Forums >Health and Nutrition>Shingles vaccine
old woman w/hobby
My mother in law has shingles. Awful stuff.
Has any one gotten the vaccine before the recomended 60 years old?
It is approved for 50 to 59 years but not recommended by CDC until 60.
Any good in getting the vaccine at less than 60 years old?
steph
rectumdamnnearkilledem
I've wondered about this, myself. I had a mild case of shingles maybe 5-6 years ago (figured out what it was pretty early and got on anti-virals ASAP). I was only about 35 when I had it. Apparently I can get it again...?
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
I'm 58 and couldn't get my insurance to approve the shot so I decided not to spend the money. My wife's the same age and was successful in getting her insurance to cover the shot, so she got one. In hind site, I should have spent the money even though I have heard its not a sure thing that you will not come down with an outbreak even with the shot.
A few months after deciding not to take the shot, I came down with shingles. It concentrated around my shoulder and became a very nasty thing to deal with. Couldn't run for 8 weeks and in fact could only walk with my hand in my pocket to keep my shoulder from moving. Still have some residual pain and its now been 7 months since the initial outbreak. I did go through a full round of anti virals within a couple of days of seeing the rash, so I have to assume it could have been even worse.
Since then I have met several people who have come down with shingles multiple times, so it seems that its a myth you only get it once. If you can afford it, take the shot. It most likely wont hurt you any, and could save you a lot of pain.
Latent Runner
I've been wondering about this as well. I've had Chicken Pox not once but twice, yes, twice! I have no idea if that makes me more or less likely to contract Shingles; I'm 56 and had a co-worker get Shingles and she was out of work for nearly a month and even when she came back the discoloration on her skin wasn't pretty.
Regarding if or when I'll get shingles, this may sound funny, but I may have already had it. Earlier this year I signed on as a part-time care taker on a horse farm, and part and parcel of working with horses in New Hampshire is Poison Ivy, something I've had on both arms and legs pretty much non-stop since April. That said, in mid to late September I got a strange rash on my left upper arm which looked more like Poison Oak but lasted over a month; much longer than any of my bouts of Poison Ivy (or any of the bouts I've had with Poison Oak from years ago). The thing is, until I read this thread, I didn't give that strange rash a second thought, I just figured it was something I got from rubbing up against the horses as I work with them.
As for getting Chicken Pox twice, I got it once in 1963 or 1964, I didn't have any symptoms when my son got it in 1995, however, when my daughter got it in 2007 I came down with that can best be described as a very mild case with maybe thirty or forty pox spots on my body and no fever or other discomfort. The main difference between my son and daughter is that my daughter had been forced to get the Chicken Pox vaccine before she could enter public school. So much for the vaccine; literally every child in my daughter's third grade class got Chicken Pox, and every one of them had been vaccinated.
Fat old man PRs:
Fight The Future
Supposedly, "Some people who are vaccinated against chickenpox may still get the disease. However, it is usually milder with fewer blisters and little or no fever"
That's something I've wondered...if a person gets the CP vaccine, can they still get shingles later on...?
The problem was that when my daughter got her vaccine it was thought that kids were one and done; it wasn't until the first wave of vaccinated kids came down with Chicken Pox (apparently my daughter was one of said "first wave") that they reevaluated the "one and done" policy.
I will say this, her case was much-MUCH milder than her brother's (or mine from the mid 1960s for that matter), and the second case I got when I was in my late 40s was even milder than hers.
Ohhh, good question.
Dang. I didn't realize you get it that early.
I'm 58 and couldn't get my insurance to approve the shot so I decided not to spend the money. My wife's the same age and was successful in getting her insurance to cover the shot, so she got one. In hind site, I should have spent the money even though I have heard its not a sure thing that you will not come down with an outbreak even with the shot. A few months after deciding not to take the shot, I came down with shingles. It concentrated around my shoulder and became a very nasty thing to deal with. Couldn't run for 8 weeks and in fact could only walk with my hand in my pocket to keep my shoulder from moving. Still have some residual pain and its now been 7 months since the initial outbreak. I did go through a full round of anti virals within a couple of days of seeing the rash, so I have to assume it could have been even worse. Since then I have met several people who have come down with shingles multiple times, so it seems that its a myth you only get it once. If you can afford it, take the shot. It most likely wont hurt you any, and could save you a lot of pain.
Well that settles it. I have a Dr.s appointment this afternoon. Military hospital. If they won't give it to me
because of my age I'll most likely just pay for it some elsewhere.
One day at a time
My husband got shingles when he was 41. Stress probably had something to do with it - he was out of work and we had a newborn baby. The same day he was diagnosed, our baby was admitted to the hospital with RSV. My husband couldn't visit him because he could have caused a sick person to get chicken pox. It was HORRIBLE. He was in so much pain he thought he was having a heart attack. He will get the shingles vaccine as soon as he turns 60 in a few months.
Well, the Dr. said no to a shingles vac. until 60 years if no risk factors.
Damn, I would concider being over 50 a risk factor.
I'm not clear if this was her decision, local hospital decision or over all military.
Should have questioned that at the time.
Anyway she isn't my usual Dr. So I will check with him.
A Saucy Wench
Oddly, everyone I know who has had shingles has been way under 60. Mostly in their 40's
I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets
"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7
Yes, and that is scary.
Don't be fooled that shingles is only for the "elderly", I was surprise to find out the disease is more likely in older folks but just about anyone can get it. While working at the Peds Trauma Center/ED the physician asked me what I thought of the 4 y.o. child's rash. I told him if they "were about 60 years older I would say shingles." The Doc came out of the evaluation and said good job and that I was right.