Have You Had a Shingles Vaccine?

[Smart Red]

I got the shingles shot. After slowly recovering from being ill for the past 10 years, I am so frightened about any fall or illness that might be avoided, especially one that may lead to long term [nerve]pain.

As long as I have no definitive cause for why I was ill in the first place, I live in fear of getting it again.

 

[seedcorn]

You got the illness before or after the shot?

Don't believe in shots, fine. But affects of shingles is real. I chose the shot for at least less side affects.

 

[aftermidnight]

@Smart Red I think not knowing what causes an illness is worse than the actual illness. When you know what's causing the problem it's less stressful, at least for me. So I think I have an idea of how you feel, not fun. In 2013 I almost bit the bullet but thanks to my GP he pulled me through. Most of 2014 was spent getting mobile again. Not as swift on my feet as I was but I'm still chugging along .

Over the years I've had some of the oddest complaints, I'm sure the doctor I had at the time thought it was all in my head. Well he retired and the young doctor who took over his practice actually listened to my complaints. I was having another bout of Bell's Palsy at the time, I didn't think you got this more than once, not true. By this time I was so fed up with things going wrong with me I started to babble about all the weird complaints I'd had over the years, he gave me a funny look and said I'm going to do some tests, you'll be over the Bell's before I get the results back, I'll phone you.

When he phoned he said I've got good news and a bit of bad news, the good news is you don't have Lyme disease but you do have Lupus and I believe this is the source of all those complaints you've had, not nice but such a relief to know what my problem actually was and that finally I had a doctor who would actually listen. So now I stay out of the sun as much as I can ( hard to do when you're a gardener), I planted a shade tree, it's big enough now when the sun moves so does the shade, as long as I'm in the shade I can still be outside when the sun is high .
I'm so prone to catching stuff, my immune system is to put it bluntly, buggered. The shingles shot might not fully protect me but if I get them again hopefully they won't be as severe. The same with pneumonia and tetanus shots, I keep them current.
Annette

 

[Smart Red]

You got the illness before or after the shot?

I got ill -- what I call a muscular breakdown -- two weeks after I retired (in 2005) and the morning after starting in a research project to improve health in people with CHF. While my CHF doesn't effect me as long as I take my meds, the doctor suggested I join his research. I believe the illness is related to an injection of Novocain given to convince participants they were in the test group. My medical chart stated that I was Allergic to Novocain and I should never have received the injection.

The doctor insisted the injection had nothing to do with my problems, but I've found no other cause -- no changes in my environment -- that would have caused such a massive problem.

So, while I think I know the cause, I have no proof, no diagnosis, no treatment. Therefore, if it's not the Novocain it's something that I could possibly contract again. At my age, another 10 years in "recovery" isn't appealing and probably not possible.

I got the shingles shot about three years ago.

 

[Beekissed]

A friend of mine got the shingles vac and started having significant symptoms the following week, supposedly unrelated, but knowing the preservatives they use in the vacs, made perfect sense to me...some men have a harder time eliminating heavy metals from the body and they tend to accumulate at nerve synapses. He started having panic attacks, increased anxiety, etc., so bad that they placed him on anti-anxiety meds and anti-depressants.

That went on for several months, impeding his job and causing some serious emotional distress over it...this is NOT a man who has ever been nervous in his life and has been a HAZ-MAT driver for many a long year. He thought he was losing his mind!

Finally, the symptoms subsided and he is back to normal...about the time it took his body to eliminate the heavy metals and restore normal nerve function.

He asked me once if the vaccine could have caused it and I could answer in all honesty that it could very well have done so, especially combined with the flu vac he took that year as well. The active ingredient in these vaccines is not always the problem, folks, it's the so called inactive ingredients that can hurt you. Those so-called harmless levels of mercury and aluminum affect different people in different ways.

 

[Smart Red]

Bee, it is hard to define cause and effect with some of these things. I skip the flu shots every year and since getting sick, I'm pretty cautious about medical issues. Whether your friend was affected by the shot or combination of shots may never be determined, but, like me, something caused a breakdown in health that only time could 'cure'.

I choose to believe it was the injection mainly because that was the beginning of my decline and that is something I can prevent in the future. Some other unidentified environmental hazard would not be under my control and so, therefore, feared.