Did you know that there's another shingles vaccination available? Art and I got the Zostavax in 2010. I got the following information from the CDC website (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
They've now come out with a new vaccine called Shingrix and it is over 90% effective. Art and I had the first dose in October. You're supposed to get the 2nd shot 2-6 months after the first dose.
Art got shingles when he was in college. My daughter got it a year or two after college and mom got it about 12 years ago. Mom's shingles episode lasted months because she didn't tell my brother and didn't go to the doctor soon enough. She was in terrible pain a long, long time. She says you don't really understand what people are talking about when they say they are in pain from shingles until you've had it yourself. My daughter's case was close to her eyes and was misdiagnosed at first. Apparently, blindness could have resulted.
I really don't want to get shingles.
The prick of the first shot didn't hurt at all but we did feel the ache of the serum going in. Art and I had it at the same time. I will often get a little reaction, but Art usually doesn't. The nurse who gave me my shot said I should expect 2-3 days of feeling crappy. I didn't think it would affect me though.
What a surprise the following day when Art and I indeed felt somewhat crappy. We just felt really, really tired. It was weird. However, by the 2nd day we were pretty much back to normal.
In 2 months or so, we'll be getting the 2nd shot. I love the idea of being protected from shingles, but I wonder what kind of reaction we'll get next time.
Your risk of shingles and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) increases as you get older. CDC recommends that people 60 years old and older get shingles vaccine (Zostavax®) to prevent shingles and PHN. Shingrix (recombinant zoster vaccine) is the preferred vaccine, over Zostavax® (zoster vaccine live), a shingles vaccine in use since 2006. Zostavax may still be used to prevent shingles in healthy adults 60 years and older. For example, you could use Zostavax if a person is allergic to Shingrix, prefers Zostavax, or requests immediate vaccination and Shingrix is unavailable.
Zostavax (zoster vaccine live) was licensed by the FDA in 2006. This vaccine reduces the risk of developing shingles by 51% and PHN by 67%. It is given in one dose as a shot, and can be given in a doctor’s office or pharmacy.
Art got shingles when he was in college. My daughter got it a year or two after college and mom got it about 12 years ago. Mom's shingles episode lasted months because she didn't tell my brother and didn't go to the doctor soon enough. She was in terrible pain a long, long time. She says you don't really understand what people are talking about when they say they are in pain from shingles until you've had it yourself. My daughter's case was close to her eyes and was misdiagnosed at first. Apparently, blindness could have resulted.
The prick of the first shot didn't hurt at all but we did feel the ache of the serum going in. Art and I had it at the same time. I will often get a little reaction, but Art usually doesn't. The nurse who gave me my shot said I should expect 2-3 days of feeling crappy. I didn't think it would affect me though.
What a surprise the following day when Art and I indeed felt somewhat crappy. We just felt really, really tired. It was weird. However, by the 2nd day we were pretty much back to normal.
In 2 months or so, we'll be getting the 2nd shot. I love the idea of being protected from shingles, but I wonder what kind of reaction we'll get next time.
scary but hopefully effective.
ReplyDeleteThe drug is in short supply around here. Hubby keeps calling the pharmacy hoping to find it. I hope that by time I turn 60 next year things will have changed.
ReplyDeleteGood to know there is another shingles vaccine.
ReplyDeleteI have not gotten that one. Costs $300 so I think I will pass. Did et my flu shot.
ReplyDeleteI got the first one years ago but after 2 rounds of shingles. Ugh. The vaccine is in short suppply here too.
ReplyDeleteSmart move and hope it is effective. I had shingles and it is not at all pleasant and the odds of getting it are alarming.
ReplyDeleteMany of my family members got shingles. I have had the first shot. Not sure about second and third. Do not want to get the disease but don't know what will really help.
ReplyDeleteI had Part 1 of the Shingrix in May and Part 2 in August. My arm hurt, if I lifted it, until the next morning, and I had an all-over yucky feeling for a couple of days. Worth it, though, and with my medical coverage, it cost me only $10 per vaccination.
ReplyDeleteYes, I only had the older vaccine. G too. He had shingles near his eyes, and he still has trouble with it. He was good and went to all sorts of doctor's with it.
ReplyDeleteI had shingles in my 30's. It was not a fun time.
ReplyDeleteI must come to Hawaii two times and visit you, and get my Shingrix shots. My previous ACA insurance wasn't going to cover it, then decided to cover it. But the vaccine wasn't available from the manufacturer. I had to go onto my employer's insurance and it is covered. The pharmacies around here are taking people's names and putting them on a wait list for when they get the vaccine.
ReplyDeleteMy doc said he hopes to get it in January. They had some supplies earlier, gave the first one to patients, then couldn't get supplies in order to give people the 2nd shot when they needed it.
I find it amazing that it's been promoted, and that the insurance companies are approving it, but the manufacturer can't produce enough.
After seeing several patients and coworkers get shingles, I paid the $125 for the previous shingles shot when I was under 60, cuz my body doesn't know my exact birthdate. The new one protects differently and is better. Besides the now lifetime pneumonia vaccine, the annual flu shot, this is a good one to get. Please make an appointment with your doc, and let me know when I can come get a Hawaiian Shingrex vaccine.
Linda in Kansas
I did hear about the new shingles vaccine and also that it is supposed to be more effective and that it can have a knockout effect. I have a couple of friends who got shingles even after the older vaccine so I think it is worth getting a more effective one -- just haven't done it yet. Shingles sounds extraordinarily bothersome.
ReplyDeleteI will get it in 2019. The wait list here is hundreds of people long, and once someone gets the first shot, they have priority for their second one before most of us can get our first one. But I too do NOT want to get shingles. It's an awful disease.
ReplyDeleteTom and I have both had the first shot of this second vaccine, but have so far been unable to get the second shoe due to lack of vaccine supply. Tom's time limit ran out. So i don't know what's next.
ReplyDeletedue to being allergic to neosporin, I haven't been able to get a shingles vaccine. Will have to research this new type. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI got Shingles two summers ago and have since had the shots. They weren't covered at the time, so I paid fairly dearly. A few months later they were covered. :-(
ReplyDeleteI have had shingles twice but evidently a mild case both times. I did not have insurance so I did not get the shot. It costs several hundred dollars.
ReplyDeleteI take only two $4.00 medications so did not sign up for the med insurance.
My husband had a supplement insurance but had to pay for the insurance premium and also all of his prescriptions. It was a Met Life supplement his company had but we were out the premium as well as the cost of his meds so we canceled it.
When we told the pharmacist that he had no supplement insurance, they and the doctors always gave us a much better price. The pharmaceutical companies are a racket in America. All over the world they are much more reasonably priced.
This is good information, Kay. Thanks for sharing it. It's Good to know there is another shingles vaccine for those who need it.
ReplyDeleteYes, I got my shot months ago and am waiting to be notified of an appt for my second shot later this month or next. Shingles should be avoided any way possible from all accounts of those who’ve had them.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDelete