Don't miss your shingles shots
May 30, 2023 12:55 PM   Subscribe

The shingles vaccine was rolled out in Wales in 2013, using an exact birthdate cutoff: people born on or after Sept 2, 1933 were eligible, while those born earlier weren’t. The cutoff created a nifty opportunity to test the hypothesis that herpesviruses, including the VZV that causes chickenpox and shingles, are causal to Alzheimer's dementia.

The Geldsetzer group first showed that just a one-week difference in age causes a massive difference in the probability of ever getting the vaccine. This is an important control and proof of principle: there’s no reason why those born one week before the cutoff should differ in anything from those born just one week later, except for the difference in vaccination. Thus, no need for the usual heroic accounting for confounds and differences between groups. They also show that the vaccine had no effect on any other common causes of morbidity or mortality -- another important control for the frequent bias that healthier/more health-motivated folk with better healthcare access are more likely to get vaccinated.

Main result: analysis of electronic healthcare records over a 7-year follow-up period showed that getting vaccinated prevented one in 5 new dementia diagnoses.

Moreover, shingles is more common in women. The group found strong protective effects of the vaccine for women but not for men, and that this difference is specific to Alzheimer’s (not vascular) dementia.

Footnote of context: for years, Alzheimer's research was dominated by a cabal insiting on the amyloid hypothesis.
posted by Dashy (71 comments total) 61 users marked this as a favorite
 
I appreciate learning this news and I appreciate the front page post format and summary!
posted by brainwane at 1:05 PM on May 30, 2023 [3 favorites]


Shingles is nasty enough that I didn't hesitate to get the vaccine but if this additional benefit proves real, fuck yeah.
posted by emjaybee at 1:05 PM on May 30, 2023 [23 favorites]


Reduction in dementia risk associated with many common vaccines is a well-documented research finding. It is nice, however, to have such a naturalistic experiment demonstrate such a clear signal.
posted by meehawl at 1:05 PM on May 30, 2023 [13 favorites]


They recommend the vaccine for over 50s here, but I got shingles at 27. Womp womp.
posted by vanitas at 1:09 PM on May 30, 2023 [7 favorites]


I got shingles once when I was like 37. Started a new job after a brief lay off. 3 hour daily commute. new house. tons of stress and my immune system basically went "yeah, I'm taking a nap cause I can't right now"

I called my wife from the freeway as the pain hit for real and I was in tears, full on, middle of the 110 freeway. Wanted to stop driving, just stop moving and still had an hour left in my drive.

You bet your sweet bippy I'm getting my shingles vaccine in a hot minute after I turn 50.
posted by drewbage1847 at 1:14 PM on May 30, 2023 [19 favorites]


I am, more strongly than ever, Team Vaccine. I just had covid for the first time, so grateful to be vaccinated and eligible for paxlovid. 3 days of mild symptoms, I tested negative yesterday and fingers crossed no rebound.

its just astonishing to me, after the last what? 70 or 80 years? that anyone can be anti-vaccine. the miracles that have been achieved over the last 2 generations are so incredible. Polio, small pox, influenza. and now this really wonderful possibility to lessen rates of Alzheimer's!

get vax'd if you can, shingles suxxxxx (and I had a mild case (pre-50 also))
posted by supermedusa at 1:16 PM on May 30, 2023 [30 favorites]


Holy shit!
posted by grobstein at 1:19 PM on May 30, 2023


Nifty is right. Wow, what an important finding!
posted by mcstayinskool at 1:22 PM on May 30, 2023


I look forward to similar studies when we cross the threshold of people who got the chicken pox vaccine as a child. Alas, I was in the generation where the vaccine was not available and I was sent to a "chicken pox party", which would be a questionable decision now. Got shingles too in my mid-20s.
posted by meowzilla at 1:23 PM on May 30, 2023 [10 favorites]


Oh dear. I should probably get the second shingles shot I never got.
posted by Glinn at 1:30 PM on May 30, 2023 [4 favorites]


the miracles that have been achieved over the last 2 generations are so incredible

... can't forget cervical cancer, which is diminishing rapidly.
posted by Dashy at 1:31 PM on May 30, 2023 [27 favorites]


Footnote of context: for years, Alzheimer's research was dominated by a cabal insiting on the amyloid hypothesis.

