I am 73 and have been invited for a shingles vaccination. I have Polymyalgia as well as Hashimotos and have had serious reactions to flu and Covid jabs. Does anyone have exprience or been given advice about the Shingles one? I know that I should not have the live vaccine. I understand shingles is a very unpleasant and painful illness and can have severe and long lasting complications.
Thank you
I heard something positive about this just a few days ago that it has also been found to give some protection against dementia
nature.com/articles/d41586-....
In that case, I’d better push my other half to have it 😂 I had mine quite a few years ago but they were going by an odd method using the “years of birth” and I think he’s been missed, he’s three years older than me 😱
I think this I how the study came about because of the dob lottery in Wales…. the results surprised them too!
I think it was 20% for women and 10% for men... thy have no idea why it offers some protection 🤷♀️
Some highly paid statistician came up with that idea no doubt. They were trying to play catch up but if your birth year was outside the current remit, you could possibly wait another 10 years - we must pat that person on the back for coming up with that system 😁
I have had shingles and so was delighted to be offered the vaccination within a week of my 70th birthday. Shingles is really very unpleasant. I don’t have Hashi but do have a number of other autoimmune conditions. My hypothyroidism is due to radiation therapy for a birth mark in the early 1950s.
You may not be aware that shingles was one of many so called "rare" side effects from the covid jab. That was officially noted in the very early stage 3 safety trials on the experimental emergency use authorisation gene therapy injections. Also clearly noted was vax induced autoimmune diseases (VAIDS).
Shingles certainly is painful and early diagnosis and treatment is vital. From personal experience it is when diagnosis and appropriate treatment is delayed that the person is more like to suffer from post herpetic neuralgia and that can take some time to resolve.
If you've never had chicken pox then you can't get shingles.
You have 2 autoimmune disorders already and if you are/have been receiving e.g. prednisolone clearly your immune system will be a bit compromised but if it were me, I would not wish to risk another possible trigger for who knows what. I am about the same age as you, I appreciate you are a bit between a rock and a hard place.
Singles is opportunistic and a compromised immune system is its "prey" - if you can, try and boost yourself as much as you can via quality food and beverages, as active a day as you feel able to do and so on. Please do not feel pressured/frightened into taking (or rejecting) another injection until you feel sure of your decision.
Shingles hangs out in the nerves and I believe it most usually occurs around the trunk area and sometimes radiating down one leg. It can be mistaken for sciatica but the giveaway is after X days small vesicles appear - (like blisters), then they burst and cause itching as they dry up.
I wish you well.
I am still getting postherpetic neuralgia towards 18 months after shingles. Despite fairly prompt treatment.
Very unpleasant in its acute phase as well.
The vesicles are not always small. I'll not post pictures but some, quite a lot, were around 10mm or so.
Only if you have had Chicken Pots. I was brought up in Salisbury very close to Porton Down many of my old school friends worked there one in particular was a manager there. He told me never to have a flu injection and I never have either simply because they can never keep up with the virus it's always changing. If I were you I would think twice about it.
My aunt had shingles and the after effects will last the rest of her life, it’s terrible. She now looks years older than her twin, and lives with constant pain.
So I rushed to have the vaccine! I did not feel well after the Covid vaccine and was similarly miserable for a whole day after the shingles vaccine. It felt like having the flu for a day, but I considered that well worth not suffering like my aunt has.
Vaccine effectiveness is know to vary each year but is still medically advised, especially in clinical vulnerable. It has always been optional not mandatory.
Hashimotos and shingles without a rash
vaccination and autoimmune, eg Hashimoto's query
Should Hashimoto sufferers have the covid vaccine 
Not Eligle For The Flu Vaccine Hashimoto Thyroid Not On The List 
