<p>My records show I got the smallpox vaccine when I was 2 1/2, in 1965. My mother had all our summary sheets from every doctor visit for all six of us in a book together. We each took our own set when she died.</p>
<p>I was re-vaccinated at age 6. Were two doses the norm?</p>
<p>I seem to remember two, both given at school in the mid-60s.</p>
<p>I traveled out of the country for the first time when I was about 10 months old. My mother says that who ever administered the small pox vaccine forgot to make note (in passport I think). Anyway, they made her strip me down and show them the scar at the transfer airport in Montreal. I can’t find a scar any longer. This was 1960. I do remember the polio sugar cube.</p>
<p>I was one of those adults who got chicken pox. I was 32 and was exposed at the same time as my youngest D. I had never been that sick before and have never been that sick since. The day before I got the first blister I felt very strange with this weird sensation running up and down my spine. I remember calling my H at work and telling him that something was wrong with me. The next day I had a high fever and one huge blister on my back. This quickly progressed to full body coverage of oozing blisters, fever, headache, body aches. I had pox in my mouth, on my scalp and well…everywhere. I was in bed for two weeks and still recovering a month later.
The risk of meningitis and pneumonia is real. I remember that my breathing got very rough and rattly. When I called the doctor, they didn’t want me to come in for fear of spreading it but when I think back on it, I think I should have been in the hospital.</p>
<p>Ironically, they came out with the vaccine a month or two later. I’m hoping that having an epic case of chicken pox as an adult will keep me from getting shingles later.</p>
<p>^ If anything it means you can have shingles now, not the other way around.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Hmm…actually, I think that you are really at true risk of getting shingles.</p>
<p>You might seriously consider getting the shingles vaccine. When I had the prodromal symptoms, it was HORRIBLE. I thought maybe I had pancreatic or liver cancer or something. It was excruciating pain, but not on the skin. It felt like organ pain. I was completely freaked out, thinking maybe I had some kind of horrible cancer pain. It was actually a relief a few days later when the rash broke out, because then I realized it was <em>only</em> shingles.</p>
<p>Anyone who had cpox (wild type) can have shingles. Age, history of autoimmune disease and whether you take immune-suppressing drugs is more telling than how serious the original cpox disease was, afaik.</p>
<p>Can you get shingles more than once? If so, I suppose it would be beneficial to get the shingles vaccine if you’ve already had shingles.</p>
<p>"You might seriously consider getting the shingles vaccine’</p>
<p>Yes!!! I think it’s age 60 where you get it done. My dad had shingles, and it caused him so much pain for YEARS. Just get the vaccine!</p>
<p>I also had chicken pox as an adult, EPTR’s description was very reminiscent of my expience though I don’t remember all that much as I was prescribed 10mg Valium twice a day and slept for about 2 weeks. A friend also had CP as an adult and subsequently had an unpleasant reaction to the shingles vaccine - high fever and unwell for a few days - and we wondered if this was to do with having CP as an adult. I have been reluctant to get the shingles vaccination because of this. You can get shingles more than once, so having it apparently doesn’t provide immunity - do you have to have repeated shingles vaccinations does anyone know?</p>
<p>^I need to find out more about this as I am experiencing ongoing pain and intense itching from shingles five weeks later. It looks as though I have a not-too severe case of the chronic version (post-herpetic neuralgia). post-herpetic itch is apparently rarer, but I am experiencing both. Yuck and yuck. Keep hoping it will tail off and be gone.</p>
<p>I will ask my doctor about it. But why would an severe adult case of CP put me at higher risk for shingles than anyone else?</p>
<p>Onetogo2,
I remember that I felt so, so sick that I took way to much tylenol. At the time I knew that I shouldn’t take so much and should wait longer between doses but I wasn’t thinking strait. Wish someone had offered me valium! </p>
<p>Has anyone here had issues with Fifths Disease? It is a virus in the group of rubella, mumps, CP etc. When I was pregnant with my first child, the school I taught in had an outbreak. While it is a very mild virus for most people, it can be very dangerous for pregnant women. My blood was tested and I had no immunities so I ended up having to take the last three months of the school year off. I also became part of a public health study that followed pregnant women who had been exposed to Fifths disease. I remember that when my D was born, I provided follow up info about her health, APGAR score, etc.
The results of that study, I believe, showed that Fifths was implicated in miscarriage but not in still born babies as they had feared.</p>
<p>I have often wondered why they haven’t developed a vaccine for it like they have for the others. Maybe because it is such a mild disease. Not a minor problem for pregnant women, though.</p>
<p>My husband’s pain with shingles was so bad that he was afraid he was having a heart attack!. Really horrible, and he was only 41 at the time and healthy, otherwise. I’m getting the vaccine the SECOND I turn 60.</p>
<p>As I mentioned upthread, my doctor recommended I get the shingles vaccine earlier, and I was 54 when I got it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I had itching and occasional stinging sensations for months and months. Even 2 years later it happens every once in a while.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>EPTR, I don’t know if you saw this response from jaylynn, but she is a doctor and would know better than I.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I was still in my 40’s when I got shingles. I had recently had neck surgery, so maybe my system was stressed by that.</p>
<p>As to whether or not a person can get shingles twice, I asked my doctor about it. He said it happens to roughly 5% of people.</p>
<p>An interesting note I saw on a medical blog discussing a study that was done to follow shingles sufferers to see if they would ever have a second episode:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^^^^I’m not liking that. :(</p>
<p>You don’t have to wait until you are 60 for the shingles vaccine. You just probably have to pay for it if you have it before then – most insurance companies start covering at age 60 because that is when the CDC recommends it. The vaccine is approved for use in people age 50 and older. It is a one time vaccination (no booster required), and there is no maximum age.</p>
<p>Per the CDC, 1 in 3 Americans gets shingles in their lifetime. That is a really high number! The vaccine reduces the risk of getting shingles by 50%, and you typically have a milder course if you do get them. </p>
<p>Here is what the CDC says about having the vaccine after having shingles:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>One of my kids got Fifth’s disease - he wasn’t very sick, just had a weird rash.</p>
<p>I’m another one of the I didn’t get chickenpox till I was an adult. I was sick for two weeks and then gave it to mathson who was also sick for two weeks. I missed a whole month of work. I do blame my boss who said “Oh I wouldn’t get chickenpox if I went into a house where the kids had chickenpox.” I was never in the same room with them, but I got sick exactly the incubation time later. I have a friend who got shingles on her cornea. She’s urging me to get the vaccine. I’m inclined to just pay for it after hearing about her experience.</p>
<p>I also have a friend who got shingles on her cornea. She was out of commission for months. It completely took over her life and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I will be getting the vaccine.</p>