No help from doctor on shingles and Covid booster.

[leftyladyfrommo]

I don't know what to do. The medical profession is just saying there is no correlation between shingles and Covid Covid shots. My doctor just blew me off. No correlation. He said.

All the people that have gotten shingles after their shots are left in limbo.

There are some articles saying there is a correlation. It's not the shots. It's the immune response to the shots that is allowing the herpes virus to reactivate.

So I can't afford a shingles shot until next month. Then I have to wait 2 weeks before I can get a booster.

I don't understand why insurance companies and Medicare won't cover the cost because it's preventative. It costs a lot more to treat shingles than the shots cost.

[displacedtexan]

1. My doc says Medicare considers Shingles shot a "treatment," not a preventative measure.

The cheapest I've found is the Shingrix (sp?) $155 at Target, Costco, & some grocery stores through Good Rx. Walmart is the most expensive at $177.65.
Biden's plan to expand Medicare would cover this, along with vision, hearing, and dental.

Walgreens has the free Pfizer booster, but you have to register for an account there (no obligation to buy anything).

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. Humana told me $171 per shot.

They don't give the shots as a treatment. You can't get the shots until the outbreak is healed.

This whole thing makes no sense.

[ananda]

7. I got both Shingrix shots a while ago and ..

I don't remember them costing that much.

I have a bad memory though.

[iemanja]

22. I had the shingles vaccine as a preventative

There were two rounds.

[FSogol]

25. Same here. 1 shot and my insurance covered it. n/t

[iemanja]

26. There are supposed to be two shots.

Three months apart.

[FSogol]

27. I got the Zostavax version about 3-4 years ago. I'll need a booster

sometime in the future.

[leftyladyfrommo]

32. I was afraid to get that one. My doctor said he had patients

that got shingles after that vaccine.

I am on a shingles board and people there got the shots but got shingles anyway


It seems like nobody really understands shingles. It can manifest in a bunch of ways . I don't think there have been a lot of studies done.

[FSogol]

40. I think it is important to listen to your doctors. Shingles is awful, but if you get

vaccinated, you won't get it or it will be much less severe. I had a friend who had a bad case, so I ran to my doc at age 50 to get the vax. He advised waiting a few years since it gets weaker over time. I got it at age 53 or 54.

My advice? Don't worry and get it as soon as you are able. Good luck.

[displacedtexan]

28. I had mine through Kaiser-P before retiring & starting Medicare coverage.

My meds were between $5 and $15 for 90 days. Then, my first prescription order under Medicare was over $800 per month. Thankfully, Walgreens gave me info on Good Rx, which I had though was some kind of scam but turned out to be legit and extremely useful.

[Mosby]

2. Treating shingles is cheap, assuming there aren't complications

Still, seems to me that all vaccines should be covered by insurance.

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. Some cases heal right up but some go on for

years. My blisters are gone but the pain is still there 6 months later. And mine was a really mild case. I got prednisone, antiviral and gabepentin.

[Scrivener7]

5. I'm able to get a shingles shot from the pharmacy. And it doesn't cost much.

[leftyladyfrommo]

6. I haven't had a chance to talk to Walmart yet. nt

[moonscape]

15. My friend went blind from shingles. She

had it in her ear and it affected her optic nerve. Had they given her acyclovir in ER asap she probably would have been okay.

[leftyladyfrommo]

34. A lot of people get it around their eyes. It can be

anywhere. And people do go blind. It can actually be in your eyes. People will get it on their forehead and scalp. It's can be just awful.

[GrapesOfWrath]

38. My daughter lost her hearing

Deaf in right ear from shingles. Only 22 years old.

[moonscape]

41. So very sorry :(. My blind

friend lost it also in one ear at the same time. I am on a chemo that is opportunistic for shingles so take acyclovir preventatively for life. And got my shingrix obviously.

[iemanja]

23. It's extremely painful.

There is no reason to go through that when a vaccine exists.

[Mosby]

30. It wasn't for me.

I had it on my forehead.

But I take acyclovir, so I self medicated the minute I saw the blisters.

I think its probably important to start on antivirals right away, don't wait for an appt with your pcp. Go to a walk in clinic or something.

[leftyladyfrommo]

36. 1st 72 hours for antivirals to really work. nt

[GPV]

8. I didn't get a reactivation of shingles from the first shot. Neither

did hubby. Are boosters somehow harder on the immune system??

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. I don't know. I am afraid to risk it. Shingles can be

just awful.

[Desert grandma]

12. If you are on Medicare

You should have a plan D prescription plan to cover your medications. That is what covered the Shingrix shots (need 2) for me. Even so, I can't remember for sure, but I believe there was a copay for each injection. I think it was $50.

[leftyladyfrommo]

13. Humana told me no coverage.

[Desert grandma]

18. What a bummer!

These pharma and insurance companies and their profit motive is what drives this unfair practice. We seniors are left doing the comparison research to try and anticipate what drugs we may need the following year, in order to choose the plan that will cover it. It's nuts.

