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Shingles and the free vaccine

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MarianNicholson Tue 12-Oct-21 18:32:46

My gran had bad shingles, she was mildly demented and would howl with pain. So when I developed it in my early 60s I was prepared for the worst. I was actually lucky in that it was never more than an extreme nuisance. But years later, I still have about 10% of that pain still going on. But if it has been worse, I could have had gran's "howling level" of pain! This is why I encourage everyone in their 70s to get vaccinated against shingles. If your GP doesn't offer it, you ask for it!!! Zostavax is free to everyone in their 70s and although not perfect it will reduce your risk of long term pain by about 80%! Safe even if you are not sure if you've had chickenpox. (Shingles is the name for a repeat appearance of your chickenpox virus which can be many years later.)

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Witzend Fri 15-Oct-21 09:36:52

There’s some anti-viral you can take - I was given it - but IIRC it needs to be started fairly early on.

My shingles started one good Friday, with aches in the kidney area, so until I managed to see the GP on the following Tuesday, I thought I had some dire kidney disease.
But by then the rash had come out - I hadn’t even noticed it - so she diagnosed it straightaway. And I think the medication must have worked to some extent, since it was a relatively mild case.

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MayBee70 Fri 15-Oct-21 10:33:41

Yes. I’ve been thinking about that. If you take aciclovir *straight away it lessens the symptoms of shingles, but it must be within 48 hours. So, if I do have the vaccine I’ll be going straight to the doctor if I get any symptoms.
*I had to laugh. When I typed aciclovir the computer changed it to ‘if you take a lover’. I mean, where did that come from? And how would you find one within 48 hours!

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M0nica Fri 15-Oct-21 21:19:20

Franbern it is not that it is not necessary after the age of 80, more that is less effective after that age, so it is not given because it is not effective enough.

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