New Shingrx Shingles Vaccine

[harllee]

Actually I did have a second much milder case of shingles about 5 years ago and I am otherwise very healthy. DH has also had shingles twice.

Our part D (Silver Script) paid for half of the shot, I had to pay $86 out of pocket for one shot. Definitely worth it to get the shot.

I am hoping that even if I am not able to get the second shot for a long time the first shot will at least give me some more protection

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Got the 1st shot a few hours ago. No ill effects.

 

[ziggy29]

If I ran a pharmacy I would only put people on the list for the second shot if I had given them the first shot. Talk about chaos. If it helps at all everything I've read says that if you have a bad case of the shingles it's a booster to your immune system and you chance of a second case is pretty low

I agree. Apparently there's a shortage of both shots, but the second one seems more acute. I would not be inclined to give someone else shot #2 if I had a patient/customer who got shot #1 from us and still needs it.

We've not been able to find it anywhere locally. I'm 53 and DW is 50, so we are both eligible and insurance should cover it now, but for now I'm hoping a few more months, maybe a year or so, will not hurt us and hopefully by then supply will meet demand.

 

[Ronnieboy]

Got the 1st shot a few hours ago. No ill effects.

Usually if you notice anything it is the next day

 

[Dreamer]

I had my DH check about a week ago, to see if they knew about how long it would be before I would move up to the top of their list for my first shot. They told him it would be about 3 weeks and that is when I am on a cruise. We went to the Sam's Club pharmacy today, to pick up my DH's prescription. I told the pharmacist that I would be on a cruise most likely, when they called me for my Shingrix shot and how long could I call back or would I go back to the bottom of the list. She asked me if I wanted to get it now. So, I received my first Shingrix shot this afternoon. My arm is already feeling sore. I hope that is the only symptom that I get.

 

[street]

I have not had the shots and don't plan on getting any. I have had shingles and 7 years ago and didn't know what it was. I had it on my neck going down to my shoulder. It was a rash and didn't hurt but looked ugly on my neck. I finally went to the doctor and he said it was shingle's and there wasn't anything he could do but he gave me a cream to put on it and told me the marking would stay and might never get rid of the markings. I never had any pain or discomfort just the ugly rash. The markings all went away and can't see where it was at all.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Usually if you notice anything it is the next day

That evening I did have some neck and leg muscle soreness. Wasn't a big deal but noticeable. Next day nothing.

 

[Souschef]

I have not had the shots and don't plan on getting any. I have had shingles and 7 years ago and didn't know what it was. I had it on my neck going down to my shoulder. It was a rash and didn't hurt but looked ugly on my neck. I finally went to the doctor and he said it was shingle's and there wasn't anything he could do but he gave me a cream to put on it and told me the marking would stay and might never get rid of the markings. I never had any pain or discomfort just the ugly rash. The markings all went away and can't see where it was at all.

I would suggest you get them. Remember, you are not getting any younger, and the next time could be worse.

 

[CaptTom]

I have not had the shots and don't plan on getting any. I have had shingles and 7 years ago and didn't know what it was. I had it on my neck going down to my shoulder. It was a rash and didn't hurt but looked ugly on my neck. I finally went to the doctor and he said it was shingle's and there wasn't anything he could do but he gave me a cream to put on it and told me the marking would stay and might never get rid of the markings. I never had any pain or discomfort just the ugly rash. The markings all went away and can't see where it was at all.

I don't understand the logic. It seems to go something like this: "I played Russian Roulette once, and I didn't die. So I'll ignore the experience of other players and just keep playing."

 

[street]

I should but I haven't and not saying I won't at sometime.

 

[pacergal]

We finally just got our first one last week. Pharmacist said the supply was better and to come back for second one in two months. DH arm was sore for two days, mine is still sore 4 days later, plus I had an area of redness and swelling, all normal listed possible side effects. Better today.
The risk of shingles increases as you get older, and the shingrix vaccine is highly effective, not only for the shingles but for the most common complication of (PHN) post herpetic neuralgia , which can last for years in the area of the healed rash. Not something I desire!

