Shingles vaccine

[Deb 27]

So, I wasn't sure I was old enough to get a shingles vaccine but I am a bit regretful now. I was also afraid it was a weak live virus.  Yesterday, I woke up and thought I was getting a pimple on my nose. Put some antibiotics on it and went on my way. Last night, I feel like I was having the worst RA flare ever complete with some fever. This morning when I woke up, the entire tip of my nose was really red, sore and had like a vesicle on it. Went to Dr. and it's shingles. The entire side of my neck is sore as heck with swollen lymph nodes. I am on antivirals. I hope the lymph nodes go down soon. This is not fun. I guess shingles is just part of life for some of us. I don't think the plaquenil suppressed my immunity that much, do you? I think you can also get shingles more than once so I wonder if I should get the vaccine in the future??

[long time dry]

I'm not on plaquinel so I can't say anything about that, but I suggest you ask your doctor about the vaccine.  It is possible to get shingles more than once.  I got it years ago before any antiviral drugs had been invented.  it was an absolute nightmare!  I was sick for a couple of months and had postherpetic pain for 20 years.  Shingles is nothing to take lightly.  My doctor told me to get the vaccine as soon as it came out and I did so.  Even now, I hope it will protect me because I never want to go through that again.

[Jasper]

Deb .....

Plaquenil is not an immune suppressant.

People are more susceptible to getting an outbreak of Shingles as they get older and the risk keeps increasing the older we get, whether we are on immune suppressants or not.

The risk of developing Shingles is even greater if a person is on immune suppressants.

Yes, you can get Shingles more than once. I have had Shingles 4 times since 1994.

I first got Shingles when I was on high dose Prednisone in 1994. I took Valtrex and had no residual problems. I next got Shingles in 2006 after being on a short course of Prednisone. I recognized it right away and got treated right away so the symptoms were minimal.

I received the Shingles vaccine in 2011.

In Dec. 2015 I was on Cellcept and developed Shingles. Again, it was treated right away and the symptoms were very mild.

I am now on Rituximab (since Feb. 2016) and i again developed Shingles in Nov. 2016. I recognized it right away and was treated right away and the symptoms were mild. I have no residual.

I now have a prescription already filled and on hand so I can start the treatment immediately when i first notice the symptoms. If I keep getting them, I will go on Valtrex twice a day as a prophylactic treatment.

Shingles is very painful when you have it, but the main thing one wants to prevent is post-herpetic neuralgia, which is severe pain following an outbreak and which can last forever.  One has less of a chance of developing post herpetic neuralgia if the Shingles is treated immediately (or prevented entirely).

That is why I got the Shingles vaccine in 2011, to hopefully prevent Shingles.

The current Shingles vaccine is about 50-60% effective in preventing Shingles. However, it seems to decrease the severity of Shingles if a person does get them so, in that respect, even if it does not always prevent Shingles, at least the severity is decreased.

I am glad I got the vaccine. I think it decreased the severity of the Shingles outbreaks that I did have while on immune suppressants.

There is a new Shingles vaccine which may be coming on the market soon, if it is approved by the FDA. I don't know how long it will take before it becomes available. It is said to be 90% effective in preventing Shingles.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1603800

I will get the new vaccine if I can, but I am on Rituximab so I may not be able to get the new vaccine unless I go off Rituximab. There is no way I will voluntarily go off Rituximab. I see an infectious disease specialist due to my repeated outbreaks of Shingles and for the prophylactic treatment so I will ask her when the new vaccine comes on the market.

The reason I am telling you about the new vaccine is that you may want to get the new vaccine when it becomes available since it is so much more effective than the older vaccine. If you have an infectious disease specialist, he/she could probably give you the best advice on which vaccine to get. I suppose you could get the old vaccine now and get the new one when it becomes available, but I would want to speak to an infectious disease specialist concerning that issue. You may just want to wait for the new vaccine.

I am sorry you got Shingles. I know how painful it is. Hopefully it will clear up and you will have no residual.

[irish]

The shingles vaccine is a live vaccine and my immunologist told me to never get it. It should be something that everyone discusses with their doctor.

You can get it more than once. It affects people who have had chick pox as the virus then hides in our spinal cord tissues and stays there until something happens that weakens our immune system and boom over night literally the shingles pops out. Some people never get the shingles in spite of having chicken pox.

There is not a 100 % protection rate with shingles vaccine. In fact, I was surprised at how low the protection rate is. However, it could be that the shingles wouldn't be so bad. It really is a crap shoot isn't it. The shingles on the face is more worrisome and it is good that you got in early to the doctor.  It is wide to get to the doctor ASAP as the docs want to see your within 24-48 hours of symptoms in order for the antivirals to work better. Good luck. Irish

[SunshineDaydream]

Oh man, sorry to hear you got shingles, Deb. Good thing you caught it and started treatment early. It is my understanding that the experience is much worse if not treated soon after onset. I hope you have a quick and complete recovery.

I am not eligible to get the vaccine yet but will talk to my doctor about it eventually.

