Have you known anyone who had shingles?

[Anonymous]

I had it when I was 21.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Had it at 21. I know a number if teens thst got it in the last three years.I also know several elderly people that got it..
and I'm their eyes. That was a bad deal. So here's my question. If I've already had shingles what will the shingles vaccine have any impact on me for furore prevention or is it now established and will happen again?

I have the same question. My doctor told me to get the vaccine, but I've already had shingles, so I said no.

I had shingles when I was 31, unemployed, and extremely stressed out. I had it on my back and upper thigh. Two ER docs said, "No, that's not shingles, it's a rash," but my 60+ year old family practice doctor took one look and said, "You're an old lady! You have shingles." He put me on antivirals, which helped with the pain, which was excruciating. I was on crutches for 4 or 5 days because it was so painful I couldn't put weight on my leg.

A friend had shingles when she was 24, in an extremely stressful job. She had it on her neck, and her doctor told her she would have lost her eyesight if it had been closer to her eye. Her pain was excruciating too.

Her 80 year old mom had it last year. It left her bedridden for months recovering from the pain. She had the vaccine, but still got shingles. She also has cancer, so that may have played a role, I'm not sure.

Shingles is awful, and I never want to get it again, but if you've had it once, shouldn't you be immune?

BTW, DH has never had chicken pox or shingles. He's been vaxed (as an adult) for chicken pox, but he's still not immune. Weird. His doc told him to get the shingles vax, but he said no too. Why bother?

[Anonymous]

My boss had it in his 40s, about 12-15 years ago. In his 20s he was in a major car wreck and had lots of facial reconstruction surgery, and he said the 6-8 weeks of shingles was worse pain than anything he ever experienced in his life, disfigurement/ surgery/ recovery included. I can only hope I never get it.

[Anonymous]

I had it last year right after my child had his chicken pox vaccine. I have to think they were related. I was 37, low stress, and in good health.

[Anonymous]

I had them at 35. My 10 month old and 5 year old got chicken pox from my shingles. The baby hadn't gotten the vax yet bc it's a 12 month vax. The 5yo had the vax but soon after they began doing the second dose at 5ish because of breakthrough cases just like his.

The 5yo then got shingles at age 12! The ped could hardly believe it bc he was so young.

[Anonymous]

A good friend had it at 40.

[Anonymous]

Not to get too of topic, but if you had chicken pox as a kid but didn't have shingles, could/ should you get the vaccine?

[Anonymous]

Both my parents at time of great family stress

More common in older crowd

[Anonymous]

I'm 36 and had it 4 times! around 8, 12 then 29 after the birth of my first child and again at 34. I have a scar and lost pigmentation from the time I had it at 12.

When I had it at 34, my then 7 month old child got the chicken pox from my shingles.

It was never that painful for me. It was annoying and I felt bad, but I kept going on with life. It wasn't like I was in bed or anything.

I have read that if you've had the Shingles multiple times then the vaccine is not effective for this population.

[Anonymous]

My dad got it in his 70s (1975-ish), my mom got it in her 80s (1995-ish), one of my co workers got chicken pox in her 50s (2010 or so) from someone who brought it to work from a sick kid and THEN had shingles a few weeks after recovering from chicken pox. Was out of work for a month or more.

Adults need both chicken pox and shingles immunizations -- I elected to get shingles immunization at 50 -- about 5 years early in the opinion of the med insurance. Better to pay $300 than be out of work for a week or four. Less painful, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not to get too of topic, but if you had chicken pox as a kid but didn't have shingles, could/ should you get the vaccine?

Yes. Because you had chicken pox, you have the shingles virus in your body. That's how most, if not all, people get shingles.

If you've had shingles, you can get it again. If you get shingles, you can give others chicken pox (if they aren't vaccinated for cp). I don't think you can get shingles from a person who has it. There are recommendations for covering and staying away from infants who haven't received chicken pox vaccine. The shingles shot is not a 100 % guarantee that you wont get shingles but if you get shingles after the shot it s supposed to be less severe. No one is actually sure how long the vaccine is good for and I was told to assume I'd need another in 10 years.

I would get the shot and keep anti virals on hand just in case. I've had several family members who had shingles at a young age. It bothers me that my insurance company only covers the shot at age 60. Initially the FDA/Doctors assumed there would be shortages when the vaccine was introduced and wanted it reserved for the most affected population. The shortage never happened and I think initially few people got the shot. I bit the bullet and paid for it myself. Pharmacies can give the shot. Costco was about $25 cheaper than the grocery store pharmacies but was a bit of zoo.

[Anonymous]

According to the CDC website, the shot is good for at least 6 years and will help prevent recurrent outbreaks for people who've already had shingles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both my parents at time of great family stress

More common in older crowd

This is increasingly less true. I had it at 38. My doctor told me that he (and the medical community as a whole) is seeing it more and more in younger people. Older people used to get it more often because they spent less time around small children who got chicken pox. Children were continually exposing other children and their parents to the virus in low levels which boosted the immunity of these groups to shingles. Now that there is a chicken pox vaccine and kids don't get the virus in large numbers, these groups are not getting their immunity boosted as regularly. He also said that in Europe, where they don't vaccinate children for chicken pox, shingles has remained largely a disease of the elderly. In the US, it is becoming less age restricted.

[Anonymous]

My DH and I both had it within 2 weeks of each other. (Shingles can be contagious.) In both cases, the symptoms were annoying but not particularly painful.

[Anonymous]

My mom had it in her eye. It was very bad and she was in the hospital for 2 weeks. I also had a friend who had it and a husband of another friend.