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I've had Shingles multiple times over the years, the worst time was a major breakout after dropping my motorcycle on a gravel road, while I only had a short-sleeved shirt on. I got skinned pretty bad, (had to use a stiff bristle brush to scrub the gravel out of my arm) and the shock of it all caused a Shingles breakout. I looked like I had 3 degree poison ivy, and it weeped fluid for a long time. However, I'm allergic to Neomycin, so can't take the vaccine.
For those of you who had shingles, and the associated pain, are you saying that pain meds don't work on this kind of pain?
The pain meds I was given (hydrocodone) did help, but didn't completely quell the pain and only lasted 3-4 hours after which I had to take more. Shingles pain is multi-faceted. There is the skin pain which feels like a very severe burn, then there is the deeper pain which felt like a very strong ache at the bone level. Wearing a bra was excruciating since the band hit on an area of the back and left side of my torso where the pocks were. I remember being a work and the pain was so bad, I actually had to remove my bra to get relief, then just tried to stay at my desk until I could go home. Anything touching that affected area (even just fabric slightly brushing against it) was very painful. Trying to sleep with that whole area contacting the bed surface was almost impossible. It is a kind of pain like no other and impossible to get rid of until it quiets down, which takes 1-2 weeks, then a couple more weeks for it to finally subside. I sucked up the pain med as much and as often as I could and just pushed through every day. 2.5 years later certain clothing still causes some pain since it is a neuropathic pain; it still feels like I have active pocks on my back even though I don't. I tried taking an RX for neuropathic pain afterward, but the side effects made it not worth it and didn't seem to help anyway. Not everyone has pain past the actual attack. Guess I was one of the unlucky ones. I'm hope with more time, this neupathic pain will subside completely.
Now I try very hard not to let anything get very stressful since that is the trigger for shingles. At the time of the outbreak, I was going through an extremely stressful time of selling and buying 2 homes simultaneously with an incompetent realtor. I'll never do that again. Do one or the other, not both at the same time.
Doc would not approve the vaccine since I was only 55 and I needed his approval for insurance to pay for it. if you're under 60 insurance will not pay for it. But he did say that once you have an outbreak, you will have an immunity for several years ("several years" could mean anything). So I'll wait until I'm 60 to get the vaccine.
I've read that once you have shingles, the vaccine is less effective for future outbreaks. I'm hoping a better form of the vaccine becomes available by then, or that I'm retired by then because trying to function at work was the worst part of the whole ordeal.
Last edited by BijouBaby; 12-04-2017 at 04:48 PM..
The new Shingrix (attenuated zoster) vaccine should be available soon. It is expected to be more effective than the current Zostavax (live) vaccine. Also, those with immune deficiencies and those taking immunosuppressant medications might want to ask their doctors whether the new vaccine could be appropriate for them since it uses an attenuated virus rather than a live virus and thus might be safe for them.
OKay, I have a question that I haven't been able to find an answer for. Can (or should) you get the shingles vaccine if you aren't sure if you ever had chicken pox? My mom couldn't remember if I had it before age 5, she had 5 children so I can see how she could forget who had what. I know that I didn't have it after age 5. Now my younger brother had them twice in childhood and I was certainly exposed to them when he had them. I even put medicine on his spots.
Is there any reason I shouldn't get the shot? What if I get the shot and actually never had chicken pox? Will I get chicken pox or shingles from the shot?
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