Same here, and my insurance would not pay. It cost $179 for each Shingrix injection, and it was worth it.

Isn’t Z the guy that removed the Grid Girls thread, and the Chest thread, and the...?
HE should go MIA.
SmileWavy

On week 3 of shingles right now. Rash is fading. Still have significant pain/numbness.
Started acyclovir the day the rash showed up but had pain symptoms for a week before the rash showed. Sucks.

Once this case clears up you can get the vaccine and greatly lower the risk of future cases.

I got the original vaccine when I was 60 and developed a case 5 years later. It sucked muchly. Then I got the new two part vaccine which is allegedly much more effective.

How long is the vaccine supposed to last before you need a booster ?

I'm not aware of any booster. I got the newer one because my PCP told me that it is more effective than the older one.

A few Pelicans have chimed in about having shingles recently. Is this a byproduct of Covid? Distant cousin?

I don't think so. I have heard of it for quite a few years.
It just wasn't talked about that much.

I remember my mother (20 years ago) telling me it was a super painful rash.

I may be wrong...but I think it's a relative to herpes or chickenpox?

In my check-up last I asked what vaccinations I needed, this was one.
At the end of summer my cousin said she had shingles and had the shot in 2014.
She thought she was covered.
The doctor said it had to be updated more often.
One shot does not do it.

yup

Shingles, also known as herpes zoster or just zoster, occurs when a virus in nerve cells becomes active again later in life and causes a skin rash.

The virus that causes shingles, the varicella-zoster virus, is the same virus that causes chickenpox. It is a member of the herpes virus family. Once you have had chickenpox, varicella-zoster virus remains in your body's nerve tissues and never really goes away. It is inactive, but it can be reactivated later in life. This causes shingles.

Once a person has had a significant case of shingles, are they then vaccinated or can they get it again? :confused:

I'm sorry, but having just been through this, I really have to call you on this. While your statements are factually correct, they are woefully incomplete. I suspect this is more or less a cut and paste, with no real understanding of the breadth and depth of the topic at hand. Normally I would just ignore this kind of thing, if it were to do with some topic such as which deck stain to use, or the legality of shooting crows that schitt on your boat cover, or some other such typical PPOT banter. But this is a bit more important than that. And, well, it kind of strikes a nerve with me. So to speak...

Yes, it is true, that this Zoster virus "causes a skin rash". There is, however, a little more to it than that. Or there can be, for a large number of people. Like me. It also displays a rather wide range of nerve pain levels across the patient population. This pain level can range from essentially none whatsoever - "just a rash" - to a level which is generally acknowledged as being the most severe variety of nerve pain known to medicine.

10%-20% of the patient population suffers "severe" to "excruciating" nerve pain as a result of the re-emergence of the Zoster virus as "shingles". There is no predicting who "wins" this lotto, either. No pre-existing conditions, no history of chicken pox or not as a kid, nothing. And once it starts, to quote one of the several doctors I saw over the course of six weeks - "there is no known treatment that alters the course of the virus. We will make you as comfortable as possible. You're going to have to wait it out".

But wait - even better news, at least for some. I am now "better", "cured", "healthy", "pain free", etc. After six weeks. Turns out I got the J.V. version of the nerve pain version of shingles. It turns out that, if it continues long enough (typically 90 days or longer) it becomes classified as a condition known as "postherpetic neuropathy". This can go on from 90 days to as long as six months in the next best version. "But wait, there's more"... In really severe cases, this can last for years, or, for the exceptionally lucky, even for the rest of one's life. With no known treatment.

So, yeah, um - I just have to take exception to "...and causes a skin rash". It does, and it did, but...

I was told by several doctors, most emphatically, to go get the vaccine. Re-emergence does not engender immunity. Please, Denis, go get it.

Edit - believe it or not, there is no "waiting period" either. Maybe a month after onset of symptoms, not resolution. I'm going tomorrow for my first dose.

If I remember correctly, my doctor said 10-15% of people can get a recurrence of shingles. The vaccine knocks your chances down to .06% or something along those lines.

Any problem getting the shingles vaccination near the COVID one?

I thought they were saying to get the flue shot right away this season so it wouldn’t be close to the COVID one- not sure if it matters and I think most of us are probably several months away from getting the COVID vac. anyways.

^^^^ The Covid and Shingles must be two weeks apart. Covid has been my stooopid rationalization for not getting the Shingles immediately.... just an excuse :(. I'm 60, not getting the first Covid anytime soon, so I'm going to Walgreens for my first Shingles TODAY. I will deal with timing the second Shingles and Covid later if/when necessary.

Get off yer butts and get the Shingles vaccine. Jeff has done good with his postings... for a change ;).

No hairy palms here either :D

Please explain this. He had a significant case of shingles. As such he now has antibodies. A vaccine is essentially an artificial dose of the virus...which he already had.

Why, once you’ve had shingles and have developed antibodies, is the vaccine adviseable?

I agree about Jeff’s posting but it would have been nice if he would have skipped the insults to Crow, who was also posting useful info.