Community Chat

[SharkE]

Saw where he's got a form of shingles at 28 I"m (clearing throat) old enough to be his sister (clearing throat again) They say you should get the shingles shots (2, six months apart) if your over 50.

Seeing those horrible  commercials on TV I've been putting it off not sure if I had chickenpox 100 yrs ago or not, my sister did, though.

Doing research online they said anyody born before 1999 has probably had them because the vaccine was invented in 1999. You may not remember it, but, I think it was common way back when.

I went to pharmacy my Prescription D and Medicare and supplement didn't pay nothing on it, so, I had to pay 221.00 and another 221 6 months from now.

forewarned is forearmed I guess.

[Puppy Lips]

My niece got shingles a few years back, probably in her late 20's, early 30's.  We intended to get the shots and we were covered for them at CVS.  Never got the shots, now for some reason, we are not covered at CVS even though we have the same insurance.  I have to look into that to see if we can get them elsewhere.  Shingles looks awful nasty to me.

[ECBG]

Shingles is unbelievebly painful.

My 2 doses got interrupted by the "stay ins" for the virus, so I got shot 2 after my first Merderna shot.

Everything was covered for me at CVS, but I am a retired state employee.  We keep that insurence.

[JamandBread]

Maybe I should put this in the "first love" thread, but I was 17 and my first love stayed with us for a weekend while his parents went away. He was little wild and his parents didn't trust him with the keys to the car and the house.
He stayed in my room and I slept on the pullout. After the weekend I did not change the sheets he slept on because romance and roses and stuff. 😍🤪
Imagine my surprise when several days later he had chicken pox and I had the worst case of pediatric shingles my doctor had ever seen.
It was no joke. I get my shot whenever it's due. It takes a few minutes and you're done. My insurance pays a portion.

[millieshops]

Be sure to check with your own insurance company becasue what the front desk tells us isn't really what the insurance company says.  

My opthalmalogist's front desk warned me a few weeks ago they would no longer be accepting my insurance by the time of my next appointment.  According to the CS service rep with whom I spoke, they can't refuse me and accept other Medicare payments.  

I haven't gone in to confront anyone  --  yet.  I will if I can't find another office.  A new doctor will be my preference because the last thing I need is a doctor who really doesn't want to include me in his practice and to whom I would be paying more than 6 times my usual co-pay!

[WRXtoo]

Chicken pox.... There's a test for that!

I've been thinking I should get the shingles vacc and asked my doctor about it just last week.  I told her I was unsure if I'd ever had the chicken pox.  She promptly said that there's a blood test that will determine if I've had chicken pox and she took a blood sample right then and there.  Just got the results and, yes, I did indeed have chicken pox when I was a kid and she recommended the shingles vacc.

There is a concern with getting chicken pox as an adult, as it can make you very sick.  She mentioned a chicken pox vacc for those uninfected as kids.  I don't know how much the blood test cost.

[gidgetgh]

I had shingles when I was 28, back in 1983.  At that time, it was kind of unusual for someone young like that to get them.

I was "fortunate" in that I only had one outbreak, about the size of a quarter.  It bothered me one day, could not really sit very well without pain.  I woke up the next day in hideous pain and went to the ER.  I told the doctor that I was having trouble sitting and that I had a horrific headache. He was going to admit me and on his way out of the room he asked me if I had any rashes or anything that he didn't see.  I told him I had what I assumed was a Bug bite, at the lowest part of my tailbone.  You couldn't see it because my underwear hid it. He came and took a look and said shingles.

Back then, there were no antivirals. You just had to get through it.  Since the blister was on my tailbone, the pain went in a straight line up my spine , into the back of my neck and head and caused the most severe, continuous headache I've ever had in my life.  Nothing they gave me for pain touched it.  I was not able to lie on my back at all.  I laid in my bed, on my side, moving very infrequently for almost a week.

I went to the ER on a Saturday morning, was out of work the entire week after that and still didn't feel well that 2nd weekend, but went back to work that next Monday.

I am 66 now and to this day, I can't lie on my back for a long time.  

I got the old shingles vaccine and then, when available, I got the 2 part Shingrix vaccine.  I hope never to get shingles again.  It was horrible and, again, I only had one outbreak but in an area that caused widespread issues. 

[SharkE]

Tiny needle , no big deal. arm might be sore after while but it's better then getting those giant blisters that stay around for 2 weeks.

I'm glad I got it. Now, I've had all covid shots, pneumonia shot and now shingles. 

[Sage04]

I got shingles earlier this year. I was schedule for my first shot a few weeks later but was given it as soon as I broke out. It was bad but not too bad. Even now I still get tingles in my upper back. I was given Garbapentin and it worked for me. Got my other shot a month later.  

I've seen what some people went through. I'm glad it was nothing like that.

I'm with Kaiser so I didn't have to pay.

[ladyfox412]

My mother's shingles doses were covered by her Medicare and supplement.