I had a bad reaction to the second shot. I shook so violently with chills that I couldn’t do anything other than lie in bed. I’m glad I have them completed but if I had known how bad my reaction would be, it would have been hard to convince me to get it.
I’m anxiously awaiting turning 50 to get mine. lol Mr. Groundhog didn’t have any reaction to either shot.
I had the earlier shingles vaccine (I’m old) when I turned 50. My mother had shingles and I still remember how miserable she was. I checked with my PCP about Shingrix and she said–get it! I had the first Shingrix last February; didn’t get the second vax until September. I got it and the flu shot at the same time. No problems at all.
Eh. Once you know someone who’s had shingles and suffered for months (or even years) you can’t get it fast enough!
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A younger woman in my office had a bad case of shingles. Half of her face was completely messed up. It took months to heal… and she still had nerve pain! 
The cases that appear on the face and into the eyes are what incentivized me to get the vaccines. A friend documented her case on Facebook, and it was a horrific ordeal!
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Two of my good friends had shingles in their 50’s and the stories made me line up for the shot as soon as I turned 60 and my insurance would cover it. Of course that was just before the newer Shingles vaccine came out…so I have since had both Shingrix shots. No problem at all with the shots.
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Okay, I’ll try to make it short, it’s not that exciting. 
Got the Shingrix shot one afternoon, boat lift salesman was coming over the next morning. My husband was gone. The guy showed up, I felt terrible and exhausted, couldn’t think straight. Didn’t ask the questions I would have normally, put down a 15K non-refundable deposit. Started asking more questions in following weeks, realized they could never put the lift where he claimed, and this was going to be an ugly monstrosity. Ended up cancelling the purchase, out 15K. Ugh!
Morale of the story, don’t schedule anything the day/day after this shot, especially something that involves judgement or money!
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I’m planning on paying out of pocket for Shingrix. I’m not 50 yet, but I know plenty of people who have been miserable with shingles in their 40s. I have some other health issues that really make me want to avoid it. I’d priced it out and had a shot scheduled at CVS a year ago but I got sick so I had to cancel it. Then I had an autoimmune flare so I never rescheduled. This thread has reminded me that I gotta get that shot as soon as I have a good window.
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Be sure to check various pharmacies, including Costco and Walmart, since prices may differ.
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I had a mild case of shingles that gave only a slightly itchy rash.
But some relatives have had cases of shingles that resulted in annoying misdiagnoses by physicians (because of some pain before the distinctive rash appeared).
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Since there’s a thread about this, I have a general question.
I never had chickenpox as a kid. As an adult, I had my titers checked and showed no immunity, so I got the chickenpox vaccine.
Can I get shingles? The varicella vax is a live vaccine, as I understand, and I did get a pretty bad rash with the second dose. It is this enough to make it possible to get shingles as some point, or is the vaccine different enough from the wild version? Anyone know?
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Yes, you can still get shingles. In my career I have seen 2 cases of shingles in people who only had the vaccine. Both cases pretty mild.
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My father had shingles in his eye that traveled up his optic nerve and cause permanent neuralgia. He was never the same. It was the beginning of a decade long decent into failing health. He said on more than one occasion that he was happy he wasn’t a gun owner because he would probably use it.
My husband had it while coaching in the Cal Ripkin World Series. Not fun shuttling 13 kids across the country and coaching in 103 degree heat.
I swore I’d get my vaccination as soon as I became eligible. I had heard about some pretty bad side effects. A day after the first one, I was a bit more tired than usual and had no side effects after the second one.
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There is a closed thread about shingles and the vaccine already - it may make sense to reopen it and merge it with this one.
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I had a terrible reaction to my first shingles vax (basically took me out of action for a few days with aches, fever etc) but having seen my husband go through the disease it was a small price. No reaction to the second vax. Because of my age group I know quite a few people who’ve had the vax… I know people who sailed through the first vax and got hit by the second, people who got hit by both and people who had no reaction to either.
Done!
Thank you - that is helpful to know! Should I get the shingles vaccine then?