Dr. Cannell still gets a flu shot every year

[wonderwoman]

Gloria, Medicare paid for our Shingles shot. We paid zero.

[MBombardier]

My younger children got the varicella vaccine when they were little, and have not gotten chicken pox, unlike some others. It turns out that the varicella vaccine may or may not protect from chicken pox (though it mitigates the infection).

I found out that the childhood immunization does not seem to confer the immunity to infants through breastfeeding, like the infection does, and it "may" make it more likely for the person to get shingles later, unless they are re-vaccinated with the shingles vaccine. Also, it seems that there are more cases of shingles now because older people are coming into contact with children that have been vaccinated (it is a "live" virus vaccine) recently and are actually contagious, though not infected themselves.

[MBombardier]

Oh--I have discovered that a good place online to get vitamins and other health-related things like protein powder, toothpaste, even bath and beauty stuff and groceries, is http://www.iherb.com/. They have dozens of companies that they represent, and the discounts on many items are huge. The information on each item gives a complete listing of what is in it and what is not for those with multiple intolerances. PM me if you would like a coupon code for $5 off your first purchase.

[Zizzle]

Regarding the Shingles vaccine, many are blaming the new Shingles epidemic on the fact that so many kids are vaccinated - not because they are spreading live virus, but because there is less circulating virus around now. If you had chicken pox as a kid, you need periodic re-exposures to tell your immune system to continue making antibodies against it to keep it from re-emerging as shingles. When children in a community get chicken pox, it acts like a "booster shot" for the older population that had pox as a child. Both less chicken pox among kids, and less kids visiting immune-compromised aging members of the poulation, has resulted in more shingles.

[Gloria]

Charlotte,
I'm not on Medicare yet, but your post makes me think that I should call our insurance co. again to see if the shot would be covered. Thanks for the info.

Gloria

[starfire]

I am another who has not had the shingles shot because when I looked into it in florida I was told medicare won't cover any of the cost and it was quite pricey. I'll have to ask about it again. I was willing to get that one because I have known a couple of people who suffered through shingles and it's definitely not something I want to deal with.

Love, Shirley

[bevfromwa]

Hi all, decided to launch this thread into present time, since I have something relevant to say. This thread came up when I searched "shingles." I got the shingles shot in 2007, and Friday got shingles. Since I like to research things, less than a day later I decided that was it. Fortunately my pcp office had one doc on duty on Saturday, so after a 2 hour wait, he agreed with me on my self dx (how often do doctors do this?) and prescribed the antiviral Acyclovir for a week. It is only effective if started within 48 hours, so I was good there.

Continuing my research, I find that Mayo Clinic did a multi year study ending in January 2011 on this, and reported that 50% of those innoculated get shingles anyway, but, as I had been reading for years, it is much milder. So guess I am lucky, but not very comfortable. So far the pills haven't bothered my LC, hope that continues for the entire week.

Although the past 6 weeks I've been making strides toward gut healing--as Tex says, it can take from 6 months to 3 years, and I'm at about 18 months--I have to wonder if lowered immune system, and of course our old friend stress, could have precipitated this.

Happy Labor Day, Beverly

[tex]

Maybe - stress is big factor, as I recall.

I hope you caught it in time, to minimize the "misery".

Tex

[Gloria]

Beverly,

Your post is very timely for me. DH is retiring next year and we'll be on Medicare. I've been trying to get all testing and immunizations done while we still have insurance. I contacted our insurance company to see if they cover the shingles vaccine. They said they covered it only if it is administered by a physician in a facility under our plan. Sounded good until I started calling hospitals and doctors to see if they give the vaccine. None of them do. They all referred me to Walgreens or the grocery chain that are offering the vaccine. Of course, my insurance company won't pay for their services. It sounds like my insurance company has figured out how to act like they're covering it, but in reality they know that under their stipulated conditions, they won't have to.

I just re-read Charlotte's post informing me that Medicare covered her vaccine. Shirley wrote that Medicare didn't cover hers. Is it the difference between which Part B plan we select? Choosing a Medicare supplement is going to be very confusing, I'm afraid.

Now you've posted that you suspect that you got shingles not in spite of getting the vaccine, but rather because of it. I hope that by getting the vaccine, your symptoms are less severe, just as I thought the pneumonia vaccine effected my pneumonia. I've actually had pneumonia twice since being vaccinated. The case I had this year was considerably worse than the case I had last year, so who knows if it helped reduce my symptoms.

I hope your shingles stays mild. I've heard that Acyclovir does help a lot if it's started in time.

I'm so glad that your gut seems to be healing these last six weeks. Thank you for the report. It helps people like me who are still waiting for that to happen.

Gloria

[bevfromwa]

Gloria, I think I gave you the wrong impression about the vaccine causing the outbreak of shingles. I intended that to indicate that you can get it even if you have been vaccinated. There is a lot of info on the Mayo Clinic site, just search the topic "shingles." Their study has shown that the vaccine works in 50% of people, the unlucky ones at least appear to have milder cases. There was also a statistic that 5% of people who get shingles will get it again at some time in their life. It said they suspected that the number would go up as the study progressed and people aged. (oh swell!)

