When my husband first experienced symptoms from shingles, he thought he was having a heart attack! I will get the shot as soon as my insurance company will cover it.
@onetogo2: Ask your doctor.
@LasMa a few people have commented that they got their flu vaccine at the same time as the shingles.
I do know the shingles vaccine has a short shelf life or has to be refrigerated or something because it took a while before my mom could get hers. Her doc didn’t always have it in.
[Quote=CDC]
Shingles is caused by the Varicella Zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Only someone who has had chickenpox – or, rarely, has gotten chickenpox vaccine – can get shingles. The virus stays in your body, and can cause shingles many years later.
I’m in a risk group for shingles, so I got the vaccine a couple of years early and paid out of pocket. I did have one of the reported side effects, a dull headache for about three days that wasn’t in the least impressed by Advil. Still, I am very glad I got the immunization. My husband got it the week he turned 60 and had no side effects at all.
I have a friend who was hospitalized last year for shingles that were so painful she was sobbing. Ugh.
@VeryHappy oh, I did, probably a year ago now, but they couldn’t find any info one way or the other. Think I’ll risk the vaccine anyway - shingles sounds awful
I’ve been hoping that the new GSK shingles vaccine, which has been shown to be much more effective than Zostavax in trials, will be available soon. Apparently the newer vaccine has an effective rate of 90 percent, even in older patients. The current vaccine reduces shingles by 51 percent, is most effective in younger people (60-69), and is less effective after 5 years - a problem since the effects of shingles tend to be worse in older people.
The earliest release date of the new vaccine will be 2017, I’ve heard. I know some medical professionals who have decided to wait.
Frazzled1- interesting information. Just had my shingles shot today. I’m known for impeccable timing!
During my prodromal period, I couldn’t sleep from the pain. I was at an accepted students function with D2, and I didn’t know how I was going to get through it. It felt like organ pain-I wondered if I had acute pancreatitis, hepatitis, or liver or pancreatic cancer. My mind was going to the dark side. When the rash appeared a few days later, I knew exactly what it was and was actually RELIEVED.
I was going to get mine today. My husband called the insurance and they confirmed it is 100% covered without meeting my deductible (as is the pneumonia shot). Then he called Walgreens and they said 1.30 ish would be a good time. Was in the car in my lunch hour about to go when it dawned on me that he took my insurance card so he could call the insurance (we live 10 miles out of town). So, tomorrow.
Thanks for all the input. Helped me stop procrastinating 
Pneumonia shot?
yes, pneumonia shot.
Shingles vaccine the very day I was covered.
Flu shot every year. Although my provider did not give myself or my H the strongest one available this year–and he works for them! I think it is because we are so young looking that they missed it
@Nrdsb4 …yes, the pain is that horrible! More than once we had patients admitted to the cardiac ICU with chest paiin, had a cardiac cath and the whole workup only to have negative results and the telltale rash to appear a few days later!
@carachel2, my pain was RUQ. If the same sensation had happened on the left, I absolutely would have thought it was cardiac. The college town I was in is not known for its great medical care-what a nightmare that would have been!
@calla1 is right about needing a prescription if you are under 60. I have one in my purse and just need to make the time to use it. I got shingles 5 years ago, and despite quick antivirals it progressed into my eye. It permanently damaged the optic nerve, and I’ve had a cascade of eye problems every since, culminating in glaucoma and cataract surgery last summer (both caused by problems unleashed by shingles).
The best part so far is when I went to the pharmacy to inquire about the vaccine, the tech looked at me and said I was too young to get it (assuming I was under 50). I actually got shingles at 50 the very week doctors moved the cutoff from 60 to 50 for the vaccine.
I got one at an annual check up doctor’s visit. No problems with it. My poor mother suffered terribly with shingles. I hope that if I have the misfortune of still getting them, that the vaccination greatly reduces the effects.
update to my earlier post: I just spoke with our carrier, and the Rep said that the vaccine is not covered under the pharmacy but is covered under medical. When Walgreen’s ran it thru earlier, they ran it as a pharm expense, which showed zero coverage, so she told me to tell them to run it as a medical expense as it should be 100% covered under preventive.
Just an fyi for those of you who might have asked at the pharmacy counter…
Frazzled1 is right. There is a new vaccine that as of this spring was in phase 3 trials that is 90-95 protective in all age groups. Current vaccine is 60% effective in 50’s and 60’s, 50% effective in 70’s, and 40% in 80’s. It’s not known how long protection lasts - the vaccine just hasn’t been that long. I wouldn’t get the current vaccine if I already had shingles, especially if it’s recent, since it recurs infrequently and it’s not known whether the vaccine protects against recurrent shingles if the shingles itself didn’t boost immunity enough to prevent it. I would consider getting the new vaccine to protect against recurrent shingles, since it’s so much more effective. Of course, then you have to weigh the risks of a new vaccine against the risk of shingles, but that risk is probably pretty low. JMO.
@bluebayou - that was my experience. Walgreens ran it on my prescription card and it wasn’t covered (which I had told them) then ran it on my health insurance. At first it came up as not covered but she persevered and it ended up being covered up to $200. So I paid $37 out of pocket and insurance covered the rest. She did ask if I had a prescription and when I said no She asked if i was over 60. So I guess that ties in with the info in earlier posts.
So, it is done. Thanks everyone. Really glad I finally did it.
@CIEE83, that’s interesting. At my last appointment, I asked my doc about getting the vaccine with a history of shingles, and he wasn’t encouraging that it would be beneficial. I was wondering about the new vaccine and if it had protective benefits against a second incident.
Here are some articles about the new shingles vaccine:
http://articles.philly.com/2015-05-17/news/62282103_1_zostavax-shingles-zoster
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1501184
The new one (in clinical trials) is made by GSK and is currently called HZ/su. The currently available one is Zostavax made by Merck.