 

[street]

My wife wants to get and has had the shot in past years but wants to get this new one. She is on a waiting list for over a year and has been called yet to get her shots.

My question is how long id yo have to wait for them to get the vaccine in so you could get the shots.

 

[Chuckanut]

My wife wants to get and has had the shot in past years but wants to get this new one. She is on a waiting list for over a year and has been called yet to get her shots.

My question is how long id yo have to wait for them to get the vaccine in so you could get the shots.

About one month using the drug store department of a nationwide supermarket chain.

 

[pacergal]

I have been calling various pharmacies off and on for the past year. Most of them had none, some would get maybe 10-15 doses each month and it was first come, first served. According to the article I was reading, the manufacturer, GSK, has upped production for 2019. I just felt relieved we got ours and ran to the pharmacy right after I got off the phone when they said they had it!

 

[timo2]

update to my shingles story: I got shingles in my left leg and right foot the month after I turned 60. As soon as the episode was over, I got the old vaccine and was told the vaccine would last the rest of my life. It turns out the estimated effective span of the old vaccine was actually 5 years, which was last year for me. And every year after the old vaccine, I had an episode that seemed like the shingles were coming back, but not quite. Various nurses said that was just nerve damage from the original shingles, but the symptoms were progressively worse each year. So last year I managed to get both of the new shots. So far in the year since then, I have no new symptoms episodes that feel like the shingles are coming back! So the new vaccine does indeed seem to be very effective.

 

[bada bing]

I'm somewhat frustrated as I expected the supply of vaccine to have loosened up by now.
I check in at my local pharmacy every month, but so far, no dice. I am only home from work
a few days a month, so wait lists don't work for me.

I've never had the shingles, but I witnessed my dad having one rather severe episode when
he was about the age I am now (60) and that was enough to put the fear in me. I did get
the old version of shingles vaccine about 3 years ago, so hopefully that will suffice until I can
get the new shot as a walk in.

 

[anethum]

my Shingrix ordeal

I got my 1st Shingrix shot a week and a half ago. (I was called by a pharmacy whose waiting list I had been on for 7 months.) The next morning, it felt like there was pressure inside my left ear, I had a headache, and I had strange noise in my ear (tinnitus). This continued over the next 2 days. The next morning, I woke up and realized that I was completely deaf in my left ear.

I searched on my insurer's website for an ENT doctor, and began calling all of them at 8am. I got very lucky. On my 2nd call, the doctor himself answered the phone. I explained what was happening and he told me he could see me 3 hours later. (Turns out he is semi-FIRE'd.) He examined me and said there was no fluid in my ear, nor was there a wax buildup. He gave me a hearing test. The only sounds my left ear could hear were extremely high-pitched tones. My right ear had normal hearing.

He put me on an 11 day steroid course, as well as an antibiotic as a prophylactic, 2 different over-the-counter decongestant meds (though I wasn't congested), and a baby aspirin to prevent a microclot, he explained.

48 hours later, my hearing began to return, though it was degraded, and the tinnitus was still present. My hearing seemed to improve quite a bit over the next 24 hours but the tinnitus has remained. I saw the ENT again after my hearing began to return. After I complete the steroid course, he's having me get a full audiometry with an audiologist, then I'll return to see him. He mentioned in my 2nd visit that when a sudden hearing loss occurs but the loss is not 100%, that steroids are often effective in restoring hearing. He also urged me to take Melatonin before going to bed. A double-blind study indicated that it is often helpful with tinnitus.

A close friend who is an M.D. (and who recently FIRE'd) has been very helpful. She confirmed that the steroid course seemed to be the standard treatment for my situation. She did a fair bit of research and she believes that my hearing issues are indeed a reaction to the Shingrix shot. I think that, too. We have both read a handful of similar accounts. My ENT, however, thinks it is unlikely to be related to Shingrix. (If not, that would be quite a coincidence for someone who has never had any hearing issues.) However, he said that he doesn't plan to get the Shingrix vaccine himself.

