New Shingrx Shingles Vaccine

[harllee]

I had my first Shingrix shot back in January. Woke up the next day with my arm slightly sore and was a little tired that day and the next. Nothing major.

Got my second Shingrix shot last week at noon on Wednesday. By 5pm my arm hurt so bad I was seriously wondering if maybe the pharmacist had broken the needle off in my arm by mistake and didn't notice it. In spite of taking two extra strength acetaminophen (generic Tylenol) tablets before bed at 10pm I awoke at 1 am with fever and chills. Too soon to take more acetaminophen so I took an aspirin, which was tamped it down enough that I could get back to sleep. Fever and chills didn't really leave until about 5pm Thursday. Arm still seriously sore all Thursday but by Friday only mildly sore.

By far, the worst vaccine reaction I have ever had. Still, having known people with shingles, worth it.... I guess.

As someone who had an AWFUL case of shingles at age 50 and still has pain 20 years later I can assure you that taking the Shingrix vaccine is definitely worth it.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

As someone who had an AWFUL case of shingles at age 50 and still has pain 20 years later I can assure you that taking the Shingrix vaccine is definitely worth it.

Thanks for that. DW and I reminded each other of the benefit several times today...

 

[Koolau]

I had my first Shingrix shot back in January. Woke up the next day with my arm slightly sore and was a little tired that day and the next. Nothing major.

Got my second Shingrix shot last week at noon on Wednesday. By 5pm my arm hurt so bad I was seriously wondering if maybe the pharmacist had broken the needle off in my arm by mistake and didn't notice it. In spite of taking two extra strength acetaminophen (generic Tylenol) tablets before bed at 10pm I awoke at 1 am with fever and chills. Too soon to take more acetaminophen so I took an aspirin, which was tamped it down enough that I could get back to sleep. Fever and chills didn't really leave until about 5pm Thursday. Arm still seriously sore all Thursday but by Friday only mildly sore.

By far, the worst vaccine reaction I have ever had. Still, having known people with shingles, worth it.... I guess.

Right in line with what DW and I suffered from our 2nd shots. I took it to mean that the first round really worked because the second round gave such a significant reaction. No doc here, so YMMV.

 

[Helen]

I had my second shot yesterday. I woke up achy and my joints feel stiff. I took three advil and that has helped. I was hoping to play tennis this morning, but I don't know. I feel like I did after getting the covid vaccines. I'm glad I have the shots over with, it's well worth it for the peace of mind.

 

[skyking1]

Having seen what @harlee has experienced with several loved ones, I can attest 2nd hand that it is nothing to wish on anyone. I finally got around to doing it over this winter.
no ill effects for me, unlike the mild fever from the covid vaccines.

 

[Joylush]

I got the new shot through the VA. Doctor highly recommended it. It did give me sore arm with a big red welt on it that was a tad painful and took a week to go away but no other side effects. I won’t be able to get the second shot for 7 months but the doctor said it’s not a big deal.

 

[stephenson]

I got the new shot through the VA. Doctor highly recommended it. It did give me sore arm with a big red welt on it that was a tad painful and took a week to go away but no other side effects. I won’t be able to get the second shot for 7 months but the doctor said it’s not a big deal.

Here's a good CDC link ... good to research in combination with your doc's recommendations.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/public/shingrix/index.html

 

[jazz4cash]

I got 2 shots 2 months apart. My arm was pretty sore at the injection site the 1st time. I experienced fatigue both times.

 

[googily]

I decided to write off my entire weekend by getting both my second COVID booster and my first Shingrx shot today. At least I know what I might be in for.

 

[harllee]

I decided to write off my entire weekend by getting both my second COVID booster and my first Shingrx shot today. At least I know what I might be in for.

you are brave, let us know how it goes. I had no side effects from the Covid booster but Shingrix was a different matter. And don't get me started on the Tetanus shot, to me that is the worst.

 

[GenXguy]

Regarding Shingrix, I could handle some temporary fatigue, but it's that lifetime of bad tinnitus that scares me, especially since I already have it bad enough that it causing major sleep problems and generally always very annoying.

 

[Koolau]

Regarding Shingrix, I could handle some temporary fatigue, but it's that lifetime of bad tinnitus that scares me, especially since I already have it bad enough that it causing major sleep problems and generally always very annoying.

All medical interventions are risk/reward based. (Got a CT scan coming up.) You do NOT want to get shingles. You need to decide if the potential for tinnitus is worth the risk. Having tinnitus myself and seeing DW go through shingles, I'd say "worth the risk" but that is just me so YMMV.

