Shingles - Body kind, not roofing (2 Viewers)

[PlayaHata]

I just turned 50 in the fall and my doc told me to get the Shingrix vaccine.  I've heard the horror stories about Shingles, so I went ahead and got it.  First dose, then 2 months I think before the 2nd dose.  

 

[krista4]

Coincidentally I'm scheduled to get my first shot of the vaccine this afternoon.  Now having read this thread, I'm very happy I scheduled this.

I actually did have shingles when I was 29 or 30, just on my right arm, and it was extremely painful, but nothing like some of the stories here.  Still have a scar just above my elbow.  

 

[jamny]

I just get nervous when I read about the previous vaccine for shingles, Zostavax.

In fact, according to the authors of a Health Sciences Institute article in January 2016, UCLA researchers found that only one in 175 people who received the Zostavax vaccine would avoid a shingles flare-up. Other—even more serious—issues associated with Zostavax included:

Cardiovascular issues;

Congestive heart failure;

Autoimmune disorders;

Hearing loss;

Pneumonia;

Spinal cord inflammation;

Inflammation of the brain;

Stroke;

Vasculitis;

Stroke, and

Death

Shingrix is still fairly new. Have there been any problems so far like they saw with Zostavax?

 

[SteevieG]

I just turned 50 in the fall and my doc told me to get the Shingrix vaccine.  I've heard the horror stories about Shingles, so I went ahead and got it.  First dose, then 2 months I think before the 2nd dose.  

I'm 59 and need to do this as well.  I think I've pushed my luck as far as I'm willing to go after reading these ,mostly, horror stories.

 

[Sullie]

Coincidentally I'm scheduled to get my first shot of the vaccine this afternoon.  Now having read this thread, I'm very happy I scheduled this.

I actually did have shingles when I was 29 or 30, just on my right arm, and it was extremely painful, but nothing like some of the stories here.  Still have a scar just above my elbow.  

Just FYI, when I got my flu shot last fall I got my 1st Shingrix shot at the same time.  So, last week I signed up for my booster shot, I also signed up for my 2nd Shingrix shot since it had been more than 2 months and the online registration process let me do that.  However, when I arrived I was told you must wait 2 weeks after your Cornavirus shot before you can get your next shingle shot. 

 

[krista4]

Just FYI, when I got my flu shot last fall I got my 1st Shingrix shot at the same time.  So, last week I signed up for my booster shot, I also signed up for my 2nd Shingrix shot since it had been more than 2 months and the online registration process let me do that.  However, when I arrived I was told you must wait 2 weeks after your Cornavirus shot before you can get your next shingle shot. 

Good info - thank you!

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I just get nervous when I read about the previous vaccine for shingles, Zostavax.

Shingrix is still fairly new. Have there been any problems so far like they saw with Zostavax?

They are entirely different types of vaccines- ie they work in completely different ways.  Shingrix has not shown any unusual problems of which I am aware.

 

[jamny]

They are entirely different types of vaccines- ie they work in completely different ways.  Shingrix has not shown any unusual problems of which I am aware.

Yeah, the old one was a live virus. My guess is that it actually gave people shingles and the side effects were more from shingles than the actual vaccine. Not sure how right that might be though.

I do like the method used with Shingrix though, with what limited knowledge I have on it.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

shingrix shots kicked my ###, way worse than my phizer shots.  pharmacist said a lot of people have a reaction to them, but that it's normal.     

oh...and for the record...SHINGLES DOESN'T CARE    

 

[Dez89]

I've heard from several people that the second shot is pretty bad.

I'm getting ready to travel so I plan to take my first shot in a couple of months when I get back.

I see the commercials and the numbers they throw out (1 in 3? get shingles).  I'm not downplaying shingles at all because it sounds like it sucks, but I call on the numbers.  I've only known two people my entire life who have gotten it.

Also, from what I've read the Shingrix is only proven out to like 5 years.  But I haven't seen anything that says you have to get a booster after that.

 

[Terminalxylem]

I'm 57. My doctor recommended the shingles vaccine. Any downside to getting it? Negative effect, etc.

It's safe. Like just about any vaccine, you may experience an injection site reaction or flu-like symptoms transiently post-vaccination. Only reason not to get it is severe allergy.

