Shingles

Q

QuickSilver

SF VIP
Location
Midwest
Just had my shingles vaccine today.. anyone else get theirs, or are you just going to take your chances and hope you are not the one out of three seniors to suffer with it? It is expensive though.. $225 . Fortunately my group insurance covers it 100% for people over 60.
 

I'm getting one, and I am fortunate because mine is covered as well. I had no issues from the flu shot, and the same lady gives the shingles shot. I do wonder the difference in the shots, or will they act the same, feel the same?
 
So far so good... The shingles shot is subcutaneous... which means it is not injected deep into tha muscle, so there is less pain. I don't feel any soreness in my arm at all. As for the vaccine, it is a live virus that has been weakened.. It's the chicken pox virus.. AKA varicella... as we get older, we lose our antibodies to fight the virus. If we have had chicken pox as a child, the virus is still in us dormant. If it decides to wake up, and we have lost our antibodies.. we get shingles. The Shingles vaccine gives us the chance to update the antibodies so we can fight off shingles.
 

My wife had shingles earlier this year, so we got the vaccine a couple months after she cleared it. The Dr. said even though she had had the shingles, getting the vaccine would lessen the severity should she get the virus again.
 
I haven't gotten one yet and I'm 62. I did have a mild case when I was 53. I get it free at 70, but might just pay for it before then.
 
I probably get it free with my health insurance, but I won't be getting, and I have not had a flu vaccination in many years either. While I respect other's personal choices to be injected with these vaccines, I take a pass. Prefer to just continue to strive for a healthy immune system.
 
Pappy said:
To little, to late for me. I had a bad case of them this last May. Terrible pain for about three weeks. Still have some numbness in affected area.
Drs. Appointment Tuesday and wil ask his opinion on getting the shot now.
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I would guess you'd be immune now as you have built up antibodies from your case.. Because shingles attack along major nerve tracks they can cause what is known as Post herpetic neuralgia.. that can last for several months to years.

Your "healthy immune" system has nothing to do with it Seabreeze.. If you had chickenpox... you still have the virus.. it lives at the base of your spine. When it decides to errupt you get shingles... because your antibodies from the chicken pox are gone... and need to be replenished. The vaccine gives your body a chance to rebuild them.... BUT too each his own as you always say seabreeze.. just keep in mind that Shingles is a very painful debilitating disease that can cause problems for years.. Your choice... your chance.
 
Thanks for your advice QuickSilver, I just weigh the pros and cons of the illness and the vaccines, and go from there. Maybe there'll be a time in the future that I have a change of heart, but for now, I pass on all vaccinations. I had chicken pox and the measles when I was a kid, and didn't die from it. Some say this shingles epidemic wouldn't have even started if they didn't start giving out a chicken pox vaccine to the kids. I don't know. Even if I do get shingles, I'd try to treat it naturally.
 
I got mine because I have seen people with shingles. I had to pay part of the cost but if it saves me from the agony I have seen, it's worth every penny.
 
I got my singles vaccine last year. I had previously had the shingles and it was terrible. I had to pay the cost, but money is no object when it comes to a choice as to whether I ever want that pain again. I didn't think it was over $200.00, maybe $150.00 but I could be wrong I just can't remember.
 
Seabreeze, for most of the old people getting shingles now , chick pox vac wasn't even around when they were kids of ch pox age, so the increase in shingles can't be blamed on the having the vaccine. A lot of apparent increases in incidence of disease can be attributed to increased ability to diagnose cases that might not have been counted before. At least people who don't get the shingles vac aren't risking anyone else but themselves. I got my shingles vac several years ago. I've known people to be so ill with it in its different manifestations including eye damage, that I wouldn't like to risk getting shingles.
 
The chickenpox vaccine started in 1995, and this has been the increase in shingles cases (mercola.com). I absolutely support everyone's right to get the vaccinations and medical treatments of their choice.

The incidence of adult shingles has increased by 90 percent from 1998 to 2003, following the release of the chickenpox vaccine for mass use. Shingles results in three times as many deaths and five times as many hospitalizations as chickenpox, and accounts for 75 percent of all medical costs associated with the varicella zoster virus.[SUP]8[/SUP]
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Bettyann said:
I know people personally, in their late 80's with excellent immune systems... but everyone should do what they feel they should do...
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Again...Shingles is not something you can catch.. You already have the virus is you've had chicken pox.. and it's not about having an exellent immune system... it's about having an OLD immune system.. People in their 80's probably had chicken pox 70 or 75 years ago. The anitbodies are gone. So if the virus decides to become active again, they cannot fight it off. The vaccine gives a little booster shot to encourage the production of more antibodies.. A person with an excellent immune system will immediately begin to produce the varicella antibodies.
 
I got my shot maybe 3 or 4 years ago. A few weeks ago, I saw an ad on TV for getting the shot. It shows this poor many lying down in bed in terrible pain. I guess it can last up to 30 days and in some cases, maybe longer. It may also come back.
 
oldman said:
I got my shot maybe 3 or 4 years ago. A few weeks ago, I saw an ad on TV for getting the shot. It shows this poor many lying down in bed in terrible pain. I guess it can last up to 30 days and in some cases, maybe longer. It may also come back.
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The pain can last long after the lesions are gone. It's called post herpetic neuralgia, as the virus travels along nerve pathways.
 
My grandmother had a lot of pain with her shingles and it lasted many weeks. My dh's uncle recently had it in his eyes but thankfully his sight has not been affected.

I've heard that stress can bring out shingles. At the time I had it I was only 53 and was finding certain elderly clients very stressful to deal with. The doctor I saw said it was very unusual to have it at that age.
 
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