I’ve known a few people who have gotten shingles and it is incredibly painful. I’ve been avoiding getting Shingrix because of that reaction but I’m at an age where it certainly makes sense to bite the bullet on that, and I should definitely do it before RFK Jr makes the United States a vaccination-free zone.
Stranger
This was exactly my thinking and I began updating my vaxxes the day after the election.
Like you, I put off Shingrix for as long as I could. It was the last one I updated and I got the first shot back on the 17th of January. I did have a reaction, but not one as bad as what I get to COVID vaxxes. The Shingrix reaction only lasted a day, whereas the COVID ones are 3 days. It was unpleasant, but not “Lord, let me go!” bad.
I will say I’m rather dreading the second shot and may board my dog so I can suffer in peace. Still, do get it done. Every person I’ve known who got shingles suffered terribly, and for far longer than just a few days.
I’m in the same boat. Scared to get shingles, but also kinda scared to get the vaccine too…probably time to just buckle up and do it.
Might be a good idea.
I never get vaccine reactions (beyond a sore arm for the ones known to cause that) and my first Shingrix gave me no trouble at all.
Therefore I didn’t expect a reaction from the second one. But it knocked me out for a day with a fever of 102! I was just glad I hadn’t scheduled anything important then.
Later, I talked to a pharmacist and he said the reaction to the second Shingrix is typically worse than the first shot, and even explained why, though I’m not going risk garbling his explanation.
So yeah, if you found the first one tough, the second one is gonna be just swell! But, as others have said, well worth it, based on having known people with shingles. That is one illness you do NOT want to get.
Thanks for the encouragement. I will get the second shot despite my immune system being hyper-alert and reacting to damn near every vaccine. No reaction to the pneumonia one, and I didn’t used to have a reaction to the flu vaccine – until I got my first high dose shot last year. This year, I waited too long and there were no longer any high dose flu shots available so got just the regular vaxx. No reaction to that.
Having already talked myself into the first Shingrix shot, there’s no way I’ll miss getting the second one, even with what I am sure is going to be a very unpleasant couple of days. I manage to talk myself into COVID vaxxes every year despite the truly gawdawful and extended responses I have to them, so Shingrix II should be a cakewalk. 
Glad to hear you’ll get the second one. Be sure to check with the pharmacist when you get it so they can advise you about acetaminophen dosages and timing to make those days as tolerable as possible.
I’d be tempted to keep my dog(s) near just for the comfort they give but not if they are big or rambunctious or if feeling punk would make it hard to walk them as they need. Fortunately my cat was perfectly happy to snooze on my lap for those 2 or 3 days and she only protested mildly when I got up to take my Tylenol and then climbed right back up and snoozed away.
I got caught in that age gap where I got the first shingles vax series , Zostavax and then got to do it all over again when Shingrix came out because it is so much better protection. After 40+ years of nursing I damn sure knew I didn’t want shingles. It’s excruciating, there’s not much treatment for it and it can be cruelly reoccurring.
I got shingles. Had a red speckled rashy area about 3x3 inches on one side of my torso. It appeared while I was on a trip and my first thought was bedbugs from last night’s notso hotso hotel. Nope. Headed off to the doc when I got home a coupe days later & they glanced at it and said “shingles”.
I found the itching to be annoying, but that’s it. Nothing that could be described as pain. It has not recurred in the 4+ years since that event.
Doc said to wait 6 months then get the two-shot course of Shingrix. I did that, and it was a non-event. No illness, no particular arm soreness, etc. I even got my first round on my 62nd birthday.
Unless one has quite a history of vaccine reactions (e.g. poor Aspenglow) I’d not be “terrified” of the vaccination.
You are very fortunate. I have one acquaintance who lost sight in one eye because that’s where shingles decided to show up for her. My stepmom had it all up and down her back for months and could hardly wear clothes for the duration. I’m glad yours was not severe, but for many people – as you point out – it is.
Yep.
This is like saying " everyone is saying to get more exercise but I overdid it and tore a hamstring, so exercise is actually bad for you".
I concur.
My wife did the same thing and i got both flu and covid booster same day- sore arms sure, but no issues. Basically we did what our Medical Doctor advised.
