Shingrix and peripheral neuropathy

Hello,
I also developed PN after the Covid vaccine but when I asked several of my doctors including my neurologist if it could be due to the Covid Vaccine, they could not give me that answer. May I asked if your doctor came to this conclusion that you developed sensory and motor peripheral neuropathy due to the Covid vaccine or was the diagnosis made by process of elimination. How did the doctor reach that diagnosis?

I am very curious about this topic, too. I am not anti-vaccine, however, I did have a lot of vaccinations at the end of 2022 prior to being diagnosed with small fiber polyneuropathy in June (symptoms started in February), including COVID boosters ( in 2022 and 2023), 2 ShinGrix shots, flu shot and Prolia for my bones. Strange. Coincidence? What does everyone think? Now I am afraid to get a flu shot this season, and a pneumonia shot, and I will be due for more Prolia and a Covid booster. Ugh.

A specialist that I talked with when I was diagnosed with. Neuropathy indicated that they are starting to find a link between COVID shots and neuropathy. I have no research to back this up only her comments.
I had two Shingrix shots. My neuropathy showed up after the second one albeit not terribly close in time. I had diabetes but with low A1C although my neuropathy has been attributed to this. All food for thought.

Has it abated or continued on? I had Shingrix shots and got PN about 6 weeks later. However this could be coincidence since doctors while surprised at the sudden onset think my pattern is based on diabetic neuropathy since it can occur in those even with relatively low A1Cs. I am waiting for science to catch up to the COVID shot causation (though Imnit an anti vaxxer). I always wondered about Shingrix and PN.

I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes in my early 50s long story short I am now 60 and earlier this year was prescribed Trulicity along with Jardiance and less than a week later wound up with diabetic Neuropathy. I don't know what to think.

Hi Betty - My SFPN symptoms started in February 2023 (this year) - at least that's when I first noticed something was up. In the fall of last year (6 months before noticeable symptoms) I had my second Shingrix shot in Sept 2022, a flu shot in Oct 2022 and a COVID-19 booster in Oct 2022. And a Prolia shot in Dec 2022. Coincidence? Who knows. Did all that kick my immune system into high gear? Who knows. I'm still symptomatic and it's actually a bit worse now with the infernal itching/electrocution at night.

I know about the itching and burning. It seems a long time since the shots to make a correlation. Do the doctors know what caused the neuropathy? Sometimes they can guess. Neuropathy is one of those fields that is evolving. For people and like and you, it is frustrating to be told that they don't know the causation and that the symptoms will only get worse. Still in my case I was able to lose weight, drop and A1C, and thereby have some reason to believe that I was delaying the onset of more severe symptoms. We do all we can to mitigate! Try that!

Hi again Betty. My doctor doesn't know the cause. We ruled out ALS and MS, ruled out autoimmune disease, B12 deficiency, toxicity to a medication etc. It may be idiopathic. I don't like that answer (stubborn) so I'm still on a search to see if I can find a cause and remedy it before I stop and just focus on symptoms. I'm looking at all the medications I take, and just discovered something about topical metronidazole (which I have used for years for rosacea) can cause neuropathy over time! So I'm going to stop that med and see how it goes.
Also, weirdly, my skin biopsies from my lower left leg (where I'm most symptomatic) were normal! My neurologist still thinks its small fiber polyneuropathy because he says it's diagnosed based on clinical presentation, and it can be patchy in the skin and may not show on the biopsy. I really like him and trust him. Very smart, listens well, and doesn't think I'm crazy.

You are doing all the right things! I hate idiopathic too! I have a friend who was diagnosed with that. Changing your med or stopping sounds great! Lots of research and trial and error. Interesting results on the skin biopsies. I'm big on continued exercise (brisk walking). I just think staying as healthy as you can sill promotes nerve health. Let us know how it goes. Thank you for sharing. Very helpful for me to hear other people's stories. 💜

Interesting, I also started having muscle spasms and feeling dreadful the week after Shingrix shot end of 2019. March 2020 was really sick with flu. It was early days for covid Test and was ' Neg'. Developed nerve pain and more muscle spasms. Refused second Shingrix. Still not right. Did have all covid vaccines without any obvious problems. discetomy/laminectomy 2021 as stenosis suspected based on mri ( wonder if it was needed retrospectively? . Didn't fix all the nerve pain/ muscle spasm. Still taking baclofen...cannot not take it...grrr.
Have lost a lot of strength and working with PT. Also chiro for acupuncture for desensitization of nervous system/ trigger pts.
Anyone have similar experience or ideas to reduce pain?