SHingles vaccine - anyone get it?

[StephN]

Hi -

Had my annual physical last Thursday and all was well. Since I had both the flu shots and am current on my Tetanus, my doctor wanted me to have the Zoster shingles vaccine. I caved and agreed.

He is seeing more people in their 50's and 60's coming in with the shingles. Guess it is another aspect of the "baby boomer" effect. Since most of us had Chicken Pox.

Plus he said that if I have to go back on treatment some time and the shingles show up, I would be utterly miserable. The vaccine is not a 100% guarantee not to ever get the shingles, but cuts it by something like 80%.

[Gerri]

Oh, you meant SHINGLES http://her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon12.gif....for a minute I thought all I needed was a vaccine to be single again.....how easy is that?? Just for the record, I would have stayed married...

I had shingles last year and fortunately knew exactly what was going on and hurried over to my doctor who gave me a prescription for Valtrex -- worked like a charm. My pain was almost gone in less than two days and I had no more outbreaks - most people are not that lucky. Unless the side effects are dramatic I would be all for getting the vaccine. Even though mine was short-lived, it was not fun!

Happy to see you doing so well!

[StephN]

Oh, GOSH, Geri! I will fix that heading ... my phone keeps ringing as I am on the site today.

Singles - shmingles.

Smart cookie, Geri - glad you caught the earliest symptoms. We probably should all be aware of them. Save ourselves some grief.

[v-ness]

i've been getting a little patch of shingles on my right boob for about the last 4-5 years. every year, once a year, exact same spot. only about the size of the pad of my forefinger. it came back around christmas and i never bothered mentioning it to my oncologist at the time. jeeze, when i mentioned it 2 weeks ago you'd think from her reaction that i'd forgotten to tell her i had the plague! oopsie.

i have told her for 3 weeks running that i've had a bloody nose. every time i blow my nose the result is a red rorshach test and i did everything you ladies suggested and even keep a humidifier on all night. nothing has helped. so today finally my bloodwork came back with something amiss in my "clotting factor" and they took 7 (!) vials of blood out of me to test. great, i am going to a little backasswards town in utah for a week on wednesday and i got this to worry about? not sure what it could be all about but it would sure be nice to SOMEDAY have a blood-free, pain-free nose. well, maybe i will google "clotting factor" and scare the crap out of myself just for fun now. :)

valerie

[Jackie07]

Thanks, Steph. (Gerri, you are so funny...)

I think I will ask my doctors about it next time I see them (by that time I should be over 50 :). I got chicken pox here in the States when I was 25 after I had been babysitting a neighbor's kid who's having chicken pox. My Mother couldn't remember if I'd had chicken pox when I was little (she's got too many children and I'd had too many illnesses.) We presumed that I must have had one. But then after the babysitting episode, I ended up having chicken pox. Didn't know what it was until one of my classmates - a lady in her late forties - pointed out that I had chicken pox. Went to the school nurse and was told to stay off campus for a couple of weeks.

Valerie, I hope your nose gets better soon. Be sure to be hydrated.

[Chelee]

Steph, Thanks for a good laugh tonight. I was lol when I read that your phone keeps ringing tonight. Ha! :) Too funny girl.

At least we KNOW what your mind is "really" on these days after a "title" like that. lol ;)

Since I'm here...I have not had the Shingles, nor the singles vaccine. lol Not one of my doctors has ever brought it up to me. Not sure if I want one or not? But if I end of with a good case of shingles I'm sure I will be thinking much differently! I sure hear about an awful lot of people that get shingles and their just misrable...so you it's probably a smart move. (Last thing...did your phone ever quit ringing?)

Chelee

[Barbara2]

I am glad to know this, as I thought anyone with cancer should not get the vaccine, but I see from the information below, that if your immune system is not weakened you can receive the shot. I briefly discussed cancer/immune system with my onc the last time I saw him, and he said that in time, the immune system returns to normal...good to know.

From WebMD:

Who should not get the shingles vaccine?

According to the CDC, don't get a shingles vaccine if you've have the following:

A life-threatening allergic reaction to gelatin, the antibiotic neomycin, or any other component of the shingles vaccine. Tell your doctor if you have any severe allergies.
A weakened immune system because of:


HIV/AIDS or another disease that affects the immune system
Treatment with drugs that affect the immune system, such as steroids
Cancer treatment such as radiation or chemotherapy
A history of cancer affecting the bone marrow or lymphatic system, such as leukemia or lymphoma
Active, untreated tuberculosis
Pregnancy (or might be pregnant). Women should not become pregnant until at least three months after getting shingles vaccine.

WebMD Medical Reference




Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD (http://www.webmd.com/brunilda-nazario) on April 22, 2008

[suzan w]

Hi Steph, I had the shingles vaccine, and the pneumonia vaccine about a year and a half ago. I am prone to cold sores(another herpes virus), caused by stress, too much sun, and sometimes just because! I know far too many people who have suffered with shingles so thought the vaccine well worth it.

