I am 73 and have been invited for a shingles vaccination. I have PMR and Hashimotos thyroiditis and have had severe reactions to previous Covid jabs such that my consultant advised me not to have any further boosters. Does anyone have any advice or experience to share regarding the Shingles jab? I know it is a very unpleasant and painful condition and can have severe and long-lasting side effects.
Thank you
hi,
There’s comprehensive link from the FAQs on shingles- and loads of related posts -
healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...
Whether you have the vaccine is your personal choice, but if you do decide to take it, then make sure you have the Shingrix one - it’s designed for people with weakened immune systems….and do speak to your GP be gore you make the decision.
And to add to DorsetLady's reply. as of September it will be the Shingrix vaccine for everyone so if your GP surgery is iffy about you getting that now as a sufferer of an autoimmune condition - tell them you will wait until it is the default one!
Thanks for reminder of that- been waiting for something to come out from Govt/NHS to add to FAQs -the current info is well camouflaged in Changes to GP contract document 23/24…
Maybe they aren't bothering since it will be the default?
Could be….
I would recommend everyone to have the shingles jab. Singles is an awful thing to get and can, if you are unlucky, leave you with life changing conditions. I had it in 2007 and it left me with nerve damage all the way through my right buttock, hip, leg and foot. I have difficulty walking for any length of time, sitting on hard seats and am limited as to the types of shoes I can wear. I believe you have to be over 70 to get the jab, but I have argued long and hard for that to be lowered to 60. I was 64 when I got it .
This recommendation for shingles vaccine to be given only between ages of 70-79 is a bit of a puzzle but it may be a leftover from Zostavax which was never as effective for older people and also waned much faster than it appears Shingrix does. Shingrix is actually designed to be administerd to anyone over 50.
HeronNS and jinoadby the new recommendations in respect of the Shingrix vaccine [for the UK from September 2023] do include expanding the age range.
As I said in reply to PMRpro above, am waiting for further information to be published when it will be added to the info in the FAQs. Until that happens you can read recommendations in this - paras 30-36 refer -
england.nhs.uk/wp-content/u...
Thanks DL. I will definitely follow up for the Shringrix vaccine in September. Shingles is horrific. A close friend and my cousin have had it in their eye, face and head. They both have nerve pain months later. My friend is still suffering very badly.
Although my experience may be unusual, I did have a very strong reaction to Shingrix - basically felt like a limp rag and fell asleep hours before I usually do, sleeping for about eleven hours. Within 24 hours back to normal. (Second shot not so strong a reaction.) But the good thing from my point of view was afterwards I found my hitherto frustrating inability to taper from a major PMR flare seemed to get much smoother. It still took a long time, I was going very slowly, but I believe to this day that Shingrix did something positive to my immune system. It has only been since these vaccines that my CRP went down to a really normal healthy level, in all these years of PMR and pred. Last reading, a year ago was 2.8, and before that it had only once even been in single digits.
Hello FleetRose, the Shingrix vaccine is a non-live vaccine, for people like myself who has a compromised immune system, (I have no spleen ) and it is given by two separate injections, if I remember correctly, they are given two months inbetween. Certainly I would recommend it, we all react differently to vaccines, yes, I did have some reaction, after the first one, about an hour after, I (almost) fainted, I was told this could be a reaction, but my arm never even hurt, the second jab, my arm was very painful, for almost a week, but I do have severe ostioarthritis, hope this helps, but small price to pay, you should definitely protect yourself from shingles, xx
FleetRose, can I just add to my reply, of course, being on steriods, they always tell you to steer clear of anyone who may have chicken pox, because of getting Shingles, it is very important to have this vaccine, unless, of course, your GP advises otherwise, x
A lot of the fuss is because it seems many people haven't had CP - you can't catch shingles, you must have had CP at some time in the past, the virus remains dormant and reactivates for some reason later in life. Most of us on the forum who are in the UK will have had CP and are relatively safe in that context as it is very rare to get CP twice, even if you are on pred.
But, if you are mixing with children who have CP, presumably that will reactivate the virus in the form of shingles, is that right? Btw, does the shingles vacc, which I had a few years ago, last for life?
Not necessarily - the virus is present in the nerves, any challenge to the immune system COULD reactivate it in which case we'd have had it in response to all sorts of things. I think it remains a very unknown factor - in which case it does make sense to avoid children but the primary problem is that they are most infectious in the time immediately before the spots emerge and that just looks like a cold.
I had two the injections of Shingrix when I turned 70 last year. I’m guessing no vaccine is 100% and it would still be recommended to keep your distance from children with weeping sores caused by chickenpox, I’m thinking grandchildren of course. I read somewhere that chickenpox is infectious 2 days before the spots appear.
As far as I know you can only get shingles if the virus is already present in your body from your own previous case of CP. You could catch CP from an infected person if you'd never had CP and then later on shingles could occur. I don't know if your own virus could be reactivated by exposure to someone else's but it's only the reactivation of your own previous infection which will cause shingles. Theoretically lowered immune system for whatever reason could lead to herpes zoster reactivation so perhaps wise to avoid seeing a child sick with any infectious disease. Although in my experience with littles that usually means you'd hardly ever get to see them!
I had CP as a child, and the two dose Shingrix last year.
I understand the herpes zoster stays for life but can be reactivated by exposure to someone with CP, usually a child.
My query related to the effectiveness of Shingrix to prevent shingles. But thinking further I guess it’s like asking the length of string.
I think Shingrix is considered very effective, much better than Zostavax, and certainly better than Zostavax for older people. I did look up the likelihood of the virus being reactivated by someone else's virus, but there seems little evidence for that. But in the severely immune-compromised (which generally speaking we are not) all bets are off.
bmj.com/company/newsroom/ad...
suggests the opposite! Contact with a child with CP improves resistance to shingles.
Thank you all for your input on the shingles vaccine. I have a GP appointment this afternoon so will check with him but it sounds as if I should go ahead (with Shingrix). I really appreciate all you wonderful people.
I have Hashimoto's and have had the Shingrix vaccine series at 57. No ill effects. Now on the other hand, covid vaccine side effects is a whole other issue for me, so no more for me.
In the US, eligibility for shingles vaccines starts at 50 and up.
A friend of ours was left permanently paralyzed from chest down with Transverse Myelitis after he had shingles and didn't even recognize it as such. The complications from Shingles is pretty scary. Here in the US the vaccine is advised for people 50 and older.
I had no side-effects at all from the shingles vaccine. I always get two days of side-effects after the Covid vaccine booster, and my PMR was almost certainly triggered by a flu vaccine.
My rheumatologist advised me not to take the shingles vaccine or any other one without speaking with him. I do not take Covid boosters either on his recommendation. So, I still mask at times in public. Not fun! I have found any sickness causes a flair in the PMR and requires higher doses of pred. Have others had that experience?
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