Didn’t expect that

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helli

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Since my covid jab, my basal requirements have been down by about 20%. Over the last week, they have returned to normal which I too, to be due to the covid vaccine diabetes effect coming to an end.

I had my flu jab today at my local pharmacist. After being jabbed, I took advantage of his medical knowledge to ask about a rash which came out on Friday night and hadn’t responded to the usual Germolene and anti-histamine I had at home. It was unusually painfully and kept me awake last night. His advice was to see a doctor as soon as possible. I got a phone appointment a few hours later and with the assistance of my partner’s photography skills, I was diagnosed with shingles and I now have a course of antivirals.

If it wasn’t for the flu jab, I would have probably ignored the rash for a few more days.
And the basal increase is more likely to be due to the shingle/chicken pox virus rather than the end of the covid jab effect.
 
Shingles can be nasty so hopefully you’ve only got a mild dose.
Get well soon @helli
 
Good job you asked about the rash. Shingles would never have been in my head. I hope you’re not too uncomfortable and the anti-virals work nicely. Wishing you well. X
 
I've had shingles twice - in fairly rapid time frames, both times on my face, involving an eye.

It's a nasty condition. I hope it clears quickly for you.
 
Gosh, so sorry to hear you have shingles but how fortuitous that the flu jab resulted in your diagnosis and treatment. Hope you don't feel too rough with it and recover quickly.
 
I had shingles in my eye also it was extremely painful I was around 20 which they said was very young. Never had it again touch wood. However my husband had shingles on his torso a month after his second covid jab. It didn’t bother him too much x
 
Thanks for your kind words.
So far, the pain is bearable with painkillers and the rash is hidden (but spreading).

And I have found a new hypo detector - the shingle pain gets worse as my levels drop.
 
helli said:
And I have found a new hypo detector - the shingle pain gets worse as my levels drop.
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Not sure you will get very far patenting that as an idea!
 
EmmaL76 said:
I had shingles in my eye also it was extremely painful I was around 20 which they said was very young. Never had it again touch wood. However my husband had shingles on his torso a month after his second covid jab. It didn’t bother him too much x
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That's unfortunate but it's worth pointing out that there's no statistical evidence to link covid vaccines and shingles. Not that that's what you're suggesting!
 
ColinUK said:
That's unfortunate but it's worth pointing out that there's no statistical evidence to link covid vaccines and shingles. Not that that's what you're suggesting!
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The doctor said to me that they are seeing more cases of shingles at the moment than usual. She mentioned that it may be triggered by other virus and there are quite a lot of these circulating at the moment ... including the obvious covid one.
I have not had covid (at least not tested positive) but my body was fighting something over the last week and the usual thing is that our bodies can only fight off so much at once and eventually the guards get lowered and something else creeps in.

Shingles seems to be a fascinating condition - it is the reawakening of our dormant chicken pox virus. We cannot pass on that reawakening to anyone else so cannot pass on shingles. But, we can pass on the chicken pox virus to someone who has not had it.

And, it only attacks one half of the body at a time. If you have a rash on both sides of your "core", it is unlikely to be shingles. I have no idea why it does that.
 
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I don’t think anyone knows why chicken pox virus does that. After a case of chicken pox, the virus can go and hide in a single nerve root, and sit there forever doing nothing. Then something triggers it to go exploring, but only in the distribution of that nerve. That’s why it’s so easy to diagnose.

You can prevent it ever happening. My brother recently had shingles, but after that he was given a chicken pox vaccine to prevent recurrence. Chicken Pox vaccine is easily available. Some countries use it a standard vaccine in kids, but we don’t for some reason.
 
You get offered the vaccine if you’re over 70, on the grounds, I think, that you get increasingly likely to develop shingles as you get older when your immune system is getting tired! OH has had his, I’ve got another 4.5 years to go!
 
mikeyB said:
I don’t think anyone knows why chicken pox virus does that. After a case of chicken pox, the virus can go and hide in a single nerve root, and sit there forever doing nothing. Then something triggers it to go exploring, but only in the distribution of that nerve. That’s why it’s so easy to diagnose.

You can prevent it ever happening. My brother recently had shingles, but after that he was given a chicken pox vaccine to prevent recurrence. Chicken Pox vaccine is easily available. Some countries use it a standard vaccine in kids, but we don’t for some reason.
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My son in law had been vaccinated as a child in Pakistan but got chickenpox when his children got it here.
My grandmother got a very bad case of shingles in the mid 70ies, probably from going to a church Xmas do where there were lots of children.
I didn't know vaccines were available here.
 
Robin said:
You should ask! According to your profile, you’re the right age for one.
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According to my mum (who did get it, but only just) the age range is quite small (for NHS offered vaccination) so if you're in the right age take it.

(I assume one can purchase it, too, and maybe GP surgeries might stretch the criteria a little.)
 
ColinUK said:
Very narrow age band for NHS shingles vaccine eligibility but here's the website link
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/who-can-have-the-shingles-vaccine/
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These seems to suggest the shingles vaccine is different to the chicken pox vaccine even though I thought it was the same virus (but what do I know?).
My understanding (but what do I know?) is that if you get chicken pox as a child, it is rarely very bad. It is only if you get it as an adult that it can be problematic which is probably why we don't get chicken pox vaccination in the UK. And why they used to have "chicken pox parties" to spread it around children to get it over and done with before they become adults.
 
ColinUK said:
That's unfortunate but it's worth pointing out that there's no statistical evidence to link covid vaccines and shingles. Not that that's what you're suggesting!
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No I wasn’t. My husband had covid last year. He was very poorly. It was explained to him that the jab may have caused an over reaction
 
My Drs offered me the vaccination against shingles a few years back which I gladly took up.
After having had it in my 20's quite badly about my torso I have no wish to succumb to it again. 😱
 
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