I too was one of those that had a pretty bad time of it with the first shingrix shot (second one was a breeze in comparison), but after my mother had shingles and my aunt got it in her eye, I was convinced that a few days of feeling crappy was much better than the alternative. Thank you for this insightful piece!
Thank you for this. I had a whopper of a reaction to the vaccine and when I told my mother, who has had shingles and still suffers from post herpetic neuralgia years after, said “you know what’s worse than the reaction? Shingles.” Indeed!
i got the shingrix vaccine as soon as I was able to (59yo), because of all the reasons you list - and i had seen how bad it was when a family member got shingles. I had a very sore arm, muscle aches, and fever for 3 days, but it was well worth it for the protection. The second shot wasn't as bad and only lasted about 2 days.
If you sleep on your side, DO NOT get the injection in the arm you sleep on. I foolishly listened to the person doing the injection who said to get it in my non-dominant arm... but that is the side i sleep on.. and it was miserable. at least i picked the correct arm for the second shot.
Yes yes yes. I'm 54, was worried about the side effects of the vaccine and so was putting it off - until my sister thought she had shingles, which scared me so much I signed up for the first dose of the Shingrix vaccine by the end of that week. In fact, I had no side effects at all from either dose. And then I started reading about the protective effects against dementia - sooooo happy I did this!
As a retail pharmacist, I could not agree more. It is the number one vaccine I recommend for my patients 50 and over. The benefits greatly outweigh any side effects. Great post.
Thanks for this. I'm in the same boat, knowing I should do this...absolutely dreading being laid up for multiple days by it (while yes understanding the risk/benefit ratio here!). I have a hard time believing bad reactions are only 10%, but maybe those 10% are just the loudest!
Thanks for this detailed post. I got the Shingrex vaccines (1 in June, 2 in August) a few years ago. I did mildly react to #1 (felt like my arm would fall off for a day), but did not to #2. I never had chicken pox (did get the vaccine), but was super worried, because like most adults have friends and family who have had the dreaded shingles. No. Thank. You. Here's the deal with most vaccines: the disease is almost always much, much worse than any potential side effect. Even in my own case, shot 2 was nothing (though that first shot....). I hope more folks get this and avoid the horror of shingles.
Excellent post, thank you - I've been thinking about whether it's worth paying for Shingrix and as usual, your factual assessment is compelling. I may be one of the very small number of people who has had shingles and was barely bothered by it. Maybe because I was 33, but mostly because I was lucky enough to see my GP and be prescribed antivirals less than 24 hours after the first painful blister appearing on my back, and they worked a treat.
Like Karen, I had shingles when I was younger (35) and was fortunate enough (on holiday! alone! in a French village!) to happen upon a good doctor in the next town who explained what was going on and gave me antivirals. I was exhausted for a couple weeks but the rash on my back and thigh went away. I too have been wondering if I should get vaccinated (now 59) and your clear and science-supported post is, as always, incredibly helpful. Merci Dr Jen!
Thank you for this review. As a family physician I knew I wanted to get the vaccine because I do NOT want to get shingles but was still hesitant due to concerns about side effects. I finally got both doses and only had a sore arm both times so feel lucky.
Definitely have patients who refuse to get the 2nd dose if they had issues with the first one.
I had shingles in my early 30s (earlier than normal but it's common for some reason for women in my family.) It was a solid week of torture. There was no relief and I never want to experience it again (and I was "lucky" - it ran from the middle of my back around to the center of my chest. At least it wasn't on my face.) As soon as my doctor said I could get the Shingrix vax I did. That was in 2018. I was one of the lucky ones with very mild, minor side effects. I promise it's worth feeling a bit flu-ish for a few days. You do NOT want shingles. Get the vax as soon as you can.
I got the Shingrix vaccine when I had cancer at the same time as a pneumonia vaccine. Bad idea. I should have split them up. But I'm still glad I did it! I know multiple women who had shingles, one of them a thirty year old daughter. It was horrible. My reaction to the vaccine, even while sick with breast cancer and immunocompromised, was not nearly as bad, for sure!
I did get pretty sick for a day, and I had horrible pain in my arm for a few days with weird nerve pain and redness down the skin of my bicept for about a week. But it was nothing like shingles, for sure.
There's a typo in this next paragraph: there should be a "not" in the sentence. A pretty important sentence so didn't want you to miss it."In the initial randomized clinical trial, which followed people for three years, those who received the vaccine had a 97.2% lower chance of getting shingles than those who received the vaccine," your work is fantastic thank you so much!