And some prominent research in this line, under the supervision of biotech executive and university president Marc Tessier-Ashpool-Lavigne, is now under a cloud of fraud allegations. (I haven't been able to figure out if the papers that have come into question are a significant part of the larger story of the amyloid hypothesis or how, though.)
posted by grobstein at 1:34 PM on May 30, 2023 [8 favorites]


This is fantastic news. I love science!

Thank you so much for posting this, Dashy. I'm forwarding it to bunches of people right now.
posted by kristi at 1:38 PM on May 30, 2023 [1 favorite]


I saw this a few days ago and passed it on to my mother, who was delighted to hear it! It will be great if it stands up.

(My 50th birthday present to myself was, in fact, Shingrix. Good to hear that the OW OW OW resulting from the second shot will have additional benefits.)
posted by thomas j wise at 1:40 PM on May 30, 2023 [10 favorites]


Those Shingrix shots sucked, but if the payoff is a "no shingles, no dementia" two-fer, I would do it every goddamn year.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:44 PM on May 30, 2023 [22 favorites]


its just astonishing to me, after the last what? 70 or 80 years? that anyone can be anti-vaccine.

Unfortunately we have yet to devise a vaccine effective against the dangerous outbreaks of self-replicating disinformation that occasionally make the jump from unprincipled grifters like Andrew Wakefield into populations who frequent the inadequately regulated wet markets of mass media.
posted by flabdablet at 1:46 PM on May 30, 2023 [20 favorites]


Given the Amyloid Hypothesis Cabal, I wonder if the very specific labeling of HAND (HIV Associated Neurocognitive Disorders) was to avoid having to fight that groupthink.

On vaccines generally reducing dementia risk (and the Shingles Vax specifically to the tune of 20% protection), maybe it's just a "don't let your brain take unnecessary hits from disease" thing sorta like cancer. A roll of the dice regardless but the more hits you've taken, the more dice you're forced to roll.
posted by Slackermagee at 1:50 PM on May 30, 2023 [8 favorites]


20% protection -- note that this was their outcome for the 7 year observation period in the study. It may well be higher over observation periods spanning lifetimes.
posted by Dashy at 1:56 PM on May 30, 2023 [1 favorite]


It's purely anecdotal (and likely coincidental), but a very long and terrible bout of shingles felt like the turning point in my grandfather's aggressive Alzheimer's decline. That was over thirty years ago, and I've lost three more beloved family members to that awful disease since, but I can't unknot the two diseases in my memory. This is very good news. Thanks for sharing.
posted by hessie at 2:00 PM on May 30, 2023 [10 favorites]


I had a very mild shingles case in my late 20s. I found a line of bumps on my chest and assumed they were insect bites. In a fluish haze I upturned all the furniture in my room looking for bedbugs --- my friends had been so kind to let me live with them for a few months, and somehow I must have been careless and returned the favour in the worst way. Fumigation, bagging up possessions, throwing things out, all the horrible things you hear about trying to rid yourself of an infestation --- the whole scene played out in my head as I searched. I was distraught.

I wasn't feeling great the next day so I went to see a doctor. He took one look at me and said "you have shingles".

You can't imagine my relief!

(A very mild case like I said. Hopefully it will prove to have been mild in every way.)
posted by Chef Flamboyardee at 2:02 PM on May 30, 2023 [6 favorites]


I just found out that the state of Washington has a whole list of vaccines I can get even while I am not working and uninsured. I'm not sure exactly what I have to do to get these, but I might as well during my time trying to get back to work. I've heard reports at Shinglix or whatever it is called can knock some people on their ass, and I haven't gotten it while I was working because I didn't want to schedule vacation days to recover from a shot. But now, I have no excuse!

They also have Hep-A and Hep-B and HPV and other vaccines available. I don't have much contact with HPV but the Hep shots, heck yeah!
posted by hippybear at 2:05 PM on May 30, 2023 [10 favorites]


This counts as extremely promising but not definitive. You should absolutely get your shingles shot because it prevents shingles, and shingles sucks. If it turns out to help with Alzheimer's, that's a bonus.

