COVID-19 and Holidays

@migizii- Well I had it yesterday and I am ill. My arm hurts and so does the rest of me. I have a fever. I decided to get it because I've known people who have had shingles and they hurt a lot more than I do.

It's pretty much against the human grain to purposely go get something that will make you ill. I get that. But I feel the need to be protected from it. If I begin to feel worse I might change my opinion about the second shot.

Of course the decision is yours to make. Weighing the pros and cons is pretty tough, eh?

@hopeful33250 - Teresa is there a chance that you can describe your experience with shingles?

Hi, @merpreb as well as @migizii @bustrbrwn22 and others who are considering the newest Shingles vaccine (the 2 part vaccine). I had the vaccine about 1 1/2 years ago. I didn't feel all that great afterward. I recall having a sore arm, being fatigued, and generally feeling flu-like. I don't recall any neuropathy, though.

However, this year, I did have a case of shingles. it really did surprise me, but I later found out that 10% of people who get this newest vaccine will still get shingles. I was told that my case was mild (only a few small lesions) however the pain was terrible. It took several meds before I found relief. If this was a mild case, with only a few lesions, I can't imagine what a heavy case of shingles would be like.

To be vaccinated or not, is a personal decision. I usually always get every vaccine available.

@bustrbrwn22- I get flare up of sciatica too. It's one of the most painful things, right? I know less than you do which of my v's is pressing on that nerve. PT will help.
https://www.healthline.com/health/back-pain/sciatic-stretches#reclining-pigeon-pose
Do you have any exercises that you know of to help stretch that area?

@merpreb after 3 years and $10k’s of dollars and different PT’s I found one that did dry needling that helped in only 1 specific spot in my butt. This was awesome though cause I didn’t realize I had been going to the bathroom on only one cheek for years! If the therapist gets a spot that is afflicted the pain is intense when he dry needling. There is light screaming involved. He also said the stretches were probably making it worse so I do very few like the cat cow and child’s pose. Something about the unusual placement of my S1 through my muscle. When I do the pidgeon I pay for it. In the meanwhile the pain just gets worse I buy custom orthotics but podiatrists have said my gait is correct and it isn’t plantar fasciitis but it makes walking softer. I know I must walk daily but right after I do that’s when the pick axes start on the bottom of my feet up the sides of my calves and right hammie and butttock. I treated myself to a Bluetooth TENS unit but it’s still a slight pain in the ass using it but no tripping on wires! am hoping this new myofascial therapy I’m doing is the answer. And I do the stretches she prescribed faithfully. Thank you so much for taking an interest in me. My condition is so minor compared to everyone else’s so I feel guilty whining but it keeps me in bed most of the day. Any other suggested remedies are appreciated.

@merpreb thanks for sharing and please keep us posted!!

Just thought I would chime in on this one. I had both shots in the Shingrix series last year. From the first I had significant arm pain but it wasn’t that much worse than happens when I have a tetanus shot. The second one wasn’t comfortable but less than the first. I saw my mother repeatedly have shingles and there is no way these shots were any worse or even close to what she went through. Nancy

@merpreb

Sure, it started with a few bumps on my back, looked rather like mosquito bites (they itched terribly). It looked to me like an allergic reaction to something. It was on my back, on the waistband area right side, so I couldn't really see these bumps multiplying. By the time I went to see the doctor four days later, there were three of them. I had no pain at first, just the itching.

By the time I got to the doctor, there was a lot of lower back pain that felt like I must have lifted something too heavy, but could not think of doing anything like that. The pain was very intense, like a sunburn inside the body. The doctor put me on an antiviral med which caused the bumps to disappear but the pain continued and grew from my lower back to my side on the flank area (the ER doc thought I might have appendicitis or a kidney stone). This sunburn-type of pain was intense. It took 2 rounds of prednisone and lots of Gabapentin for about 3 weeks before it was bearable.

I would definitely not want to repeat that experience. If you hear of anyone who has Singles offer them as much compassion, support, and sympathy as you can. I received two types of homemade soup from a friend, another friend made a GF lasagna, salad, and GF cake. I was well taken care of.

@hopeful33250. Shingles is horrible. Apart from my own experience, my ex husband had it once on his forehead.. It could happen anywhere on your body and usually in a quadrant... He had vitamin B shots everyday apart from anti viral medications. Because it is so close to the eye, he also had to see an ophthalmologist, to make sure it did not affect the optic nerves. Because it's on his face, he could not cover it. He couldn't go to work. People who don't know about shingles would glare.

We were also told not to be close to infants and small children as shingles virus is the same as chicken pox.

Like @hopeful, I've had the 2 part shingles vaccine without serious side effects and Medicare and my ins. pd for both. Each time my arm was pretty sore for a day or two but that has also happened some years following the annual flu vaccine. I also felt very lethargic for those days but it was well worth the temporary discomfort for me.

Shingles can be exhausting and terribly painful and in some cases, a long running malady from which to recover. My daughter had a miserable time with it in her 30's. Hers were around her waist which made wearing waist bands impossible and she was quite ill for several weeks before recovering. It took her 2-3 months to feel like she'd recovered from the fatigue.

Like @coderhomer, I initially pondered whether or not I'd request a Covid vaccine as soon as it became available for wider distribution. At 77 yrs, I'm older with several chronic health conditions which made it important to me to quarantine more closely and for longer than many. I trust our highly reputable infectious disease specialists so when I heard Dr. Fauci say over the weekend that he would take the vaccine when it became available, I trust that I will too. We all react differently to meds and procedures and each will have to decide individually but for me it will be another action I can take for protection from the deadly Covid-19.