I forgot to mention Glaucoma. If you get Shingles around an eye make sure you see an Ophthalmologist. I didn’t understand what Glaucoma was but the Doctor relayed this information with a distressed tone in his voice. Looking it up it appears something to take seriously to avoid losing sight.
Updating this. I just had the shingles vaccine a couple day ago.
Yep, it sucked. Kicked my ass actually. Still, actual shingles was worse. We’ll see how the booster is in a couple months.
I had my second shot on 8/30 (Friday). Friday night was fine, mediumish fever before bed though (around 99, up from my usual just shy of 98F per my doctor).
Saturday? All suck, all day, fever went to just over 101 after which I made myself stop trying to make sense, took more pills, a shower, and tried to sleep. Today the fever is reduced back to the mid 99s, but my energy comes and goes with it. Fever spikes? Frenetic energy. Fever drops? Exhaustion. Still, if the experience of my first shot remains true, I’ll be largely recovered tomorrow, which is why I scheduled the shot for a 3 day weekend. 
For the record, my wife, who did the same, felt moderately achy and warm Saturday, but that was it. She’s been very nice. So I’ll do the same next month when we get our seasonal flu and COVID boosters, which always lay her out, while making me feel just “under the weather” for 48 hours.
It was worse than my first Covid shot. Totally sucked.
I knew someone who had shingles and couldn’t even have the ceiling fan on because the air movement hurt his skin.
I got my second Shingrix right on time because I was positive that I didn’t want to ever suffer like my friend did.
Booster was equally as bad as the first shot for me. Still happy to have done it.
I’m glad this thread got bumped because I’ve been wondering how you are doing now. I’m hoping you are fully recovered?
Thanks for asking. It appears to be long term. It wasn’t glaucoma but I was seeing double so the eye doctor prescribed a prism lens. If they’re so equipped they can put on a Fresnel overlay to an existing lens in about 5 minutes. That solved that. You can’t tell by looking at the glasses so they’re not some bug-eyed magnification.
I still have 2 issues. 1 is a sudden pain attack that is a phantom pain. It is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. If it lasted any time at all then death would be preferred. The first instance was like an ice pick in the temple. The 2nd time was like getting maced in my sinuses. The good new is that it’s stopped immediately by applying ice. And I mean immediately. I now carry a frozen water bottle everywhere I go. In the car it’s within arms reach at all times. It’s been over a month without incident so I think I’m done with that.
the 2nd issue is long term pain easily handled with Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and Gabapentin. It basically feels like a bad sunburn around my eye/temple and forehead if I touch it so I just don’t touch that part of my face. Easy enough to deal with.
I’ve been back to work for over a month and get by just fine. There’s an odd side effect of shingles in that it is sensitive to stress. I have a stressful job so on days it’s raining down on me I grab some ice from the break room. No problems.
I was off for 12 weeks with full pay so there was no financial issues.
Definitely recommend a Shingles shot.
Wow and ouch! I knew that shingles could be bad, I had no idea how bad they could get. I’m so happy that you figured out the ice thing and hope that you won’t get an ice pick into the eye again.
It’s good that you are able to go back to work and are able to do your normal job without more problems. I hope you continue to recover.
You are like the poster child for that!
I’m 55 and have been reluctant to get the shot(s) because A) my sister got hers and was laid out on death’s door for two days, and B) I had a terrible case of stress-induced shingles when I was 30, so I’m terrified that somehow I’d have an even worse reaction to the shot. It’s a mental thing: shingles shot = shingles I had in my 30s (it was bad). I truly need to heed the urgent advice given here. I have it on my calendar to schedule. I can’t do it immediately because I just got my Covid/flu vax and I know there should be a time gap between vaccinations.
You can get vaxes for shingles, COVID, and influenza at the same time. They do recommend at least a week between the shingles vaccine, and Arexvy, the new shot for RSV, a disease which can be dangerous in some populations.
My mother recently spent a couple of weeks in the hospital. Not from shingles itself, but from a reaction to the medication she was given for a shingles outbreak. The reaction looked like a stroke. She lost control over half her face and one of her legs. She’s much better now, but still needing physical therapy.
So yeah…get that shingles vax!
Thank you.
I’m finding it easy to convince people. When us old folks get together we often discuss our medical woes.
We call that an ‘organ recital’ when we start sharing our woes.
OK, that made me laugh out loud.
I want to say that while I’m one of those who said getting the shots was horrible, I’m a whiny wimp. Please don’t listen to anything I said about how unpleasant they are, I exaggerate a lot.
Instead, scroll back up and read about @Magiver’s experiences.
I’d be willing to get the shots yearly if that is what it would take to keep me from sharing that horrible experience.
I really think you should become one of us, we have cookies. I would even volunteer to make some cookies and send them to you as proof that the post vax-team is the best one to be on.
Could I ask for a sanity check on a shingles situation here?
Friends of mine is going out of town next week, and I’m slated to check on their house and pets for about two weeks. One of them was just diagnoses with shingles, but the dermatologist says she’s safe to travel on Tuesday.
I’ve never had chicken pox, but did get the chicken pox vaccine about 20 years ago.
I am also serving as a care giver for two people right now, including one with stage 4 cancer.
I believe there is virtually no added risk for me visiting their house once they are gone. I also believe that even that risk drops dramatically after a few days, because the cites I’ve found for shingles living on surfaces suggest 1-2 days at the most.
Am I missing anything? I’d like to be able to help my friends, but not at the expense of the other people I’m already taking care of.
Oh, wow. That would make me anxious. But i have no idea what the facts are. @Qadgop_the_Mercotan , any chicken pox expertise?
Yeah, it falls in the “sounds scary” category, but the links I found online are much more reassuring. Given the risk though…yeah, I’d love if the good Doc or others could weigh in with actual information to help me make my decision.
My sister, who works in medical research and drug trials, just got back to me and believes there is essentially no risk. She’s very cautious, and also is involved with one of the people I’m taking care of, so that’s an important opinion.
If you had the zoster vaccine, there should really be no significant risk. Add in the fact that the person with shingles isn’t even in the house, and the risk is nearly zero.
Thanks, QtM! Always appreciate when you weigh in on things like this.
I had the two dose chicken pox series as an adult - I assume that’s the Varicella vaccine. I sadly don’t have the official record of that so I can’t confirm details. (Hmm - I think I did it in my old doctor’s office - I should call them and see if they have a record, just to have it.)
I have not yet had the zoster vaccine specifically for shingles. Does that change the assessment in any meaningful way? I think the “not in the house” part is as significant as anything else, so I’m still thinking it’s likely safe.