[Mponti]

16. Got Shingles and flu shot same day I signed up

Signed up online for both shots in the morning and got both shots in early afternoon at Walgreens, Chicago.
Free for flu shot
$39 copay on Medicare Advantage. (I assume I’ll pay another $39 for 2nd Shingles shot in November.)

[GPV]

20. Yes, but taking meds right off for shingles makes all the difference,

and in my book covid is scarier, so I'll get the booster.

[hedda_foil]

10. Where did you hear about this supposed link?

Please provide a web link to a highly credible mainstream source, assuming one exists.

[leftyladyfrommo]

11. I cant do that on my phone. Just google it.

It's all over rhe place. Pros and cons.

[hedda_foil]

14. You can google anything, including the most easily disproven things about the vaccine.

This one is not factual
https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210209/experts-debunk-covid-19-vaccine-shingles-link

WEBMD HEALTH NEWS
Experts Debunk COVID-19 Vaccine-Shingles Link

Feb. 9, 2021 -- The Reddit message board user was looking for others in similar misery to share their stories. The 27-year-old had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Two-and-a-half weeks later, the user developed shingles. "Anybody else have a similar experience?" the post asked. "My doctor said there are anecdotes out there similar to mine."

At least one respondent (a commenter on Reddit, not an expert opinion) commented that it was ''probably not a coincidence. I think it's entirely possible to awaken a shingles case after a vaccine."

Infectious disease specialists, however, disagree that this is cause and effect, but interest in the possible connection remains high. According to Google Trends, searches for the term “covid shingles” hit peak popularity on the search engine over the past week

"There is no scientific evidence of this [association]," says Aaron Glatt, MD, chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside, NY, and a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a painful viral infection that people who have had chickenpox can get when the virus is reactivated. The shingles vaccine, Shingrix, is recommended for people ages 50 and up to prevent the condition.
https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210209/experts-debunk-covid-19-vaccine-shingles-link

[milestogo]

17. I got shingles a few weeks after getting my cast off for a broken ankle.

I was off my feet for 6 weeks and getting back to normal was a gradual process. I was stunned to be hit with shingles. At the time I wasn't "old enough" to get the vaccine. But I can imagine that zero activity for 2 months is not the best way to maintain your immune system.

Pregnant women sometimes get shingles, as pregnancy is an immune challenge.

It doesn't seem far-fetched that a vaccine would lower the immune response. You only get shingles if you've had chickenpox, and that virus sticks around for the rest of your life.

[UTUSN]

19. Some doubts here: 1-What's the reliable info linking vax/shingles? 2-No treatment/shingles once

once it starts. My primary/cardio/surgeon told me I had to ride it out for a couple of weeks or more, that medication has to start just about almost before the episode starts. After that it's too late.

My shingles shots happened after my episode and before the covid pandemic started and either Humana paid the pharmacy or who knows, nothing from my pocket.

[leftyladyfrommo]

31. I didn't have any idea it was shingles.

I felt awful. Went to ER because I just felt terrible. But I never linked it to the sore places on my back and the soreness on my right ribs so I didn't say anything. I had it for several weeks before I figured out what it was. It was too late for the meds to really work.

Now it's 6 months later and the pain is still there. Fortunately for me it's more of an annoyance. For some people it's excruciating and it's nerve pain so nothing seems to aleve it. And it can stay that bad for years.

[UTUSN]

39. Same thing happened to me: Didn't know what it was when it started, went to E.R.

Plus this was my second episode, the first one having been very mild, several years before. That's the problem, when it starts I don't know what is happening and then it's too late.

And what I had heard of it before was that it was "a painful rash." This is not what it was this second time with me: It was a strong, INTERNAL pain up inside the upper right side abdomen. After a whole day of testing at the E.R., expensive machinery, they said it was an inguinal hernia. I asked why the pain was up here instead of down there. The doctor clearly didn't know what was wrong, mumbled something about hernias-moving-around. He sent me to a surgeon for hernia repair consult. The surgeon ruled out repair, said that the recuperation from that would take 5 or more months and the pain would be worse than what I had now. Frustrated, I pulled up my shirt tail and pointed UP HERE. Nobody had told me to take my shirt off. So the surgeon saw 3 dots at my waist and yelled out, "YOU HAVE SHINGLES!"

He added that he doesn't do shingles, only CUTS and told me to ride it out, too late for meds. By this time a week had passed and the pain lessened and was fully gone in 2 weeks.

Just be sure you get a solid diagnosis, are you sure it's shingles?

[jimfields33]

21. Strange

I got my 2nd corona shot on April 23rd and my first shingles vaccine may 19. My 2nd shingles vaccine is October 20th. My flu shot in November and my booster January 2022.

[iemanja]

24. Did you already have the first two rounds of the Shingles vaccine?

My doctor never mentioned a third booster to me.

[leftyladyfrommo]

29. No. I am trying to figure out how to afford them. nt

[iemanja]

33. I wish you luck with that. nt

[BradAllison]

35. I heard only pharmacies do singles shots now.

Doctors don't.

I also always see ads for shingles shots on pharmacy billboards.

[leftyladyfrommo]

37. The company that sells the vaccine advertises it as

a preventative not a treatment. I just saw an add this morning.