Shingles (as in, the nasty chicken pox redux condition)

As a child I had chicken-pox which might have activated shingles in my mum, kindly, giving child that I was. It's most common in older people and is itchy, scaley and painful. But it does go away and pain-killers can help.

Just googling the condition - once someone has had chicken pox, the virus remains dormant in the body but is suppressed by the immune system; but as people age the immune system becomes weaker and the virus might re-emerge as shingles.

I developed shingles on my honeymoon, with hilarious consequences. I was told it may have been stress which weakened my immune system hence letting the virus attack me.

"Shingles is an under-recognized, serious neurological disease that can lead to an extremely painful condition called post-herpetic neuralgia," said Dr. Anne Louise Oaklander, a shingles expert and associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. The new vaccine, called Zostavax, appears to reduce the risk of shingles and the neuralgia and seems to be safe, said Oaklander, who has no financial ties to the manufacturer, Merck & Co.

Shingles, which affects an estimated 1 million people each year, is caused by reactivation of a herpes virus called varicella zoster, the same virus that causes chicken pox. Most American adults have been exposed to chicken pox - and therefore are at risk of shingles. After this infection, the virus hides in nerve cells, then can emerge years or decades later, typically showing up on only one side of the body along the tract of a nerve, often in a belt-like pattern around the torso or in a nerve near one eye.

The $150 vaccine is covered by some insurers and also by Medicare Part D, said Dr. Jeffrey Kelman, a chief medical officer for beneficiary choices at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the government agency that administers Medicare.

The FDA cautions that people who are allergic to neomycin or any component of the vaccine should not receive Zostavax, nor should people with weakened immune systems, because the vaccine is made from live virus. An immunization committee for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to discuss guidelines for use of the vaccine next month.

Shingles can, and should, be treated - with anti-viral drugs such as acyclovir, valacyclovir or famcyclovir. But it's far better to prevent it in the first place, said Dr. Richard T. Johnson, a distinguished service professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "People over 60 should definitely consider the vaccine because post-shingles pain increases with age."

Herpes viruses are very wily little creatures that are likely among the oldest viruses ever to infect humans. So they've had quite some time to master being a lifelong pain in the ass!

when i was in middle school, i got my own case of shingles, but i think it was quite mild as i was nowhere near as incapacitated. it was just more painful and annoying than it was debilitating, so i guess it varies from person to person.

hope your mom feels better soon!!

Interestingly, the doctor shot me up w/cortisone and gave me a bunch of vaguely religious/spiritual pamphlets about mourning and lost loves. Maybe the psychological component in shingles is stronger if you get when you're younger? Anyway, I feel like I got off easy!

Haven't had an outbreak in ten years. Ouch. It itches more this time.

Ugh. I feel like my left side has been in a fight. I am wearing an undershirt under my bra. :P

Revive!

Ugh sorry.

Just started taking xaljanz (sp?) for my colitis and apparently it puts you at increased risk of shingles, so I need to get the shingrix vaccine, which my insurance won’t cover because I’m under 50. Sucks, albeit not as bad as shingles (sorry calstars!)

Just got the first of two Shingrix vaccine injections. It hasn't been available for couple of years until recently. Got it at the same time as I had my flu vaccine and pneumonia vaccine. Both my arms hurt for days, but it wasn't a problem.

I had shingles 13 years ago. It was a really miserable experience so I'm happy to finally get a good vaccine

Had this at the end of 2018/beginning of 2019. All over my back, and on my right arm from palm to elbow. Ultimately I think it might have been a fairly "mild" outbreak, as it wasn't horribly painful as some have described, so much as itching/burning/annoying, plus some neuropathy-type tingling in my fingers. It took about 3 weeks to cycle through.

almost everybody in my family has experienced shingles.

mine was over the right side of my torso, with a neuropathic pain that was hard to describe but was very unpleasant. I was lucky because it was not as bad as what my younger sister experienced, with shingles in her mouth.

people should get the shingles vaccine if they can

Antibiotics seem to be working (on day 4?) — the spread seems to have halted after infecting my chest, neck, and earlobe. Lots of itching with the occasional stab of pain. Yeah

ugh just got this. thought I was young enough I didn't need the vaccine; I guess I was wrong. Probably the stress of teaching through the pandemic set it off.

Not too painful yet but I have gotten lots of dire warnings about what is to come.

one can get shingles more than once. my advice to anyone who's had chickenpox or chickenpox with subsequent shingles is to get the Shingrix vaccine

yeah, seriously, everyone get the vaccine. Don't be like me and assume it's for people older than you.

