Shingles

[Atrecord]

On 3/6/2023 at 1:13 PM, 13177 said:

You can get shingles vaccine from GP and think polyclinic should also have, there are 2 types of shingles vaccine, Zostavax and Shingrix. Shingrix is the latest version which need to take 2 doses, Whereas Zostavax is older version which only need to take 1 dose. Shingrix per dose is around $400. Overall not cheap to take shingles vaccine. But it is recommended to take it if you are 50 year old and above.

wow, so ex arrh... if i ask my parents, wife and son to take, then will be quite a sum...

my daughter caught it 7 yr ago, and i got it last year. Not sure if we're now immuned to it, or still at risk of second infection... 😓

[RH1667]

On 3/6/2023 at 1:13 PM, 13177 said:

You can get shingles vaccine from GP and think polyclinic should also have, there are 2 types of shingles vaccine, Zostavax and Shingrix. Shingrix is the latest version which need to take 2 doses, Whereas Zostavax is older version which only need to take 1 dose. Shingrix per dose is around $400. Overall not cheap to take shingles vaccine. But it is recommended to take it if you are 50 year old and above.

WOW !! Mean $400 X 2 for the 2 injection ! 

Any idea how long can the " protection " last after 2nd jab ?

[Atrecord]

On 3/6/2023 at 1:19 PM, Heartlander said:

Can share your experience? Heard very painful.

Quite a few persons asked me the same thing, but actually i didn't feel it all that terribly painful - maybe cos old liao 😅

It all started off with some small rash-like growth on the left side of my neck, and more to the back (just behind my left ear, and lower down). There was some mild itch/thingling sensation, and initially i thought i was maybe bitten by insect and they could be due to allergic reaction. By 2nd day, these became a bit like rashes/pimples, and got like maybe 5-10 over an area of 3 cm by 3 cm. 

I was concerned enough to go see GP, who then said it's shingles, and i was given some gel and some anti-viral med, and advised to go home and rest, and to go back after think 3-5 days for review, and was told that the rashes will become like poxes, and i'm not supposed to break them. Just apply the gel and let them dry up on their own. 

Maybe because i went early, and took the anti-viral med and applied the gel early, and so didn't feel the bad pain. When i went back to the clinic again after 3(or 5) days, the doc gave me more MC, so i was away from work for a week+. While not v painful, it was irritating as apart from my neck, there were also some poxes appearling on my left cheek on day 3... luckily i not 靠脸吃饭 one, and there were also not really a lot of them (maybe 8-10), and everything dried up and fell off after maybe 2-3 weeks.

My girl had it just as she started sec 1, years ago. It was the first week of school, and she was complaining that her face/head had a painful sensation, and wife and i didn't know/suspect anything, and thought it was pimples/acne problem, and told her not to be too bothered by it or make a big fuss... 😓 It was until think the 3rd day of her repeated complaints (of the pain sensation), that I brought her to the GP, who promptly diagnosed it as shingles... And to think that the ignorant us actually thought it was acne and blamed her for blowing things up...

Oh, one sure indication of shingles, is that it will only attack one side of the body, and not both.

[13177]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:03 PM, Atrecord said:

wow, so ex arrh... if i ask my parents, wife and son to take, then will be quite a sum...

my daughter caught it 7 yr ago, and i got it last year. Not sure if we're now immuned to it, or still at risk of second infection... 😓

 

On 3/6/2023 at 2:09 PM, RH1667 said:

WOW !! Mean $400 X 2 for the 2 injection ! 

Any idea how long can the " protection " last after 2nd jab ?

The newer version of the shingles indeed ex. But hearsay the efficacy is much higher than the old version. Maybe thats why the price is so ex than the other shingles vaccine. I guess this is why not many people take shingles vaccine due to the high cost. Even the Zostavax also need to pay around $200 plus.

Read that the protection for Shingrix vaccine should be at least 10 years.

[Atrecord]

By the way, chickenpox and shingles are caused by the same virus. 

If first time a person is exposed to the virus, will get chickenpox. Then after recovering, the virus will lie dormant in the body. This dormant virus will supposedly be triggered to manifest as shingles, when the body immunity is low. 

If that's really the case, then it means my body was very weak last year... but in a sense was lucky cos didn't catch covid...

[Kxbc]

I've never contracted chicken pox before and as shingles is like a left over dormant chicken pox virus, I am not sure if my chances of getting shingles is lower or higher than another person.

$400 x 2 is not cheap. 

[13177]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:39 PM, Kxbc said:

I've never contracted chicken pox before and as shingles is like a left over dormant chicken pox virus, I am not sure if my chances of getting shingles is lower or higher than another person.

$400 x 2 is not cheap. 

Thought if you never get chicken pox before, you would not get shingles. Shingles is for those people who got chicken pox before.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/5-things-to-know-about-shingles

[Atrecord]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:39 PM, Kxbc said:

I've never contracted chicken pox before and as shingles is like a left over dormant chicken pox virus, I am not sure if my chances of getting shingles is lower or higher than another person.

$400 x 2 is not cheap. 

then you will not get shingles first.

i got shingles almost 40 yr after i had chickenpox.

my girl got it about 8 yr after she had chickenpox.

chickenpox also got vaccinations. For kids, it was part of those 5/6/7-in-one jab. But for chickenpox, the doctrine was changed as it wasn't as effective - according to the GP who diagnosed her shingles. My girl took the jab, but still caught chickenpox from my wife when my girl was about 3 yr old. But while wife had it real bad (MC extended twice), girl only had maybe about 10-20 poxes throughout body... so the 'dosage' was upgraded later on to make it more effective inoculation.

