New shingles vaccine "Shingrix" IS working!!
Posted , 13 users are following.
Hello friends. Please let me first say THANK YOU again for every ounce of support I have received from this forum, from ALL of you. I was truly blessed to find you. God bless you all.
Wanted to share with everyone my recent development. On April 2nd 2018, i took the newly approved shingles vaccine called "Shingrix". It is new, so ask for it specifically by name. It took almost a full two months to see ANY improvement but after 8 YEARS of suffering with reoccurring shingles, this vaccine appears to be working!
My case is ongoing but truthfully, until 3 days ago, i could not have said with any confidence that it truly works. But the improvement i've had these past 3 days, i can NOW say, it DOES work.
For those of you not familiar with it, Shingrix is a two-dose vaccine you take 2-6 months apart. The creators of this new vaccine claim it has a 97% success rate and that's very high for any non-live vaccine.
The CDC recommendation is for age 50 and older but remember this is a recommendation and most pharmacies and clinics WILL adhere to it but call around to the privately owned pharmacies. If your doctor writes you the prescription, many privately owned pharmacies WILL give the shot to you.
Like I said, i took my first dose April 2nd and scheduled to take my next dose this coming Saturday, on June 2nd.
I've had shingles well over 100 times. My husband and i stopped counting around 140. I was still getting reoccurring shingles, even though i was taking 3000 mg Acyclovir EVERY DAY for a full 5 years and most recently adding an additional 1500 mg Famciclovir. I still got the shingles but the daily antivirals offered me some protection against the nerve damage, PHN.
For the first time in years, i am actually hopeful that this new vaccine will allow me to come off ALL antivirals AND pain meds. Because my shingles is mostly on my face and eye, hospitalization and/or sedation was required just to relieve the pain. When i wasn't sedated, pain meds have been my daily norm.
As i mentioned, it took nearly the full two months to see any improvement but now i've seen great improvement and have had NO pain and NO pain medication in 3 days. Today will be my 4th day and i am STILL in NO pain.
I brushed my hair and put it in a ponytail yesterday. I talked on the phone, without a speaker for the first time in over two years. i've left my home 6 different times in the past 2 days and i've had NO pain medication and NO pain anywhere.
Keep in mind, this new vaccine "Shingrix" was just approved and released by CDC this past January 2018, so ask for it by name. Most doctors and pharmacies have little information on it. They all know about it but it is THAT new. The CDC has posted their research, testing and results online, for public view.
I will keep you posted. God bless us ALL.
~Rhonda
6 likes, 42 replies
andrea43257 r._f._09034
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r._f._09034 andrea43257
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That's great, friend. Sorry for my delay. I've been down for a while. Hope the vaccine is performing well for you. Did it work??
Hector78249 r._f._09034
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I got ophthalmic shingles, supposedly the worst type, in July 2013, resulting in PHN. Initially, it was painful and itching after the blisters subsided. I too went through gabapentine, pain medications. After one year, I felt better and it felt my PHN was subsiding., but then I took the older vaccine and it did not help. It seems the PHN continued, but not as severe as before. I continued using this time valacyclovir. Thank GOD my PHN today is almost nothing with little or no pain, but with mild itching late at night or early morning, I use a cold wet towel to gently rub the itching. I also take a 25mg amitriptline pill at night. I never got blisters again after July 2013. I took my first dose of the new vaccine Shingrix on June 5, 2018, primarily to prevent any blisters (and severe PHN) returning , with my second dose scheduled in three months. Perhaps the new vaccine Sningrix will also help in helping my mild case of PHN subside even more since I read a news article the new vaccine may help repair nerve damage, which is the root cause of PHN. Best wishes to all with shingles PHN.🙂
r._f._09034 Hector78249
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Hi Hector. Yes, if you have ophthalmic shingles, you DO unfortunately have what's considered the worst...and for justified reasons. Not that any shingles is the good kind and most ALL cases are painful but having shingles in your eye brings a different kind of pain and the longer you have it, the worse it will typically get as the years pass. Your eyesight is jeopardized and way too close to the brain. I reached the point to where all the doctors could do was admit me and sedate me for 3-5 days straight, to stop the screaming. Eventually, after countless hospital stays, i was able to be sedated in our home. You know the pain that i speak of and i am so truly sorry, more than mere words can say. When i was conscious, on most normal days, it was 4 or 8 mg Dilaudid, 35 mg Amitriptyline, 0.5 mg Clonazapam twice daily, 3000 mg Acyclovir and also added 1500 mg Famcyclovir only few months ago. All of this, i took most every day. But that is NOT the life i am leading now though. After 8 very long years and well over 140 outbreaks (we stopped counting), i have my life back.
Good to hear you did get the Shingrix vaccine. Don't lose faith friend, if you dont see immediate results. I was literally 5 days from a full 2 months, before i saw ANY improvement at all. Then it turned and it turned fast! This new Shingrix vaccine DOES work and i am living proof. It is not even in the same league as the old vaccine. Not even close. Also, keep in mind that you do NOT have to wait a full three months between vaccine doses. You can go for your second dose after only two months and i would encourage you to do so. Get it in your system ASAP. I'm not a doctor or nurse and can only offer my own experience but i would suggest talking to your doctor about your Acyclovir dosage and possibly adding Famcyclovir as well. I took the advice of "Merry", someone here on this forum that is a nurse, to try the Famcyclovir. I saw a difference in just a week, after adding it to my daily Acyclovir and this was before the vaccine began working.