 

[skol asylum]

I think I saw it's 55 now as the recommended age to get the vax? I had chicken pox when I was little and I'd really like to avoid this if possible. 48 now.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Yeah, the old one was a live virus. My guess is that it actually gave people shingles and the side effects were more from shingles than the actual vaccine. Not sure how right that might be though.

I do like the method used with Shingrix though, with what limited knowledge I have on it.

That's not possible.  You can only get shingles if you've had chicken pox.  Also, it is an attenuated virus, not a live one.  It just wasn't all that effective, which is why I wouldn't get it.  An attenuated virus vaccine can be much better than a killed virus vaccine.  See polio vaccines for a comparison.  But it is possible to get a case of polio from the attenuated vaccine, so the killed one is what we go with.  Still better than having polio wandering around.  It is nasty stuff.

 

[boots11234]

shingrix shots kicked my ###, way worse than my phizer shots.  pharmacist said a lot of people have a reaction to them, but that it's normal.     

oh...and for the record...SHINGLES DOESN'T CARE    

Exact same for me. The second shot felt like someone hit my arm with a baseball bat. Noting from the Covid vax.

 

[jamny]

I'm fine with the regular side effects but get nervous about the reasons why they took the original vax off the market. They originally said those side effects were sore arm, fatigue, etc. too.

I still want to get it though and I'm sure I will.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I'm fine with the regular side effects but get nervous about the reasons why they took the original vax off the market. They originally said those side effects were sore arm, fatigue, etc. too.

I still want to get it though and I'm sure I will.

Do you mean the J&J vaccine?  

 

[Terminalxylem]

FTR,  vaccination for shingles is currently recommended for all adults over age 50. The older, less effective vaccine was originally age 60 and up. That vaccine was taken off the market several years ago, and the age cut-off revised.

The vaccines do not create sterilizing immunity (ie.,  they don’t kill all the virus). They’ve only been proven effective for four years preventing shingles (painful rash) and the nerve pain that sometimes follows. At the present, boosters aren’t recommended, but that could change. Theoretically, the virus could mutate too, rendering the vaccine less effective.

And yes, they are given as shots.

Hopefully, this will avoid some of the confusion and frustration people have expressed regarding vaccination.

 

[Phil Elliott]

Wife an I just finished the two shots off Shingrix, 3 months apart. We both had sore arm for a couple days with first shot. She spent day two of second shot on couch with some sore muscles, headache and tired. The second shot did not seem to affect me. I moved my arm a lot the first 24 hrs after the second shot and did not get a sore arm. We both have relatives that have shingles - you don't want to get it.

 

[Don Quixote]

I had shingles in 2020 — 40 years old at that time. I’ve been pretty lucky health-wise; so, it would take the crown for the worst I’ve ever felt. Did not want to move for days. Rash all over my stomach, which spread around neck. May have been stress-induced with the early stages of the pandemic, but I don’t know.
 

I would get vaccine, but it looks like not approved for under 50.

 

[Terminalxylem]

I had shingles in 2020 — 40 years old at that time. I’ve been pretty lucky health-wise; so, it would take the crown for the worst I’ve ever felt. Did not want to move for days. Rash all over my stomach, which spread around neck. May have been stress-induced with the early stages of the pandemic, but I don’t know.
 

I would get vaccine, but it looks like not approved for under 50.

If you’re healthy, a rash on both your stomach and neck probably wasn’t due to shingles. 

 

[belljr]

If you’re healthy, a rash on both your stomach and neck probably wasn’t due to shingles. 

Why?

I know someone that this exactly happened

 

[matuski]

45, had shingles last June... dark dark kind of pain.  Soul piercing.

Rash on left rib cage wrapping around under arm to my back.  

I wake up from nightmares about it now and then still.

 

[Don Quixote]

If you’re healthy, a rash on both your stomach and neck probably wasn’t due to shingles. 

No offense, but I’ll take the word of the doctor who took one look at it and said “Yep, that’s definitely shingles” over yours.

 

[Zeppelin]

I'm sorry to hear about everyone who has had shingles. I never had a clue how horrible it is.

