Shingles vaccine and timing

[mom2rtk]

My dad never reacts to vaccines. But he reacted pretty strongly to both shingles shots. Fever, extreme fatigue, chills, overall flulike symptoms. If he HAD to be somewhere, he could have done it, but he wouldn't have been much good for anything. He also reacted to the three-shot combination he got recently: RSV, high-dose flu, and Covid booster. We're guessing it was the RSV, since he got the other two together just fine last year.

My general rule of thumb for any vaccine I haven't had before: Do it right before the weekend. If you don't react, great! But if you do, you have time to recover.

My husband and a friend have both reacted to this year's flu shot. Could have been any of the ones in there he was reacting to.

 

[holden]

Other than a little arm pain I've never had a reaction to any vaccination. I have had the shingles shots.

 

[Cygnus 2112]

As a clinical pharmacist, I tell patients they should understand that since vaccines trigger immune responses a reaction to any shot is possible. Typically the 1st dose of Shingrix causes mild reactions if any; the 2nd one, however, is known to have patients develop flu-like symptoms. As such I tell patients to be mindful of this when scheduling their vaccines. You don't want to take a chance that you get a reaction that could interfere with an important event.

 

[disneydreamer781]

Every vaccine I've gotten in the last 2-3 years (Covid, Shingles, Pneumococcal) other than Flu has knocked me on my butt for 2 days and takes maybe 3 days to fully recover. I keep being told that this is a good response but it doesn't feel like it at the time. I just got my annual COVID booster on Saturday and I knew Saturday night when the chills started that I was in for it on Sunday. Sunday I was flat on my back all day with flu symptoms and couldn't get up for any length of time until later yesterday. Still not 100%.

 

[Christine]

I've been putting of the Shingles vaccine for this very reason but it's on my to-do list. I just had my flu vaccine on Friday and felt pretty awful most of the day Saturday. For sure, I had a fever. Flushed face, felt warm, thirsty all day, every joint in my body felt arthritic. For some reason I get almost zero reaction on the COVID vaccine.

 

[auntfrannie]

My sister and her husband both felt crappy after the shots. I didn't suffer any side effects from mine. My arm wasn't even sore; although the nurse told me to rub my arm after she gave the shot because that sometimes help to dissipate the pain afterwards. Good luck!

 

[lifesavacation]

I don’t want to discourage anyone from the vaccine, but did want to update with my experience. I got Shingrix yesterday at 11:00. It’s been about 24 hours. This is the strongest reaction to a vaccine I’ve ever had. Was up all night with chills, fever, and body aches. It’s calmed down some this afternoon. Still have really intense body aches that aren’t knocked away with Tylenol. I definitely would not have been able to work through this and did cancel the social plans I had for this evening. Scheduling over the weekend was good advice.

 

[dazedx3]

lifesavacation…..Sorry to hear you are feeling poorly. I had my flu shot and the second Shingles on Wed. and luckily nothing more than a sore arm. I had a fairly mild case of Shingles a few years ago and never want that again.

 

[lifesavacation]

lifesavacation…..Sorry to hear you are feeling poorly. I had my flu shot and the second Shingles on Wed. and luckily nothing more than a sore arm. I had a fairly mild case of Shingles a few years ago and never want that again.

I didn’t have any side effects with my flu shot this year. I was hoping I’d skate through with minimal symptoms on this one.

 

[focusondisney]

I don’t want to discourage anyone from the vaccine, but did want to update with my experience. I got Shingrix yesterday at 11:00. It’s been about 24 hours. This is the strongest reaction to a vaccine I’ve ever had. Was up all night with chills, fever, and body aches. It’s calmed down some this afternoon. Still have really intense body aches that aren’t knocked away with Tylenol. I definitely would not have been able to work through this and did cancel the social plans I had for this evening. Scheduling over the weekend was good advice.

Sorry you had such a rough time. I think I jinxed myself when I posted I didn’t have any problem with the shingles vaccine. I’m lucky I guess & usually the only reaction I get to any vaccine is a sore arm, which is totally normal. After last years Covid booster, I did have lymph node swelling in my underarm area & it was uncomfortable for several days. About a month ago, after my husband & I got our flu & pneumonia vaccines, I had just the sore arms. Monday we got our Covid & RSV vaccines. My arms were both pretty sore after, despite moving & rubbing them quite a bit. 12 hours later, I had chills, muscle aches & my joints hurt so bad I could barely make it upstairs to bed. The next morning the chills were gone, the muscle aches & joint pain were improving but I was nauseated. It all got better as the day went on & by the next day I was fine. My husband barely had a sore arm. This is the worst reaction I’ve ever had to a vaccine. I did have Covid in early July & I had RSV in October last year. Not sure if that’s why I reacted so strongly. But I’m gonna try to not jinx myself about vaccines again. Hope you’re almost back to normal by now @lifesavacation

 

[lifesavacation]

Sorry you had such a rough time. I think I jinxed myself when I posted I didn’t have any problem with the shingles vaccine. I’m lucky I guess & usually the only reaction I get to any vaccine is a sore arm, which is totally normal. After last years Covid booster, I did have lymph node swelling in my underarm area & it was uncomfortable for several days. About a month ago, after my husband & I got our flu & pneumonia vaccines, I had just the sore arms. Monday we got our Covid & RSV vaccines. My arms were both pretty sore after, despite moving & rubbing them quite a bit. 12 hours later, I had chills, muscle aches & my joints hurt so bad I could barely make it upstairs to bed. The next morning the chills were gone, the muscle aches & joint pain were improving but I was nauseated. It all got better as the day went on & by the next day I was fine. My husband barely had a sore arm. This is the worst reaction I’ve ever had to a vaccine. I did have Covid in early July & I had RSV in October last year. Not sure if that’s why I reacted so strongly. But I’m gonna try to not jinx myself about vaccines again. Hope you’re almost back to normal by now @lifesavacation

Thanks for thinking of me . I feel so much better today. I slept for 12 hours last night. I woke up a couple of times drenched in sweat. My immune system is so dramatic. My morning cup of coffee sounds good again so all is well.