This is so great to know as I have had an awful reaction to the mRNA COVID vaccines, once laying me out of work for four days! I’m due for my Shingrix next year.
Is it worth folks under 50 getting the vaccine? I personally know two women in their 40s who have had Shingles (one who got it in one eye, it was as you say a very not fun situation) and would very much like to avoid that. But I was told by the pharmacist that I'll have to convince my doctor to prescribe it, as I'm 44.
What about for people who’ve gone into menopause early? Only asking because the title of this post says if you’ve got menopause you should get it, so wondering if that changes the age calculus?
I've been trying to get it the last 10 years due to frequent courses of steroids. I'm 44 and still no shingrix vaccine. Finding a provider to authorize it for you is impossible.
Frequent courses of steroids does not necessarily equate to bring "immunocompromised not suppressed". The latter results from a sufficiently high enough dosage & for an adequate time period or on a high dosage indefinitely.
I'm not yet old enough to qualify for the vaccine but I'm permanently scarred by the idea of shingles. A great uncle I knew growing up was permanently disabled by shingles--I only ever saw him in a wheelchair. As I child when I was told shingles did that to him it made the disease a rightful boogey man. I'm ok with having a pretty intense reaction to the vaccine (I typically do to the COVID boosters) as in both cases I'd rather plan out a weekend of recovery than a lifetime of problems.
This article is going to help a lot of people! I'm especially glad to hear the vaccine protects against dementia. For those who are dreading the vaccine, I just want to add that my husband and I both got the Shingrix vaccine at age 50 (both doses), and neither one of us had any side effects other than maybe a slightly sore deltoid muscle at the site of the injection for about an hour. So, it's always possible that someone getting the shingles vaccine won't have any side effects. Either way it sounds well worth getting.
I too was one of those that had a pretty bad time of it with the first shingrix shot (second one was a breeze in comparison), but after my mother had shingles and my aunt got it in her eye, I was convinced that a few days of feeling crappy was much better than the alternative. Thank you for this insightful piece!
Thank you for this. I had a whopper of a reaction to the vaccine and when I told my mother, who has had shingles and still suffers from post herpetic neuralgia years after, said “you know what’s worse than the reaction? Shingles.” Indeed!
i got the shingrix vaccine as soon as I was able to (59yo), because of all the reasons you list - and i had seen how bad it was when a family member got shingles. I had a very sore arm, muscle aches, and fever for 3 days, but it was well worth it for the protection. The second shot wasn't as bad and only lasted about 2 days.
If you sleep on your side, DO NOT get the injection in the arm you sleep on. I foolishly listened to the person doing the injection who said to get it in my non-dominant arm... but that is the side i sleep on.. and it was miserable. at least i picked the correct arm for the second shot.
The side you sleep on is huge! I am a side sleeper and didn't think of that!
Yes yes yes. I'm 54, was worried about the side effects of the vaccine and so was putting it off - until my sister thought she had shingles, which scared me so much I signed up for the first dose of the Shingrix vaccine by the end of that week. In fact, I had no side effects at all from either dose. And then I started reading about the protective effects against dementia - sooooo happy I did this!
As a retail pharmacist, I could not agree more. It is the number one vaccine I recommend for my patients 50 and over. The benefits greatly outweigh any side effects. Great post.
Thanks for this. I'm in the same boat, knowing I should do this...absolutely dreading being laid up for multiple days by it (while yes understanding the risk/benefit ratio here!). I have a hard time believing bad reactions are only 10%, but maybe those 10% are just the loudest!
Thanks for this detailed post. I got the Shingrex vaccines (1 in June, 2 in August) a few years ago. I did mildly react to #1 (felt like my arm would fall off for a day), but did not to #2. I never had chicken pox (did get the vaccine), but was super worried, because like most adults have friends and family who have had the dreaded shingles. No. Thank. You. Here's the deal with most vaccines: the disease is almost always much, much worse than any potential side effect. Even in my own case, shot 2 was nothing (though that first shot....). I hope more folks get this and avoid the horror of shingles.
Excellent post, thank you - I've been thinking about whether it's worth paying for Shingrix and as usual, your factual assessment is compelling. I may be one of the very small number of people who has had shingles and was barely bothered by it. Maybe because I was 33, but mostly because I was lucky enough to see my GP and be prescribed antivirals less than 24 hours after the first painful blister appearing on my back, and they worked a treat.