After reading this thread, I am definitely going to get the vaccine asap.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

I always wonder how much of the sore arm symptom has to do with any vaccine versus how it's administered.  When I got my first Moderna shot for Covid, my arm hurt a bit for about 48 hours.  I mentioned that when asked for my second shot and the tech delivered the second shot higher up near my shoulder as opposed to my upper arm.  My arm killed me for 10 days.  It was awful.  When I got the booster, I had virtually no arm pain to speak of.  

 

[Terminalxylem]

Why?

I know someone that this exactly happened

No offense, but I’ll take the word of the doctor who took one look at it and said “Yep, that’s definitely shingles” over yours.

Shingles is reactivation of varicella zoster, the virus that causes chickenpox. Prior to adoption of the chickenpox vaccine, almost everyone was exposed by adulthood (even if you don’t recall having it - like covid, some people have minimal/no symptoms).

One funny characteristic shared by viruses in the herpes family (to which varicella zoster belongs) is their ability to remain inactive, or latent, in our bodies for years after initial infection. They don’t cause symptoms until they reactivate, which occurs most commonly as our immune system weakens due to age.

When varicella reactivates, it causes shingles, which is a rash characterized by clusters of painful, and sometimes itchy “water blisters”, similar to those seen in chickenpox. But the real clue to shingles isn’t the appearance of the rash or the pain; it’s the distribution. Because varicella’s site of latency is nerve roots, it must travel the nerve’s path before the rash erupts. When it does, the rash is confined to the area served by the nerve (in medical parlance, its dermatome). Dermatomes are localized and predictable, so much so you can look them up. A consequence of this spread is shingles usually doesn’t cross the midline, a major tip-off to the diagnosis.

In a person without severe immunocompromise (eg. HIV, chemotherapy or organ transplant), zoster is typically confined to a single dermatome. Occasionally, it will spill over into an adjacent dermatome, the skin right next to the primary rash. For it to be spatially separated implies the immune system really isn’t doing it’s job, and may indicate disseminated disease throughout the body. If that is a concern, other testing for immune dysfunction is indicated, as is exclusion of infection in non-skin sites like the lungs, liver and brain. Moreover, the treatment of disseminated zoster is different than routine shingles.

Alternatively, the diagnosis might be incorrect. Shingles isn’t the only infection which causes painful blistering, and there are non-infectious causes of blistering rashes as well. While usually the appearance and localization of the rash are good enough to make a diagnosis, technically you only know if virus or its genetic material are isolated from the fluid in the blisters. Those tests are seldom done, but sometimes they should be.

tl;dr Shingles usually doesn’t involve multiple, widely separate areas of skin in people with normal immunity. If it does, the diagnosis and/or immune function of the afflicted person should be questioned.

 

[belljr]

Shingles is reactivation of varicella zoster, the virus that causes chickenpox. Prior to adoption of the chickenpox vaccine, almost everyone was exposed by adulthood (even if you don’t recall having it - like covid, some people have minimal/no symptoms).

One funny characteristic shared by viruses in the herpes family (to which varicella zoster belongs) is their ability to remain inactive, or latent, in our bodies for years after initial infection. They don’t cause symptoms until they reactivate, which occurs most commonly as our immune system weakens due to age.

When varicella reactivates, it causes shingles, which is a rash characterized by clusters of painful, and sometimes itchy “water blisters”, similar to those seen in chickenpox. But the real clue to shingles isn’t the appearance of the rash or the pain; it’s the distribution. Because varicella’s site of latency is nerve roots, it must travel the nerve’s path before the rash erupts. When it does, the rash is confined to the area served by the nerve (in medical parlance, its dermatome). Dermatomes are localized and predictable, so much so you can look them up. A consequence of this spread is shingles usually doesn’t cross the midline, a major tip-off to the diagnosis.

In a person without severe immunocompromise (eg. HIV, chemotherapy or organ transplant), zoster is typically confined to a single dermatome. Occasionally, it will spill over into an adjacent dermatome, the skin right next to the primary rash. For it to be spatially separated implies the immune system really isn’t doing it’s job, and may indicate disseminated disease throughout the body. If that is a concern, other testing for immune dysfunction is indicated, as is exclusion of infection in non-skin sites like the lungs, liver and brain. Moreover, the treatment of disseminated zoster is different than routine shingles.

