quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
Ugh.

I need to get the shingles shot, but either it wasn't available or I wasn't available to have my arm hurting.

Then Covid hit. And now I am afraid to tweak my immune system in any way for any reason so I will have maximum horsepower in case it needs to fight off Covid.

And no, this is not the year for me to bust out with a flu shot. No way.

Besides, all of this mask wearing and social distancing ought to be plenty adequate to protect me from the flu given that I never got the flu despite being mashed onto mass transit every day.

Yep, I get all of that. I think my chances of getting the flu this year pretty slim, but offsetting that is the fact that this is the year that I really don’t want to get it. I could see myself with a week or so of flu symptoms wondering whether it’s Covid and not enjoying the process very much.

I think I’m having less of a reaction to the shot than some of the folks here described. I had a sore arm starting about three or four hours after I got the shot yesterday afternoon. And this morning, I was still feeling tired enough I skipped my morning exercise routine. I’m already feeling enough perkier, that I expect a normal day tomorrow.

Guess I'm the only lucky one who had no noticeable reaction to either Shingrex shot - and I had one at the same time as a booster DPT. (FOr those who don't know, that includes the dreaded - by me - tetanus shot.)

When I was a kid I had such a bad case of chicken pox I was out of school for a month (two brothers only a week, at most, same as other kids). Maybe this had some effect?

OTOH last Winter for the first time, the ordinary flu shot gave me terrible pain in my arm, also limited motion for at least 8 months. I was afraid it was going to be permanent.

I think the (in retrospect) ignorant nurse put the needle somewhere it didn't belong.

quote:

Originally posted by LL:
Glad you got the shingles shot. Hope others will. Had the shingles 2 yrs ago. Sick sick sick and still have problems. Drive me crazy itch in my ear every night. Teeth on one side often ache and lip irritation. 2 yrs later. Better than it was but stilll.

Get the shots!

I had it years ago..every time I get a dermatologist check up..they say.."Oh, I see you have had shingles"..It does leaves a scar..a reminder of the immense pain..take the shots!!

I'm due for the second shingles shot this month or next.

First time knocked me a bit out of kilter, with a sore arm, but not bad.

Guess I'll double up with the flu shot.

Mary Anna found this last night link between the Shingrix shot and lower incidence of Alzheimer's last night:

quote:

We found clean, CAUSAL evidence that the shingles vaccine prevents a good chunk of dementia cases.

https://twitter.com/PGeldsetze...776663074738176?s=20

So, since it's a three-day weekend, we both got our first Shingrix shot today.

Interesting. Don't have the chops to comment on their statistical methodology, but a few things stood out for me.

The results of this new study (reduction in dementia in people who got Zostavax) seem to be consistent with a previous study.

From the pre-pub paper:

quote:

Finally, we show in exploratory analyses that the vaccine’s protective effects are far stronger among women than men for all-cause dementia and
Alzheimer’s disease, while there was no significant effect heterogeneity by gender for vascular dementia.

quote:

Our study focuses on the live attenuated herpes zoster vaccine (Zostavax; henceforth simply referred to as “zoster vaccine”) because the newer recombinant subunit zoster vaccine (Shingrix) became available in the UK only after our follow-up period ended.

quote:

The vaccine’s effect on new diagnoses of dementia was markedly greater among women than
men (Fig. 4 and Supplement Table S3, Column 1). In fact, among men, the point estimates were close to zero across all specifications.

quote:

Different lines of evidence, including the observation that herpesviruses can seed
β-amyloid – a hallmark of Alzheimer’s dementia – in mice, suggest a possible role for herpesviruses in particular in the pathogenesis of dementia

https://www.medrxiv.org/conten....23290253v1.full.pdf

As far as the last bit about plaques, I thought that some researchers are now questioning the amyloid plaque theory and are moving in different directions.

https://www.npr.org/sections/h...s-amyloid-hypothesis


Will pass this along to my much more learned friends for their comments...I'll also be interested to see whether Topol has a post about this study.

Thanks for posting.

Shingrix, x2.

Don't regret it.

I want the pneumonia vaccine but have to pay out of pocket because of my age.

I have a planner with six lab, doctor, dentist visits scheduled (soon to be seven because my knees need imaging), and could be eight soon because I might have to follow up on a podiatrist recommendation.

So it's not a priority. It's just on my list.

I didn't get the flu shot this year. The COVID shots had side effects and I wasn't in the mood for it.

So, 24 hours later, I have mild flu-like symptoms. My arm doesn't actively hurt, it's just a little sore.

Mary Anna has had even milder symptoms overall.

We both got the pneumonia vaccine at the same time as the shingles vaccine.

Even if I'm not fully functional today, it seems like a good trade-off.

Which pneumonia vaccine did you get? PCV20?

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Which pneumonia vaccine did you get? PCV20?

Prevnar 20. I was not given a choice.

I think the recommendations were changed recently, and Prevnar 20 (PCV20) is the current choice if you haven't had any of the other pneumonia vaccines.

Got the shingles shot, first dose. Absolutely no pain or other symptoms. So at least two of us got lucky.

quote:

Originally posted by QuirtEvans:
Mary Anna found this last night link between the Shingrix shot and lower incidence of Alzheimer's last night:

quote:

We found clean, CAUSAL evidence that the shingles vaccine prevents a good chunk of dementia cases.

https://twitter.com/PGeldsetze...776663074738176?s=20

So, since it's a three-day weekend, we both got our first Shingrix shot today.

I looked at what was there, and I'll wait for a bit more.

Yes, they potentially have a natural experiment here with the rigid cutoff. People born before X cannot get the vaccine. People born after X are eligible. That allows researchers to track people born just before the cutoff to people born just after. But from what I saw there, they're not clear on what the time parameters of the study are. Are they studying people born 1 year before and up to 1 year after? Or are the bands of the study wider? It's more convincing if they only study people who are essentially the same age.

Also this is an unrefereed preprint.

Another thing to consider…they are looking at Zostavax, the original shingles vaccine that is no longer available, at least in the US. Shingrix is the vaccine currently in use. They are different types of vaccines, one being live-attenuated and the other recombinant. They work differently, so I’m not sure whether the possible positive effects of Zostavax might also occur with Shingrix. Getting shingles doesn’t seem to affect the likelihood of getting dementia, either positively or negatively. So it doesn't seem to be a straightforward "activate the immune system" response. Something more subtle might be going on. Needs more study. Still interesting.