I was about to say that if it doesn't turn out to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's but encourages people to get their shingles shots, that would also be a bonus, but I worry that it would further reduce confidence in vaccines.

Overselling uncertain findings can make it harder to get people to follow findings that scientists actually have strong evidence for. For example, the changing nutritional advice on things like dairy fat and eggs makes many people conclude that they shouldn't even try to eat healthier because all nutritional advice is bunk.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 2:08 PM on May 30, 2023 [4 favorites]


I got my Shingles vaccine (both shots) this year. I'm a few years late on the "do it at 50" recommendation, due to laziness, not any anti-vax sentiment. It was Wil Wheaton that pushed me over the edge to do it. He posted about his MIL getting shingles on her eyeball...and I had an appt. for my first shot 5 minutes later. I cleared a weekend for the 2nd shot, given all the horror stories about how bad the reaction typically is.l I did not react at all.
posted by COD at 2:09 PM on May 30, 2023 [8 favorites]


There was a phone message last week from my Dr's office to remind me to schedule my second shingles shot.

Yes, please.
posted by Artful Codger at 2:11 PM on May 30, 2023 [1 favorite]


Absolutely get the shingles vaccine because shingles is awful. The vaccine was nothing for me; no effect at all. Covid vaccines were a day or two of feeling slightly ill and the first Mpox vaccine was awfully itchy. Shingles vaccine? Didn't notice.

The most interesting to me is this: "the important role of the varicella zoster virus in the etiology of dementia". So little is understood about dementia, finding a relation to some well understood virus could be a really big deal.
posted by Nelson at 2:11 PM on May 30, 2023 [4 favorites]


Yay vaccines!
Got mine last year, arm more was a bit more sore than other shots but otherwise no prob. My wife had a nasty reaction and she hasn’t had her second dose yet so I just reminded her because of this thread!
posted by chococat at 2:17 PM on May 30, 2023 [2 favorites]


Our descendants will wonder why we nonchalantly got infected with chicken pox, mono, and covid.
posted by meowzilla at 2:41 PM on May 30, 2023 [6 favorites]


There is no vaccine for mono. That's a weird thing to include in your list, out of all the possible diseases.
posted by hippybear at 2:44 PM on May 30, 2023 [8 favorites]


HPV vaccine is not just for cervical cancer but a whole host of other cancers that are regions(penile, oropharynx, anogenital,etc) where someone may perform sexual activities… https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/hpv/basic_info/cancers.htm
posted by roguewraith at 2:51 PM on May 30, 2023 [4 favorites]


This is a very UN-consoling post as I came down with shingles this weekend and am currently suffering through it. Luckily I figured out pretty quickly what it was - I started with a weird itchy but also sore section on my side of my torso on Saturday afternoon, plus random backpain out of nowhere that then morphed into bad hip and side body pain, like the nerve bundle in charge of my hip was screaming at me, then my side where I was itchy sting-y got three rash patches. I saw a nurse practitioner yesterday afternoon and got an anti-viral, so hopefully that'll stop things as they are. My skin HURTS.

Between this absolute nuts post-virus infection and covid and all the other viruses we know can fuck your shit up longer term I have nothing but side-eyes for people who bring their germs around to others like it's NBD when they can wear masks and are able to take sick leave from work. We didn't know about chicken pox when I was a kid but what the FUCK people.
posted by urbanlenny at 2:53 PM on May 30, 2023 [8 favorites]


and are able to take sick leave from work

You can tell what a person's employment policies are while looking at them through a side-eye? That's talent!
posted by hippybear at 2:55 PM on May 30, 2023 [1 favorite]


You can tell what a person's employment policies are while looking at them through a side-eye? That's talent!

If they are your coworkers, presumably you can.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 3:27 PM on May 30, 2023 [12 favorites]


They recommend the vaccine for over 50s here, but I got shingles at 27. Womp womp.

Me too! Grad school stress was The Best. I'm basically counting the days until I qualify for the shingles vaccine.

