<p>I had shingles 3 years ago. Left eye, face, head in hair. I did not get antivirals until 70 hours had passed. Eye specialists saved my sight…which was impaired for 2weeks. I do have scars around eye and forehead.
In less than a year the rash tingling popped back up. I immediately went to doc, got antiviral. After finishing this cycle. I paid cost for the vaccine. Doc charged only $165.
Insurance would not pay…because I was under 60.
No side effects.
Highly recommend to all…pay the price…who wants to feel like being on fire…when it all is preventable.</p>
<p>I had a very mild case of shingles almost two years ago about a week after I turned 50. Because I’d been working out in the yard for long hours the two days before doing spring clean up, I thought the muscle aches and pains were from that, and that the small rash on my outer upper right thigh were spider bites of some sort. I happened to have an already scheduled appt. at the dermatologist a few days later for semi-annual mole check, and when I showed him my ‘spider bites’, he told me know, it was shingles. I am so grateful it was a mild case; but I took pictures of it in case there was ever any doubt. The pattern of the outbreak definitely follows nerve endings; it made a sort of backwards S shape (hey, I just thought they were very smart spiders, kind of like in Charlotte’s Web).</p>
<p>I keep forgetting to ask my new internist what he thinks about the vaccine; we have also switched to BC/BS this year so I need to find out what their coverage is. After hearing all the horror stories, I would be willing to pay out-of-pocket for the vaccine.</p>
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<p>I’d also add that pain tolerance varies from person to person. Although my son is used to painful sports injuries and will relocate his own joints (yuk), when it got to the point where it was so excruciating that he couldn’t keep the pain medication down long enough to be effective, I knew he needed to be hospitalized. It can get serious pretty quickly.</p>
<p>^^^^I can believe it. When I was feeling the pain at my worst, I began to cry. My DH was a little freaked out, saying “in all the years I’ve known you, through back and neck problems, surgeries, etc., I’ve never see you cry from pain before.” That’s when he insisted that I go to the ER.</p>
<p>I’m following this thread with interest, because I’m debating whether or not to pay for the shingles vaccine.</p>
<p>My mother had in on her face and in her mouth when she was in her 80’s. It lasted for weeks and was very painful. She lives in an assisted living facility and was quarantined in her room for several days, which made her even more miserable.</p>
<p>A couple of young coworkers (in their early thirties) came down with shingles a few weeks apart. Both got the anti-viral within a couple of days of symptoms (the first thought he had a bad case of poison oak) and were back at work in about a week, although the pain went on longer.</p>
<p>My husband got the vaccine (paid for by insurance as he is 60+) after he saw my mother suffer. About a year later he got a very light case of the shingles and was grateful that he had had the vaccine.</p>
<p>The two young co-workers never would have considered getting the vaccine, because of their age. After suffering through it, however, they said had they known, they gladly would have paid the $$ to avoid getting the disease.</p>
<p>I got it the day after my 60th birthday. If I was doing it today, I’d do it at 50.</p>
<p>No side effects to report.</p>
<p>got shingles at 40.
got it when I was on the tractor.
hurt like hell
never knew when a pain attack would hit.
nothing worked except time.</p>
<p>My shingles rash is clearing up nicely. The pain, however, is not. Sometimes it feels like someone has sliced me open with a knife from sternum around the ribs to the back on only one side. Other times, it stings like heck. And other times, it feels like I have a running cramp in the same location, which is much higher than a real running cramp. Since I am female, and this outbreak occurred where the underwire of an underwire bra would be, it’s particularly painful to wear normal female attire.</p>
<p>I really wish I had gotten the vaccine at my annual physical in September :(</p>
<p>I recently turned 50 and was just diagnosed with shingles on the left side of my face. The blisters/rash extend from my lips and jawline up into my ear with one spot just under my eye. It first felt like the pins and needles sensation when novocaine is wearing off.</p>
<p>My mom had surgery this week so I am staying at my parents’ house to help out…well, that was the plan anyway! The discomfort started on Tuesday with the rash really blooming on Wednesday. I was at the Urgent Care Center when they opened Thursday morning and started on Famvir and Amoxil as my ear also seemed red. The doctor actually said the face is oftentimes a less painful area to have shingles. Luckily, that seems to be my case, discomfort and malaise but not real pain. The last 2 days were absolutely miserable and with the swollen lips, the only thing I could eat was a smoothie through a straw (not that I had any appetite). Thankfully, this afternoon I think I have turned a corner. The swelling is subsiding and I am starting to feel better, although looking in the mirror is still quite painful. LOL </p>