[LoriE]

I wth was given the vaccine for whooping cough. My doc said that "at my age" my old vaccine I got when I was a kid has worn off. Evidently, there's a new outbreak of whooping cough. But a shingles vaccine? She never mentioned that one.

[StephN]

Hi -
When I got the shingles shot I barely felt it. It is given in the back of your upper arm just under the skin.

I have had a small local reaction - a reddish patch about 2" by 1", which itched slightly the second day, but OK now and fading. My doctor's nurse said this is not very unusual.

Heard that there were some cases of Whooping Cough, but no mention to me to get a shot for it.

My teen aged grandsons were over for dinner last night and talking about epidemics. (Brought up by the absence of the H1N1 flu these days.) Since they got a chickenpox vaccine, they are not in danger of getting the shingles. However, one of them piped up saying he was not sure how long his immunity for chickenpox would last and hoped there would not be an outbreak!

[Patb]

My Doctor recommended the vaccine and I had it
last summer. All is well. He said it was a very safe
vaccine and he had taken it.
patb

[Joe]

I had shingles in 2003 and wouldn't wish it on anyone. It took over a year to get rid of it.

Joe

[Nancy L]

My mother never got rid of the shingles and this happens to many elderly. She suffered with so much pain.

I am the first in line for any vaccine that will prevent a problem. I think I was the first one in Reno to get a shot but now it is very routine. My husband got his recently at a pharmacy in our neighborhood. Don't hesitate a minute to get this protection. Shingles are awful.

I will fly anywhere to get the first demonstrated breast cancer vaccine. Lots of work in this area but lots of skeptics. None of the oncologists I have seen believe it will happen.

[Catherine]

I saw my GP today, about a small issue. She went over all my details, vaccines, etc. So she treated my small problem, talked me into updating my Tetanus shot and called my oncologist to see if he, too. would recommend the Shingles shot. Onclogist nurse called back and said yes, get the Shingles shot. Earlier I had also read the warning on WEBMD not to get the Shingles shot if you had a suppressed immune system. So dumb question, 3 years plus after chemo....do I no longer have a suppressed immune system?

Thanks for your reponse,
Catherine
(Thank goodness I do not need the Singles Shot)

[Chelee]

As Suzan said...I have known far too many people over time that have had shingles. I had a neighbor that had it for over nine months. He said it was so painful...he was just misrable. I think it would be well worth the vaccine to avoid being in misery. I am surprised not one of my doctors has asked me if I had it?

Sounds like you have a good doctor Steph that cares about his patients as it should be.

Chelee

[karen z]

Hi Steph,
My internist routinely gives the shingles vaccine to patients who are 60 years old. Unfortunately that is two years away for me and I have come down with a case of the shingles- diagnosed today. So far, having shingles is not much fun- very itchy and kind of painful.
Karen

[Chelee]

It just so happens when I had chemo last Monday I picked up a Readers Digest sitting there. One article was titled, "Is Your Doctor Out of Date?" One of the things it covered was immunizations...or lack there of. It mentioned how doctors aren't good at keeping kids up-to-date. But then it also mentioned that physicians are even "worse" at making sure adults are on track with vaccinations. It said only half of adults are up-to-date on the tetanus boosters which your suppose to have once every decade.

Then it went on to say far fewer get the shingles vaccine--only 6 percent of adults 60 and up (the recommended age group). It said "Yet shingles can affect anyone who has ever had chicken pox and can be agonizing." It went on to stress the importance of asking your physician to check your immunization history against the guidelines. (It said other shots you may need--including flu, hepatitis, shingles, HPV, pneumonia depending on age, gender, health history & occupation.)

So it looks like Steph is one of the lucky ones that has a doctor that is UP-to-date instead of out-of-date.

Chelee

[StephN]

Thanks Chelee. I have been going to this general doctor since 1983, and would have changed if I had ANY doubts! He is just a couple years older than I am, if THAT tells you anything...

Catherine - our immune systems do eventually recover from the chemo and radiation blasts. As long as your red, white counts and other blood work is in normal range you could get the shot.

Sorry that KarenZ has to endure the darn disease and her body would not hold off till after she can get the vaccine. It is just as my doc said - this is the age group he is seeing come in and getting diagnosed with shingles

[karen z]

update on shingles: STILL NOT FUN AT ALL!!
The only time I feel o.k. is when I am sleeping!!

[Gerri]

Hi Karen,

So sorry to hear that you are suffering from shingles. Did you get an Rx for anything? I started on Valtrex the first day and managed to keep the symptoms under control. If you are still within the first few days of the outbreak it may not be too late - you can at least lessen the severity.

Hope you start feeling better soon.

[karen z]

Hi Gerri,
Unfortunately, the initial patch of redness was on my back and my daughter said it looked a bit like a rash (I couldn't really see it well but felt something was there). I didn't think about it too much until a larger outbreak (a full week later) of smaller patches appeared on my chest. When I noticed that these were getting worse rather than better (I actually assumed they were hives from eating shrimp- which I am not supposed to do!!) I got worked in to see my doctor but my timing was too late for any real help. So....................everyone should learn from my mistake!!