Alas, I was in the generation where the vaccine was not available and I was sent to a "chicken pox party", which would be a questionable decision now. .

I can remember being the "host" for a chickenpox party when I was about 4. In reality, it wasn't a single big event, but just lots of moms bringing their kids to visit over several days. At least I got lots of visitors while I was feeling crappy.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:43 PM on May 30, 2023 [1 favorite]


You can tell what a person's employment policies are while looking at them through a side-eye? That's talent!

I specifically used that wording to try to convey that I mean people who have a sick leave provision - and yeah, very specifically my colleagues. The other day someone reporting to me came over to talk to me in person after we were talking about her being sick over the chat system - no mask, not at home, and sharing her germs with me in person rather than virtually from her desk.

We have a very generous (and common-to-all) sick leave provision in our collective agreement so she could and should have stayed at home. I was masked, thankfully, but oy. I was also leaving for a three-week vacation two days later that I would not under any circumstances have gone on if I were sick. I told her to go home and stay home if she is sick. It's like people learned *nothing* from the last three years, and deliberately so.
posted by urbanlenny at 3:46 PM on May 30, 2023 [14 favorites]


Have they finally gotten their shit together and approved it for the immunocompromised? They hadn’t about a year ago when I last looked and it’s very frustrating; I had mine, but my wife - who has both had shingles and takes some immunosuppressant medications - cannot get it.

The vaccine was nothing for me; no effect at all. Covid vaccines were a day or two of feeling slightly ill and the first Mpox vaccine was awfully itchy. Shingles vaccine? Didn't notice.

Opposite for me. The first shingrix shot felt like a one day flu. I could barely get out of bed. Second was less awful but still a rough day. My covid shots were like I’d missed a few hours of sleep. Well worth it not to have shingles but if I’d had to be somewhere the day after the shot it woulda been a problem.
posted by phearlez at 4:25 PM on May 30, 2023 [2 favorites]


According to this, it is recommended for immunocompromised?
posted by Dashy at 4:33 PM on May 30, 2023 [3 favorites]


I was able to get it much earlier than 50 because of my immune status. Which, btw, is self certify. So you just check a box on the website/form at CVS or Walgreens. If you have trouble at one location go to another. (One store was weird about my age for my second shot, despite the same chain having given me my first with no trouble. They did eventually work themselves around to stabbing me with the needle, and all was well.)
posted by Bottlecap at 4:55 PM on May 30, 2023 [3 favorites]


There is no vaccine for mono. That's a weird thing to include in your list, out of all the possible diseases.

Sorry, that was part of an earlier draft that I removed because it was previously mentioned on the blue.

Epstein–Barr, which is in the same family as chicken pox (shingles) and causes mono, is associated with multiple sclerosis and there is a vaccine in development.
posted by meowzilla at 4:58 PM on May 30, 2023 [7 favorites]


Several years ago (more than 5, less than 10) mrs. kingless came down with shingles in the form of half of a pink cummerbund, laterally from her navel to her spine on the right side, vertically from just beneath her breast to her waist. It was extremely painful and there was nothing she could do but lay out of work and tough it out, sitting in an easy chair and playing Angry Birds, bouncing between rage and delight. After about 10 days she could stand to teach. It was another 2 weeks before she stopped mentioning it.

When my doctor offered Shringrix shots, I said yes, please.
posted by kingless at 5:03 PM on May 30, 2023 [3 favorites]


Woohoo, thanks Dashy! I’d like to think I would have gotten around to looking again before too long but nice to know we can start to plan.
posted by phearlez at 5:56 PM on May 30, 2023


If you have had shingles, talk to your doc about getting the vax sooner. This is quite impressive news.
posted by theora55 at 6:44 PM on May 30, 2023


Wow!!
posted by latkes at 6:52 PM on May 30, 2023


So my mom who's in her 70s developed shingles last week. She got the older kind of shingles vaccine several years back, so her case is relatively mild. BUT for the last several days she is definitely experiencing brain fog -- like today, she dumped contents from the preservative packet into the soup along with a box of miso soup paste that it came with.

