Hey there. Two years ago I had a horrible bout of severe shingles. It was all over the right side of my face, including my eye swelling shut, it was on part of my scalp, my temple, etc.
Two days ago I got the first dose of the HPV vaccine for adults up to 45 years old.
Yesterday I felt a little more sleepy than normal. Today, I keep getting stabbing pain in the same exact areas where I had it with shingles.
I do not have any underlying serious health issues that I know of. I will have insurance for the first time in my life starting in June so hopefully I can get myself looked at thoroughly.
But would it be normal for someone to have their shingles flair up after getting a vaccine for something unrelated? I am afraid to get the shingles vaccine because I was allergic to the first dose of the chicken pox vaccine as a kid. That’s why I didn’t get the second dose and thus developed chicken pox at 8 and shingles at 35.
I got the vaccine from planned parenthood because it was free under the only coverage I qualify for from the state, which only covers family planning and reproductive health services. So I can’t really call them to ask about this or seek treatment for shingles even if it does flair back up. I don’t have a primary doctor right now. Should I expect to get a full blown rash again?
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HPV and shingles are both the herpes zoster virus so they are absolutely related; however the HPV vaccine is NOT a live virus vaccine.
You also likely do not need a shingles vaccine as you have already had shingles (and chickenpox too apparently) and it IS a live virus vaccine.
It is incredibly common to feel fatigue after any vaccine, and any kind of immune system flare up can aggregate shingles as it lives in your body forever. Shingles sucks and I’m so sorry! You should not expect a flare up unless your immune system dips significantly due to illness, severe stress, or underlying autoimmune conditions.
I can only offer my own experience with shingles. I am early 40’s and was too old for the chicken pox vaccine, I was also 8 when I got them. I thought I was too old for the HPV Vaccine, but I guess not.
I have had shingles several times, only one case has been bad like what you described though. I’ve had tetanus shots, yearly flu shots and Covid shots that I don’t think ever coincided with a shingles outbreak. But when my body is really stressed, I feel pain in the side of my face where the outbreak always starts.
As best as I can tell, it’s usually due to my system being taxed, too much stress, not enough sleep, fighting off some other bug. I’m sure a vaccine could tax your immune system some, so it’s probably very wise to take it easy and get plenty of rest every time you get a vaccine. Baby your body as much as you can, you are worth it!
I learned that I have a double MTHFR mutation. This reduces the bodies ability to make some B vitamins bio-available and affects your immune systems ability to fight viruses. I don’t fully understand the mechanism, but methyl folate is what the bodies is trying to make, and my doctor put me on a supplement that provides this. He had me take two doses a day during my last shingles outbreak and it cleared up pretty quickly without ever becoming bad. Since then I’ve doubled up doses when I feel the pain in the side of my face and made myself rest, and haven’t had a true outbreak (knock on wood) since.
Even if you don’t have the mutation, supplementing with an L-methylfolate may be helpful. Some doctors have made it part of their shingles protocol. Talk to your doctor, if you can get them to understand the seriousness of the last outbreak and provide you with a strong anti-viral the minute you see a telltale blister come up that will be huge for fighting off the shingles quickly.
Bottom line, out of several outbreaks, only one has been that awful, life on hold kind of outbreak, and I have experienced that post shingles pain (apparently it can last years after an outbreak) without it turning into a full case of shingles. I hope this is the same for you, the pain, but not an actual outbreak, and for that matter, I hope the pain is very short lived!
Can you ask a pharmacist? Or call Planned Parenthood any way. They did give you the vaccine and may be able to help. WebMd and the mayo clinics site may have solid information. You can also go to the manufacturers site and look up side effects.