Too true - my son got shingles a few years back, when he was 34 or 35. The doctor speculated that with so many kids having received the varicella vaccine, younger people who had chickenpox before the vaccine became available were at higher risk due to their immune systems not getting the occasional hit of the virus from the environment. No idea if that's valid. Really sorry you are having to deal with this Lily, and hope it stays mild.

i somehow assumed if you had HAD chickenpox you were immune. based on zero data. anyway. maybe i need that vax afterall?

you should get it. after initial the chickenpox infection the varicella zoster virus remains dormant in the body but it is not gone. shingles is a later reactivation of the virus

what age are people supposed to get it at? i had chicken pox but have never been recommended to get the vaccine

50 or older, unless your immune system is weak, but I don't know of any problems with my immune system and I just turned 38. So I'd say get it now.

yeah i was just looking it up. i am 37.

my friend got it a few years ago while pregnant, probably around age 32

i am 46 [cue “psycho” violins]

read this thread title as "nasty chicken pick only ten"

I really really need to get the vaccine. I'm 52 and have had several friends get shingles and all of them were varying degrees of miserable. Sorry, Lily!

pick only ten nasty chicken viruses

I didn't know you *could* get the vaccine (in the US) before 50

yeah i think both might be only fda approved for over 50 unless immunocompromised, not sure, just based on my search tonight

Think it's only been tested in 50+ demographic, but yeah I've known people in 30s who got it, and FDA says:

SHINGRIX is a vaccine indicated for prevention of herpes zoster (HZ) (shingles):
in adults aged 50 years and older.
in adults aged 18 years and older who are or will be at increased risk of HZ due to immunodeficiency or immunosuppression caused by known disease or therapy.

Whole page for that, with lots of links:
https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/vaccines/shingrix#:~:text=SHINGRIX%20is%20a%20vaccine%20indicated,by%20known%20disease%20or%20therapy.

Yeah absolutely get the vaccine if you are eligible. As you can tell from the fact I started the thread, as soon as I turned 50 I made arrangements and got my first shot a couple of weeks later.

nasty chicken pick only ten

irl lol, my brain immediately started trying to make a list of nasty chicken. Thanks for the sympathy, all.

the NHS only gives it to you if you're 70-79

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/shingles-vaccination/

My housemate who's younger than me has had the vaccine, but she got it because she was working in home health care, so maybe she wouldn't have been eligible otherwise. Well, if the US doesn't usually give it to you until you turn 50, I feel less guilty and more annoyed.

A weird side effect of this for me seems to be anxiety. I thought at first I was just nervous waiting for the promised excruciating pain to set in (hasn't yet, fingers crossed), but now I think it's the shingles itself making me anxious. Weird.

This is a weird dang illness. Lately it keeps jabbing an invisible needle into the left side of my chest like I am Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. Could be worse - could be lots of needles! But a very odd sensation.

Sympathy to all those suffering from shingles, must be awful. My first shingles vax shot just jacked me up for 12+ hours and I never have responses to vaccines.

That was me a year ago--I had only fleeting pain after my COVID shots, but my shingles shots messed with my arm for a week afterwards.

I doubled up the shingles and tetanus shots, which was probably not a good idea as it wiped me out for a day and a half. Covid/flu shot combo a comparative breeze.

Yeah zero regrets on getting my shingles vaccine shots two years back but I would recommend you do them on a Friday and plan to do nothing for the weekend.

No regrets for sure. I'll be more prepared for the second shot.

Friend of mine for many years is dealing with the aftereffects of a bout, and recently wrote about it. Just horrible.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/29-07-2024/my-last-normal-day-when-shingles-leaves-behind-an-itch-you-cant-get-rid-of

I wish the vaccine was still only $150. I was quoted $220 the last time I asked about it.

Wow, terrifying and sad read, so sorry for her. I got my first round of vaccine a few months ago, 2nd scheduled for October. Everyone I know who’s had shingles has been miserable.

Getting my first shot tomorrow, while vaccines are still legal. As tipsy said, everyone I know who's had shingles has been miserable.

First shot received! Had trouble sleeping last night because I was cold and shivering, so probably spiked a fever, but putting on a pair of socks helped.

yeah I got the chills too, but after 24 hours the effects were gone (I got a pneumonia vax at the same time which might have made things a bit more intense)... next up are a TDAP booster and Hep B, ordering the whole menu while I still have a job