<p>I had a very, very mild case of it four years ago, but because I knew you can get it twice, I opted for the vaccine this past spring. My internist only charged me the his cost for it… $180. I feel like I should put this on the “Good Buy of the Day” thread, because I’ve heard people, in hindsight, would pay $10,000 for it once they got it. </p>
<p>My mother had a severe case with neuralgia. It lasted months and the pain still bothers her from time to time years later. She confesses she thought for a while she would not live through it. I got my vaccination as did DH even though he had had a mild case when he was younger. </p>
<p>I’m seriously afraid of shingles. I had bell’s palsy and chicken pox. </p>
<p>I got my vaccine at Costco. Paid out if pocket under $200. H got vaccine at Safeway. His was totally covered by insurance as he was >60. Since I am <60, insurer wouldn’t pay a dime for me. Still felt it well worth the $$. </p>
<p>H and D and I already had shingles once. I was fortunate H recognized it and got he to dermatologist SisIL on a Sunday, for Dx and starting anti-viral so never got nearly as bad a case as H and D (who needed strong pain relievers to sleep). </p>
<p>So sorry to hear this. And good thing you got on the anti-viral med right away, that will make a lot of difference. My poor mother suffered for months with the shingles, at an advanced age. I got the vaccine in March and I pray it protects me.</p>
<p>I am age 60 and checked last night when this thread started – it looks like my insurance will pay. The insurance has a “cost estimator” section for patients to look up procedures, and it shows -0- cost to me, roughly about $180+ from various providers. (The cost estimator actually allows one to look up providers by name to comparison shop… nice new feature, I don’t recall anything like it before). </p>
<p>Anyway, I have a physical scheduled this afternoon… so I am going to definitely ask for the shot and I’ll find out for sure whether it is covered when I get it. </p>
<p>Another Costco fan here. i paid out of pocket, as did my sister. we both have sen too many bad cases.</p>
<p>I’m completely flummoxed - why does our insurance, and some other people’s insurance, not cover the shingles vaccine?</p>
<p>Let me edit to add, per HImom’s comment, that I am over 60. </p>
<p>For me, I wasn’t covered due to being under age 60–50 to 60 is recommended, but not as strongly as folks >60. It’s all about$$$, I fear. </p>
<p>I got the shingles vaccine last year, when I turned 60. As soon as I could. I’ve heard too many horror stories from friends.</p>
<p>I had a two inch square area on my side. I figured out what it was and was able to get an appointment and rx the same day. I think the drugs helped a lot since it bothered me for only a week or two and did not spread. I did have chicken pox when I was 5. I had just asked about the vaccine earlier that year at my annual check up and was advised I didn’t need it until I was 60. Now my PCP says I shouldn’t get it again. Time for a new PCP?</p>
<p>Mission accomplished. I got the vaccine today. </p>
<p>Hayden – I think you will need to ask your insurance company why it’s not covered for you.</p>
<p>I won’t be absolutely certain that mine is fully covered as a preventive service until I get the EOB. </p>
<p>Can you check with your HR dept, Hayden?</p>
<p>All our docs advised us we could get shingles again, even tho I, H and D got it within 12 months of one another. We were advised by several docs to get the vaccine. D at age 24 is too young but likely will get it when she turns 50 or whatever the age is by the time she’s older and there is a vaccine. Will see if the recommendations change. She definitely doesn’t want another nasty bout of it. </p>
<p>From what I can find, its sort of iffy whether the vaccination would be effective for someone who has already had shingles. The vaccine is is a live (but weakened) virus – the idea is that the exposure via the vaccine gives enough of an immunity boost to prevent shingles … but only about half the time. (But 2/3 of a time to prevent postherpetic neuralgia). </p>
<p>It is very possible for people to get shingles a second time — but at least in theory, the first case of shingles should give an immunity boost similar or even greater than the vaccine. (In the same way that getting chicken pox in the first place confers immunity on children from re-infection – back when I was child, parents used to deliberately expose their kids to others with chicken pox precisely for that reason). </p>
<p>So it’s very possible that the people who suffer a second bout of shingles after recovering from the first have generally weakened immune systems, at least when it comes to the varicella-zoster virus – and they would fall within the one-half of vaccination recipients who do not gain immunity as a result of the injection. </p>
<p>That being said, it’s a pretty simply cost-benefit analysis - the shot itself is about as painless as an injection can be, so other than the possible financial cost to get it, it pretty much fits the category of might help, can’t hurt. I would think that any one who had ever had a painful bout of shingles would probably would be eager to take that particular gamble.</p>
<p>Here’s more:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Source: <a href=“Shingles can strike twice. Will the shingles vaccine help? - Harvard Health”>http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/shingles-can-strike-twice-will-the-shingles-vaccine-help-201103021531</a></p>
<p>Well, both H and D may be at risk, as I believe both had symptoms for 30 days or longer–maybe it just FELT that 
long to me and them. Anyway, other than the cost, I don’t see any significant downside to getting the vaccine, even if you’ve already had a bout of it–mild or severe. </p>
<p>I had a mild case of shingles last year, and have been told I could get it again. It has been recommended that I get the vaccine but I have not gotten around to it. My insurance does cover it even though I am under 60. The doctor’s office had suggested that if insurance didn’t cover it I get it through a pharmacy run clinic such as at Walgreens rather than through the doctor as it would be cheaper. </p>
<p>I did have a discernible reaction at the vaccination site: it was swollen and hot for several days, then itchy, but nothing that I wouldn’t be happy to tolerate in exchange for the benefits! (I’ve gotten nasty reactions to tetanus shots in the past, and the same thing with bug bites, so maybe it’s just me. 
)</p>
<p>I would think with the new ACA preventative care rules that the vaccine should be covered, I know I have seen people in several western states get it and be covered, including below age 60</p>
<p>I’m not quite 50, I assume I could just pay out of pocket? </p>