Thread: Shingles Vaccine ?

And on the other side of the coin, my primary doctor wanted to know if I wanted the Shingles shot. This was shortly after getting done with chemo. Asked my oncologist and it was an emphatic\, "No!". Apparently the Shingles vaccine is made up of live organisms and that's a no-no evermore if you've had chemo at any point in your like. I had chicken pox and have escaped the bullet so far. And hope to keep dodging.

Had the shot a couple of years ago. I remember the chicken pox well and I was 6 years old
and visiting my Grandparents in Kansas City, Mo., in July with my Mom. No fun that summer.

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

And on the other side of the coin, my primary doctor wanted to know if I wanted the Shingles shot. This was shortly after getting done with chemo. Asked my oncologist and it was an emphatic\, "No!". Apparently the Shingles vaccine is made up of live organisms and that's a no-no evermore if you've had chemo at any point in your like. I had chicken pox and have escaped the bullet so far. And hope to keep dodging.

If you are taking any immune system suppressant it is a no go. I didn't know that in some cases it is a life long prohibition. I would have thought a person's immune system would rebound ? Guess not.

WIfe had shingles 5 years ago. Hers caused nerve damage that bothers her to this day.

She takes that damn lyrica to help offset the pain. She's a worrier, always has been. Hers broke out when the oldest child went totally stupid trying to bring attention to himself. I still want to kick his ass every time she's standing there, hand on her side, and holding back tears.

I doubt I'm gonna get the shot. I've had the chicken pox but I have a tendency to let things roll and not get all bound up. May regret it later.

Had a vasectomy too.

I was there, when he got the shot. There's a lotta things I could say, but I'll leave it at this: He took it like a man... an old man, but a man.

Had the pox when I was a little guy like most kids did, then a moderate case of the shingles during a very stressful time in my 20's. I didn't even know there was a vaccine. I've heard horror stories about really bad cases.

If I get a vaccine I get what ever it is the vaccine was supposed to stop. I am in Wullie's camp. Everything I got is working fine so far. Reaching 60 and ain't stressin' over it ,,,,yet.

Another good shot to get if you're getting long in tooth like Jimmy is the pneumonia one too.

I had shingles about five years ago so I was probably 42 at the time. Huge stress trying to get a house ready for a sale brought it on. It started at the nape of my neck under my hairline. It kind of felt like a sunburn at first and I had bee working outside, so I didn't pay much attention to it the first day or two. It kept bugging me and getting a bit more painful so I asked my wife to look at it and she said it was blotchy red and at that point the rash was raised and the pain really started to kick in. I went in and they said without a doubt it was shingles and I was in for a rough ride. They did give me some sort of anti-viral pills but said those were only really effective if it's caught in the first two or three days which I was past that window. It was mainly on my shoulders, chest and up one side of my neck onto the side of my face. Luckily it didn't get to my eyes since I've read that it can cause blindness if the virus damages optic nerves.

Someone in this thread talked about moaning from the pain. The pain was near excruciating to excruciating. Basically agony for a week. I could not help but moan as well. Take the most sensitive organ of your body, your skin, and wreak painful havoc on it constantly for that time period with no effective remedy for the pain. I would not want it again, that's for sure. I would definitely not consider myself a masochist, but maybe I'm a bit of a loon because the intensity of it was interesting to experience.

ChrisL

I've had it twice. Once when I was a kid, the other about a month ago. lol. Painful, and to be avoided if possible.
Good luck Jimmy.