Shingles, anyone?

[Slinky]

I didn't know you could and should get the shingles vaccine once you've had shingles!!!! Given what I went thru the one "attack" I had I'm going to call my doctor about it Monday!!! First time in my life I was ever given morphine and the minute that morphine hit my IV I was violently gagging and dry heaving!!!!! I was even on a pain patch, Lidocaine I think? for some 3 months before things quieted down enough to go w/no pain control and maybe another month before it was just reduced to the minor, occasional itching. I was really worried that I was going to be "blessed" w/PHN the rest of my life! My family doctor at one point wanted to send me to a Pain Management clinic and I went but when I found out they wanted to do an injection along my spine ..... I had visions of the needle meeting up w/and spreading the virus further (my excuse for my absolute terror of having a needle anywhere near my spine!)

[Mimmie]

My mother developed shingles on her left side/stomach area that went around to her back in May of last year after she had a horrible bleeding ulcer. The stress from the surgery to correct the problem set it off, I guess. We went through the whole gambit of medications to treat it, including patches and even compounded medications. Numerous pain drugs, too many to mention until finally she (and us, the family) couldn't stand the pain that she has been in and demanded to go to the pain management. It was not her doctor that didn't want to do this but Mom. She was horrified of having it done. One week ago off we went. 3 shots in the front and 2 near the spine. We were told that if this doesn't stop the pain then they will have to do surgery to cut the nerve branch at the spine. So far, things are going well. We go back on Thurday for more shots. After this one it will be monthly. She says that she knows that it is still there, but it's much better. She is still taking Tramadol and Lyrica too, though. PHN is NOT a good thing. Mom is 89. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the shots work. I really don't want Mom having surgery for this, but if it's the only way to stop it then we will just have to do it. I hope you feel better soon.

[Slinky]

Whew! I'm so sorry your mom is going thru this!!! NOT FUN! Good luck to her and God bless!!! I just can't imagine her having to suffer this long! Even I, chicken liver that I am, would probably have agreed - eagerly - to the pain management shots before this!!!!

[Country4ever]

Poor Jim.......are you still there?
This is probably like telling horrible labor stories to someone who's 9 months pregnant.
Hopefully, you're getting some useful information among these horror stories. Don't be afraid to use lots of pain medicine.
Good luck to you Jim!

[LSAT]

The vaccine does not prevent you from getting shingles...it just reducers your chances and if you do get it...hopefully ...it will be a milder case. My wife had shingles. She got the shot about 9 months after the shingles disappeared. She got a second outbreak (but very mild) about 6 months after the shot.

[Mimmie]

I wish that I could get the vaccine. Since Mom and 3 of my sisters have all had the shingles, I am shaking in my boots. I am no where near 60 though. I do have a lot of medical problems though, so as some of you have said maybe the drs will help to get it for me. Since Mom is 89, hers was horrible. They say that they older you are then the cases seem to be worse. My sisters outbreaks were much less. I don't think of them as horror stories but information to arm yourself with and possible things that you might have to do to help yourself. The shots are quick and Mom says that they are painless. They don't go in your spine! They work. It stops the pain. You hang in there and chin up, as we told Mom, it will get better. Just don't keep waiting around and letting it wear you down like Mom did. Take contol of it just like the apnea.

[chunkyfrog]

My thought is, that as long as you have 'co-morbidities', that the minimum age requirement is more of a guideline.
I would suggest anyone with any kind of serious chronic health condition should ask their doctor for a prescription or a letter of medical necessity.
Refusal in the presence of additional health problems would put additional liabilities in the lap of the provider.
--doesn't hurt to ask.

[archangle]

Gee, thanks for the scary stories. I'm going to go see if I can get a shot.

I'm in my mid 50's, so I'll see if I get any flak about getting the shot now, or if I'm going to have to lie about it.

Does anyone know any reason I shouldn't get it now?

By the way, I'll throw out my comments again that everyone should consider a pneumonia vaccine. It's pretty cheap ($35 or so), and lasts a number of years. It isn't 100% effective, but should reduce your chance of getting pneumonia.

[Country4ever]

I refuse to get any vaccinations any more. I just don't trust them. Like the Lyme vaccine.......it caused some major problems in many people. But I've never had shingles, so I might decide to have the vaccine if I had.

[purple]

I already had my Shingles. Incredible painful. Not good to have it in my arm pit as well as across chest, inside of upper arm. Someone here should describe the beginning symptoms to everyone here, as it is extremely important to begin treatment as soon as possible. What I remember is a rash that stops exactly in the middle of my chest, as it is neurological as part of how it starts, and not easily catchable from the skin eruptions. It is the same bug which we had as chicken pox as a child and the bug hides out near the spinal column waiting for a weakening in our immune system so it can manifest in a way that Chicken Pox never did. Really painful.

I have been told that the reason for the only available to those sixty and older is that the vaccine has only been tested and safety rated for those sixty and older. Now the FDA cares about consequences, not before Fen-Phen or Vioxx. Half the patients who get Shingles are over 60, meaning the other half is under sixty.