It is generally much less severe for people under the age 50
Like Karen, I had shingles when I was younger (35) and was fortunate enough (on holiday! alone! in a French village!) to happen upon a good doctor in the next town who explained what was going on and gave me antivirals. I was exhausted for a couple weeks but the rash on my back and thigh went away. I too have been wondering if I should get vaccinated (now 59) and your clear and science-supported post is, as always, incredibly helpful. Merci Dr Jen!
Thank you for this review. As a family physician I knew I wanted to get the vaccine because I do NOT want to get shingles but was still hesitant due to concerns about side effects. I finally got both doses and only had a sore arm both times so feel lucky.
Definitely have patients who refuse to get the 2nd dose if they had issues with the first one.
I had shingles in my early 30s (earlier than normal but it's common for some reason for women in my family.) It was a solid week of torture. There was no relief and I never want to experience it again (and I was "lucky" - it ran from the middle of my back around to the center of my chest. At least it wasn't on my face.) As soon as my doctor said I could get the Shingrix vax I did. That was in 2018. I was one of the lucky ones with very mild, minor side effects. I promise it's worth feeling a bit flu-ish for a few days. You do NOT want shingles. Get the vax as soon as you can.
I got the Shingrix vaccine when I had cancer at the same time as a pneumonia vaccine. Bad idea. I should have split them up. But I'm still glad I did it! I know multiple women who had shingles, one of them a thirty year old daughter. It was horrible. My reaction to the vaccine, even while sick with breast cancer and immunocompromised, was not nearly as bad, for sure!
I did get pretty sick for a day, and I had horrible pain in my arm for a few days with weird nerve pain and redness down the skin of my bicept for about a week. But it was nothing like shingles, for sure.
There's a typo in this next paragraph: there should be a "not" in the sentence. A pretty important sentence so didn't want you to miss it."In the initial randomized clinical trial, which followed people for three years, those who received the vaccine had a 97.2% lower chance of getting shingles than those who received the vaccine," your work is fantastic thank you so much!
Thanks for catching
Good pick up. I've noticed in the past that Dr. G. needs a better editor.
As someone who had terrible reactions to all the Covid vaccines, I was terrified of this vaccine but had no problems other than a sore arm.
This is so great to know as I have had an awful reaction to the mRNA COVID vaccines, once laying me out of work for four days! I’m due for my Shingrix next year.
Is it worth folks under 50 getting the vaccine? I personally know two women in their 40s who have had Shingles (one who got it in one eye, it was as you say a very not fun situation) and would very much like to avoid that. But I was told by the pharmacist that I'll have to convince my doctor to prescribe it, as I'm 44.
The risk of shingles is overall relatively low under age 50, so there is no recommendation to give it at that age unless someone is immunocompromised.
I was wondering the same thing because recently my same age friend, 46, got shingles, and it was excruciating for him. (He’s not immunocompromised.)
Is there harm in getting it a few years earlier?
What about for people who’ve gone into menopause early? Only asking because the title of this post says if you’ve got menopause you should get it, so wondering if that changes the age calculus?
No, the title is a reflection of the average age of menopause being 51, and the age for recommending the vaccine is 50
I've been trying to get it the last 10 years due to frequent courses of steroids. I'm 44 and still no shingrix vaccine. Finding a provider to authorize it for you is impossible.
Frequent courses of steroids does not necessarily equate to bring "immunocompromised not suppressed". The latter results from a sufficiently high enough dosage & for an adequate time period or on a high dosage indefinitely.
I'm not yet old enough to qualify for the vaccine but I'm permanently scarred by the idea of shingles. A great uncle I knew growing up was permanently disabled by shingles--I only ever saw him in a wheelchair. As I child when I was told shingles did that to him it made the disease a rightful boogey man. I'm ok with having a pretty intense reaction to the vaccine (I typically do to the COVID boosters) as in both cases I'd rather plan out a weekend of recovery than a lifetime of problems.
This article is going to help a lot of people! I'm especially glad to hear the vaccine protects against dementia. For those who are dreading the vaccine, I just want to add that my husband and I both got the Shingrix vaccine at age 50 (both doses), and neither one of us had any side effects other than maybe a slightly sore deltoid muscle at the site of the injection for about an hour. So, it's always possible that someone getting the shingles vaccine won't have any side effects. Either way it sounds well worth getting.