Vaccine Advice please

[garden49]

I had an aortic valve replacement on October 12th. Unfortunately following this I had a cardiac arrest and needed a pacemaker fitted. I am still on 4 mgms of Prednisilone for my PMR but I am now overdue for my 2nd Shingrix, Flu and Covid vaccine. Any suggestions of which I should do first and what gaps I should leave would be appreciated.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Don’t think it really matters which order. For Shingrix 2-6 months is recommended for second dose, but you can still have it after then - someone recently was advised it was still effective up to 12 months afterwards.. although wouldn’t suggest waiting that long.

Just make sure you leave at least a week, 2 is better between each one.. and suggest you take paracetamol the day of vaccination and for 24-48 hours after.

Good luck.

[garden49 in reply to DorsetLady]

Thank you for your prompt reply that is very helpful .

[PMRpro Ambassador]

If you are really unsure then speak to your medical team. The Shingrix gap is quite wide so if you are overdue at 2 months, there is plenty of time to get that fitted in. I would have the flu jab first, leave a week or two before the Covid jab.

I had my flu jab last week, not even a sore arm at the time but a week later I can feel it when I lie on it!!! Never had that before

[garden49 in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you PMR Pro that helps me going forward.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to garden49]

PS, forgot to say, hope the rest of the recovery goes well. That's a bit extreme having an arrest but then, the heart has been poked at rather a lot in a valve replacement! Was it open heart or done with a catheter procedure?

[piglette]

My gosh you have been up against it. I should just see how you feel before the vaccinations and then talk to someone about having it as DorsetLady suggests.

[garden49 in reply to piglette]

Thank you that is a good idea it is difficult to plan anything until I feel ok. Just worried about catching anything else!!