Did you get shingles or other side effects from getting the shingle vaccine?

[StarGirl11]

In general it’s always always better to get vaccinated if you can. You would rather have the protection and be able to prevent accidentally exposing others unknowingly then catch a vaccine preventable disease. I’ve heard what it’s like from a friend to have shingles. It ain’t pleasant.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I had the old shingles shot after getting shingles several times over a 1.5 year period while I was in an immunity compromised state. All but one case of the shingles was doable.
One case was Horrendous as I got the entire nerve issue from head to foot on the one side. . I felt like I was being burned alive. It was horrific and took me many long mos to recover. Blessedly no long term effects. When I was finally well/ strong enough to handle the shot I got it.

Starting late last winter I was told to get the New, non live 2 dose vaccine. It was finally available and I got the first dose in July. My arm was in pain, very very sore .. as though someone punched it ( achy and oh sooo sore and hard to move) for just short of 4 whole days. could it be related to loss of lymph nodes? No idea, but I called and was told some have Much more achy/sore at injection site. My arm felt warm, raised red At the injection site, till the third day. It then all disappeared like I had no shot!

But... I’d do it again.. and plan to get 2nd shot at the follow up time per recommendation.
My hubby got the new shot , nothing, just nothing! No issues at all, said felt like he got a shot.

My worst Shingles experience was comparable to my second chemo dose, Ugh.. but necessary.
I say get the Shingles Shot, avoid Shingles if ur able too.

 

[Nora03]

Ronandannette, I’m in Manitoba, and a senior, and our government doesn’t cover the vaccine, and our insurance company doesn’t either. So I had to pay the whole amount of $360 for the two doses of the Shingrix vaccine last year.

 

[sjrec]

Quick question, if you don't mind - does OHIP cover that for you? Alberta Heath Care doesn't and my private insurance has also declined the new vaccine. It's over $500 for the two doses which I'm choking on but will likely go ahead because contracting shingles is an irrational fear of mine.

I’m sorry you will need to pay 500.00 for the vaccine-but getting shingles can be devastating. After 10 years my brother in law still has debilitating pain from his bout with shingles. It’s well worth the money-we paid 40.00 out of pocket for each dose, but I gladly would have paid 500.00! The good news is this vaccine is considered highly effective-much more than the previous single shot.

 

[anniemae]

How old do you have to be to get the shot? It used to be 60. I am wondering if they lowered the age to 50.

 

[HadesFan]

I got the old shot because I had a relatively mild case of shingles, and my doctor said I could get it again. The shot hurt the moment she put the needle in my arm. I had every side effect listed. My head hurt so badly that I went to the ER for a CT scan because I honestly thought I was having an aneurysm. Then, I find out it's only 50% effective. My last physical, my doctor wanted me to get the new shot. No, thank you.

 

[ronandannette]

Ronandannette, I’m in Manitoba, and a senior, and our government doesn’t cover the vaccine, and our insurance company doesn’t either. So I had to pay the whole amount of $360 for the two doses of the Shingrix vaccine last year.

Hmmm, $360 eh...my pharmacy quoted higher than that but I don't know if the price varies place-to-place. Did you get it at a national chain like Shoppers, Wal-Mart or Superstore? I may call around to get it priced.

How old do you have to be to get the shot? It used to be 60. I am wondering if they lowered the age to 50.

I don't think there's any regulation preventing it from being prescribed sooner but my GP wouldn't write it for me until I recently turned 50.

I find that odd since a) the shot basically has to be paid OOP here so doesn't re-direct public resources and b) literally everybody I know that has had shingles contracted their first bout before they were 50. I even know a teenager that had a rather nasty case.

 

[Nora03]

I got it from Safeway.