We are planning to get shingles vaccine as soon as we are eligible, including my mom.
posted by of strange foe at 7:09 PM on May 30, 2023 [3 favorites]


for years, Alzheimer's research was dominated by a cabal insiting on the amyloid hypothesis.

Huge kudos for this to surgeon-of-all-trades Meredith Grey, recently revealed as the whistleblower who uncovered this conspiracy of bad research.
posted by amtho at 7:11 PM on May 30, 2023 [5 favorites]


Thanks for posting. I’m super interested in the viral origin hypothesis. There was an NIH workshop not too long ago about it. I don’t see it as inherently in conflict with the amyloid hypothesis — the most compelling stories I’ve seen have suggested amyloid is a component of the innate immune system and actually has a function, but becomes harmful when it aggregates into plaques. I don’t see a great deal of energy spent on the “inciting event” end of the pathogenic process, presumably because of the time delay (current thinking is that you can be accumulating amyloid for 20-30 years before symptoms), but I’m hopeful that this will change.
posted by eirias at 7:47 PM on May 30, 2023 [2 favorites]


This is nice but please remember this article has *not* been peer-reviewed.
posted by storybored at 8:09 PM on May 30, 2023 [2 favorites]


I don't think anything that encourages people to get their shingles vaccine should be denigrated for having *not* been peer-reviewed.
posted by hippybear at 8:18 PM on May 30, 2023 [1 favorite]


Unless (and I admit this is a double hypothetical) later evidence shows it to be incorrect and antivaccine shitheads like Robert Kennedy Jr. misuse that info. If the finding leads to more vaccinations, great, but I hope no one actively tries to oversell it.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:29 PM on May 30, 2023 [1 favorite]


It's a vaccine against shingles. If it has ancillary beneficial effects that's great, but I don't think anyone will be making hay on "the shingles vaccine doesn't actually help against Alzheimer's dementia" when "the shingles vaccine helps prevent shingles" is the main reason anyone takes it, truly.
posted by hippybear at 8:38 PM on May 30, 2023 [4 favorites]


Tbh if this finding is false I don't think it would be for the kind of reason that journal referees do or can screen for.
posted by grobstein at 9:36 PM on May 30, 2023 [1 favorite]


I tell people the most horrible horror story I ever read is "Our Cancer Year" by Harvey Pekar. The part where he describes getting shingles frightened me as much as anything. He couldn't lie down it was so painful, tried sleeping standing up and fell several times.

After I read this, I pestered my doc to write a script for Zostavax (this was before Shingrix.) He told me I wasn't old enough, at the time it was only recommended for people over 60. I kept at him for a couple of months, then he finally wrote it. He warned me "It's really expensive!"

I went to CVS and asked how much it was. When the clerk $210, all I said was shoot me up. I really don't want shingles.
posted by Marky at 10:49 PM on May 30, 2023 [4 favorites]


Ooh yeah I work in medical research and find the framing of this post a little weird. A medRxiv link and a twitter post from the senior author promoting it is not a super compelling combo in the research world. In this situation, it’s encouraging vaccination, which is great! But it’s quite possible to lead people in pretty much any direction, including into anti-vax mode, with similar sets of links. Peer review is super important!
posted by crime online at 11:12 PM on May 30, 2023 [9 favorites]


I guess in other words what I am saying is - all the scientific research should be held up to the same standards, because otherwise it will seem arbitrary and then more people will start to distrust scientific research, and good lord we do not need more people who don’t trust science!
posted by crime online at 11:20 PM on May 30, 2023 [7 favorites]


When I got my first Shingrix vaccine, I got so violently nauseated within five minutes that I almost threw up in the examination room. They had me lie down on the table, threw a blanket over me and turned out the light for ten minutes until the nausea passed. Slightly. I was told that this was by no means an unfamiliar reaction. I am not looking forward to my 2nd shot.
posted by y2karl at 1:35 AM on May 31, 2023 [2 favorites]


The point that it’s a preprint is a good one. I’d be hesitant to promote my own stuff on social media at that stage, personally. Reading the preprint, at first blush it looks better to me than many of the things I get sent as a referee, but I’m not super familiar with regression discontinuity designs and there could well be some stuff I’m missing.
posted by eirias at 4:49 AM on May 31, 2023 [3 favorites]


