Please get the shingles vaccine (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Community Discussions] >> Health and Safety



Message

peppermint -> Please get the shingles vaccine (1/22/2016 1:51:47 AM)

I had shingles this summer. It was painful but gone in 3 weeks. Gary got shingles in late December, four weeks ago. His rash is on the right side of his face. He spent 5 days in the hospital as the docs thought the rash looked infected. He's been on various pain meds. The pain med to help with the nerve pain makes him so dizzy he can't stand so he won't take it. He's back on oxygen full time. He was almost ready to give up his cane (he broke his hip in Aug) but is so weak now the cane is a necessity. He sleeps half the day and when he's not in bed he's doing touch and goes while sitting in his chair. He's lost 10 pounds that he really can't afford to lose. He could be facing months, perhaps years of pain. Sadly he wanted to get the vaccine but can't as the virus in it is live and with his immune system suppressed due to his transplant he can't do live virus vaccines. He's in horrible pain constantly. He has lost a lot of hearing.

Only 20% of those who get shingles will have long term effects. You could be one of that 20%. You do NOT want to suffer as I am seeing Gary suffer.



Spiritedsub2 -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/22/2016 10:42:14 AM)

My sympathies to Gary and to you. This sounds awful.



peppermint -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/22/2016 3:04:38 PM)

Thank you. People see that shingles commercial on TV all the time but don't pay much attention to it. When I got shingles it was painful but nothing I couldn't deal with. With pain meds I could sleep at night. Gary got it bad so now I know what could happen and it's not pleasant. He's rubbed the skin on his face raw from the itch. In the past he's had his intestines rerouted into a bag and reversed, he's had heart surgery, he's had hernia surgeries, lung transplant, and his recent broken hip. I have never seen him in the pain he has right now and it's been 4 weeks already. Not getting the shingles vaccine is like playing Russian Roulette, you are taking your chances and hoping lady luck is with you. Some of us will lose.

I hadn't gotten the shingles vaccine. I'd only found out early this summer that I could get the vaccine without making Gary sick. My grandson was visiting and I figured I'd get the shot when he left just in case it made me achy or sore.



dcnovice -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/22/2016 4:02:46 PM)

FR

Best wishes to Gary for swift and sure recovery!

During a recent hospital stay, I asked my nurse about the shingles vaccine, since both my folks have had the disease and I had chicken pox as a kid.

The nurse said that it's usually not given to folks younger than 60 and brought me some literature which I need to read more carefully when I get a chance.



InHisHeart -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/22/2016 5:27:52 PM)

I know quite a few people who have had shingles and seeing what they had to deal with, I was not going to take the chance. I got the vaccine a few years ago and although pricey ($250, my health insurance won't cover it under the age of 60), I felt it was well worth the money spent.



peppermint -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/22/2016 5:44:04 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: dcnovice

FR

Best wishes to Gary for swift and sure recovery!

During a recent hospital stay, I asked my nurse about the shingles vaccine, since both my folks have had the disease and I had chicken pox as a kid.

The nurse said that it's usually not given to folks younger than 60 and brought me some literature which I need to read more carefully when I get a chance.


Stress can bring on shingles and you've had a lot of it, dc. I was happy when you said you were out of the hospital again, hopefully for a long time.



peppermint -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/22/2016 5:45:57 PM)

Good for you, InHisHeart!!! I'm lucky as my insurance will pay for it, but then I'm over 60. Am going to get the vaccine next week. I was advised to wait a bit after having the shingles to get the vaccine.



DocStrange -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/23/2016 10:27:32 AM)

I got Shingles when I was 27. I had wished they had a vaccine for it then. I do remember it being painful. I got it on my waist line and could not wear a belt for weeks.

1 in 3 people will get Shingles. Severity will vary. I do highly recommend getting the vaccine. It will save you a lot of pain and discomfort.



crumpets -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/23/2016 4:21:25 PM)

One of my undergraduate degrees was in microbiology but I haven't studied the stuff for decades.

