin with, anything you can do to get your mind focused on something other than the pain. I don’t say that lightly because I know how hard it is. I used to play a game that was all about getting train engines onto tracks and it took so much focus that I could not play the game and think about the pain at the same time. I broke certain habits such as googling symptoms, and i did my very best to stop monitoring the pain. For instance, my first thought every morning was assessing my pain levels and feeling disappointed that I was still in pain. It’s almost as though I predetermined I would feel that level of pain for the rest of the day. So I made myself stop doing that, I stopped describing my pain to my husband all the time. I tried to remember things I used to enjoy when I was not in so much pain and I forced myself to do them again. And then at some point I realized that I was enjoying my life even with all the pain. I remember surprising myself thinking that I could find a way to survive and enjoy my life even if the pain never went away. Journaling is also an excellent way to take the edge off the angst and frustration of being in pain. I once had a severe pain in my left chest. I went to the doctor and she gave me some muscle relaxer that made me feel sick. It lasted about a week and I remember how awful it was. I hope you get some relief. Look for ways to make it just a little less.