The primary effect I noticed from the Shingrix shot was that boy howdy I was aware that I'd had a metal spike jabbed into my arm. This is compared to the pneumonia vaccine, the covid vaccine, and the flu vaccine -- I worked my way through all four the fall of my 50th year.
posted by Karmakaze at 5:59 AM on May 31, 2023 [1 favorite]


It is a preprint, which I meant but forgot to note in the FPP, but: the experiment/intervention itself was performed by the government, the work done here was the analysis. It's not like they're using some unknown set of reagents, or doing an experiment no one has done before, which is the most common source of weakness in claims. And they've "shown their work", with the positive and negative controls.

So you can judge the results on that basis, but it seems pretty transparent and solid to me (I also work in biomedical research). Yes, peer review could raise caveats that the authors hadn't considered, but I don't expect the core result to fall.
posted by Dashy at 8:15 AM on May 31, 2023 [2 favorites]


I'll add to the testimonials that shingles is terrible.

This really shows (for the nth time) how incredibly stupid and dangerous antivaxers are.

Chickenpox is just mild suffering for most and some may think the vaccine isn't necessary. But shingles proves how short-sighted that is. Antivaxers ignore "minor" benefits that have a large aggregate impact (kids don't miss a week of school, kids miss the minor suffering, parents lose hours/days of work/pay at best) and I'm sure they'll ignore the benefits of preventing shingles and likely reduction in dementia too.
posted by jclarkin at 9:40 AM on May 31, 2023 [3 favorites]


It is a preprint, which I meant but forgot to note in the FPP, but: the experiment/intervention itself was performed by the government, the work done here was the analysis. It's not like they're using some unknown set of reagents, or doing an experiment no one has done before, which is the most common source of weakness in claims.

I beg to differ here! If the median biomedical researcher were unimpeachable at matching analysis to aims, I wouldn’t have a job…
posted by eirias at 3:22 PM on May 31, 2023 [2 favorites]


Got mine last year, ahead of schedule. The newer two-shot version (Shingrix), that is not free (not much change out of $600 AUD). Vaccine reaction was a bit rough, but it passed soon enough.

Didn't know about the Alzheimer's connection. Nice side benefit. Though not for me, coz male.
posted by Pouteria at 9:58 PM on May 31, 2023


Huh? Men get Alzheimer’s too.
posted by eviemath at 3:54 AM on June 1, 2023 [1 favorite]


I'd like to get a shingles vaccine, partly because my mother had it once and she suffered mightily, but the NHS is currently only offering it for people over 70 and I'm a ways off yet.

I could get it privately, but then I'm looking at about £170 for a dose. I think I might just have to wait it out until I'm eligible for the free one.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:17 AM on June 1, 2023


Huh? Men get Alzheimer’s too.

The study showed no/minimal benefit for men because women get shingles at a substantially higher rate.

PRESUMABLY the vaccine's effect of reducing the incidence of shingles also protects men against shingles-caused dementia, but if the incidence of shingles in men is low then that protective effect would be much harder to detect.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:33 AM on June 1, 2023 [2 favorites]


> I could get it privately, but then I'm looking at about £170 for a dose. I think I might just have to wait it out until I'm eligible for the free one.

Your bank account may vary, but for me it would be worth it after seeing what some friends have gone through. A relative has had Shingles for what must be a year now, and it's awful.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:50 AM on June 1, 2023 [4 favorites]


Huh? Men get Alzheimer’s too.

This is explained in the article and also in the initial post here.
posted by Nelson at 7:25 AM on June 1, 2023


That the research found sex-differentiated effects was explained in the article, yes. The comment I was replying to seemed to potentially indicate the commenter had over-interpreted the results as meaning that the shingles vaccine had no effect for men, or that men didn’t get Alzheimer’s.
posted by eviemath at 12:24 PM on June 1, 2023


I first got shingles on Sept 10, 2001. My NP diagnosed, prescribed an antiviral and told me to avoid stress. Seriously.

I've had literally hundreds of outbreaks. It is brutal. I started suppressive therapy, which slowed the number of outbreaks but didn't stop them.