Still, Shingles was then the same Varicella Zoster Herpes virus as Chickenpox, so, I'm sure it's still the same virus now.

As such, Shingles is merely the resurgence of the Herpes Varicella Zoster virus, which you *THOUGHT* was eradicated by your body when you got Chickenpox (or the vaccine) when you were young.

Unbeknownst to you, like a Japanese soldier going guerrilla in caves in the Philipines for 50 years, Herpes tends to do the same thing. It NEVER goes away. It's always lurking about, just waiting for a chance to attack. But your body keeps it at bay, normally for your entire life.

It only comes out when you're immunocompromised (for whatever reason, of which there can be many).

The reason it doesn't look like Chickenpox the second time around is simply because your body is reacting differently to it this second time around. The first time, you had essentially no defense (sort of like how Manilla had against the Japanese in December 8th 1941); but this second time around, it's sort of like a bunch of Japanese holdouts in the Philippines attacking the natives.

The zoster doesn't stand a chance against your body.
Sure, it may itch.
Certainly it can give unvaccinated children Chickenpox.

But, it doesn't stand a chance if you have a decently healthy immune system.



crumpets -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/23/2016 4:27:17 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: DocStrange
I do highly recommend getting the vaccine. It will save you a lot of pain and discomfort.


I still stand by the advice they gave me decades ago.

All vaccines have a "target" audience, which, normally, is the very old and the very young, for the reason being that they can die from the disease.

I wouldn't recommend a vaccine for a disease you're not gonna die from.
Certainly I wouldn't recommend a vaccine for a disease that is so common that it simply is an annoyance (e.g., like the flu, or shingles).

But, to each their own.
A lot of people buy airplane insurance too.
And a lot of people insure babies for life insurance too (for what reason, I'll never understand).
And they buy extended warrantees on silly things such as car batteries and tires (the logic of which is insane sometimes).

But, people make decisions based on fear sometimes (especially Myers-Briggs strong "F" type people).

So, if making decisions based on fear of getting itchy is someone's schtick, who am I to recommend against a re-vaccination against Chickenpox?

But, in most cases, it's not gonna kill ya' to just get a resurgence of Chickenpox.
My advice, for all diseases that aren't gonna kill ya, is that the vaccine is the chickenshit way out.

:)



DocStrange -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/23/2016 8:34:37 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: crumpets

One of my undergraduate degrees was in microbiology but I haven't studied the stuff for decades.

Still, Shingles was then the same Varicella Zoster Herpes virus as Chickenpox, so, I'm sure it's still the same virus now.

As such, Shingles is merely the resurgence of the Herpes Varicella Zoster virus, which you *THOUGHT* was eradicated by your body when you got Chickenpox (or the vaccine) when you were young.

Unbeknownst to you, like a Japanese soldier going guerrilla in caves in the Philipines for 50 years, Herpes tends to do the same thing. It NEVER goes away. It's always lurking about, just waiting for a chance to attack. But your body keeps it at bay, normally for your entire life.

It only comes out when you're immunocompromised (for whatever reason, of which there can be many).

The reason it doesn't look like Chickenpox the second time around is simply because your body is reacting differently to it this second time around. The first time, you had essentially no defense (sort of like how Manilla had against the Japanese in December 8th 1941); but this second time around, it's sort of like a bunch of Japanese holdouts in the Philippines attacking the natives.

The zoster doesn't stand a chance against your body.
Sure, it may itch.
Certainly it can give unvaccinated children Chickenpox.

But, it doesn't stand a chance if you have a decently healthy immune system.

For someone who studied in microbiology, you are very ignorant of of Shingles and its complications and how the body works and what are the body's reactions to the virus. I do hope everyone reads this post so they know how full of crap you are.