Alternatively, the diagnosis might be incorrect. Shingles isn’t the only infection which causes painful blistering, and there are non-infectious causes of blistering rashes as well. While usually the appearance and localization of the rash are good enough to make a diagnosis, technically you only know if virus or its genetic material are isolated from the fluid in the blisters. Those tests are seldom done, but sometimes they should be.

tl;dr Shingles usually doesn’t involve multiple, widely separate areas of skin in people with normal immunity. If it does, the diagnosis and/or immune function of the afflicted person should be questioned.

Whatever dude. Take it up with my buddy and his doctor 

40 years old on golf trip and wala it was the suck

 

[Terminalxylem]

Whatever dude. Take it up with my buddy and his doctor 

40 years old on golf trip and wala it was the suck

Whoa? Why the hostility? You asked the question.

ETA It’s clear people don’t like people questioning their doctors’ opinion. While no one should be getting medical advice on the internet, people selectively ignore or disagree with medical recommendations all the time.

 

[Don Quixote]

Shingles is reactivation of varicella zoster, the virus that causes chickenpox. Prior to adoption of the chickenpox vaccine, almost everyone was exposed by adulthood (even if you don’t recall having it - like covid, some people have minimal/no symptoms).

One funny characteristic shared by viruses in the herpes family (to which varicella zoster belongs) is their ability to remain inactive, or latent, in our bodies for years after initial infection. They don’t cause symptoms until they reactivate, which occurs most commonly as our immune system weakens due to age.

When varicella reactivates, it causes shingles, which is a rash characterized by clusters of painful, and sometimes itchy “water blisters”, similar to those seen in chickenpox. But the real clue to shingles isn’t the appearance of the rash or the pain; it’s the distribution. Because varicella’s site of latency is nerve roots, it must travel the nerve’s path before the rash erupts. When it does, the rash is confined to the area served by the nerve (in medical parlance, its dermatome). Dermatomes are localized and predictable, so much so you can look them up. A consequence of this spread is shingles usually doesn’t cross the midline, a major tip-off to the diagnosis.

In a person without severe immunocompromise (eg. HIV, chemotherapy or organ transplant), zoster is typically confined to a single dermatome. Occasionally, it will spill over into an adjacent dermatome, the skin right next to the primary rash. For it to be spatially separated implies the immune system really isn’t doing it’s job, and may indicate disseminated disease throughout the body. If that is a concern, other testing for immune dysfunction is indicated, as is exclusion of infection in non-skin sites like the lungs, liver and brain. Moreover, the treatment of disseminated zoster is different than routine shingles.

Alternatively, the diagnosis might be incorrect. Shingles isn’t the only infection which causes painful blistering, and there are non-infectious causes of blistering rashes as well. While usually the appearance and localization of the rash are good enough to make a diagnosis, technically you only know if virus or its genetic material are isolated from the fluid in the blisters. Those tests are seldom done, but sometimes they should be.

tl;dr Shingles usually doesn’t involve multiple, widely separate areas of skin in people with normal immunity. If it does, the diagnosis and/or immune function of the afflicted person should be questioned.

I’m not sure what to tell you. Mine started with the classic shingles ring on my left side just above the waist, and eventually stretched to center of stomach making it painful just to sit up.  Eventually got some more blisters higher up in chest by neck.
 

Your tl;dr described that as not “usual.” Maybe it’s not, but what happened in my case. 

 

[Terminalxylem]

I’m not sure what to tell you. Mine started with the classic shingles ring on my left side just above the waist, and eventually stretched to center of stomach making it painful just to sit up.  Eventually got some more blisters higher up in chest by neck.
 

Your tl;dr described that as not “usual.” Maybe it’s not, but what happened in my case. 

Sure. All I was saying is that presentation is unusual enough for a young, otherwise healthy person to warrant additional scrutiny.

 

[jamny]

It’s clear people don’t like people questioning their doctors’ opinion.

 

[belljr]

Whoa? Why the hostility? You asked the question.

ETA It’s clear people don’t like people questioning their doctors’ opinion. While no one should be getting medical advice on the internet, people selectively ignore or disagree with medical recommendations all the time.

Make up your mind man. We question your medical opinion and you get in a hissy

 

[Terminalxylem]

Make up your mind man. We question your medical opinion and you get in a hissy

Huh? If that comes across, let me assure you I don’t expect my opinion to be respected any more than the next poster.

