Shingles Vaccination

[rsvp]

Been offered one by GP - have had chemotherapy/radiotherapy, am very allergic to insect bites, have mild eczema plus a truly dreadful reaction to the first corona virus jab. Any thoughts on yes or no to the jab please.

[Bobbisox1]

get it rsvp, the alternative is you getting Shingles which is the worst pain imaginable, believe me

[anneasquith]

Maybe check with your oncology team ?

[rsvp]

Thanks Bobbisox1 -

[rsvp]

never thought of that anneasquith - was a while back but good point.

[anneasquith]

I understand your reluctance .

[davebro]

My mother & sister had a bad experience with shingles so I went private & got the jab ahead of NHS time.

[Bobbisox1]

My arm was badly bruised but other than that, I was fine

[Sqad]

When did you finish your chemotherapy and for what condition was it received?

[EdmundD]

I was due to have the shingles vaccination last winter on the basis of my age (70). I had oral and intravenous chemo about 8 months before. The nurse Practitioner asked me to check with my hospital if it was ok to give me the shingles jab as it is a "live" vaccine.

The hospitals response was that "live" vaccines shouldn't be administered until 12 months after the end of chemo treatment.

[Sqad]

EdmundD is quite correct.

[Musictv2019]

I've never had this vaccine before and got shingles a few years ago

[Sqad]

Musictv..........that is quite a conundrum, isn't it ?

[Barsel]

I've never been offered that jab, no idea why.

[jno]

yes, my OH, on chemo, was told not to have a shingles jab but Covid and flu were okay

[EdmundD]

jno - same here Covid and flu OK but no shingles jab.

[jno]

Barsel, try asking your chemist, some of them do the jab. You can have it any time and I think only need it once. They usually say ages 70-80.

[LadyCG]

People who have excessive local reactions or even systemic reactions to insect bites are nearly ALWAYS vitamin D deficient.

You're bound to have some bloods done soon given your recent past medical history so it wouldn't be unreasonable to ask them to do your vitamin D at the same time. That way you can optimise your levels if need be (75nmol/L or above). People with optimal levels tend to have far less bad reactions to all allergens or idiopathic reactions.

[rsvp]

Wow that's quite a cross section of replies and extremely informative so thank you all so much - I'm of the opinion it's a bit of a lottery particularly regarding past treatments, allergies and reactions which has given me food for thought. Will get all my questions written down and book a chat with my GP. Once again I'm very grateful for all the replies. Stay well

[jourdain2]

Bit late - but I had Shingles aged 68. Believe me, I went for my Shingles jab in the week following my 70th birthday. No way would I wish that disease on anybody - and my pain was alleviated by an 'only just in time' anti-viral jab. Get the vaccination if you love yourself at all, honestly.

[jourdain2]

^^^ N.B. Shingles vaccination is only available on the NHS for the O.70s and then there is a cut-off date.