I have decided that I will not get the 2nd Shingrix shot, and my doctor friend now thinks that she won't get the shots, either.

FWIW, I don't have any known underlying health issues and wasn't on any medication. I've never had shingles.

 

[stephenson]

Not a medical pro, but have read a bit - including very isolated instances of hearing loss.

I think you need to see your personal doc and discuss.

 

[Brat]

I had chickenpox as a kid, had a shingles episode in my late 50s, and received the first singles vaccine once it was available. I haven't pushed getting the shingrx vaccine because of its history of shortage. Last week I got shingles again, a small eruption on my back that isn't particularly painful - but it has itched. It is now healing, blisters scabbing.

My physician insisted that I come in to make sure that it isn't on my face or other locations which could cause severe problems.

I am being very careful because in 10 days I am visiting a family member who is immunologically suppressed because of an organ transplant. There is no way I want it sheding virus.

 

[ivinsfan]

I got my 1st Shingrix shot a week and a half ago. (I was called by a pharmacy whose waiting list I had been on for 7 months.) The next morning, it felt like there was pressure inside my left ear, I had a headache, and I had strange noise in my ear (tinnitus). This continued over the next 2 days. The next morning, I woke up and realized that I was completely deaf in my left ear.

I searched on my insurer's website for an ENT doctor, and began calling all of them at 8am. I got very lucky. On my 2nd call, the doctor himself answered the phone. I explained what was happening and he told me he could see me 3 hours later. (Turns out he is semi-FIRE'd.) He examined me and said there was no fluid in my ear, nor was there a wax buildup. He gave me a hearing test. The only sounds my left ear could hear were extremely high-pitched tones. My right ear had normal hearing.

He put me on an 11 day steroid course, as well as an antibiotic as a prophylactic, 2 different over-the-counter decongestant meds (though I wasn't congested), and a baby aspirin to prevent a microclot, he explained.

48 hours later, my hearing began to return, though it was degraded, and the tinnitus was still present. My hearing seemed to improve quite a bit over the next 24 hours but the tinnitus has remained. I saw the ENT again after my hearing began to return. After I complete the steroid course, he's having me get a full audiometry with an audiologist, then I'll return to see him. He mentioned in my 2nd visit that when a sudden hearing loss occurs but the loss is not 100%, that steroids are often effective in restoring hearing. He also urged me to take Melatonin before going to bed. A double-blind study indicated that it is often helpful with tinnitus.

A close friend who is an M.D. (and who recently FIRE'd) has been very helpful. She confirmed that the steroid course seemed to be the standard treatment for my situation. She did a fair bit of research and she believes that my hearing issues are indeed a reaction to the Shingrix shot. I think that, too. We have both read a handful of similar accounts. My ENT, however, thinks it is unlikely to be related to Shingrix. (If not, that would be quite a coincidence for someone who has never had any hearing issues.) However, he said that he doesn't plan to get the Shingrix vaccine himself.

I have decided that I will not get the 2nd Shingrix shot, and my doctor friend now thinks that she won't get the shots, either.

FWIW, I don't have any known underlying health issues and wasn't on any medication. I've never had shingles.

I'm really sorry you went through this, however I'm pretty surprised that two MD's who certainly have seen the pain and aftereffects that a severe case of shingles causes are dissing the vaccine. They do realize that this and more can happen if you actually get shingles or maybe they don't. That's fine if they don't get the shot, since the concern isn't herd immunity, if they want to risk a severe case of shingles, they can go for it. And BTW even though the quote risk is 1 in 3 in my limited anecdotal experience the number is much higher. In people 60 and over I bet it's 50%. My 40 DD got shingles last summer, not a severe case but she is young and healthy.

 

[gerntz]

I got my 1st Shingrix shot a week and a half ago. (I was called by a pharmacy whose waiting list I had been on for 7 months.) The next morning, it felt like there was pressure inside my left ear, I had a headache, and I had strange noise in my ear (tinnitus). This continued over the next 2 days. The next morning, I woke up and realized that I was completely deaf in my left ear.

