Thursday Marty and I did our thing at Kaiser. He had blood work done for his Thyroid. His medication is fine. I had my blood pressure officially checked and I got a Shingles Vaccine. I routinely check my blood pressure at home. I knew it was up and kept hoping it would drop. No it didn't. So my doctor upped my medicine. This upsets me because I already am on so many medicines. But that does beat having a stroke. For the next month or so they will closely monitor me and see if the medication works.
The Shingles vaccine in my family is an emotional issue. My father died from complications of shingles. Several people in my family have had shingles. Both sides of blood kin, in laws, and friends have had it also. It is a mean, awful disease. It is painful, disfiguring, and for some goes on forever with the pain. This new vaccine is a wonderful gift to us. But some of us have side effects after taking the vaccine.
I am "one of three" with the redness, soreness, swelling at the site of injection. They gave me the shot in my "less used" arm, the left one. That sounds good, except I am almost ambidextrous. So the left is used a lot. I got the shot Thursday. I was fine. Friday afternoon the injection site started swelling and the pain became intense. Saturday morning my arm was red and swollen from my shoulder to my elbow. It was hot, swollen, and had a knot the size of a golf ball. I was in pain. Tonight at almost midnight, the swelling is almost gone. The pain is only if I touch my arm. Trust me, I don't touch it. In the morning I think it will be back to normal. Even if it lingers with a little pain, it will be nothing like what my Father went through.
This vaccine will protect me from the terrible pain and disfigurement he went through. And the pain that many in my family have gone through.
Talk to your doctor and see if you meet the requirements for this vaccine. For one thing you must be over 60. I am not sure if I understand that requirement. My nephew was about 38 when he had shingles. Oh well. They always have rules.
Check it out with your family doctor. Better a sore arm for a couple of day than months of horrible pain.
9 comments:
thank you--both my mother (the year I had Nicky) and my brother in law (four years ago) have had shingles--sorry your arm hurt tho!
Sorry to hear about your reaction, but the reaction, as you know,is nothing compared to the disease.
I had the shingle shot a year ago. Hadn't known about it before, but my doctor suggested it. So glad.
Shingles vaccines are now available and promoted for people age 50 and over, so you don't have to wait until you are 60; check with your insurance company. I just had my vaccine yesterday. My arm is swollen and sore but after reading your blog I am very happy that I had it done.
Five days later my upper arm is still red and swollen. Oh well, worth it not to get shingles!
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You have to be 50 or older in the state of Ohio and you don't need a doctors prescription the pharmacist can do it. I also have a large family history for shingles so I wanted to get it asap.
I also had a reaction. I got a huge bump on my elbow. It was red and painful to touch. It has been 3 days and it is just starting to get better. I agree that it is nothing compared to getting shingles.
I got my shingles vaccine a few days ago. I live in South Carolina and you are required to have a prescription for the vaccination, but you can get the actual shot at the pharmacy. The first day I had no problems. The next day my arm was swollen and red at the injection sight (guess I'm one of the one in three who gets this type of reaction as well). My arm is tender, but I'm not in terrible pain, though the swelling and redness are pretty pronounced. My mother had shingles. Just seeing what she went through was enough to make me get the shot. A little swelling and redness is far better than the pain I saw her endure.
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