No, he said. Not old enough, he said. No risk factors, he said. You don’t need it, he said. . . 
That was less than two years ago.:mad:
Shingles hurt.:eek:
Waaaahhhhhh!!!
That is all.
I feel for you. Shingles are miserable. Hope you heal quickly.
And, oh, you can still get the shingles vaccine, once you are fully recovered. Shingles can recur.
I was just diagnosed with them on Monday. Not fun, but so far a little less painful than when I had them forty years ago. I’m waiting for the worst to happen this week.
I can’t have the shingles vaccine, but I believe everyone else should be able to get it regardless of age. Is it not shown to work for people younger than 60? Why are they limiting it?
My doctor fights me on it, too. Why are there ads at every pharmacy telling us to get shingles vaccines? I’ll pay for it if my insurance doesn’t cover it, so that’s not an issue.
I’m 54. My doctor gave it to me very grudgingly. He insisted my insurance would not cover it. I agreed to pay for it. I signed a form agreeing to pay for it. Insurance covered it.
Your doctor was right for nearly two years. You’ve been right for what? A few days?
I didn’t even know there was a shingles vaccine.
The question has already been asked, but why are doctors reluctant to prescribe it?
It might become an issue once you find out how much it costs. A shingles shot, paid out of pocket, runs in the neighborhood of $200. :eek:
I’ve been told the FDA doesn’t approve it for people under 50. I plan to get it on my 50th birthday. Even if it costs me $200, that’s cheaper than being admitted (again) to the hospital’s infectious diseases ward to save my eyesight, like I was 4 years ago. Not to mention the pain and suffering.
My dad has had shingles 3 times.
My guess is because it’s only about 50% effective and expensive, they don’t consider it cost efficient.
I don’t get that though. I was willing to pay for it, but I was left feeling like I’d asked for a year prescription for Vicodin.
Owie. I’ve heard that shingles is (are?)… unpleasant to say the least.
I’m curious though: how does the vaccine work?? I mean, you’ve had chicken pox, and the virus is dormant in your system. How does the vaccine keep you from “catching” something you already have?
It keeps it quiescent.
It’s better than shingles.
A friend of mine got shingles a few years back. He said rather ruefully that he felt like he’d been cheating on his wife when he went to the pharmacy to pick up his Valtrex (which treats the herpes virus…which shingles is one of).
I’ll be getting the shot if at all possible.
I got my shot a month ago. I have Medicare, so it was free, but my pharmacy told me some insurers don 't cover it (the genius of the Part D insurance lottery) and without coverage, it costs about $250.
A friend of mine got shingles a few months ago, he is 66 and it wasn’t too bad. My mother had it when she was 85, and it was so severe, it probably took years off her life, and she never fully got over the effects of it.
The place I retired from, after 30+ years, automatically enrolls its retirees in a Medicare Advantage PPO program. I would have to pay the full freight for supplemental coverage if I declined this plan.
The Medicare Advantage plan does not pay for a shingles vaccine.
I have put it off because it costs around $250, but I plan to get it once I find the extra cash. Currently I’m a bit strapped, after having to pay fairly high deductible and co-pays on some tests.
American health care, ain’t it grand? I hope I never get really sick. I’d have to sell my house.
It’s really distressing that a decision to refuse to administer a fairly innocuous, if not terribly effective, treatment is based on the perceived inability or unwillingness of some patients to pay. We’re big boys, let us decide if a couple hundred is worth it for a 50-50 chance to avoid, y’know, hospitalization and blindness.
What is the harm to society if doctors were to treat patients under the age of 50 like adults, explain the risks and efficacy of the shot, then give us the damn thing if we want to fork over $200? Plenty of doctors routinely hand out antibiotics unnecessarily, which does harm public health.
I had one shingles blister in my 20s–not clear why, since I was in what seemed to be good health. It was like having someone stick a burning knife into my ribs and twist it around for days. I would pay $250 not to experience that again.
Note: while overall effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing shingles was just over 50% in one large study, that increased to 64% in people between the ages of 60 and 69 who got the vaccine.
And more importantly, overall effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing a chronic and dreaded pain condition (post-herpetic neuralgia) was 67%.
Based on what I’ve heard about shingles and PHN, I’d definitely go for the vaccine.
shingles is very painful and can go away.
post-herpetic neuralgia, which is possible after shingles, can last a lifetime. 40% of those over 60 who get shingles develop it. it can be untreatable.
No clue, I just guinea pigged for it combined with MMR, and I turn 54 at the end of the month. I titred out just fine for all 4 diseases, so I am theoretically safe.