Shingle may be annoyance for some. It is very painful for others. Yet even others it can have severe complications and permanent damage. While weakened immune systems is one way to get the disease, it is not the only way. Completely healthy people get it also. Medicine has never been able to determine the trigger that activates the virus the 2nd time around. There are know risk factors but even people with no risk factors get the disease. Your statement of:
quote:

It only comes out when you're immunocompromised (for whatever reason, of which there can be many)

Is a false statement. Completely healthy people are known to get the disease.

Complications from shingles can include:
• Postherpetic neuralgia. For some people, shingles pain continues long after the blisters have cleared. This condition is known as postherpetic neuralgia, and it occurs when damaged nerve fibers send confused and exaggerated messages of pain from your skin to your brain.
• Vision loss. Shingles in or around an eye (ophthalmic shingles) can cause painful eye infections that may result in vision loss.
• Neurological problems. Depending on which nerves are affected, shingles can cause an inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), facial paralysis, or hearing or balance problems.
• Skin infections. If shingles blisters aren't properly treated, bacterial skin infections may develop.

Other Sever Complications
• Permanent or Long-term pain
• Permanent scarring
• Ramsay Hunt syndrome

I would call that more than just an annoyance.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shingles/basics/complications/con-20019574






stef -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/23/2016 8:40:22 PM)

But one of his undergrad degrees was in microbiology, how could he be so utterly wrong?!?!



dcnovice -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/23/2016 9:07:04 PM)

quote:

Stress can bring on shingles and you've had a lot of it, dc.

Good point, thanks! One concern my nurse raised is that there isn't much research on how long the vaccine is effective, and it appears to be a once-in-a-lifetime shot. So might coverage in my 50s rob me of coverage in my potentially even more vulnerable 70s or 80s? I'll discuss this more fully when I see my primary-care doctor next week.


quote:

I was happy when you said you were out of the hospital again, hopefully for a long time.

Thank you so much! I do too. In 2015, I spent about 90 nights in the hospital--way, way too many.



crumpets -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/23/2016 10:39:39 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: DocStrange
For someone who studied in microbiology, you are very ignorant of of Shingles and its complications

Heh heh ... someone comes out and irresponsibly recommends "get the vaccine" and I simply explain that usually only those at high risk (usually very young and very old) are medically recommended to get this Herpes Zoster vaccines, and then you come out and tell me I'm ignorant of the varicella zoster virus and the immune reaction to it.

You're funny.

Then, you cut and paste verbatim from the first hit on Google for Shingles (http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shingles/basics/complications/con-20019574) and you think you're an expert now in making the call as to whether an otherwise perfectly healthy person should get vaccinated (despite clear indications otherwise, on that very same web page).

Now you're even funnier.

HINT:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shingles/expert-answers/shingles-vaccine/FAQ-20057859
quote:

The shingles vaccine (Zostavax) is recommended for adults age 60 and older, whether they've already had shingles or not. Although the vaccine is approved for people age 50 and older, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention isn't recommending it until you reach age 60.


quote:

ORIGINAL: DocStrange
While weakened immune systems is one way to get the disease, it is not the only way.

How much do you know about immunology?
While I've obviously taken years of it, let's just summarize that you won't get Shingles unless your immune system lets it come out from the affected dorsal root ganglia.
That's immunology in a nutshell.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DocStrange
Completely healthy people get it also.

Nobody said otherwise.
Completely healthy people can be immunocompromised too.

Methinks more people should take reading comprehension classes.

Let's just repeat what DocStrange's own references clearly state for how old you should be before you consider getting a Herpes Zoster vaccine (anyone recommending otherwise is merely being irresponsible):

quote:

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention isn't recommending it until you reach age 60.

[image]https://i.imgur.com/3w0bBhR.gif[/image]



peppermint -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/24/2016 9:23:17 AM)

Shingles is more than a temporary annoyance or itching. It is painful. Two nights ago I had Gary back in the ER because of this "annoyance" and they gave him morphine before they could treat him. They don't give morphine for an annoyance. So far we've had 2 ER visits and a 5 day stay in the hospital with all this.