However, on the other hand, after getting my first shingles vac (or was it my 2nd?), I was sick as a dog for almost a day- really bad chills. But then- fine. So, yeah, some flu like symptoms occur. They tell you this.
Those are a scam.
Incidentally if you google “mycotoxin-eliminating candles - scam?” the SDMB shows up as a top search item.
Okay, I had a bad reaction- about 12+ hours of feeling sick with bad chills. Compared to a life of incurable pain if you actually get Shingles- the trade off is extremely good.
Just prepare yourself- make sure extra blankets are near, etc. Really it wasnt so bad afterwards.
Oh, yes, I will definitely be taking any and all ameliorating drugs! As for the dog, he’s small and I love him and he gives me great amusement and pleasure, but he’s still a demanding almost-puppy whose needs take priority over mine, so the kennel for a night might make sense. We’ll see. He’ll be almost 2 years old by the time I get the second shot in early May.
I am so sorry you were caught in the Zostavax/Shingrix debacle! But as you say, getting shingles is by far the greater risk. Good on you for going through it.
I was so averse to getting the shots I made my doc do a chicken pox titre first, because I didn’t think I’d had chicken pox. But of course with 99% of adults having gotten it at some point in their lives – even if they didn’t know it – the titre showed that I had, too. So no avoiding the Shingrix series for me. Balls!
I get every vaccine. While trying to keep up with boosters. Seems I’m getting shots once a month.
I’ve had plenty of reactions. Actually the shingrix was not so bad. The 2nd was a bit worse.
I have no choice. I can’t take a chance getting something my weak immunity can’t handle.
I can sincerely say the state of my brain/blood barrier is not on the top of my list of things to worry alot about.
A 62-year-old from Germany deliberately got 217 Covid-19 vaccine shots in the span of 29 months
Pierce?
Thanks to Stranger for clarifying that the objection you stated to simultaneous vaccine administration is only valid for 2 vaccines and then only in certain immunosuppressed patients.
The guideline for not simultaneously giving the 2 types of inactivated pneumococcal vaccines is due to potential interference between the 2 leading to suboptimal protection, not “overworking” the immune system.
Actually, molds that grow in the home can infect immunosuppressed people. And a number of pathogenic molds grow in the human body, producing lung and other infections even in those with intact immune systems. These diseases include coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever), blastomycosis and histoplasmosis.
My left eye is blind because of histoplasmosis. Sudden, silent and I hadn’t lived where it was endemic for years before a flare of it wiped out the central fine vision in that eye (retinal scars on the fovea).
That’s interesting. For me, I only had one COVID shot that had any sort of reaction, and that was the very first one back in spring of 2021. The rest have caused me less reaction that most flu shots do, which isn’t much. Even the initial one was just some pretty unearthly fatigue, and generally not feeling tip-top.
But the Shingrix vaccine made me absolutely miserable for a day, and kind of under the weather for another day, for both the initial and the booster. Basically what I’d call flu-like symptoms- headache, fever, body aches, and generally feeling very cruddy.
Okay, but sure- a day of badness, as opposed top living with Shingles.
Because my spleen was removed decades ago, I am allegedly somewhat immunocompromised. (Although I rarely get sick. I have something like 85 unused sick days accrued at work.) My doctor advises me to get vaccinations against lots of things - Influenza, Covid, Pneumonia, Meningitis, etc. I never have much of any reaction, other than a brief sore spot on my arm, even when I get multiple shots at the same time. I had both Shingles vaccinations a couple years ago, and noticed nothing.
I suspect people hear the negative anecdotes far more often than the good anecdotes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean negative reactions are more common than minimal reactions.
When I visit Quest (one of the big national medical testing chains), after asking me about insurance coverage, they ask for the lab order from the physician. So if @Velocity didn’t have a lab order from a physician, how did they know what test was appropriate?
Read the links in post 14.
We’re all so different, aren’t we?
What you suffered with your Shingrix vaccine is what I suffered for a day with my first Shingrix, and what I suffer for at least 3 days with every COVID shot, together with horrendous chills. I set my mattress heater to max and shiver under the bedclothes, piled high, and still can’t get warm. The nausea, headache, body aches and fever are just icing on the cake.
I kind of dread Octobers.