 

[krista4]

Good god, does every freaking thread here have to get like this?  It seemed this one was full of good information.  Could you guys stop with the ####-measuring?  

ETA:  I take the last part back.

 

[krista4]

By the way, anecdotally for anyone worried about the side effects, I definitely had more arm soreness from this than from any of my three COVID shots, but it waned after less than 24 hours.  Did experience fairly significant pain in my arm and an excruciating headache for about 16 hours.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Good god, does every freaking thread here have to get like this?  It seemed this one was full of good information.  Could you guys stop with the ####-measuring?  

ETA:  I take the last part back.

Do I get to play "measuring", too?  Pretty please?

Mr R had chicken pox four times.  Vaccination sounds really good to us.  Shingles sucks.  My next-door enighbor had it.  It badly affected her the rest of her life.  I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

 

[matuski]

Huh? If that comes across, let me assure you I don’t expect my opinion to be respected any more than the next poster.

If that is true, great.

But  you have tried to pull rank on me in the past.

 

[matuski]

By the way, anecdotally for anyone worried about the side effects, I definitely had more arm soreness from this than from any of my three COVID shots, but it waned after less than 24 hours.  Did experience fairly significant pain in my arm and an excruciating headache for about 16 hours.

Had shingles at 44, doc will not even ask for me to get vaccine before 50.

Very frustrating.  I have never, ever, ever, experienced pain like that.  At points I kid you not I thought I'd rather die.

eta - knees, shoulders, back.. torn mucles and broken bones.  Not even close.

 

[matuski]

Shingles is reactivation of varicella zoster, the virus that causes chickenpox. Prior to adoption of the chickenpox vaccine, almost everyone was exposed by adulthood (even if you don’t recall having it - like covid, some people have minimal/no symptoms).

One funny characteristic shared by viruses in the herpes family (to which varicella zoster belongs) is their ability to remain inactive, or latent, in our bodies for years after initial infection. They don’t cause symptoms until they reactivate, which occurs most commonly as our immune system weakens due to age.

When varicella reactivates, it causes shingles, which is a rash characterized by clusters of painful, and sometimes itchy “water blisters”, similar to those seen in chickenpox. But the real clue to shingles isn’t the appearance of the rash or the pain; it’s the distribution. Because varicella’s site of latency is nerve roots, it must travel the nerve’s path before the rash erupts. When it does, the rash is confined to the area served by the nerve (in medical parlance, its dermatome). Dermatomes are localized and predictable, so much so you can look them up. A consequence of this spread is shingles usually doesn’t cross the midline, a major tip-off to the diagnosis.

In a person without severe immunocompromise (eg. HIV, chemotherapy or organ transplant), zoster is typically confined to a single dermatome. Occasionally, it will spill over into an adjacent dermatome, the skin right next to the primary rash. For it to be spatially separated implies the immune system really isn’t doing it’s job, and may indicate disseminated disease throughout the body. If that is a concern, other testing for immune dysfunction is indicated, as is exclusion of infection in non-skin sites like the lungs, liver and brain. Moreover, the treatment of disseminated zoster is different than routine shingles.

Alternatively, the diagnosis might be incorrect. Shingles isn’t the only infection which causes painful blistering, and there are non-infectious causes of blistering rashes as well. While usually the appearance and localization of the rash are good enough to make a diagnosis, technically you only know if virus or its genetic material are isolated from the fluid in the blisters. Those tests are seldom done, but sometimes they should be.

tl;dr Shingles usually doesn’t involve multiple, widely separate areas of skin in people with normal immunity. If it does, the diagnosis and/or immune function of the afflicted person should be questioned.

Dude.

You are a pharmacist right?

Trying to come over the top like this is not a good look.

 

[Terminalxylem]

If that is true, great.

But  you have tried to pull rank on me in the past.

My conflicts with you have had nothing to do with rank, more difference in perspective.

Sorry for polluting the thread.

 

[krista4]

Do I get to play "measuring", too?  Pretty please?

Mr R had chicken pox four times.  Vaccination sounds really good to us.  Shingles sucks.  My next-door enighbor had it.  It badly affected her the rest of her life.  I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Had shingles at 44, doc will not even ask for me to get vaccine before 50.

