Agreed. My husband had a bad case of shingles and did get the shots afterwards. We both did (after watching him suffer, I did not want it).
My husband is immunocompromised and his PCP had just recommended he get the pneumonia shot (which he did). About 6 months later he got shingles. I kept cursing that doctor, why didn’t he recommend the shingles shot instead!
Yep, doc recommended my husband get the vaccine for this reason. And because he knew how bad his “mild” case was, he did it without hesitation.
My doctor mentioned that I should hold off for about six months and then get the vaccine. I sure as heck will be doing so!
Or in addition.
My S had chicken pox twice as a child (we unknowingly infected a lot of people, because the second case was mild & we initially thought it was an allergic reaction). He got shingles in his mid-20’s, during a stressful period. Luckily, he went to the doctor right away & got the antiviral - it nipped it in the bud.
I have to say that I heard so many horror stories about Shingles that as soon as Covid was under control, I got the series.
Me too! I got it on my 50th bday. I was terrified that I would get it when I was 49.75 years old. I’m so sorry @SpreadsheetMom !!!
My mom had the initial vaccine. She got shingles few years ago. She went to a doctor as soon as she saw a rash and was given an antiviral medication. It went away pretty quickly without a lot of pain. Her doctor did tell her to take the newer vaccine even though she had shingles.
Someone I work with who is in her early 50s got a full blown chickenpox recently.
D2 never had chickenpox and was one of first to get the chickenpox vaccine. A year ago told her to get a booster in case she should get pregnant. If you have adult daughters who had chickenpox vaccine when young, it is good to remind them to get vaccinated again.
Both D and H had singles years apart. D was in 8th grade and miserable. H was in his 60s and miserable. Both needed tylenol 3 with codeine to sleep.
I got a zostervax at age 50—had to pay $200 for it at Costco. I still got shingles in a separate incident but H had D had me get it diagnosed & treated with antiviral so never had more than 3 spots.
I also got Shingrex shortly after it became available (both doses). I still got shingles AGAIN and had it diagnosed and treated (with antiviral) within 24 hours of 1st symptoms so no more symptoms after 72 hours.
I would not mess around and get Shingrex promptly.
I find using a toothpaste with Hydrogen Peroxide really helps with cold sores.
How did you know it was shingles, or know to go to the doctor, when there were at most 3 spots?
Obviously can’t answer for @HImom but fyi the rash is not the first symptom of shingles. For my husband, the pain came first.
For me, it was just a slightly itchy rash.
For two relatives, it was some undetermined pain or soreness that was misdiagnosed (i.e. a physician thought it was something else) until the rash appeared.
Not HIMom, but here is how my husband discovered shingles. He does a lot of yardwork and periodically gets bitten or stung by insects and spiders. Once he became worried about a spider bite on his arm. Neosporin did not work, and the “bite” became slightly bigger and itchy. Knowing how nasty spider bites can become, he went to an urgent care and came back with a prescription of antivirals! The doc took one look and diagnosed shingles.
My husband too had nerve pain a couple of days before the rash appeared. He was just getting ready to leave the house for a doctor’s appointment he had made because of the pain, when the first spots appeared on his chest.
I had pain for three days before the first spots appeared. I was hoping I had just pulled my shoulder while moving my son out of his dorm room – but I noticed my bra strap was irritating me (when it never has before), and my skin was weirdly sensitive, almost like a post-sunburn feeling.
I had shingles at age 10 – which is unusual, but the pediatrician said it was maybe because my case of chicken pox at age 3 was really mild. But I still vividly remember what it felt like even 40+ years later – so I suspected this was shingles even though I didn’t want to believe it, lol.
REALLY should have gone to the doctor and gotten the antiviral med before the spots arrived, but I went after the fact, and they diagnosed it as shingles from looking at the spot pattern (which is always only on one side of the body) – so I don’t know how they’d diagnose it properly before the spots show up?
Dr Google:
Diagnosing shingles before the rash appears is challenging because early symptoms mimic other issues. The condition, caused by the varicella-zoster virus, typically enters a “prodromal” (early warning) stage 1 to 5 days before any visible blisters.
Key Early Warning Signs
One-Sided Nerve Pain: Intense burning, tingling, shooting, or throbbing pain that affects only one side of your face or body.
Extreme Skin Sensitivity: The skin along a specific nerve pathway becomes so sensitive that even a light breeze or clothing brushing against it causes pain.
Unexplained Itching: Deep, intense itching in a localized area that does not improve with scratching.
Flu-Like Symptoms: Fatigue, headache, chills, or a low-grade fever without respiratory congestion.
When to See a Doctor
If you experience localized, one-sided nerve pain, consult a healthcare provider immediately.
With my 1st shingles diagnosis, we were never POSITIVE it was shingles but the dermatologist was willing to prescribe antiviral so I took it.
My 2nd shingles diagnosis, I started having stabbing pains on New Year’s eve, at a party—it hurt so I kept trying to massage it out. When I got home, we saw where the pain was along the nerve, where there was a red rash following the same nerve. No yard work or insect bites, on inner thigh.
D2 never had chickenpox and was one of first to get the chickenpox vaccine. A year ago told her to get a booster in case she should get pregnant. If you have adult daughters who had chickenpox vaccine when young, it is good to remind them to get vaccinated again.
A second option for women is to ask their doctor to add a test for antibodies to their bloodwork before/while they’re pregnant.
No one thought I’d had chickenpox as a child (and I was a sickly kid who caught everything), and I was exposed to chicken pox when I was pregnant in my first trimester. I rushed to the doctor, they did an antibody test, and it showed I had indeed had chicken pox at some point in my life - a case so mild that it hadn’t been noticeably symptomatic.
D had a confirmed case of chicken pox as a child. She got shingles last year during her second pregnancy. And she now has a second case of shingles. Fortunately they have been mild and she has had no pain. She’s currently on anti viral medication.