So if anybody's thinking of getting the shingles shot & wondering what it's like, it's a bit rougher than other shots: it hurts more getting it, the spot aches for a while, & the side effects can lay people out for a few days.

Get it anyway. Seriously - get it anyway. It's nothing at all compared to actual shingles.

Shingles is a nightmare. A handful of folks in my family have had it and it was like torture. Two of them were elderly & believe the pain contributed to their deaths - not because shingles itself actually kills anyone, but because they were just in so much pain & so miserable they didn't want to live anymore.

So go ahead & get the vaccine. Get it. It's a few days of grumpiness & discomfort compared to getting shingles & having weeks or months of your nerves being on fire 24/7.

@Impious_Jade I second getting the vaccine, especially since I think starting in 2023, it will be free. Also you never know what reaction you’ll get to the vaccine. I pretty much had no symptoms, but YMMV. I remember my mother telling me once that a friend of hers had shingles, and she was in so much pain that she couldn’t even wear clothes.

@softwaremerc Yeah a great aunt got shingles & was suicidal from the pain. It's no joke.

@Impious_Jade That sounds so awful.

@Impious_Jade Absolutely right. I got it this year and tho it is a pain, it's far better than getting shingles itself.

@Impious_Jade It's damned awful - I got it when I was 69 and made damn sure I got the shots afterwards - never want to go through that again. Have some lasting nerve damage from it

@Impious_Jade
Accurate. Had me down for two days.

@JustRed Yeah totally kicked my ass this time around. The first dose wasn't as bad.

But then I also had a C-19 bivalent booster along with the shingles. 0/10, do not recommend both at once!