After doing more research on shingles I have realized I probably did give the shingles to Gary back in June before we knew I had shingles. We cuddle at night and I didn't know I had the blisters and he came in contact with them. Since early July he's had a strange pain in his mouth. Doctors couldn't find anything wrong but it hurt him to eat or drink. I believe the nerves were already involved. The pain he's had for months is on the same side of the face where the shingles rash developed.

Shingles vaccine is often free through your health insurance if you are over 60. Dc is doing his research to see if it's wise for him to get the vaccine. Younger people will have to decide on a case to case basis if getting the vaccine is right for them. If I really did give Gary singles as I suspect, I will never forgive myself for not getting the vaccine sooner.




crumpets -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/24/2016 11:15:49 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: peppermint
Shingles is more than a temporary annoyance or itching.

You do what you want with your body but recommending perfectly healthy people not in the vaccine recommended group getting the vaccine is simply irresponsible.
I hear it all the time with the flu shots.
They're usually NOT recommended (for the same reasons) except for those in the high risk group.

The jury was still out when I studied immunology whether the immune response was, long term, better with the "real" disease than with the "fake" disease, but, even so, there is a reason for the recommendations and for people to simply IGNORE them is just irresponsible.

It's not worse than irresponsible.
It's not better.
It's just plain irresponsible.

quote:

ORIGINAL: peppermint
I probably did give the shingles to Gary back in June before we knew I had shingles.

Mothers unknowingly give their infants chickenpox all the time, especially before the children have had the Herpes Varicella vaccine.

quote:

ORIGINAL: peppermint
We cuddle at night and I didn't know I had the blisters and he came in contact with them.

While Herpes isn't a living organism, most Herpes infections REQUIRE close human-to-human contact because of the way melding of the cell membrane is intimately involved.

quote:

ORIGINAL: peppermint
The pain he's had for months is on the same side of the face where the shingles rash developed.

As you probably know by now, because of the fact these guerrillas stay in the mountainous spinal caves (dorsal root ganglia) where the immune system can't access them, they only come out the streams (peripheral nerves) along a line, just as Japanese guerrillas may stay on a mountainside cave where they can only travel downstream on one side of the mountain, the spinal cord being the crest of the mountain. They can't get to the other side.

quote:

ORIGINAL: peppermint
Shingles vaccine is often free through your health insurance if you are over 60.

Whether or not you get a vaccine shouldn't have an immense bit to do with how much it costs (unless the cost itself is prohibitive).

quote:

ORIGINAL: peppermint
Dc is doing his research to see if it's wise for him to get the vaccine.

Is he in the high risk group?
If yes. The recommendation is to get the vaccine.
If no. The recommendation is to not get the vaccine.

Says so everywhere.

People don't read. Nor comprehend what they read.
But, that's what it says (in effect) everywhere vaccines are given.

quote:

ORIGINAL: peppermint
Younger people will have to decide on a case to case basis if getting the vaccine is right for them.

Is the younger people in the high risk group?
If yes. The recommendation is to get the vaccine.
If no. The recommendation is to not get the vaccine.

Says so everywhere.
Ya' just gotta know how to read, and how to comprehend that which you read to know the answer.

It's not any more complicated than that ya'know...

quote:

ORIGINAL: peppermint
If I really did give Gary singles as I suspect, I will never forgive myself for not getting the vaccine sooner.

Happens all the time.
I've seen mothers give it to their own infants when I worked in the hospital during my grad school days.



angelikaJ -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/24/2016 12:36:33 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: peppermint

Shingles is more than a temporary annoyance or itching. It is painful. Two nights ago I had Gary back in the ER because of this "annoyance" and they gave him morphine before they could treat him. They don't give morphine for an annoyance. So far we've had 2 ER visits and a 5 day stay in the hospital with all this.

