Hi Laura! I often think of you and my other transplant buddies, too!
I'm doing much better with the shingles pain. I weaned myself off the tramadol in Paris at the beginning of March, then off the paracetemol & naproxen shortly after. About a week ago my GP gave me the go-ahead to try stopping the Amitriptalyne, and even though I did a super short taper down (4 days instead of 3 weeks), I had zero withdrawal and the low level pains didn't increase. She said in a few weeks I could try a looooong taper off the Gabapentin then, too, leaving me with just the lidocaine patches, which I really like, and are no bother at all.
I'm SUPER happy to be off the Amitriptalyne, though, because it was preventing me from drinking (not usually a big deal but it was just my birthday and we're going to the States for a week now) and preventing me from training hard (because of a slight risk of increased heart strain when combined with my daily antibiotic, Azithromycin). So I'd spent most of March running slow and long and getting my mileage and routines back up again, and now I can add my tempo and hills sessions back in the mix so I'm much happier.
Having lost 8-10 weeks of training, I'm no longer aiming for a Boston marathon qualifying time in Copenhagen (it sound hardcore but it'd only mean shaving 8min from my Amsterdam time now I'm an old lady
), but I'm just going to get out there and enjoy myself and enjoy the race and the city. I got my London 2014 qualifying time in Amsterdam and that was what I really wanted so anything else is just extra. A few friends from my running group are also going, and I've met one of the Danish runners, too, now so I'm really feeling positive about this marathon and at least being able to put in a good showing.
Thanks for checking in, and I hope things improve for you soon, too.
melissa