Post
by purple » Tue Apr 30, 2013 1:12 pm
"I dropped in, got the shot, and was out in 5 minutes. No charge."
That does not ring true to me, unless they have changed how the Shingles vaccination is compounded. I have not heard of an insurance which pays for a Shingles shot, but they do something to reduce the price.
When I got it some 14 months ago; The stuff had to be kept in a freezer. Took several minutes to make sure the prescription was accurately written, get the insurance approval, I paid like 110 , not sure, I also bought some things at the pharmacy that day. I do recall that the CD's, Aspirin and stuff totaled out to be like $180. I had Medicare and a Part D provider. The part D provider did not pay anything, but they did cause it to go down from two hundred. I had to pay for the thing before taking the next steps. The pharmacist, once they start on preparing the Shingles immunization, will not stop for any thing else, no other customer, phone call. The pharmacist takes the stuff out of the freezer, and then goes through the prep, which took like 15 minutes. After another five minutes, they give me the shot, and then I have to hang around for what, another thirty minutes to make sure I do not have some kind of adverse effect.
I have not heard any recommendation of a booster. One can get shingles again, it is disease of a weakened immune system. Just the immunization can help. Likewise, some docs say that if you developed Shingles, then that has the same benefit as the shot. Some docs say that even after having Shingles, then the shot can help. I think because the occurrence of Shingles is when the immune system is weak, the shot should be given when the immune system is strong, and that immune system will build better antibodies.
Sounds like a shot given less than five minutes, paid for one hundred percent by insurance, with a booster in five years; Sounds more like a tetanus, diphtheria, pneumonia shot which is often given to older adults.
My medical doctors office would not give the shot, because each dose must be kept frozen, individually prepared, (which takes a pharmacist who does compounding in sterile conditions), and given in less than thirty minutes after taking the dose out of the freezer.
I was told that treatment should begin when the infection begins, which is often before the first symptoms are seen. The urgency of treatment is such that a suspicion of Shingles is enough reason to go to an ER, and yes doctors said that. . Having the disease above the shoulders is more serious than lower. It is distinguished is often seen as a rash, which goes exactly halfway across the body (like to the exact middle of my chest, and the same on my back). The little varmint hides out in the nerves in the spinal column, and when the immune system is weak, it rides the nerves out to the skin. Thereafter the little varmint jumps up and down on the top of the nerves and screams in a very loud voice, does that hurt. I will make it hurt worse, and then does. The pain is unbelievable, but the worst is if one has continuing nerve damage. Like some here have already mentioned, like to the eyes. I do not think my brain ever really recovered, even though my infection was below my shoulders.
I was told that it would appear somewhere in the longitude along the spinal column, if one had it once, it would recur at the same spot again. I know of someone who told me that the stress of his fathers funeral caused him to develop it a second time.