I am still taking every day, the same antiviral 3000 mg Acyclovir, 1500 mg Famcyclovir and 0.5 mg Clonazapam for minoclonic seizures caused by the recurrent shingles but i am taking nothing else. I am not getting the shingles now and i am having NO pain now from the PHN. I am pain free, even after being told years ago that my 5th cranial nerve was permanently damaged by the shingles. There was discussion with my doctor to possibly admit me into the hospital for few days, as a precaution, to handle any withdrawal symptoms my body might experience, coming off the pain medications but at the end of it all, i had no problems because i was stepping down on the meds after taking the vaccine after each time. If you've read my previous posts, then you know that i had to take both doses of this vaccine with active shingles outbreak both times. Please know that i am NOT encouraging anyone to do what i did because it's rough. I had no choice myself but under my previous circumstances, i dont regret it. But it is strongly advised that you be shingle free when you take the vaccine and this is VERY wise advise. The docs will be slowly lowering my antiviral dose over time and the recommended time to continue your daily antivirals, after taking the vaccine, is a minimum 3 months. Not sure if i will be able to come off the Clonazapam but docs are seeing even that as a possibility for me. The last thing i took for pain was 3 Ibuprofen two days ago, after being too zealous jumping off into the deep end of our pool. I've gone from no life to a full one.
Truthfully, i did not think this vaccine or any vaccine would work for me. I gave up that hope 4 years ago. But when i read about the 97% success rate, i didn't hesitate. I am praying every night of my life for EVERY ONE on this forum to have the same success as i have had. My sincere prayer will be for you too that this vaccine works as well for you as it has for me. I am truly blessed but i have not forgotten where i came from and not that long ago. It's 97% success rate. Keep that in mind...that's HUGE! : ) Please let us know how you are doing. Take care, friend.
Hector78249 r._f._09034
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r._f._09034 Hector78249
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Hi friend. Happy to hear that. I hope your good fortune continues and your mild case goes from mild to non-existent. You are correct that others, not so fortunate, have shingles for weeks, months and years. It is such a debilitating illness, for so little information to be out there in the general public. Many still see this as an illness primarily affecting the elderly and the CDC continuing to post in their reports online that it is uncommon for shingles to strike an individual twice and their recommendation for the vaccine being ages 50 and older is not exactly encouraging the masses to take prompt prevention. I even read in one report that there was a problem with hesitation among many in the elderly age group, to return for that second dose of the vaccine. Sadly, there's not enough information out there and what is out there available to the public is outdated and it's leading to a real lack of urgency.
I am sincerely glad to hear that your case has not worsened. Yes, you are indeed fortunate for the kind of shingles you have. Most are not so lucky.
I recall i went about a year when the itching was near intolerable, located on my lower hip and leg and mainly at night. The nights were long. But as you know when it changes to your eye, all else changes with it and i went from itching to just pain. However, during the times that i would have an active rash, the amitriptyline did not help me with the itching but i did find that topical lidocaine was the best thing for me, when applied after wet compresses. Only not cold compresses for me but hot instead. It was of course brutal for about the first 10 seconds but afterward the lidocaine gave instant relief. When the shingles moved to my eye, it was hot compresses then too, over my face and eye area, not cold, that gave me the most relief. Most i've conversed with say that cold is their best relief. For the PHN in my lower legs, the vibration of a massager laying at the foot of my bed gave a great deal of relief on many nights. We are all different though, i suppose.
Again, i hope you continue to have good fortune and shingles will be for us ALL, a thing of the past, with this new vaccine. Take care
gerald03818 r._f._09034
Posted
I am a family doctor who started experiencing right sided tongue fasciculations about 1.5 yrs ago. I was worked up for malignancy and lots of other things to include scanning from head to toe along with blood work and trips to sub specialists in renowned academic settings. About 1 year after these toungue issues started occurring, I awoke one morning to a few blisters on my right cheek. I then knew what it was. Shingles can occur without a rash “sine herpete” . The rash appeared on my 50th birthday of all things. Since, then , it has been six months of relentless facial paresthesias, toungue and facial twitching and pain. I too have had to stay on antiviral for at least 6 mos now. I decided to get Shingrix despite it likely being in an active phase, although it has been somewhat suppressed by Famvir. I do not recommend that anyone do this, but I felt like I had to try. I am 3 days status post getting vaccinated with the first dose and it caused some severe myalgia at first, but It is much better now. I will keep you all informed on how it goes. No changes for the better yet, but I am just 3 days in. I will pray for you all here. This is an awful disease.
r._f._09034 gerald03818
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Hi Gerald. So sorry for my delay responding to you. I have been down for a long while. My own side effects were anything but mild. Like you, i agree and also advise people to NOT get the vaccine while having an active outbreak but i still don't regret it either because like you said, i had to try. The vaccine did give some relief, lessening my shingles pain during an outbreak, less pain from PHN too and the frequency of outbreaks are not coming on as often as they were before the vaccine. So, that's good at least. How are you after the Shingles vaccine?? Did it work?
gerald03818 r._f._09034
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Hi,
I am so glad it did give you some relief. I have not seen much benefit so far, unfortunately, since shingrix. I am still hopeful. I am still on the combo of famvir and acyclovir. I may try to get off of acyclovir in a few mos. we will see.
Guest r._f._09034
Posted
Hello RHONDA
I dont know if you remember me, I clearly do remember you. I would like to know how you are doing? Did the shingrex worked for you after the second dose? I have a dear friend Ruth who has gotten Two sets which would be 4 shingrex vaccine and still gets bouts of shingles!! Will be getting the old zovirax vaccine to see because that would be the live virus in that vaccine! She suffers greatly and I remember you were also suffering like many here with this terrible disease! I have endured for a year and four months now! The nerve pain is terrible and it doesnt go away! Heard that when shingles is on the scalp it can take many years!!
Regards,
MYRNA