Side Effects of Shingles Vaccine

@ashby1947
I hadn't had a cold sore outbreak in ten years until a week after my second shingles vaccine. #sigh

Hello. I had my first Shingrix shot yesterday, and I've had a reaction – fatigue, no energy, can't think, achy, occasional nausea. The pharmacist told me that most people have a worse reaction after the second shot, so I'm not looking forward to it.
Does it have to be this way? Can't they figure out how to formulate immunizations so they don't make you sick? Covid and flu vaccines tend to do this to me, too. I am definitely not an anti-vaxxer, but I wish I didn't have to get sick to stay healthy.
What's the science? Is there a different way to make a vaccine? Why do some people have reactions when others don't?
Again, does it have to be this way?

Having these reactions after a vaccination is a sign your body is building the immunities to the disease you got vaccinated for. My husband has a reaction to most vaccinations. The aches and pains, tiredness, etc, whereas I usually don’t have reactions to most. I did get a little tired and achy after my 2nd shingles vaccination but rather that than the shingles.

@russet3

From what I understand, yes, it’s that way because those mild aches and low fevers are caused by the immune system reacting to the disease the vaccine is for and trying to protect us to the perceived threat. It’s often not the vaccine or how it’s made. It’s our immune systems getting ready to do the job. Not that it’s enjoyable.

When I was still working, I scheduled my vaccines on Friday so that I would have the weekend to feel sick. And some reactions are worse than others. Covid was bad for me, but the smallpox one (yes, I’m that old) was the worst. And so I try to console myself with the thought that at least my immune system is functional. 😀

@methel @cmcmcguire10 Thanks for your kind thoughts. Yes, I know that the reaction is supposed to be a sign that the immune system is working. But that’s not what I was asking. Let’s see if I can clarify:

1. The experts tell us that people who don’t have bad reactions to vaccines still gain immunity. Therefore, a bad reaction is not necessary to produce immunity. So can they do something to prevent or mitigate the reaction?

2. Relatedly: If some people have bad reactions and others don’t, there must be a reason. Do we know what the reason is? If so, can they figure out a way to prevent or mitigate the reaction?

3. I didn’t have bad reactions to older vaccines, like Tdap or hepatitis. It’s only in the last five years, with Covid, high-dose flu, and now shingles. That’s why I wonder if something has changed in the vaccines themselves. Of course the Covid vax was a new type, mRNA, and Covid-19 was a new virus. But I can’t explain the others. (@methel, I also had the smallpox vaccine, but as an infant, so I don’t remember how it felt. 🙂 )

4. Alternatively: Has something changed in my body in the last five years, so that I now have worse reactions than before? I’ve never heard of anything like this, but I guess it’s possible.

5. Does the medical profession care?

I want to emphasize that it’s not just mild discomfort. I get sick: I can’t work, study, exercise, or eat normally, and I feel awful. The bivalent Covid vax put me out of commission for four days.

It’s scary as well as unpleasant: hard to believe that this is really good for me. I wish the medical profession would at least acknowledge that reactions are a problem instead of dismissing them.

On a hopeful note, I did find this article, which shows that medical researchers do know that different people respond differently to vaccines, and they know some possible reasons. The research described in the article was concerned with actual immunity more than with feeling ill, but it is suggestive. I couldn’t find anything more recent than this piece, which dates from 2022.
https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/researchers-probe-why-vaccine-responses-differ-from-person-to-person/
Thanks for listening.

@russet3

One of the more recent changes in the U.S. has been to take the mercury which was used as a preservative out of the vaccines. I don’t know what has been substituted, but I suspect something was. And that might contribute to any more recent problems.

But it’s true that sometimes a person should not get certain vaccines. To protect this person, public health argues that the best way is to achieve herd immunity.

@amira My daughter got the two shingles vaccines required and felt so ill for months after the days she got them. She couldn’t work. I had the real shingles years ago twice. So, because of her reaction I didn’t get a shingles vaccine. So many people have complained about it.
I haven’t felt well since getting the Covid vaccines. That’s when lots of other things went wrong medically.
I see it as putting chemicals in your body.