If I remember correctly the vaccination was covered under Medicare Part D, the drug plan. There was a pretty hefty co-pay, but our dermatologist had been recommending for some time that we get it the minute it was approved by FDA. She said we wouldn't like to see some of the patients she'd treated! You might try calling Medicare, always a fun experience, (ha!) to see if they can give you any information on what coverage might be available once Medicare comes into the picture. Hope you are able to win the current insurance battle--they can make things difficult.

For the past 6 months, I've been testing, for about 2 weeks, about everything that goes into my mouth, then challenging it. Although this has not produced any "ah ha" moments, I think my progress has come about just by following the strict guidelines as a result of the Enterolab testing. It has been slow, but progress is progress. I wouldn't say I am in total remission, but compared to the up 20-30 times a night of a couple of years ago, these semi normans are pretty exciting. Doesn't take much to excite a PP, huh!

Hope you get this figured out, regards, Beverly

[Gayle]

Hi All,

Both DH and I have had the shingles vaccine. We had no particular problem with it. It was at the time, predicted to have about a 60% success rate of preventing shingles. -- And would likely "lighten" any case of shingles that may occur in spite of the shot.

The cost was entirely covered by Insurance.

Here is the program that I had to follow to receive the shot:

1. Pay the vaccine cost up front to the Dr.'s office.

2. They then ordered the vaccine from their supplier.

3. When the vaccine arrived, they called me to set up appointment for me to come in.

4. When (not before) I arrived in the office -- they thawed the vaccine.

5. I waited while the Vaccine thawed, -- and then was given the shot.

6. Insurance was reimbursed to the Dr.'s office.

7. Dr.s office refunded to me.

8. This visit was NOT billed as an office call.

Suggest that if interested, one should contact their family Dr. about this matter.


Gayle

[Gloria]

Beverly,

I'm glad you clarified that you didn't get shingles as a result of the vaccine. That would be pretty discouraging. I should look at the Mayo site to see what they write about it.

I'm glad your MC is improving - it's always nice to read a success story.

Gayle,

Thank you for writing the specific steps you had to take to get the vaccine. I called my PCP last week to see what we could arrange, but he was on vacation. His staff suggested that I go to Walgreens, pick up the vaccine, and bring it to him so he could administer it. That didn't seem right to me. I'll have to call him again to see if we can arrange something similar to what you did. I can't believe you had to sit and wait for the vaccine to thaw so they could give it to you. I wonder if Walgreens does that, too.

You'd think they would make it easier, but then again, we're dealing with insurance companies.

Gloria

[Gayle]

Hi Gloria,

Well, the Shingles vaccine is very expensive, as compared to for example, to the DPT vaccine. As such -- Drs are not likely to be willing to “invest” in keeping a stock supply on hand in house. It also appears that the Shingles vaccine is for some reason(s) a more “fragile” vaccine, which requires some special handling. So while they can just grab an ampoule of the DPT out of the frig to administer it – the Shingles vaccine requires a bit more handling.

I suppose it is possible that Walgreen’s is this Dr.s supplier. I would suspect that it is not available over counter either, but rather that your local pharmacy outlet would have to special order it in for you -- from their main supplier.

I was forewarned that there would be a wait, --- but then, who amongst us has not had to sit and wait in a Dr.’s office? Thought nothing of it.

There were also instructions given both orally, and in writing, with the Shingles vaccine. Keep a close eye on the inujection site -- and if one noticed a small bleb or irritation at the site of the injection, it was to be kept covered with a band-aid, and be careful to avoid any contact with the area when around other people. If/When that appeared, there was a possibility of infecting others. In our case, this did happen to me, not to the DH.

Personally I have vivid recall my Grandmother having shingles, and how tough that was on her. She was one who developed the postherpetic pain in the affected area, which reared it’s ugly head throughout the rest of her life . Also, have a friend who developed shingles on her face – affected the eye on the affected side. Ophthalmic herpes is really scary, and if not treated can lead to loss of vision. So I was very motivated to get this type protection when it became available.

And for sure ---- Right at the very bottom of all this kind of finagling I have described is ALWAYS Insurance. (I just don’t have the time (nor should I take the space) to go into my rant on that topic)


Gayle

[Gloria]

I got my shingles vaccine yesterday, and insurance will pay for it.

Apparently my PCP's staff told him about my frustration with trying to get the vaccine covered by ins. My PCP ordered it for me (unbeknownst to me) and his office called yesterday to tell me they had it. He administered the vaccine and said, half kidding, "Don't spread this around." He said it was difficult to order, was backordered, and had to be thawed out before it could be administered, just as Beverly said. My PCP said he felt bad that I really wanted the vaccine, but couldn't get it, so he ordered it. I thought that was very nice of him. I didn't have to pay up front for it, so he took a chance ordering it.

DH has to wait a few weeks because he had the flu vaccine last week and the shingles vaccine must be more than 4 weeks from the flu shot. I'm still deciding about the flu shot.

I'm very relieved to have the vaccination. Shingles can be a nightmare.

Gloria

[tex]

Gloria,

You definitely have a thoughtful PCP. Kudos to him.

Tex