At my spring checkup my doctor noted that I am at retirement age so she had me get all my immunizations updated. And she said I could get the shingles vaccine. (I had asked years earlier to get the first vaccine but was told that it wouldn't work since I already had shingles.) She said that the Shingrix shots would work. I was warned about the second shot being a rough time and yes, it was not fun, but I have not had an outbreak since.

This is nothing short of miraculous to me. I've been strongly urging my family to get the shots. No one should have to go through the agony of shingles.
posted by LaBellaStella at 5:10 PM on June 1, 2023 [15 favorites]


This is a very UN-consoling post as I came down with shingles this weekend and am currently suffering through it. Luckily I figured out pretty quickly what it was - I started with a weird itchy but also sore section on my side of my torso on Saturday afternoon, plus random backpain out of nowhere that then morphed into bad hip and side body pain, like the nerve bundle in charge of my hip was screaming at me, then my side where I was itchy sting-y got three rash patches. I saw a nurse practitioner yesterday afternoon and got an anti-viral, so hopefully that'll stop things as they are. My skin HURTS.

So for anybody else reading - the moment you notice a linear itch or rash - get yourself to the nearest walk-in clinic and get the anti-virals. Particularly if it is on your face. Speed is important with anti-virals. Ideally you want them in your system before 72 hours so do not wait for an overbooked GP to schedule you in.
posted by srboisvert at 6:03 PM on June 1, 2023 [1 favorite]


Your bank account may vary, but for me it would be worth it after seeing what some friends have gone through. A relative has had Shingles for what must be a year now, and it's awful.

My father in law had shingles for over two years, got addicted to extreme painkillers as part of it, and now has a severe case of dementia.

I find it interesting that men rarely get shingles, because the only people I know who have gotten shingles (which is a pretty small number) are all men.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:44 AM on June 2, 2023 [2 favorites]


So for anybody else reading - the moment you notice a linear itch or rash - get yourself to the nearest walk-in clinic and get the anti-virals. Particularly if it is on your face. Speed is important with anti-virals. Ideally you want them in your system before 72 hours so do not wait for an overbooked GP to schedule you in.

On day seven (eight?) of shingles, yes, very much this. I can't imagine what this would have been like without the antiviral. The rash itself was mostly stopped in its tracks - a few additional spots popped up on my stomach and back, but nothing major - but the PAIN. I have been taking alternating advil and tylenol every four or so hours, including when the pain wakes me up in the middle of the night. I foolishly also said no thanks to the nurse's offer of a stronger painkiller because painkillers make me nervous).

The rashes are now healing without blisters popping but the additional issue I've had, which I don't even know how to really describe, is that my side abdominal muscles on my affected side just ... don't work very well? And ache constantly. I assume that the nerves heading to them are affected by the shingles and they're not doing their job of stabilizing my body. I have to brace my side abdominal muscles with a bolster pillow to avoid being constantly in pain from this. I actually slept 6.5 hours straight last night, which seemed miraculous because I've otherwise been waking up every four hours in pain for an entire week.

Please go get your shots if you have the funds to do so. Even if that's a stretch, try to put some money aside because shingles will cause you worse financial losses if you get it. I had to take all of last week off of work and I'm not sure I will be in much better shape tomorrow, though thankfully I can work from home and my boss is understanding. People have been checking in on me like nothing before because everyone who knows someone who has had shingles knows this thing is seriously awful.

Annoyingly, my partner's friend also (basically knowingly!!!) exposed him to COVID, so we're also now on COVID watch, which I'm afraid will lay me flat with my immune system already fucked up by shingles. Pray for Mojo.
posted by urbanlenny at 10:15 AM on June 4, 2023 [3 favorites]


I have weak muscles on one side of my abdomen (also from a virus!) and a girdle can really help. I was recommended a back brace (like for lifting heavy boxes) but found a stretchy under clothes girdle (like with the hook and eye closure?) did the trick
posted by Bottlecap at 4:33 PM on June 4, 2023 [1 favorite]


« Older Waynely Farfield’s GEOMAQUARIUM   |   I'm a HORSE not a DJ Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments