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The Shingles Vaccine debate and Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Posted , 15 users are following.

EileenH
EileenH

I had totally forgotten that I found this bit of info well over a year ago when the usual question about the shingles vaccine was asked and wrote a post about it:

"I can't give you the direct link but on a site called "virginiahopkinstestkits" There is a quote from Merck ( the makers of Zostavax):

"According to Merck, the maker of Zostavax, “Serious vaccine-related adverse reactions that have occurred following vaccination with Zostavax include asthma exacerbation and polymyalgia rheumatica [An inflammatory disorder that causes widespread muscle aching and stiffness, primarily in your neck, shoulders, upper arms, thighs and hips, that can last months or even years.] Other serious adverse events reported following vaccination with Zostavax include cardiovascular events (congestive heart failure, pulmonary edema).”

The Zostavax vaccine can also cause shingles.

Notice the CDC says that the vaccine is effective for about half the population age 60 to 69, but only provides “some protection” for older groups. As we get older, it’s more difficult for our immune systems to mount an antibody response in response to a vaccine. That’s why the flu shot isn’t very effective for senior citizens."

You can get a link there for Merck's prescribing info. Google a chunk of the quote and you should get a direct link so you can use it.

If the manufacturers are admitting this it should be taken seriously."

This is the direct link to merckvaccines where you can read it yourself - straight from the horse's mouth:

https://www.merckvaccines.com/Products/ZostavaxMobile/Pages/indications

If the manufacturers say their shingles vaccine can trigger polymyalgia rheumatica, then I think it is fair to say that if we already have PMR - it's not something we need to risk.

1 like, 63 replies

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  • cheryl74384
    cheryl74384 EileenH

    Posted

    yes, i was not planning on getting that vaccine while being diagnosed with pmr, and on pred, don,t trust what could happen if immune system already compromised
  • koen1
    koen1 EileenH

    Posted

    Very interesting. I got my Zostavax shot in July 2015, about the same time that I may have felt the first symptoms of PMR. My diagnosis was in July 2016, but I knew that I gradually had been getting stiffer in my shoulders and hips for a long time by then. Coincidence?
    • EileenH
      EileenH koen1

      Posted

      Perhaps not - and perhaps something to report. In the UK it is the yellow card system and in the USA it is an FDA report that are used to report adverse events. These are the means by which the authorities assess the REAL rates of any side effects - the ones that appear when a medication is finally in general use amongst large numbers of people instead of the samll numbers in a clinical trial.
    • glenys63516
      glenys63516 koen1

      Posted

      I had my shingles vaccination in 2013 when I was 70 and was diagnosed with PMR in 2015 but on retrospect I had symptoms well before. I thought the stiffness in the morning was due to needing a new mattress on the bed!!!. I now think that there could well be a connection with the vaccination and I wish I had never had it. My husband who was a doctor encouraged me to have it so I didn't research it anymore. By the way I'm not blaming him. Shingles is a horrid thing to have but not as bad as PMR.

       

  • Guest
    Guest EileenH

    Posted

    Hello again. That vaccine should not be given to anyone on steroids and the nurse would check that first too. It's a good plan to avoid anyone with shingles, herpes or chicken pox too ! 

    • EileenH
      EileenH Guest

      Posted

      The official line - and you can look it up if you wish - is that under 20mg it is OK. I offer both views - I wouldn't have it!

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga Guest

      Posted

      I think it's a good plan for any aged person to avoid people with those conditions!

    • EileenH
      EileenH Anhaga

      Posted

      Probably a good idea for anyone to avoid anyone - if you see what I mean!

      Shingles isn't really too much of a problem though - I wouldn't panic about it. And you can't really know if you are sitting next to someone hatching CP, it is most infectious in the 24 hours before the spots appear. No-one can know. 

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga EileenH

      Posted

      You can catch chicken pox from someone with shingles though, can't you?

    • EileenH
      EileenH Anhaga

      Posted

      Theoretically yes. However, only if they have shingles with a rash and the rash is uncovered - you would have to have contact with the fluid in the blisters. There are no documented cases I believe - i have looked it up in the past..
  • koen1
    koen1 EileenH

    Posted

    Dear Eileen, what is interesting is that from the beginning of the diagnosis in July this year I have had some skin defects around both of my eyes, that the rheumatologist had never seen before. They are still there and remain unchanged. I got a couple more below my left eye, but most of them are on the temple next to my right eye, where I had most of the trouble: scintillating scotoma and also complete blacking out a couple of weeks later.

    In hind sight they look very much like small dry chicken pox. Has anyone else seen this?

    • EileenH
      EileenH koen1

      Posted

      Are you sure they aren't keratoses? Though there is no reason I suppose why it shouldn't be shingles - if you had chicken pox as a child. Though usually it is pretty painful - it is the virus waking from being dormant in nerve endings. The eye area can be affected - and the virus has been identified as being present in the temporal artery. But a shingles rash usually scabs over and heals just like CP.

    • koen1
      koen1 EileenH

      Posted

      They don't look like keratosis. It actually looks like little pox, but not painful, no scabs, not a rash. Little flattish volcano like circular seemingly fluid filled rings. They have been there at least from the diagnosis of PMR in July. Non of the doctors, nurses etc had ever seen anything like this in relation to PMR.

      There are 8 of them on my right temple right, only 1 under my left eye. They don't seem to be getting better or worse...

    • EileenH
      EileenH koen1

      Posted

      How strange - not something I've come across anyone saying associated with PMR. 

    • koen1
      koen1 EileenH

      Posted

      My rheumatologist, his nurses and my GP also never saw these bumps before and seem to have no interest in them at all, even though I have pointed them out many times since they appeared at the time of diagnosis. And I am not easily convinced of coincidence. The following is actually in Wikipedia under Giant-cell arteritis:

      Associated conditions[edit]

      The Varicella-zoster virus antigen was found in 74% of temporal artery biopsies that were GCA-positive, suggesting that the VZV infection may trigger the inflammatory cascade.[11]

      The disorder may coexist (in a half of cases)[8] with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), which is characterized by sudden onset of pain and stiffness in muscles (pelvis, shoulder) of the body and is seen in the elderly. GCA and PMR are so closely linked that they are often considered to be different manifestations of the same disease process. Other diseases associated with temporal arteritis are systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and severe infections.[citation needed]

      Giant-cell arteritis can involve branches of the aorta as well, leading to an aortic aneurysm or dissection. For this reason, patients should be followed with serial chest X-rays.[citation needed]

      Interesting isn't it? 

    • EileenH
      EileenH koen1

      Posted

      Yes - that was what I meant when I said the virus has been identified in the temporal artery.

      The study it is from goes a bit far in claiming it suggests the virus may trigger the inflammatory cascade - correlation is not causation! Most of us had CP as children and the virus then remains dormant in the body - I doubt there are many patients who had CP or even shingles shortly before GCA developed. But I have no doubt it is part of the possible jigsaw. It is now being thought there are different versions of PMR - maybe there are different versions of GCA as well.

      No chance of a contact with a dermatologist? 

    • koen1
      koen1 EileenH

      Posted

      I will be seeing my GP for a yearly physical next month. Maybe he can take a sample from the chickenpox-like things and have it examined for the virus, or the antigen.
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