While there is some evidence that I could increase my protection of a future attack if I had the vaccine, no doctor will write a script for it as that is not part of the FDA recommend.

Tramadol, a pain medicine whose action is like an opiate but is not addicting itself, had the surprising side effect of causing me to enjoy music on a level I have never experienced. So I now understand why drugs are such a big draw to musicians and music junkies.

[Slinky]

Shingles are always restricted to one side of the body. Left or right can vary but whichever side it breaks on that is the side it stays on. They can start w/pain or the can start w/itching.

[archangle]

I refuse to get any vaccinations any more. I just don't trust them. Like the Lyme vaccine.......it caused some major problems in many people. But I've never had shingles, so I might decide to have the vaccine if I had.

ANY medication should be viewed with suspicion. Most of them have some side effects and risks. However, if you have diabetes and dangerous levels of blood sugar, you improve your health with insulin use. If you have blood clotting problems, you may need some form of blood thinner. If you have an infection, you should take your antibiotics and FINISH THE DOSE as directed.

People die from not taking the drugs they should.

It wasn't that long ago that lots of people were crippled for life or killed by polio. Smallpox was a real terror. LARGE numbers of people died or were seriously injured by measles, diphtheria, or whooping cough. Vaccines have largely eliminated these diseases in the US.

You and your loved ones live with the benefits of vaccination because a large part of the population gets vaccinated. Unfortunately, the large number of people who don't get vaccines are increasing the risk for all of us and some of these diseases we once "eliminated" are becoming more common, and are leaving a lot of sad parents with dead or crippled kids.

Influenza kills something like 250,000 people a year worldwide. Lots of others get serious complications or large medical bills from influenza. Some people have reactions to the vaccine, but it's a whole lot less than the number of people who have bad reactions to the flu itself.

Even back in 1976, when there was panic over Guillain-Barre syndrome from the swine flu shot, there's little evidence that the rate of GBS was higher with the flu shot than without it. 40 million persons in the US got the vaccine. There were at most 25 deaths in the US, and 500 cases of GBS among those vaccinated. The average rate of US deaths from flu is around 40,000. The 1918 flu pandemic killed off between 3 and 6 percent of the population of the ENTIRE world, far more than WWI.

I'm sorry, but the antivaccination people are just fools and a danger to the rest of the population.

[Slinky]

I agree w/the statistics you present, ArchAngle. BUT - that Argentinean hamburger in the 1970s tasted one h*ll of a lot better than the American ground beef w/all the innoculations and antibiotics our cattle were being innundated with. *sigh* Even today - we have a neighbor who raises range fed beef cattle w/o innoculations and antibiotics and it tastes sooooo good vs store bought beef. *sigh* His was a family who had some type of "genetic tendency" to have severe reactions to one or more of the vaccines, I don't know if I ever knew which one(s), but one of his siblings died and 3 were left w/varying degrees of problems from vaccination and so he was dead set against vaccinations of any kind. So we've always gotten our vaccinations as recommended - but bought and ate his beef!!!

[archangle]

I agree w/the statistics you present, ArchAngle. BUT - that Argentinean hamburger in the 1970s tasted one h*ll of a lot better than the American ground beef w/all the innoculations and antibiotics our cattle were being innundated with. *sigh* Even today - we have a neighbor who raises range fed beef cattle w/o innoculations and antibiotics and it tastes sooooo good vs store bought beef. *sigh* His was a family who had some type of "genetic tendency" to have severe reactions to one or more of the vaccines, I don't know if I ever knew which one(s), but one of his siblings died and 3 were left w/varying degrees of problems from vaccination and so he was dead set against vaccinations of any kind. So we've always gotten our vaccinations as recommended - but bought and ate his beef!!!

I doubt the beef taste has anything to do with vaccinations or antibiotics. Range fed vs. feed lot corn fed probably makes a lot of difference in taste. I do think the abuse of antibiotics in cattle and other livestock is a terrible tragedy that's killing a lot of people because of the antibiotic resistant bacteria it breeds.

Unfortunately, the financial health of agribusiness outweighs the medical health of the human population in our country most of the time. Doubly unfortunately, the financial health of pharmaceutical companies outweighs the medical health of the citizens as well. Triply unfortunately, touchy-feely and tree-hugger pseudoscience also outweighs fact based health science and environmentalism.

[Country4ever]

I'm just talking about certain vaccinations.........like for Lyme, chicken pox (for older people), etc. My children got all their childhood vaccinations, as did I (perhaps a few too many back in the 50's). I would NEVER get a new vaccine. There's too many bugs to be worked out.
I used to get the flu vaccine every year, until I got a horrendous case of the flu that year that has weakened me forever. never quite sure what responsibility the vaccine held in that. Also developed fibromyalgia after the shot. I just have to be very careful with the shots I get........no matter what the CDC might say.
I did get the pertussis vaccine with the tetanus booster.
And please don't call me a fool. You don't know the facts about me.