[Deb 27]

Thanks for the responses!!!! I guess I am not alone with this. Sorry you've had it so many times Jasper. It's got to be a pain.

I just saw a commercial for Nasonex and realized I've been using a steroid nasal spray. Hum..... I got shingles on my nose. I wonder if there is a connection?? I might switch to an antihistamine nasal spray and if it works, stay with it. May or may not be related.

The fact that it is a live vaccine does limit people who can get it and is a little scary for people like us.

One thing for sure, like most viruses, it comes with a nasty flair of our auto immune disease.

[eye2dry]

hi deb27

I got the shingles vaccine 4 years ago by my GP at the urging of my
eye dr. He has had patients who were blinded in the eye by an outbreak
of shingles in the face/eye area. I had no side effects at all from the vaccine.

I worked with an RN who had shingles 3 times in 3 years....she finally got
the vaccine after her 3rd outbreak !! My sister also at age 40 developed shingles,
her pain was awful...outbreak was to her left side of her chest and around to her back.
She fully recovered.
(my sister feels her shingles was brought on by a bad break up of a long term relationship which
ten she nearly starved herself...cried herself sick, no sleeping and developed anxiety attacks)

I hope I never get shingles.

shelly

[irish]

It has been my experience as a retired RN that most people get shingles when they are going through am emotional or physical stress such as a surgery or increase in a chronic disease or illness. I have seen some people have the flu and end up weeks later with the shingles.

A weird but interesting experience with my middle son. He was about 18 months old and grandpa got the shingles only we did not yet know it or even see it. He was wearing his bib strappy overalls without a shirt and holding our son in his arms. Our son started running a low grade  fever and not doing well and I had him to the doctor 2 times. We were on a long car trip in August with hot weather and he started breaking out with these vesicles on his back. It was chicken pox.

It didn't take us long to figure out that grandpa had literally inoculated my son with the shingles drainage from his sore. Shingles and chicken pox are the same bug. Our son was so sick and had vesicles the size of 50 cent pieces on his head. I counted like about 200 smaller ones on his little back. He didn't sleep and would pace and cry all night. his throat was full and I figured he could have had them in his stomach also. Could hardly eat jello or swallow fluids. It was really terrible. He was pretty ill for close to a month and slow to recover. I think back and wonder why in the world the doc didn't put him in the hospital and why I didn't ask. It was back in 1970 so docs weren't always as up on pediatrics then.  It is often a wonder our little ones live to be an adult. Irish

[sixty]

Wow Irish, what an ordeal!!  Your poor baby and grandpa.  I had no idea shingles could affect a young child like that.
I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that and very happy your son recovered.

[Judie P]

I never had shingles and I hope I never do.  I turned 65 last year and my nurse practitioner (she is leaving  ) insisted I get the shot since I have Sjogrens, not that I turned 65.  My nephew was 42 when he got shingles really bad.  He is a physicians assistant with orthopedic specialists in New York and he does not have any autoimmune or other diseases.  Hope this clears up very quickly for you, Deb.  Love and hugs.

[jazzlover]

Very glad you went to the doctor for help right away.

I will NOT take the shingles vaccine. NOPE.

[irish]

Jazz, I think if I took the shingles vaccine it would kill me as it is a live vaccine. This is my opinion plus my doc tells me no. Irish

[Deb 27]

Thanks again for all your warm wishes and responses -:) This is such a wonderful group!!!!!!

It seems like everybody knows somebody who had a nasty bout with this nasty virus. I don't know what to say about the live vaccine..... I guess each of us has to make that decision with our doctor. I think the virus itself would have a worse impact than a vaccine.....

I haven't noticed that I've been stressed. I've been tired lately and not sleeping well so maybe that is it. I turned 62 in January and have been considering retiring.

Irish, that sounds like a horrible ordeal with your baby-:((

The anti-virals they have today work pretty well. I think any time we get a virus, we get a double punch possibly in the way of a flare. I have a very sore swollen gland under my chin and a few others along my jaw line. I have never had swollen glands like this before. Because of our risk for lymphoma, I am worried....

Judie, I hope you get a new doc who you love!!!

[irish]

I was reading over some of the posts here and it reminded me of something. The baby who had the chicken pox grew up to the age of 8 when he complained of a sore side. I didn't pay much attention cause I figured he just had muscle strain from playing rough. The next day I looked at his side and low and behold he had what I thought were the shingles.

I took him to the doctor and told him about the bad bout with chicken pox years before. The doc was amazed as he had never seen shingles in a young child. He did blood testing for immune disorders. Everything came back normal but doc was still shaking his head. Gave me some cortisone cream for him as we didn't have all the antiviral meds back then. Fortunately, my son did not have much pain or burning with the shingles and not much rash either which was a blessing.

This is the same kid who had the mumps vaccine and a few days later got the worst case of mumps you ever saw. Irish

[Nymph]

I had shingles at 19 on my back. It would be absolutely awful to have on your face! I have not had the vaccine yet as my rheumy says I don't need it at my age. Once the new vaccine comes out perhaps I will ask again.