Shingles shots

Posted by jammer @jammer, Jul 17, 2019

Has anyone had a shingles shot while having MAC? I am thinking of getting shingle shot but am worried about problems since I have MAC

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We all have it stored in our bodies if we had chicken pox. The question is why does it resurface. Just getting older with lowered immunity is the main cause. Or being under stress or illness that lowers immunity. I have also read that a back injury can bring it on as it is stored in the spine? Not long before my bout of Shingles years ago I had a very dramatic chiropractic adjustment to my lower back. (I do not see a chiropractor anymore and that was when I was younger). But the main thing seems to be immunity as the issue.

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@liz440

I had a terrible bout of shingles lasting 6 weeks and then residual post neuralgic pain that continues to this day. Afterwards I got the double shingrix shots and then later i had a reaction to the Covid Vax - it gave me another case of shingles but thanks to the shingles shots the pain was minimal and it went away in about a week or two max. They work. I recommend. I had a day or two of aches from the shingles shots but it was nothing like the real shingles. It was really minor.

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I will second the recommendation to get the Shingrex vaccine. My neighbor did not and got shingles about 18 months ago, which went into his brain. He is still in a wheelchair. I got shingles a few years after having the old vaccine, but caught it early enough that I could be treated and kept it to a light case. I've now had the Shingrex vaccine, which caused some soreness in my arm with each shot, but no major reaction.

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I had fever and chills and just felt cruddy the day after both my shingles vaccine shots. I also felt the same after the covid shots. So you may want to plan a day at home the day after getting shots. The effects lasted one day for me. The flu vaccine just gave me a sore arm and I don’t remember any effects after the pneumonia vaccine. I had a coworker who was younger than 50 and got shingles. She had a lot of pain and was out of work for a couple months. My doctor said the possibility of lingering nerve pain is the worst effect. Or as annagh said, it can get into your brain or in your eye if it occurs on your face or head. Shingles can occur anywhere on your body.

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@healthybon

hi Irene...saw dr swenson telehealth today...wants me to get a pneumonia shot and flu shot. mentioned rsv but i'm not getting it right now. it's very new and not time tested...I don't trust it.
he said I will get a sputum test in about 3 to 5 months again. he was not concerned at all by the pseudonomas flourencens........so we are just keeping an eye on things..doing airway clearance, exercise, eating good etc.....whew!

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Is a pneumonia shot generally recommended for people with MAC? I keep seeing commercials for the pneumonia vaccine and was wondering if I should have it.. thanks!

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My pulmonary, Dr Swenson, told me to get the flu shot in October, and the pneumonia shot , which I got yesterday. I got the pneumonia shot for people over 65. They told me you only need the pneumonia shot once every 5 years.

He also said get the RSV. …I choose not to. I didn’t like the things that could go wrong with that one….I googled many sites on it. Maybe for some people it is fine, but I’m not risking it.

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@irenea8

We all have it stored in our bodies if we had chicken pox. The question is why does it resurface. Just getting older with lowered immunity is the main cause. Or being under stress or illness that lowers immunity. I have also read that a back injury can bring it on as it is stored in the spine? Not long before my bout of Shingles years ago I had a very dramatic chiropractic adjustment to my lower back. (I do not see a chiropractor anymore and that was when I was younger). But the main thing seems to be immunity as the issue.

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Irene. Did u get the shingles vac? Bon

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@healthybon

Irene. Did u get the shingles vac? Bon

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I have not gotten the shingles vac but I did have Shingles in the past so my chances of getting it again are less.

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is it a two step shot process? any side effects?

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Can someone explain the pneumonia vaccines. Are there two of them or just one? Is it for life or every 5 years as I have read. If there are two are they spaced one year apart?

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@irenea8

Can someone explain the pneumonia vaccines. Are there two of them or just one? Is it for life or every 5 years as I have read. If there are two are they spaced one year apart?

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I recently had my third pneumonia vaccine, PPV23, on the recommendation of MAC expert, Dr. Kevin Winthrop at OHSU. I had the first in 2015 when diagnosed with bronchiectasis, the second (valent 13) from my pulmonologist in 2017, but Dr Winthrop (ID) strongly encouraged adding the new valent 23.

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