^ That’s going to be my DH, he refuses to get the vaccine. I suppose one of these days he’ll be sorry for that decision, but he is a mule head!
Both I and DD had the flu shot, and both of us have very sore arm and cough and mild cold. Could just be a coinky-dink, but it seems related. I really need to get the Shingrix shot.
H was refusing to get the flu shot but then he went to his cardiologist and, YAY, the doctor talked him into it. I got mine the next day and had a sore arm for a bit. S17 got the flu shot at school. D was not going to get it, but she is going to Australia in December and after the news about the severity of the flu season Down Under, she and her bf decided to get the shot after all. They got it the other day. Oldest son is getting it this weekend and the middle boys are going tomorrow. Now, the only thing I still have to do is get a visiting nurse in to give MIL her flu shot. I don’t even know how to deal with Shingrix for her, she’s 95 and bedridden.
Can’t visiting nurse give both flu shot & shingrix? She can get next dose in 2-6 months by another visiting nurse.
Found Shingrix recombinant zoster vaccine. Seems to be available at some pharmacies (in my area Walmart) but not others (Costco, CVS).
Arm soreness was much greater than with other vaccines (influenza, MMR, Tdap), although only noticeable if I touched it, raised it above my head, or lay down on it. If you sleep on your side and prefer one side, you may want to choose the arm that is on top rather than the bottom.
Just got the flu shot this week. My primary doc says to wait 4-6 weeks before getting Shingrix so of course I asked my friend who is a pharmacist. She said the same thing. I assume so the side effects aren’t bad?
I got Shringrix two weeks after flu shot and no one said that was a problem.
They offered to give me a flu shot at the same time I got Shingrix! I declined and got the flu shot a few weeks later.
H got flu and shingles shots the same time about a month ago. He had cardiac arrest, kidney and heart failure a year ago…and has chronic autoimmune issues. Pharmacist is aware of all that and didn’t say anything. He has never had bad reactions to vaccines. He was fine. Glad he told me after the fact.
Not me! I do not ever react well to vaccines. I keep waiting for a time when I have several days I can potentially be “down”.
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/hcp/shingrix/faqs.html says:
The link in the last sentence is https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/timing.html .
Note that many typical vaccines themselves are combination vaccines for multiple diseases (influenza (3 or 4 strains), MMR and MMRV, Td and Tdap, pneumonia vaccines (13 or 23 strains), meningitis ACWY (4 strains), HPV (4 or 9 strains)), so giving vaccines for multiple diseases at the same time is not automatically contraindicated.
Shingrix is also known as recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV). The older Zostavax is also known as zoster vaccine live (ZVL).
The CDC vaccine information statements for these vaccines use the more generic terms (RZV and ZVL) instead of the brand names (Shingrix and Zostavax). Be sure to get the correct vaccine information statement and vaccine.
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/shingles-recombinant.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/shingles.pdf
Got my flu shot and the second shingles shot yesterday. Just walked into our grocery store and both were available with no line. Started ibuprofen right away and took it again on schedule last night and this morning. Very few side effects , just a little sore on my arm where the shinges shot was given.
I also got my flu shot and second shingles shot earlier this afternoon. So far, feel fine. The second shingles shot was definitely less painful for me (both the injection and the muscle in my arm) than the first shot was. And I was so nervous about it after reading this thread.
I got my first dose yesterday. I’ve been checking with my local CVS and they haven’t had it. Yesterday I was visiting a friend who told me she got her 2nd shot that morning at another CVS. She said she had called 10 different pharmacies till she found one that had it. Strangely it’s also a CVS and they said they had 25 doses.
I recalled this thread and had some Advil in my car so took two after the shot. My arm hurt immediately. I can’t lay on that side. Still hurts this morning but so far no flu like symptoms. I can handle a sore arm. I can’t decide if I’ll skip my strength training class.
Adding- it was free. No Medicare yet and plan is a Blue Shield PPO.
It’s interesting to me that the intensity of the arm pain seems to vary as much as it does (i.e. some of us couldn’t sleep on the side/arm of the injection and others just have some sensitivity at the injection site. I wonder if it’s the way/location of the shot or ?.
Perhaps the intensity of the effects has to do with how strongly your immune system reacts to what it sees as an infection. Note that these effects are more common in younger people.
I got my first Shingrix shot 2 days ago at the Safeway pharmacy. I had seen their advertisements that they had it in stock (and I’m 50) so I figured I’d jump on it while it was available. I hadn’t been paying attention to this thread or anything else about side effects but posted about it on my FB and a couple of people mentioned that their 2nd dose gave them either a very sore arm or flu-like symptoms so I’m not looking forward to that. My arm is still a little sore to the touch and maybe I’m a bit more tired than normal although that could be chalked up to other things as well. Just happy to be able to prevent getting shingles.
I went to Walgreens 2 days ago for a flu shot and asked about the shingles vaccine. Lucky me, they had 2 doses in stock! Took them both in the same arm to keep my drilling arm free from soreness. Had a bad headache the next day, plus pretty sore arm, but today only sore if I touch it and no other symptoms.
Pharmacist said they get them randomly, but fairly regularly, and to call before showing up for dose 2. The wait lists are gone and it’s now first come, first served.
I have had both shingrix doses and only experienced a slightly sore arm. DH, on the other hand, had flu-like symptoms to the point of vomiting from dose one, then flu-like symptoms with dose 2.
We both got our shingles vaccine at the small local pharmacy that we always use. From the feedback they have received from patients, DH had the most severe side effects that they have heard about from their patients. Lucky him! The pharmacist told me that they are seeing younger patients have the most reactions to the vaccine, and men worse than women.
AND THEN, 4 months later, DH got shingles! Fortunately, shingles has caused him less discomfort than the vaccine.
@“cincy gal” My wife came down with shingles about 4 months after completing both doses of shingrix as well! Her symptoms were fairly mild.