What was your shingles (infection) experience and does the vaccine work?

I’ve not had shingles, but I did get the vaccine. According to the information I got from Kaiser, the vaccine is only 60% effective but it still seems worth it. It’s just an injection with no aftereffects, so by all means get the vaccine, unless you have one of the counterindications.

I had a client get shingles this past winter. She’s in her 80’s in good health. It almost killed her. She didn’t get the vaccine.

I haven’t had the vaccine but I did have shingles. Get the vaccine. According to my physician, even if you get shingles after having the vaccine, the symptoms are significantly less severe.
The case I had was caught fairly early, but still very painful. The treatment involved weeks of anti-viral drugs and steroids. Another affect of the shingles was crippling fatigue that lasted almost six months.

Yeah, get the shot.

My grandmother had shingles (no vaccine). It was devastating and ended up putting her on a downward spiral that landed her in a nursing home and eventually killing her (not from the shingles directly, but it’s what took her from being a feisty, independent, self-reliant, woman to being bedridden and on cancer-level pain patches).

Get the shot. I’m planning on getting it when I hit the recommended age.

I was diagnosed with shingles at the age of 20. I had 3–4 outbreaks every year for many years, then 1–2 outbreaks per year when my doctor prescribed Valtrex. I’m 43 now and I’ve been lucky to not have an outbreak for a year. I’m surprised because I haven’t been taking Valtrex and I’ve been very stressed. (I should find some wood to knock on.)

My outbreaks were very painful and the itching was intense. I have not had the vaccine.

I got shingles at 49. It was uncomfortable, but not that bad (felt like a nettle rash, but the skin looked fine). I waited too long to get treatment (an antiviral) and now I have some minor permanent nerve damage (numbness).

@jonsblond My doctor told me that since I had had shingles, I couldn’t get it again. ?

I had them once, right after I got out of the hospital in 2012. They wrapped around my upper torso and under my boobs. Some people say it’s excruciating, but I’d call it uncomfortable, with occasional, sudden stabs of searing pain! I guess the vaccine works. I haven’t had it since.

@syz That doesn’t sound right. Ask Osoraro (Rare Bear)

@syz : Two different doctors (one mine and one a personal friend) told me that if you have had it you are more prone to a recurrence, and suggested I get the vaccine as soon as I am eligible.

The internet would seem to support that what my doctor told me was incorrect.

Well, @syz, that’s discouraging! :-/

@syz I don’t know how I got so lucky. Just about every disease I’ve been diagnosed with I’m in the small group of those who suffer with repeat occurrences or rare forms of the disease. It’s rare for anyone under the age of 50 to get shingles and it’s not common to get repeat outbreaks from what I’ve read, but it does happens. I also suffer from ocular migraine (a rare migraine variant) and I’m one of the few people who has had complications from histoplasmosis. yay me

@jonsblond: You’re just such a special person! Lucky you…..

You going to get a new doctor, @syz?

@syz My mom had shingles many, many times.

Shingles is extremely itchy for me, the first episode was the worst, the itch was incredible. I started in my early 20’s and have probably had 10–15 outbreaks in the last 20 years. Two years ago I had three in one year, and hadn’t had one in almost 5 years at that time.

I don’t remember the stats on the efficacy of the vaccine. They aren’t spectacular, but I think they estimate over 50%. you can look it up if you research the vaccine. I chose not to get it. It would be interesting to know if someone with frequent outbreaks stopped getting them after the vaccine, I have never seen that information.

I think caffeine aggravates mine. I also think antibiotics help me. I know it is viral and does not respond to antibiotics, but sometimes I have some post herpetic tingle, or go through a period of feeling like I am getting an outbreak all the time. Like one day I think I am, and then for a few weeks I am ok, and then again I think I might be, etc. Then if I take Augmentin it’s like it clears any superinfection or something so the area is not aggravated. It’s how it feels to me, I realize no doctor would agree. I never take an antibiotic on purpose for shingles, but when I have taken them I just have observed this Phenomenum.

Valtrex works pretty well for me when an outbreak really flares up. I don’t always get the drug though. If a doctor is going to make me come to the office I just suffer through it.

I got the vaccine and a year later I got shingles anyway. Doc said I was lucky to have gotten the vaccine or it would have been much worse. It was excruciating anyway and this was a very mild case. My arm kept telling me “I’m broken! Go to the hospital! The bone in here is broken!” but in wasn’t the bone, it was the nerves yelling at me because they were what was messed up. I couldn’t sleep for weeks because the pain was so bad. I took all the meds I could get – antiviral and a lot of Prednisone. Lots of anti-itch stuff on the skin. The best of these – and it was great – was spray-on Benadryl. Because I couldn’t sleep, I read the complete works of A.S. Byatt, a great distraction.

@susanc “the doctor said I was lucky to have gotten the vaccine or…” Sounds just like a doctor. Now I’m not so sure I want the vaccine.
It must cost a fortune or how else can they afford to advertise it on tv so much?

Well, mine wasn’t much and they administered it at the pharmacy, but I have insurance. Do you have insurance?

@Aster I kind of trust my doctor, though I see your point. I’m old and on Medicare so it cost me nothing. When you get old, it will cost you nothing too.

@syz I just noticed what you said about your doctor saying you can’t get it again. I hope you just misunderstood him and he isn’t that much of an idiot. I hate knowing how ignorant doctors can be it raises my anxiety level.

I called my local pharmacy about the cost of the vaccine and if you are under 60 years old, your insurance won’t pay. The cost then would be 230.00. If you are over 60, your insurance will pay. I’m not sure if you will owe a co-pay or if the insurance pays in full.

If you don’t have insurance the cost of the meds can be between $600—$900. It’s worth it to pay for the shot if you can.

@chyna I wonder if insurance has loopholes for people who have documented cases before age 60?

I was told by one person at a doctor’s office that my colonscopy wasn’t going to ge covered, because I wasn’t 50, which made me pretty aggravated. She didn’t aggravate me, I mean if that actually was true that it wouldn’t be covered. She was wrong.

@canidmajor That sounds high. It’s not a cheap med, but I don’t think it is that expensive. There is a generic now. I would guess it’s more like $200—$300. If you take the older med zovirax it’s probably less than $100.

Well, it was 5 years ago, and that’s what it cost. Maybe it’s lower now, I don’t know. I don’t remember the brand.

I don’t get it. I’m under 60. Seems like I paid $15.00 or so. I would NOT have paid more than $50, if even that, out of pocket.

@canidmajor Did you take it for a long time? 42 pills costs more than 20 obviously.

The vaccine is a one time shot, not pills. Well, there are pills for when you have an actual outbreak, but my insurance paid for most of them.