Very frustrating.  I have never, ever, ever, experienced pain like that.  At points I kid you not I thought I'd rather die.

eta - knees, shoulders, back.. torn mucles and broken bones.  Not even close.

Ugh, so sorry you've both experienced this (personally or not).  I happened upon this thread the very day I was getting a shot, but I reached out immediately to my mom, who's 78 and was hesitant due to cost and an "I'm super healthy" attitude, and told her I was going to hound her to get the vax until she relented.  She's getting hers on Monday.

And I want to apologize for my harsh message earlier.  I just get frustrated with threads where people get so black-and-white about everything.  Everyone who was irritating me is otherwise a great poster, so it was just more annoying because they were people who are better than this.  But I should have been more patient with people whose intentions I know are good, which is (so far) everyone in this thread.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Dude.

You are a pharmacist right?

Trying to come over the top like this is not a good look.

Not a pharmacist. Just trying to elaborate after being asked to do so.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

an "I'm super healthy" attitude

I'm guessing you told her that "super healthy" just isn't relevant.  Like the honey badger, virus don't care.  They are tricky opponents.  I'm glad you convinced her.  I don't think I'd want you hounding me.

 

[belljr]

Not a pharmacist. Just trying to elaborate after being asked to do so.

I'm not going to argue but that's not what happened exactly.  I'll just leave it at that and bow out.

 

[Don Quixote]

Not a pharmacist. Just trying to elaborate after being asked to do so.

I was not going to say more, but, as noted in this link: “A patient might have a few scattered lesions outside of their sharply demarcated and localized rash in about 33% of immunocompetent patients.
 However, once greater than 20 such lesions are identified outside these discrete areas of cutaneous involvement, a diagnosis of disseminated herpes zoster can be made.”

I had fewer than 20 lesions outside the main area on trunk/waist/stomach (maybe had a dozen or so). So, my case was like that experienced by 33% of healthy people who get shingles.

I’m still 100% sure I had shingles, just as my doctor was 100% sure that I had shingles at the time. 

 

[jamny]

I'm not anti-vax but I am vax, and prescription drug, hesitant. I just got a tetanus vaccine without questioning it since I'm guessing its been around a long time so presumably safe. If you look at the original CDC page for the now discontinued Zostavax, the mild side effects are similar to ones from Shingrix now

Mild side effects of shingles vaccine:Redness, soreness, swelling, or itching at the site of the injection (about 1 person in 3). Headache (about 1 person in 70). No serious problems have been identified with shingles vaccine.

but then: MERCK TO FACE GROWING NUMBER OF ZOSTAVAX LAWSUIT CLAIMS

Zostavax, a vaccine for shingles, was introduced to the public in 2006, with claims that the drug could help those receiving the vaccine avoid shingles. Several years later, however, consumers began submitting adverse event reports to the FDA, and in 2014, the agency required Merck to add a warning label to Zostavax that warned consumers the vaccine could not only cause chickenpox, it could potentially cause the very thing it is marketed as protecting individuals from—shingles. The FDA asked Merck for another label change to warn those taking Zostavax that the vaccine could potentially cause necrotizing retinitis—an extremely serious eye disease.

In fact, according to the authors of a Health Sciences Institute article in January 2016, UCLA researchers found that only one in 175 people who received the Zostavax vaccine would avoid a shingles flare-up. Other—even more serious—issues associated with Zostavax included:

Cardiovascular issues;

Congestive heart failure;

Autoimmune disorders;

Hearing loss;

Pneumonia;

Spinal cord inflammation;

Inflammation of the brain;

Stroke;

Vasculitis;

Stroke, and

Death

I already see this: FDA Requires a Warning about Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) be Included in the Prescribing Information for Shingrix

I don't want shingles. I want to get the vaccine, but I can't help but be concerned about a vaccine that has only been around for 5 years. It took a while for me to finally go on Lipitor for cholesterol, after convincing my doctor to let me try harder at diet and exercise. I finally had to go along with my doctor who believed all along it was more genetic than related to anything I could do.