I searched on my insurer's website for an ENT doctor, and began calling all of them at 8am. I got very lucky. On my 2nd call, the doctor himself answered the phone. I explained what was happening and he told me he could see me 3 hours later. (Turns out he is semi-FIRE'd.) He examined me and said there was no fluid in my ear, nor was there a wax buildup. He gave me a hearing test. The only sounds my left ear could hear were extremely high-pitched tones. My right ear had normal hearing.

He put me on an 11 day steroid course, as well as an antibiotic as a prophylactic, 2 different over-the-counter decongestant meds (though I wasn't congested), and a baby aspirin to prevent a microclot, he explained.

48 hours later, my hearing began to return, though it was degraded, and the tinnitus was still present. My hearing seemed to improve quite a bit over the next 24 hours but the tinnitus has remained. I saw the ENT again after my hearing began to return. After I complete the steroid course, he's having me get a full audiometry with an audiologist, then I'll return to see him. He mentioned in my 2nd visit that when a sudden hearing loss occurs but the loss is not 100%, that steroids are often effective in restoring hearing. He also urged me to take Melatonin before going to bed. A double-blind study indicated that it is often helpful with tinnitus.

A close friend who is an M.D. (and who recently FIRE'd) has been very helpful. She confirmed that the steroid course seemed to be the standard treatment for my situation. She did a fair bit of research and she believes that my hearing issues are indeed a reaction to the Shingrix shot. I think that, too. We have both read a handful of similar accounts. My ENT, however, thinks it is unlikely to be related to Shingrix. (If not, that would be quite a coincidence for someone who has never had any hearing issues.) However, he said that he doesn't plan to get the Shingrix vaccine himself.

I have decided that I will not get the 2nd Shingrix shot, and my doctor friend now thinks that she won't get the shots, either.

FWIW, I don't have any known underlying health issues and wasn't on any medication. I've never had shingles.

Given it's one ear only, could be coincidental or caused onset of Meniere's Disease though you don't mention dizziness.

Curious why the ENT isn't planning on getting Shingrix shots.

 

[chris2008]

I got the first shot last week. The next morning there was a slight and short feeling like flu and the area of the shot felt a bit sore for 4 days.

The mother of a friend died after years of pain from shingles.
We were so looking forward to having the shots available in Germany.

 

[misanman]

Just got my 2nd shot this morning. No side effects so far but it might be a bit early.

 

[braumeister]

I had Shingrx #1 shot back in October, no reaction of any kind.
#2 was in February, slightly sore around the injection spot for a day or two. Otherwise, nothing.

I had the previous version (Zostavax?) a number of years ago, also no reaction at all.

I keep up with the immunizations because I had a real case of shingles about 15 years ago and was bedridden with terrible pain for a week or two. I never want to go through that again.

 

[harllee]

For those that are not going to get the Shingrix shot--please reconsider. When I was in my early 50s I had a terrible case of shingles (had not had any Shingles vaccine, I was too young). I had a terrible painful rash on my lower left side from spine to belly button. I also ran a fever, was sick to my stomach, was dizzy, had a terrible head ache. I missed about of month of work, could not drive a car. I was in terrible pain, could not sleep, could not wear clothing. Had to quit all the things I love, dancing, kayaking, playing golf for about a year. Now 15 years later I still have some pain in the area but I have learned to live with it. At age 60 (as soon as they would let me) I got the old shingles shot. Had a second case of shingles in the upper back in my early 60s but not nearly as bad as the first. DH also got the old shingles shot at age 60, a couple of years later he got shingles around his eye. Doctor said he might would have lost the sight in that eye if he had not had the shingles shot.

We both had the first Shingrix shot and are now trying to find a source for the second shot, no one in our area has it. If the Shingrix shot is really 95% effective it will be a huge
benefit to every who has had chicken pox. People really do have their life altered by Shingles and some people do die.