Shingles jab and PMR

[Casia]

A lady I know believes her PMR was caused by the shingles jab she was recently offered at the age of 70. I’d never heard this before and I wondered if it’s a widely shared view and if so is there any evidence to back it up?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

It is listed on the adverse effects of the Zostavax shingles vaccine - and also muscle and joint pain is common. If it is bad enough - it could be PMR.

[Luciejc in reply to PMRpro]

...or in my case, GCA.

[Robinsnest72]

I am convinced that my PMR started from the shingles vaccine. I was perfectly fine prior to that and three weeks later got PMR. I did research it and there are studies that PMR can be caused. This is a live vaccine and I will never take another.

[Blearyeyed]

Although , many people can find they are diagnosed with PMR or GCA after receiving a vaccination for Shingles , Flu , or Pneumonia, it is more likely that the reaction to a vaccination was , " the straw that broke the camels back " and that PMR or GCA was going to occur in your Health Pattern anyway at some point . The vaccine was just one of a group of triggers.

It's just as likely that if you didn't have the vaccination another cause could be attributed to you finally getting it Diagnosed further down the line , like Stress , Overactivity , an infection , injury , or change in personal circumstances that became your final ," trigger" after a number of years of bodily changes that you hadn't noticed growing into a pattern , and the possibility of you having a system that is affected by Autoimmune or Autoinflammatory responses and health conditions.

It's much the same with any vaccination. If you have a Dead Vaccine for Flu , for example , and have Flu like symptoms , or the Flu straight after having the vaccination , it could be a hypersensitivity or immune response rather than the vaccine itself , " giving you the Flu". Or you could have already been run down and have already contracted the disease but not been showing the visible symptoms of it yet at the time you have the vaccination done. The body then reacts to both being run down and the chemical changes it is required to process from being injected with a vaccination bringing on a mild case of the thing you were being protected against , but the vaccine alone is not the sole cause for those symptoms happening.

[SheffieldJane]

I think that sometimes another assault on the immune system might be the final straw, I guess she might be right but she was probably teetering.

[Hidden]

I had the shingles vaccine as soon as I was eligible for my insurance to cover it and my PMR didn't show up for another 8 years, so I doubt there's any causation. If there's any relation at all, the previous writers are probably right. A dimly-perceived problem suddenly becomes more evident after a vaccination. But don't hesitate to get that shingles vaccine. Shingles is a horrible condition and can last for months and months, with very little ameliorative treatment.

[Mack100]

I had shingles about a month before the onset of PMR. I recognised it quickly and started ant-viral therapy the same day.

Not quite the same scenario as the vaccination but my GP thinks there may be some merit in linking the two events as the infection could possibly be a causative element/trigger in the PMR onset.

[Scarter770]

I had the same thing happen to me 5years ago. PMR came up shortly after a preventative shingles vaccine shot. They know all about this but keep giving it out to people.

[Luciejc]

I definitely think my Giant Cell Arteritis was triggered by my second Shingles vaccination on July 1, 2019. That night I had a fever, body aches like the flu. Never felt well after that. Short story, had a temporal artery biopsy in late August that resulted positive for Temporal Arteritis/GCA. I was 74 at that time. I have read that vaccinations can trigger auto immune diseases. Hope this helps.