So If You Are 40+ and Doc Recommends A Shingles Shot...

[SteyrAUG]

Go get it.

All my life Shingles has been explained to me as something like adult chicken pox and I listened to a lot of dipshits talk about how the vaccine made them way more sick and who cares about a temporary rash thing.

Well the truth of the matter is it's a bit more like adult POLIO. I had a very minor rash, something I attributed to mowing the lawn on a really hot day. Perhaps this is a heat rash or something...after all I'm getting older.

But then my left side began to hurt. Chest, side and back and I thought maybe I slept funny or took more hits than I remember last sparring session. Then I found myself pressing on muscles and thinking "holy crap" where are the bruises because this F'ing hurts. Next day I felt like I owed the mafia $20,000 and didn't have it so three Vito's worked me over with baseball bats.

Thinking perhaps this might not resolve itself I contact my doctor about an appointment and when he told me "shingles" I thought that's BS...shingles is just a itchy rash.

Turns out I was very, very misinformed. Seems it's actually a virus that attacks nerves in the body that sometimes manifests itself with a skin rash. The chicken pox you might have had as a child might technically be the same virus but the experience is very different.

I'm also pretty resistant to the idea of pain killers beyond ibuprofen so I told my doc to skip that, I'll tough it out and lets just get going on the drugs that actually stop the nerve damage. Good idea and bad idea, I have a pretty high pain threshold but HOLY CRAP did that hurt. And for a month it hurt really bad, like insanely bad. I'm now about seven weeks in and things are starting to be normal and I can go through a day without a nerve band lighting up and momentarily crippling me.

In my adult experience I have been beaten, stabbed a couple times and hit with more blunt instruments than most people still walking around and shingles was still a uniquely painful experience for me. If I could have gone back in time and gotten a shingles shot and skipped the entire experience I'd have gladly paid $1,000 to do that instead.

So in short, if you are at that age...go get the shot and save yourself a lot of needless suffering. And if anyone tells you the shot is worse than the virus, you have my permission to tell them to FRO.

[pag23]

Good info...I am getting close to 50 so I take a greater interest in my health now and just got a full blood work and physical. Surprised my doctor didn't recommend the shingles vax.

I know a coworker who got Shingles and wouldn't wish it on anybody..

[dpadams6]

Good info...I am getting close to 50 so I take a greater interest in my health now and just got a full blood work and physical. Surprised my doctor didn't recommend the shingles vax.

I know a coworker who got Shingles and wouldn't wish it on anybody..

It's recommended after age 50

[jbjh]

It's recommended after age 50

This is because of the piss-poor guidelines that presuppose only “old” people get shingles. Funny thing is that most people I know who’ve had it are under 40.

Insurance covers it when you turn 50. Ask how much the vaccination costs without your insurance covering it.


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[georgeib]

Man, sorry to hear you've had such a hard go of it. Hope you heal up quickly, and thank you for taking the time to warn us.

[pinzgauer]

I can thank shingles for:
- 4 days in the hospital, the first of which were life threatening
- the worst pain I've ever been in, and I've had multiple bad kidney stones
- missing part of my nose
- vision impairment in one eye because my body is fighting ghost shingles virus in my cornea
- Ongoing nerve pain/discomfort 18 mths later in the impacted nerve (dermotope) that runs from the tip your nose through your eye socket over to your ear

Get the shot, it is recommended starting at 50. It is stupid that insurance won't pay for it until you're 60, so most people wait too late.

The best way to describe shingles impact on nerves is like a wire with the insulation eaten or eroded. Which causes the nerve to fire when it shouldn't, or not fire when it should.

I'm still taking gabapentin to manage the nerve weirdness. If I don't take it it feels like I have a worm or a fly wiggling in the corner of my eye. That and ache/tingling along the nerve.

So yeah, it can be way more than an itchy patch of skin.

Steyr said he'd pay a grand to avoid it? I'm at least $10k out of pocket due to shingles, and will continue to pay for meds.

Get your shot. Or not, and learn the hard way.

[flenna]

I concur, shingles is the single worst medical experience I have had. Just laying in bed was terribly painful.

[SteyrAUG]

I can thank shingles for:
- 4 days in the hospital, the first of which were life threatening
- the worst pain I've ever been in, and I've had multiple bad kidney stones
- missing part of my nose
- vision impairment in one eye because my body is fighting ghost shingles virus in my cornea
- Ongoing nerve pain/discomfort 18 mths later in the impacted nerve (dermotope) that runs from the tip your nose through your eye socket over to your ear

Get the shot, it is recommended starting at 50. It is stupid that insurance won't pay for it until you're 60, so most people wait too late.

The best way to describe shingles impact on nerves is like a wire with the insulation eaten or eroded. Which causes the nerve to fire when it shouldn't, or not fire when it should.

I'm still taking gabapentin to manage the nerve weirdness. If I don't take it it feels like I have a worm or a fly wiggling in the corner of my eye. That and ache/tingling along the nerve.

So yeah, it can be way more than an itchy patch of skin.

Steyr said he'd pay a grand to avoid it? I'm at least $10k out of pocket due to shingles, and will continue to pay for meds.

Get your shot. Or not, and learn the hard way.

So I hope nobody glossed over your post because it was very important. Shingles seems to pick a nerve at random. I was in F'ing pain because the dame thing went from the center of my chest, around the side and ended between my shoulder blades.

But that is NOTHING compared to shit like having the nerve behind your eye and face light up. If you are unfortunate it can also select a nerve that runs through your anus and I swear to god I wish I was making that up. Basically every time you go to the bathroom you wish you were dead. I cannot imagine 6-8 weeks of any of that.

It really is luck of the draw and it's a losing game to play and one that is completely preventable.

[mrbieler]

Got my 2nd shot a couple of weeks ago. High fever the next day. Slept a lot for 2 days. Bleh for day 3. No issues after that.

I was lucky I had a mild case about 12 years ago. I was getting facet block injections regularly for bulged discs and broken facets in my lower back. One of the injections triggered a mild case at the sight of the injection. Frustrating and painful, but I responded well to medication. Between my limited experience and seeing what a real case of shingles can do, I chose to get the vaccine.

On the plus side, me getting shingles got my son chickenpox so there is that...

[pinzgauer]

So I hope nobody glossed over your post because it was very important. Shingles seems to pick a nerve at random. I was in F'ing pain because the dame thing went from the center of my chest, around the side and ended between my shoulder blades.

But that is NOTHING compared to shit like having the nerve behind your eye and face light up. If you are unfortunate it can also select a nerve that runs through your anus and I swear to god I wish I was making that up. Basically every time you go to the bathroom you wish you were dead. I cannot imagine 6-8 weeks of any of that.

It really is luck of the draw and it's a losing game to play and one that is completely preventable.

The big thing is that just because insurance won't pay for it to your head early age doesn't mean you shouldn't get it.

"They" recommend age 55 and I would have happily paid a hundred bucks to avoid permanent issues (missing part of the tip of my nose) and long-term medication to deal with the nerve twitches.

I waited till 60 because my doctor told me insurance wouldn't pay for it and I never asked how much it would be out of insurance.

With the rabid anti-vax noise out there right now my bet is some people are going to learn this the hard way.