I did an article for the paper last week on the shingles vaccine, and didn't encounter anything like that in my research. I would have seen it, too, because I've had shingles and am planning to get the shot.

In March, the minimum age to get the shot was lowered to 50, BTW. I hadn't realized that. I also learned that one does not need a prescription to get it. I have a prescription for it, but it's not necessary.

Several pharmacies in our rural area offer the vaccine and the shot itself. It used to be that the patient would have to take the frozen vaccine immediately to a doctor's office to have it administered.

The shot is expensive ($200-225 in my area), and insurance policies vary as to how much they'll pay.

Wish we could get it but because DH has cancer (under remission), diabetes, and heart problems his doctors said NO, and I cannot get it, because I am a caretaker. I think it is a live vaccine so whatever your dr says that is the best thing to do.

Thanks for sharing your recent research with me, alisande. I did know about lowering the age limit, but didn't know you no longer need a presc for it. I'll share that info with my sister.

Marie, I had read that someone in the situation you're in shouldn't/couldn't get the shot. That's too bad.

I got my shot about 3 yrs ago. There was such a shortage at that time, my vaccine was on backorder for over 3 months. I ended up not having to pay anything.

Shirley

I had a severe outbreak of Shingles at age 59, at that time you had to be 60 to get the vaccine, but then doc told me I would have to wait a full year anyway after my outbreak. I got my vaccine last week, had to be on a waiting list for several months. My insurance paid for the vaccine, all I had to pay was a 10 dollar fee at CVS.

Just a word of warning that everyone probably knows....

If an individual has a compromised immune system they probably should not take this vaccine because it IS a live vaccine. I'm on a medication that suppresses my immune system to control my RA, my physician has advised me that I cannot take this vaccine.

I had shingles a couple of years ago. At that time my Dr. told me that I had built up an immunity to shingles and wouldn't need the vaccine for about 10 years.

Deamn, I'm not 100% certain of this, but I believe the current thinking is they're not sure about the immunity. The prevailing wisdom used to be that if someone had shingles once they were not likely to get it again, and therefore when the vaccine was first announced it wasn't recommended for previous shingles patients. But now that's changed, and previous patients are encouraged to get the shot. At least that's what I learned in my research last week.

I had shingles in 2008, and my doctor prescribed the vaccine for me the following year. (I still haven't gotten the shot, but I probably will.)

A cousin had shingles several months ago. I asked why she had not had the vaccine, she is in her late 60s and lives in a rural area, her doctor said he doesn't recommend it because it hasn't been proven to be effective. I think her doc needs to update his knowledge. I told her that all the docs in Ames tell their patients to get it.

I think you have to have a prescription for it, although you have it done at the drug store. My doctor just gave me a prescription last week (I'm 82) and explained there was some sort of insurance rigamrole where the insurance paid if you got it at the drug store but not at the doctor's office. I haven't had it done yet. My grade school friend had shingles and sent me pictures of his scabby face and he looked and was miserable. The doctor did want to give me my flu shot, but mentioned medicare won't pay it if it is less than a year and I didn't have it done until November last year.

I read what posters said about diabetes and I do have diabetes, so next week when I go to the endrocrinologist I will check with her about the shingles shot.

Marygailv, I suppose it's possible that it varies by state, but the pharmacists I spoke to in PA said no prescription is necessary. My insurance company doesn't care who administers the shot; they'll charge me $45 no matter what.

Here's the article I wrote, for anyone who's interested. A lot of it concerns availability at our local pharmacies, though.

Shingles Vaccine Available Locally

One thing most of us know about shingles is that we don't want to get it.

Shingles--an infection caused by the same virus (varicella zoster) that gives us chicken pox--is painful. It's easy to understand why, as the virus attacks nerves directly. After a case of chicken pox, the virus remains in nerve tissue near the spinal cord and brain. Many years later, the virus may reactivate as shingles.

Everyone who has had chicken pox--and 90 percent of Americans over the age of 15 are in this category--are at risk for getting shingles later in life. This risk is increased in those whose immune systems are weakened by advancing age, extreme stress, diseases such as cancer, or medications like chemotherapy and steroids.

Early symptoms of shingles include pain and tingling or itching, usually located on one side of the body or face. Blisters, sometimes covering a large area, appear 1 to 14 days after the onset of the early symptoms.The rash and pain from shingles usually lasts about a month. But for some, the pain lingers on.

People with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), the most common complication of shingles, can have pain that hangs on for months, sometimes years, after the shingles rash has healed. Possible prevention

There is no cure for shingles, but antiviral medicines can reduce the severity and duration of an attack. These include acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famcyclovir. With all of them, the earlier in the illness they are started, the more effective they will be.