 

[GenXguy]

All medical interventions are risk/reward based. (Got a CT scan coming up.) You do NOT want to get shingles. You need to decide if the potential for tinnitus is worth the risk. Having tinnitus myself and seeing DW go through shingles, I'd say "worth the risk" but that is just me so YMMV.

There are many levels of tinnitus, of course. I've actually had tinnitus to some degree for many years, but it wasn't that big of a deal, but it really worsened suddenly in February really affecting my quality of life. I went about 64 hours at one point in February without sleeping. Just a couple months or so earlier, I had actually stopped and spoke to a pharmacist about getting Shyngrix and was going to hold off until early this year to get the first shot, not even thinking about any tinnitus possibilities, but the significant worsening of my tinnitus started in early Feb, so I ended up not scheduling any Shyngrix shots. And 3 people in my immediate family have actually gotten Shingles over the ~10 years (they were not vaccinated). So, it's all a concern.

 

[harllee]

I know of people who have had Shingles in their ears and developed tinnitus and hearing loss. I wonder which is the greatest risk--developing tinnitus from Shingles versus developing tinnitus from the Shingrix vaccine. Tinnitus is a serious concern of course but there are worse things that Singles can cause such as blindness. In my personal case I have had post Shingles pain for 20 years. While I am not disabled, having Shingles was definitely a life changing thing for me. I gladly and gratefully took the Shingrix vaccine.

 

[Jenna]

No shingles vax for me. I'll get ozone treatment if I get shingles

 

[harllee]

No shingles vax for me. I'll get ozone treatment if I get shingles

What is the ozone treatment for Singles? As someone who had a life changing case of Shingles I have extensively researched the disease and have never heard of an ozone treatment.

 

[googily]

you are brave, let us know how it goes. I had no side effects from the Covid booster but Shingrix was a different matter. And don't get me started on the Tetanus shot, to me that is the worst.

I did okay with COVID shots 1 and 3 (just a bit of fatigue), but shot 2 clobbered me.

(I have two events scheduled tomorrow that I wouldn't mind getting out of, which was part of my risk/reward calculation. [emoji16])

 

[skyking1]

I did that, I got the first shingrix and the covid booster the same day. It turned out to be nothing compared to the first and second moderna shots.
I have had tinnitus for many years now. i did not notice a change with the shingrix shots so that is fortunate.

 

[Koolau]

What is the ozone treatment for Singles? As someone who had a life changing case of Shingles I have extensively researched the disease and have never heard of an ozone treatment.

Yeah, I did a quick search and what I found didn't seem "mainstream." I could be wrong. I was once so YMMV.

 

[bmcgonig]

There are many levels of tinnitus, of course. I've actually had tinnitus to some degree for many years, but it wasn't that big of a deal, but it really worsened suddenly in February really affecting my quality of life. I went about 64 hours at one point in February without sleeping. Just a couple months or so earlier, I had actually stopped and spoke to a pharmacist about getting Shyngrix and was going to hold off until early this year to get the first shot, not even thinking about any tinnitus possibilities, but the significant worsening of my tinnitus started in early Feb, so I ended up not scheduling any Shyngrix shots. And 3 people in my immediate family have actually gotten Shingles over the ~10 years (they were not vaccinated). So, it's all a concern.

Not to go off course here, but are you finding any good way to cope with the Tinnitus?

 

[Jenna]

Another very effective treatment is L-lysine. It's worth researching as well

 

[googily]

Following up to say that my double-dip of Shingrx and COVID booster didn't go too badly. Felt okay the first 24 hours, then had 24 hours of being kind of cold and achy and very low energy, and of course had two sore arms. Glad I did it on a Friday!

 

[Koolau]

Another very effective treatment is L-lysine. It's worth researching as well

I tried that one and another supplement - neither had the slightest effect. Asked Doc and he said there was virtually nothing for it - other than limiting noise and certain drugs (especially ASA.) I've noticed that loud noise does aggravate tinnitus. YMMV

 

[NurseSharon]

i have gotten it. Yes it is 2 doses. I thought the injection was fairly painful and my arm was more sore than say other vaccines but it is worth it.

 

[bmcgonig]

I tried that one and another supplement - neither had the slightest effect. Asked Doc and he said there was virtually nothing for it - other than limiting noise and certain drugs (especially ASA.) I've noticed that loud noise does aggravate tinnitus. YMMV

What’s ASA?

I’ve noticed that ibuprofen makes it worse.