[Kxbc]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:50 PM, 13177 said:

Thought if you never get chicken pox before, you would not get shingles. Shingles is for those people who got chicken pox before.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/5-things-to-know-about-shingles

save money for me then.

[Atrecord]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:50 PM, 13177 said:

Thought if you never get chicken pox before, you would not get shingles. Shingles is for those people who got chicken pox before.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/5-things-to-know-about-shingles

yup. 

had i gone around and infected other people when i had shingles, the infected persons will get chickenpox instead, not shingles. 

and shingles will happen to those who had chickenpox before, and body immunity is low.

[Volvobrick]

Better to get the vaccination. My personal experience was it took multiple scans over a few days to diagnose as it happened in the lower abdomen and initially no rashes/spots (not typical, and thought it was something way more serious) and still took Zostavax in the end.... 

Edited March 6, 2023 by Volvobrick

[13177]

On 3/6/2023 at 3:48 PM, Atrecord said:

yup. 

had i gone around and infected other people when i had shingles, the infected persons will get chickenpox instead, not shingles. 

and shingles will happen to those who had chickenpox before, and body immunity is low.

Actually dont know how true if a person gets shingles is due to body immunity is low. Recently heard those i know got shingles all are below 50 year old, one of them even only early 30s. They seems to be quite healthy le. Too bad you can only go take the shingles vaccine if you are 50 year old and above. If below 50 year old, even you dont mind paying $800 for the vaccine also cannot take. 😅

So if you tio shingles when you are below 50 year old and if the condition is very painful then too bad liao. As the shingles vaccine is said to reduce severity when you tio shingles. Or maybe reduce the rate of kena shingles.

Edited March 6, 2023 by 13177

[13177]

On 3/6/2023 at 4:06 PM, Volvobrick said:

Better to get the vaccination. My personal experience was it took multiple scans over a few days to diagnose as it happened in the lower abdomen and initially no rashes/spots (not typical, and thought it was something way more serious) and still took Zostavax in the end.... 

You mean you have no symptoms when you tio shingles? So was it bad? And after you recovered, you took the shingles vaccine?

[Volvobrick]

On 3/6/2023 at 4:13 PM, 13177 said:

You mean you have no symptoms when you tio shingles? So was it bad? And after you recovered, you took the shingles vaccine?

Just throbbing pain (couldn't sleep) and bulging on one side of the abdomen then (thought that's a growth!). No spots till later.   I remember was given Zostavax to reduce the symptoms. 

[Jman888]

On 3/6/2023 at 4:08 PM, 13177 said:

Actually dont know how true if a person gets shingles is due to body immunity is low. Recently heard those i know got shingles all are below 50 year old, one of them even only early 30s. They seems to be quite healthy le. Too bad you can only go take the shingles vaccine if you are 50 year old and above. If below 50 year old, even you dont mind paying $800 for the vaccine also cannot take. 😅

So if you tio shingles when you are below 50 year old and if the condition is very painful then too bad liao. As the shingles vaccine is said to reduce severity when you tio shingles. Or maybe reduce the rate of kena shingles.

under stress also can get as you won't know your immunity went down due to stress, those who had shingles before will feel the tinkling sensation (especially those who had it on the face) whenever they are stressed.

[Kxbc]

On 3/6/2023 at 3:46 PM, Atrecord said:

then you will not get shingles first.

i got shingles almost 40 yr after i had chickenpox.

my girl got it about 8 yr after she had chickenpox.

chickenpox also got vaccinations. For kids, it was part of those 5/6/7-in-one jab. But for chickenpox, the doctrine was changed as it wasn't as effective - according to the GP who diagnosed her shingles. My girl took the jab, but still caught chickenpox from my wife when my girl was about 3 yr old. But while wife had it real bad (MC extended twice), girl only had maybe about 10-20 poxes throughout body... so the 'dosage' was upgraded later on to make it more effective inoculation.

I had the chicken pox vaccination when I was mid 30s. Efficacy of that vaccination has prob worn off. 

But my Hep A/B vaccination still super on the ball after 15 over years. My blood test always show I am still protected.

[Kxbc]

On 3/6/2023 at 4:08 PM, 13177 said:

Actually dont know how true if a person gets shingles is due to body immunity is low. Recently heard those i know got shingles all are below 50 year old, one of them even only early 30s. They seems to be quite healthy le. Too bad you can only go take the shingles vaccine if you are 50 year old and above. If below 50 year old, even you dont mind paying $800 for the vaccine also cannot take. 😅

So if you tio shingles when you are below 50 year old and if the condition is very painful then too bad liao. As the shingles vaccine is said to reduce severity when you tio shingles. Or maybe reduce the rate of kena shingles.

the generations before us are probably hardier and we are prob hardier than the next generation. This is prob due to a more sedentary lifestyle leading to many chronic lifestyle illnesses even amongst the younger ones. 

[Lala81]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:39 PM, Kxbc said:

I've never contracted chicken pox before and as shingles is like a left over dormant chicken pox virus, I am not sure if my chances of getting shingles is lower or higher than another person.

$400 x 2 is not cheap. 

i think i answered u in another thread before.

The long story short is that if u had cpox vaccine before, you can get shingles but less likely. If u have never had cpox before, u will get chickenpox first.