But prevention is also possible for some: People over the age of 50 can reduce their chances of getting shingles by getting Zostavax, the shingles vaccine. The vaccine is said to cut one's risk of shingles in half. It also cut the risk of PHN by two-thirds. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone in the approved group get a single dose of Zostavax, even if they already had shingles. Hard to find

The shingles vaccine was originally approved for people aged 60 and over, but in March 2011 the approved age was lowered to 50. Two issues have kept the vaccine from becoming as widely used as the medical community anticipated when it was first approved in 2006: availability and cost.

Zostavax can be hard to find. For one thing, it is frozen and must be kept frozen until it is administered. Some pharmacies aren't equipped to keep it at the required 5 degrees F. For another, pharmacies have reported difficulty in obtaining supplies of the vaccine from its manufacturer, Merck.

We spoke with pharmacist Bob McGowan at the K-Mart Pharmacy, who told us the Zostavax vaccine is always hard to obtain. He orders it, but can never be certain when it will arrive. His pharmacy is out of the vaccine right now, but hopes to get it soon. When they do have it, they are able to administer the shot to customers in the store.

Wal-Mart doesn't carry the vaccine in their pharmacy, but pharmacist Mike Harris told us they're strongly considering it. He has a personal interest in shingles prevention, as a member of his extended family lost the sight in one eye after contracting the disease.

Stephens Pharmacy carries the shingles vaccine, but doesn't administer it. That will change soon, according to pharmacist Wayne Stephens, who said they're working on becoming certified to give the shots. Stephens' biggest concern regarding the shingles vaccine is its availability. He explained that Merck supplies it irregularly. Pharmacies have been likely to receive more in the winter than during the other seasons.

Wayne Stephens said his store has a waiting list of 50 people hoping to get the shingles vaccine; this is the third waiting list Stephens Pharmacy has had this year.

Rite-Aid carries the vaccine and administers it. At this writing, they have it in stock.

Pharmacist Mike Vaccaro of the Vaccaro Pharmacy tries to keep the vaccine in stock, and also administers it. His pharmacy presently has some, but he said availability has been an issue for the past 18 months or so. He reports an approximate three-month lag between ordering Zotavax and receiving it. His pharmacy keeps a waiting list when necessary. Cost

The cost of Zostavax is a factor, too. Locally, the average price for the shot can run over $200. Insurance plans vary as to how much of this, if any, they will cover. Medicare recipients should check with their prescription Part D insurer to find out what their plan will pay.

For those over 50, the shingles vaccine seems like an option worth considering.

I had Shingles over the July 4th weekend....and if one does get them they should be as lucky as I have been. I thought it was a spider bite on the right outer edge of my eyebrow...itching and pain, but pain in the top of my head and not often. Having had cellulitus from a spider bite a few years ago (very serious month-long treatment)I didn't hesitate to call my MD. He chuckled and said "shingles" and prescribed meds. Honestly, it was an inch x 1/2 inch, and other than waking up in the morning feeling like I had been clobbered on the top of my head....it was Toooo easy.

Maybe the "down-side" to that is that I might not have had a bad enough case to provide immunity. Seems like chickenpox had such a disclaimer.

Not to have completely skated....every once in a while for some reason I press on the bone by my eyebrow and it hurts....still

Just one more blessing to count each day!

I got the vaccine a year or two ago at the Rite Aid drug store. It was frozen and had to be given immediately. It cost me nothing. I have a family history of shingles..mother, aunts, and one aunt went blind in one eye from it. Husband had a very mild case and got the vaccine too.

Thanks to all who posted here. Thanks for posting your article, alisande. I will pass this info on to my sister.

Shirley

Not everyone knows Shingles is not only an older-person's disease. My daughter got it at age 20, it started as a rash on her stomach. My BIL 55 has it right now.

I had a severe case of chicken pox as a child and had a mild case of shingles a few years ago -- similar to what nanny98 described. I, too, thought it was a spider bite on my forehead, but I had the MD check it and was given anti-herpes meds right away. That's probably why the shingles was only an annoyance. The doctor said if you start treatment within 72 hours of onset, you can often quell it.

A year after my shingles both DH and I got the Zostravax vaccine against shingles. At the time Medicare didn't cover it, but our secondary Aetna policy did. There was no charge to us.

Well worth getting the shot, even if it only *diminishes* the severity of any shingles you might get.

I want to mention something that has not been discussed. My doctor wanted me to get this vaccine and one of the first questions she asked me was if I was going to around any newborn babies. She said that you can't be around newborns after receiving the vaccine. I delayed getting the shot because my niece was expecting her baby any day and I wouldn't have wanted to give up being able to hold her. Has anyone else been told this?