 

[stout]

I have real-time experience with this! I had an onset of optic nerve shingles in June...while on vacation. Needed two rounds of antivirals to kick it. I am 41. I had a prior, mild case of shingles 6 years ago on my abdomen. My doctor wrote a prescription for Shingrex in July and he tried to get my insurance to cover it as medically necessary, but no luck. My insurance will only cover it for 50+, regardless of necessity. That being said, I am still planning to get the first dose later this month and pay the $225 for each of the two doses, as I will do anything to avoid the painful 6 weeks I just experienced! Nothing like being in so much pain that you just want to sleep forever, but you are afraid to close your eyes to do so because you are afraid that when you wake up, you may not be able to see out of that eye. Thank goodness I made it through with now just an occasional headache, but shingles is no joke...get the shot if you can!

 

[anniemae]

I have real-time experience with this! I had an onset of optic nerve shingles in June...while on vacation. Needed two rounds of antivirals to kick it. I am 41. I had a prior, mild case of shingles 6 years ago on my abdomen. My doctor wrote a prescription for Shingrex in July and he tried to get my insurance to cover it as medically necessary, but no luck. My insurance will only cover it for 50+, regardless of necessity. That being said, I am still planning to get the first dose later this month and pay the $225 for each of the two doses, as I will do anything to avoid the painful 6 weeks I just experienced! Nothing like being in so much pain that you just want to sleep forever, but you are afraid to close your eyes to do so because you are afraid that when you wake up, you may not be able to see out of that eye. Thank goodness I made it through with now just an occasional headache, but shingles is no joke...get the shot if you can!

Good luck, I hope you get the shot soon for peace of mind! I had heard it varies by state as to the age they will administer it to you. Some states will not give anyone under 60 the shot. Legally the simply won't do it. Some states will give it at 50 but you need a dr. prescription. That may have changed, but it used to be that way.

 

[ronandannette]

Good luck, I hope you get the shot soon for peace of mind! I had heard it varies by state as to the age they will administer it to you. Some states will not give anyone under 60 the shot. Legally the simply won't do it. Some states will give it at 50 but you need a dr. prescription. That may have changed, but it used to be that way.

These age restrictions are simply baffling. Can any of our DIS community medical professionals give us some insight into why?

 

[DisneyOma]

In general it’s always always better to get vaccinated if you can. You would rather have the protection and be able to prevent accidentally exposing others unknowingly then catch a vaccine preventable disease. I’ve heard what it’s like from a friend to have shingles. It ain’t pleasant.

Except that for shingles, it's very hard to actually catch them from someone who has them (and you'd be catching chicken pox, not shingles) so the vaccine is really only going to benefit the person who gets the shots. There's no herd protection for shingles. It's just the dormant chicken pox virus flaring up. Other vaccines, for more communicable diseases? Definitely helps out the person and the community.

 

[Ellie008]

I was told I'm too young to get the vaccine yet. I have had shingles once already though. It was horrible. I will get vaccinated once they let me.

 

[Shellsbutt]

I was told I'm too young to get the vaccine yet. I have had shingles once already though. It was horrible. I will get vaccinated once they let me.

Yeah, I don't get this age restriction they have. Especially if you've already had shingles, you'd think they would make an exception! It doesn't make sense.

 

[Jeannie]

DH and I, mid 50s, both got the 2 shots last year. Vaccine 1, no problem, vaccine 2, felt like I was run over by a truck! Luckily, that only lasted about a day and a half. Did not need a prescription, and it was covered 100% by insurance here in NJ.
https://www.cdc.gov/shingles/fact-sheets/shingles-factsheet-adults.html

 

[bdcp]

I got the shringrix shots this year. With the first one, I had a huge hot red spot on my arm that actually stayed darker than my skin for a couple of weeks. With both I had low grade fever, chills, aches and exhaustion in the first 24 hours. More than worth it as I know several people who have had shingles including my parents and my now 35 yr old son when he was a senior in college (21 yrs old then). Fortunately, none of the cases were severe. I do know a woman who had to retire because of them because hers were severe. DH got his shots last year as did his 86 yr old mother. Neither had reactions. Weird, because I'm the one who usually has no reaction and can take pretty much any medication without side effects. I've told my son to push it with his doctor since he's already had them, but so far he hasn't asked.