After doing more research on shingles I have realized I probably did give the shingles to Gary back in June before we knew I had shingles. We cuddle at night and I didn't know I had the blisters and he came in contact with them. Since early July he's had a strange pain in his mouth. Doctors couldn't find anything wrong but it hurt him to eat or drink. I believe the nerves were already involved. The pain he's had for months is on the same side of the face where the shingles rash developed.

Shingles vaccine is often free through your health insurance if you are over 60. Dc is doing his research to see if it's wise for him to get the vaccine. Younger people will have to decide on a case to case basis if getting the vaccine is right for them. If I really did give Gary singles as I suspect, I will never forgive myself for not getting the vaccine sooner.




You couldn't have given Gary shingles.
The virus was already in his body from when he had chicken pox as a younger person.

Edit to add:
"Shingles cannot be passed from one person to another. However, the virus that causes shingles, the varicella zoster virus, can be spread from a person with active shingles to another person who has never had chickenpox. In such cases, the person exposed to the virus might develop chickenpox, but they would not develop shingles."

From: http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/about/transmission.html

(because the OP was given very wrong misinformation, regarding the quoted post)



crumpets -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/24/2016 4:23:56 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: angelikaJ
"Shingles cannot be passed from one person to another. However, the virus that causes shingles, the varicella zoster virus, can be spread from a person with active shingles to another person who has never had chickenpox. In such cases, the person exposed to the virus might develop chickenpox, but they would not develop shingles."


Good point.
This is true, and actually astute.

As I noted in a prior post, the first time you get exposed to Herpes Zoster, your body is like MacArthur in Manilla on December 8th, 1941 with planes lined up wing-to-wing so that the Japanese could blast them en masse. You get viral eruptions all over your body (including on the inside, yuck).

Then your body fights off the Japanese, and they retreat into the jungle of the dorsal root ganglia, near the top of the mountain spine which is your spinal cord, and they remain there, coming out periodically like guerrillas to attack down the ravine of the peripheral nerve on one side of the mountain or the other - but - as long as your immune system is up to par - they can't get far - and nothing shows up on the outside (the battle is constantly going on inside, as are almost all immune system battles).

At some point years later, these guerrillas who probe your immune system weakness every single day finally find a weakness (for whatever reason), and WHAM! They attack!

Down the one side of the mountain along the deep ravine they go, blasting their guns and blowing up grenades and killing the livestock and people, causing itchy blistery eruptions.

Luckily, the people of Manilla, who were massacred in the initial attack, but who have seen these attacks daily ever since, quickly mobilize the immune system and they fight back, hard - limiting the guerrillas to the deepest of the ravines where the immune system isn't all that good, until finally, the invading Herpes Zoster guerrillas are all forced back into their original mountain hideouts near the top spine of the mountain ridge, in the dorsal root ganglia caves.

If, perchance, these guerrillas find an undefended person (e.g., an infant who has never had either the virus or the vaccine), WHAM! Chickenpox!

Moms give it to their babies all the time.



angelikaJ -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/25/2016 7:17:37 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: crumpets



Moms give it to their babies all the time.


You keep saying that.

Moms who received the chicken pox vaccine or had chicken pox when they were young do not pass on chicken pox to their babies.

So, are you talking about women who get chicken pox when they are pregnant or moms who get chicken pox as adults (much, much worse to get chicken pox as an adult btw; serious complications can result more often in adults than children) or moms who develop shingles as adults?



crumpets -> RE: Please get the shingles vaccine (1/26/2016 5:37:47 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: angelikaJ
So, are you talking about women who get chicken pox when they are pregnant or moms who get chicken pox as adults


While what you're saying is true, I was saying that moms (or anyone) with Shingles gives it to infants (where it shows up as Chickenpox).

Same virus.

The only thing different is the immune response.



Page: [1] 2 3 4 5   next >   >>

Valid CSS!




Collarchat.com © 2024
Terms of Service Privacy Policy Spam Policy
0.046875