But an even bigger concern is my wife. She leans even more to the anti-vax side. I had to convince her to get the Covid vax, although it wasn't overly difficult. If we had kids though, it definitely would be a tough discussion with her. She also did get the tetanus vax with no problems too. But if I convince her to get the shingles vax and she has some kind of serious reaction either now or down the road, I'm not sure how I could live with that. I tell her stories of what people went through with shingles and she is rightly horrified, but I think it would still take some convincing.

Sorry for the long post and I don't want to convince anyone else to not get Shingrix, but I just can't help being overly cautious. If I was in my 70's or 80's, sure...shoot me up! Keep me alive. But at 57, I still think of long term effects that can't be known yet about a vaccine that's only been out like 5 years.

 

[Terminalxylem]

I was not going to say more, but, as noted in this link: “A patient might have a few scattered lesions outside of their sharply demarcated and localized rash in about 33% of immunocompetent patients.
 However, once greater than 20 such lesions are identified outside these discrete areas of cutaneous involvement, a diagnosis of disseminated herpes zoster can be made.”

I had fewer than 20 lesions outside the main area on trunk/waist/stomach (maybe had a dozen or so). So, my case was like that experienced by 33% of healthy people who get shingles.

I’m still 100% sure I had shingles, just as my doctor was 100% sure that I had shingles at the time. 

That wasn’t the reason for my concern, as I already acknowledged a few lesions in the adjacent dermatome(s). I didn’t communicate my point clearly enough, but it isn’t in anyone’s interest to belabor it.

 

[Terminalxylem]

I'm not going to argue but that's not what happened exactly.  I'll just leave it at that and bow out.

Great, that’s exactly how I feel.

 

[D-Day]

Just scheduled vax for me and my wife.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I'm not anti-vax but I am vax, and prescription drug, hesitant. I just got a tetanus vaccine without questioning it since I'm guessing its been around a long time so presumably safe. If you look at the original CDC page for the now discontinued Zostavax, the mild side effects are similar to ones from Shingrix now

but then: MERCK TO FACE GROWING NUMBER OF ZOSTAVAX LAWSUIT CLAIMS

I already see this: FDA Requires a Warning about Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) be Included in the Prescribing Information for Shingrix

I don't want shingles. I want to get the vaccine, but I can't help but be concerned about a vaccine that has only been around for 5 years. It took a while for me to finally go on Lipitor for cholesterol, after convincing my doctor to let me try harder at diet and exercise. I finally had to go along with my doctor who believed all along it was more genetic than related to anything I could do.

But an even bigger concern is my wife. She leans even more to the anti-vax side. I had to convince her to get the Covid vax, although it wasn't overly difficult. If we had kids though, it definitely would be a tough discussion with her. She also did get the tetanus vax with no problems too. But if I convince her to get the shingles vax and she has some kind of serious reaction either now or down the road, I'm not sure how I could live with that. I tell her stories of what people went through with shingles and she is rightly horrified, but I think it would still take some convincing.

Sorry for the long post and I don't want to convince anyone else to not get Shingrix, but I just can't help being overly cautious. If I was in my 70's or 80's, sure...shoot me up! Keep me alive. But at 57, I still think of long term effects that can't be known yet about a vaccine that's only been out like 5 years.

I would avoid the site about lawsuits.  They are not a neutral reporter.  They are ambulance chasing.

This is the archived page from the CDC for Zostavax, which is discontinued as you know.  

Shingrix didn't just spring into being in 2017.  It was tested for years before coming to market.  For at least ten years, clinical trials were held for it.  (if you scroll down a ways, you'll find the section specifically about Shingrix.)  Glaxo's website gives the trial results and the efficacy of the vaccine, starting on page 17, so you can see that testing was really done here.  This site also talks about the clinical trials.  If you scroll to the section "Design and development of product", you'll see how it was developed in testing.

You should also realise that vaccine development doesn't start from scratch each time we need a new one.  It builds on the previous experience.  Vaccine development is getting faster over time.  One the of the people giving an interview about mRNA vaccines said he thinks they will be able to get new variations on the current ones in about 30 days once they have more experience.  This will help them respond much more quickly to varients of Covid, etc.  (I'd link the interview, but I have no idea where to find it.  I'll update if I can find it.  Might have been on 60 Minutes.)

Also, the length of time the vaccine has been around is important, but just as important is the amount of people who have had it.  Millions of people not getting full-blown shingles is a great result.

Hope this helps.