Ours were also 100% covered by insurance and didn't need a prescription. Just walked into Harris Teeter and asked for it and since I'm 59, no questions asked.

 

[loves to dive]

I had shingles about 5 or 6 years ago, I was over 50 but just barely. It was a relatively mild case, rash under the skin on one thigh but the pain was pretty bad. By the time I went to the doctor for it, they really couldn't do anything but give me something to manage the pain, which didn't work. I ended up taking large doses of Advil, rubbing over the counter lidocaine on it. I think I was out of work for maybe two full days and couple half days. My doctor said it wouldn't hurt to have the shot but after much research, I decided it might not help either so I haven't had one. Disclaimer, I normally have mild cases of just about anything instead of raging severe issues, unless it's a bug bite or exposure to the sun, those will knock my down for a week or so. I had measles as a child and had two spots, on the leg I got shingles on. My mother, had a horrible case of it, big horrible rash on her upper body, pain that lasted at least 6 months, but she had Lupus so I'm sure that contributed. I don't react well to vaccines so I'm just rolling the dice.

 

[kirstenb1]

I have real-time experience with this! I had an onset of optic nerve shingles in June...while on vacation. Needed two rounds of antivirals to kick it. I am 41. I had a prior, mild case of shingles 6 years ago on my abdomen. My doctor wrote a prescription for Shingrex in July and he tried to get my insurance to cover it as medically necessary, but no luck. My insurance will only cover it for 50+, regardless of necessity. That being said, I am still planning to get the first dose later this month and pay the $225 for each of the two doses, as I will do anything to avoid the painful 6 weeks I just experienced! Nothing like being in so much pain that you just want to sleep forever, but you are afraid to close your eyes to do so because you are afraid that when you wake up, you may not be able to see out of that eye. Thank goodness I made it through with now just an occasional headache, but shingles is no joke...get the shot if you can!

Very accurate description of my experience with shingles in my optic nerve. The pain and fatigue were just crushing. I had $300 prescription eyedrops to help preserve my vision. I now have post shingles nerve pain. Medicine helps with it somewhat, but the pain is always there. I'm hoping that will go away at some point. I know someone here who had to have a cornea transplant because the scarring was so bad, she was blind in that eye. I agree about the cash payment for the vaccine. I'm 53, and my doctors office warned me that insurance might not cover it. I told them I'd literally pay whatever it cost out of pocket. The pain was so bad I wanted to drive myself off a cliff.

 

[bdcp]

I had shingles about 5 or 6 years ago, I was over 50 but just barely. It was a relatively mild case, rash under the skin on one thigh but the pain was pretty bad. By the time I went to the doctor for it, they really couldn't do anything but give me something to manage the pain, which didn't work. I ended up taking large doses of Advil, rubbing over the counter lidocaine on it. I think I was out of work for maybe two full days and couple half days. My doctor said it wouldn't hurt to have the shot but after much research, I decided it might not help either so I haven't had one. Disclaimer, I normally have mild cases of just about anything instead of raging severe issues, unless it's a bug bite or exposure to the sun, those will knock my down for a week or so. I had measles as a child and had two spots, on the leg I got shingles on. My mother, had a horrible case of it, big horrible rash on her upper body, pain that lasted at least 6 months, but she had Lupus so I'm sure that contributed. I don't react well to vaccines so I'm just rolling the dice.

What did you find in research? Everything I've found says the shot is over 90% effective and has a few side effects. I'm very, very healthy, rarely get sick and when I do, it's mild and I wasn't going to risk getting shingles. You'd think, since you've had them you'd get the shot. What did you read that said it wouldn't help?

 

[Patience]

I received the newer vaccine last year at 51. The first shot made my arm really sore but no other symptoms. The second shot also made my arm really sore (more sore than the first shot) but I also had a super large red swollen spot at the injection site. The spot was larger than the palm of my hand. The pain and swelling lasted for a week.