Got my second Shingles shot - have no fear, ask me anything!

[samhexum]

10 hours ago, mike carey said:

He is not six years old, and about to turn seven. He is about to have his seventh birthday. Seventh birthday and seven years old are not the same thing. At least in cases like his. 

😀

Even if your fuzzy math were true it would still be the youngest case I'd heard of.

[samhexum]

14 hours ago, samhexum said:

youngest case I ever heard of...

6 year old Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton (he'll turn 7 on Feb 29, 2028) has been diagnosed with shingles.

 

21 minutes ago, sync said:

Interesting that it will be three years before he ages one year.  How many would kill for that?

I think you got confused by daylight savings time and adjusted your calendar instead of your clock.

[Luv2play]

I’m 78 and got two Shingles shots just over a year ago. I did it on the recommendation of my doctor. An older brother and younger sister both had severe cases a number of years ago but another brother never got it. 
Three weeks later I had a shingles outbreak on my lower left leg, not too extensive but very itchy and bothersome. It went away eventually but has returned three times in a less severe form in the same place.
The thing that consoles me is had I not had the vaccine, maybe I would have had a more severe case.

[Luv2play]

On 10/27/2024 at 8:09 PM, Shoedog112 said:

I’m just recovering from a case of shingles. I’ve had a mild case in the past, and for some reason thought I would be immune to future outbreaks. What I wasn’t prepared for was having shingles, and then impetigo on my ear at the same time. I feel like I’ve been on antibiotics forever, although each was treated with a 7 day treatment plan. Once I’m these scabs fall off the sores, am I able to get the Shingrix vaccine, or is there a waiting period? 

Shingles is a viral infection so I don’t know why you took antibiotics to treat it. 

[+ sync]

3 hours ago, samhexum said:

 

I think you got confused by daylight savings time and adjusted your calendar instead of your clock.

Aha!  Now I see it, I was still in 2025.  My prowess with numbers remains unchanged, sadly.

Edited February 23 by sync

[Rudynate]

On 1/5/2024 at 4:17 PM, Rudynate said:

I have had both shots of the shingrix vaccine and had no reaction or sides from either shot.  OTOH, I must be immune-suppressed because since I completed the two shots, I have had light cases of shingles, I think, 5 times. My PC doctor gave me a refillable script for valacyclovir.

I can report that it's been a long time since I had a case of shingles.  I was taking an immunosuppressive drug when I kept having cases of shingles.

[OcalaRTR]

I got both shots of Shingrix - felt like crap for 2-3 days after.  Then, everything fine - no shingles outbreaks at all.  

I've only had 1 outbreak - back in 2010 or so.  Not too bad, but it was on my head and some lesions were on my eyelid. I was scared, so I called my opthamologist - just to make sure.  

[+ Gar1eth]

I need to correct something the OP put. From what I read according to the CDC, you don't need to restart the series if your second Shingles shot is more than 6 months after the first. 
 

I accidentally did get three shots. I thought I had had the second one. But I couldn't find the paperwork. And the two places I thought i had received it from said no. So I went for what I thought was the second one. About a month or so later, I happened to be cleaning out an old suitcase and found the paperwork for my second shot.
 

As I recall I didn't feet great the next day, but there was no fever or anything, and I was probably fine 2 days after. 

[robberbaron4u]

On 12/29/2023 at 9:09 AM, Ali Gator said:

Yesterday, I got my second Shingles shot (Shingrix), as my first was given to me the first week of October. The patient is supposed to wait at least two months between shots but no longer than six months (otherwise its ineffective), so I was right in the middle at three months. Since I turned 60 this year, and had chicken pox when I was 12, my PCP strongly recommended I get the Shingles vax.

Now I've heard so many horror stories about patients suffering from side-effects after the second dose (the pharmacist at Walgreens, where I went for both shots, explained in simple terms how the 'first vax' tries to fight off the second vax, not knowing they are working together).  

Here is a rundown of what some of the side effects are after the second shot (though not everyone suffers the same) : Nauseous, high fever, body aches, fatigue. According to the pharmacist, these usually kick in about 12 hours after you get the shot, and usually last about 12 - 24 hours. She recommended I pick up some chicken soup (enough for two days) at the Italian restaurant next door (I did) and take 2 Tylenol every eight hours over the first 24 hours, to keep the fever and aches away. Most importantly - hydrate! Drink plenty of water (I did).

Overall, I feel fine 24 hours after the shot. During the night, I got up to drink water every couple of hours (and go to the bathroom), and my lower back was a bit achy as were my legs. I got up this morning, took 2 more Tylenol and for the past few hours (sitting up watching TV, eating breakfast) the aches and pains went away.  I was never nauseous, I never had a fever - the Tylenol definitely helped. 

So if you're debating about the Shingles shot - and heard horror stories about the second shot  - I encourage you to put your fears aside and plan accordingly.  Hydrate, take plenty of Tylenol (to keep the aches and pains away), eat chicken soup and other proteins.  One thing which helped me was going for my shot this week while I was on vacation - this way I didn't need to take a sick day or personal time from my job. I recommend you plan to get it on a Friday (even before you go to work or on your lunch hour - your side effects will kick in 12 hours later), so you have Saturday to recuperate. Remember - you only need a Shingles vax once in your life - and you don't want to risk getting shingles (it's painful). 

I hope my sharing this experience helps those who have concerns. Everyone should be pro-active and get the Shingles shot if your 60 and older (some say 50 and older - ask your PCP). Feel free to ask me anything ! 

PS - Also on your list should be the annual flu shot, pneumonia (every five years) and TDAP (every 10). As for the COVID vax updates, that's up to you (my PCP has advised against it, so I have not been updating since 2021 - he believes we know have herd immunity).

Good for you. Having had a horrendous experience with shingles some years ago in the course of travel,the old adage of an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure applies.