<p>Oh, and to add insult to injury, the first time you are seen at this Urgent Care Center, they take your picture!!! The receptionist kept apologizing and my sister tried to keep from peeing her pants, laughing! Then when I go to the pharmacy there is a big sign stating “Shingles vaccine now available here”. </p>
<p>My advice, GET THE VACCINE!</p>
<p>^^^^^Wow, you have my sympathies! I wish you a full and quick recovery.</p>
<p>^^^Thanks, to you, too!</p>
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<p>Sorry to revive this old thread but unfortunately this has not proven true for my D, who was just diagnosed with shingles in her first month at college. She had the Varivax and booster as a young child according to pediatrician’s recommendations. She just turned 19 this week, so she was not scheduled for another booster for quite some time.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading around on this, and it seems that younger people are getting shingles more often, perhaps because of the Varivax (instead of enduring chickenpox in early childhood). For example, Brown University now has a webpage on shingles, so apparently it’s not that uncommon among the college-aged.</p>
<p>My D was told at her college health center upon diagnosis that according to their records, everyone in the first-year class had either had chickenpox or had been vaccinated. I thought that was interesting. She was told to avoid pregnant women, small children, and the elderly, but was not warned off her peers.</p>
<p>I had shingles in my 40s–on my abdomen. The itch was maddening. Don’t know what triggered it. Didn’t seem to be associated with any particularly stressful event.</p>
<p>People’s experiences of shingles vary widely. I am upset because I have heard terrible stories of people experiencing intense pain, losing sight, etc. However, my sister had shingles and she said it was highly annoying (itchy) but not excruciating.</p>
<p>I do wonder about the stress factor. My sister was laid off right before she developed shingles. My D has jumped into all kinds of activities and lives in a triple, in addition to having a demanding course schedule, so I think that she may be run down and overwhelmed. We are picking her up tomorrow for Fall Break and she may stay home a couple of extra days. Her professors are informed and seem understanding.</p>
<p>My D & I both had shingles at young ages–D was only a teen. I was in my early 50s. I went ahead and got my vaccine as soon as it was available, even though my insurer wouldn’t pay for the vaccine. To us, it was worth paying out of our own pocket to reduce the chance I would have shingles AGAIN. You can have shingles more than once, which is why my H had his vaccine, even though he HAD shingles once.</p>
<p>It’s a weighing of risks & benefits. My brother also paid for his own shingles vaccine because he didn’t want to get shingles. He was also under 60 years old.</p>
<p>NJSue, good luck to your daughter. Enjoy her time at home this weekend. Give her lots of TLC!!</p>
<p>NJSue, best wishes for a speedy recovery to your daughter. This is a topic that needs to be brought forward periodically. </p>
<p>I have a vague memory of having a mild case of shingles as a child with a painful rash at my waistline on the left side of my body. The name was so strange to me that it stuck in my memory. Five years ago, I had a strange rash on on my right side. At first I thought that I had poison ivy but it was under my bra line. After reading this thread, I realize how lucky I am not to have more serious symptoms. The pharmacy at my grocery store where I got my flu shot also offers a shingles vaccine. The pharmacist recommended waiting a few weeks before I get the shingles vaccine. I do not want to tempt fate for a third time; I will be getting that shot.</p>
<p>I find this discussion interesting. My sister just wrote to me about how she would never get the vaccine. Her example, two older friends got it and then came down with shingles. My neighbor just got one at the insistence of her doctor. I do think my mother had a case of the shingles after she retired but never spoke much of it and a dear friend is just recovering from shingles. I am wondering out loud whether I should consider it. I am a 6 years out cancer patient and took medicine for it up until 3 months ago. I think that is why actually my sister is adamant not to get it since she is a cancer patient with damage to her lymph system and yet 5 years out.</p>
<p>My sincere best wishes for a sound recovery to all of you with the condition including family members!</p>
<p>I haven’t read the rest of this thread, so forgive me, but I’ve read that 1 of 3 people who have had chicken pox get shingles after age 60. I think I also read that the vaccine is 80% effective. That was good enough for me to get the vaccine this year (age 60). My Mom had shingles in her 60s and it was really pretty bad and hers went away. Sometimes the pain lingers for years, so for me it made sense to get the vaccine, even though our insurance didn’t cover it. I think about what I would pay to have months or years of pain not happen.</p>
<p>"The vaccine is $215 here and my insurance won’t cover any of it. "
-I wonder if Medicare does.</p>