Shingles Vaccine

[ks1966]

Hello everyone,

I was deemed eligible for the shingles vaccine and will have it in early November. I’d appreciate any thoughts and expressions. I don’t know if I had chickenpox as a child. I was told this might be relevant.

Many thanks

[Madlegs1]

I was in similar situation- not knowing if I'd had chickenpox as a baby-- no-one to ask😭

I reckoned the risks of getting shingles now as a 78 yr old outweighed any possible contras.

Will be getting second jab in a few weeks.

Just a sore arm for a few days.

Good luck.

[ks1966 in reply to Madlegs1]

Thank you Madlegs ❤️

[helenlw7]

I had chicken pox as a child, but so did my husband, and he’s had shingles twice as an adult. It was on his head and very painful. I had my vaccination at the beginning of the year. The first one was fine, just a sore arm, but the second really knocked me out for a couple of days!

[AgedCrone]

I know I had chicken pox as a child….I have one CP crater bang in the middle of my forehead……I also had Shingles…very mildly about 5 years ago…. pre the new non live vaccine…now I’m too old for Shingrix….so either I get it again ….or I don’t!

At my age ….Life is too short to worry about catching anything😳

[ks1966]

😊

[medway-lady]

A very painful injection and twice only 74% effective but I promise you Shingles is much, much worse! I had Shingles twice before vaccination as was too young to access it so took Acyclovir for years to stop it coming back. Then had the vaccination early but got it again. It's a vile disease and left me with a numb leg in places so it can be a lot more serious than usually considered. Just take some paracetamol and hope for the best but definitely avoid Shingles at all costs. I had Chicken pox as an adult and you can it very madly so may not have known you had it. At 23 I knew! lol Covered in horrid spots and scabs etc.

[ks1966]

Duly noted medway 😊

[Peptink]

From what I understand is, if you HAVEN’T had the chicken pox you do not need the shingles vaccine, but they do recommend the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine. Check with your doctor.

[ABwn]

I've had chickenpox as a child and again as an adult. Fortunately as an adult it didn't turn into shingles, but chickenpox still hit harder as an adult. Didn't stop me from having the shingles vaccine when I was offered it. Lucky, no side effects. Good luck.

[Seatgeorge]

Shingles is the same virus as chicken pox,the 2 part jabs they give you mow are not live virus , there probably synthetic, only problem I had was a sore arm for a couple of days, good luck.

[Bookworm55]

l had both Shingrix jabs earlier this year, 8 weeks apart- no problems at all. Had chicken pox as a child but have never had shingles.🤞

[Blackberrywine]

You can check if you have antibodies. I did. I didn't have the shingle vaccine. Some of our drugs have shingles as a side effect. I'm not on any of them Amy more, so didn't go for vaccine.

[knobblyknees in reply to Blackberrywine]

How did you manage that? I cant imagine our doctors permitting to that request!

[Hightower62 in reply to knobblyknees]

Hi, I assumed that I’d had Chicken pox as a child but needed to know for certain so I could decide whether to have the Shingles vaccine.

I requested that my Lloyd George (paper) records were looked at which my GP agreed to but unfortunately there was no mention of me having Chicken pox.

My GP was really helpful & arranged an antibodies blood test which came back positive so I was able to make an informed decision & went ahead with the Shingles vaccine. Unfortunately I had to have it privately which cost £450 but had I no hesitation as I felt that the protection was worth it.

[knobblyknees in reply to Hightower62]

Wow and wow!

[Blackberrywine in reply to knobblyknees]

I was sat next to a child on a bus who clearly had chicken pox. I was on a drug at the time that wiped out the immune system. I asked GP to check see if I'd had chicken pox. It was a grudging agreement.

[SheilaT3271]

I had my second jab a couple of weeks ago. The first one was quite painful but when I mentioned this to the nurse she said it’s important to really relax the arm and this made quite a difference and much less painful. No reaction or side effect for me to either jab.

[AmateurSewer]

Hi, just to say that I know that this won’t be the case for everyone but after the shingles vaccine I had a massive flare up of my arthritis ended up increasing my methotrexate, having steroids and an operation on my wrist on my right wrist to remove the ulnar head because my little finger “dropped “.

[knobblyknees in reply to AmateurSewer]

You are the first person I've heard of having had that op. At least they got you early. I had little finger and ring finger on each hand 'drop' this was in the May. Saw the Rheumy Dr who said 'That needs looking at' but you cant see anyone till Aug. .... The next week my middle finger on the right hand started to drop and I couldn't wait for Aug. I went to see a private specialist and had to have a 'Tendon Transfer' and Ulna Head Excision op two weeks later. He couldn't believe I didn't see him earlier.

[AmateurSewer in reply to knobblyknees]

Yes, I had mine done privately, I kept the NHS appointment going because I thought I might need it for my left hand - the appointment came through 14 months later! Earlier this month! Now I’m waiting for an ultrasound appointment before they decide on a way forward……

[knobblyknees in reply to AmateurSewer]

Good luck with that. Dont wait till the finger drops. If the bone is rough, get that done. It's such a big op to have the tendon transfer. I'm still cross that they left me too long, they must have known the outcome.

[AmateurSewer in reply to knobblyknees]

Thanks for this information. I hope all goes well with you. (Btw, I did think about tendon transfer but my surgeon told me not to go down that route as (as you said) it’s a big operation.

[knobblyknees in reply to AmateurSewer]

I had no choice but to have the tendon transfer as my fingers were just flapping in the wind. The rough bone had torn through all but one tendon. I wish you all the best. x

[oldtimer2]

Even if you had chickenpox as a child, if, like me, that's a long time ago your immunity will have waned over the years unless stimulated by a vaccine - so it's worth having the vaccine to reduce your chances of having the extremely painful condition of shingles.

[CagneysMum]

I had Chicken Pox as a child but I’ve not had shingles thankfully… my husband hasn’t had CP but did have shingles a few years back which was agony and I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

We’ve both had shingles vaccinations last year. Slightly sore arm for a few days but that’s all.

[LillyBeagle]

Just had a sore bruised arm for a few days. But part of that, I think was to do with the person that administered it, as I don't think it was far enough up my upper arm in the muscle.

[Tia53]

I had the first Shingrix jab a month ago. It hurt and my arm ached for a few days. I also had a large red mark all around it for a few days. I'm getting part 2 at the end of Nov - hoping it doesn't hurt as much as the first!

I've also had the flu jab and pneumonia jab 2 weeks ago. Didn't feel a thing with the flu jab but the pneumonia jab hurt and had an aching arm again...

[ks1966]

best of luck

[benhemp]

I've watched two people (my mother was one of them) who suffered terribly from long term chronic pain due to shingles. (They were very late in treating it once they got it.) These observations and my GP's recommendation (he waits for some time to see how people are reacting to new vaccines before recommending them) convinced me that the Shingrix vaccine is worth getting.

I've had both shots. The reaction to the first shot was more than trivial but not terrible. I know that I had chickenpox as a child; this is another reason to get the Shingrix vaccine. I definitely recommend it; it's much more effective than the older Zostavax vaccine; I chose to pass on that one because it's protection wasn't good enough.