Author Topic: PSA  (Read 840 times)

Offline Guzzidad

  • Gaggle Mentor
  • ****
  • *
  • Posts: 812
  • Location: Tampa, FL
PSA
« on: May 22, 2022, 08:33:37 PM »
  Get your shingles shots guys. I came down with Shingles on the side of my head over 4 months ago and it has taken me out of riding for a while. Affects my focus and balance. First noticed it when under my left eye puffed up, a lot. Thought it was a spider bite but my doctor immediately recognized it as Shingles. Then it felt like my brain was on fire for about 10 days. It's slowly getting better but an on-line search says it could last up to a year. I live in Florida and am used to riding year around. This sucks. I missed the best time of year to ride, spring.

Offline wrbix

  • Gaggle Hero
  • *****
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 1697
Re: PSA
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2022, 08:51:29 PM »
A truly potentially debilitating and eminently preventable condition….. thanks for the reminder.
Bill in VA, sometimes FL

"Eschew aphorism"

LeMans IV - "Giulia"
Lario - "Giulietta"
V50III cafe'd - "Leggera"
‘77 Convert - “Sofia”
BMW airheads: R100RS, R100CS, R100GS, R100RT, R60/2 sidecar rig
Classic Mini
‘60 Austin Healey Sprite
Caterham Super Seven Sprint
‘13 Audi TTRS
Grumman AA5B (sold)

Offline krglorioso

  • Gaggle Hero
  • *****
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 1535
  • Location: Burnet County, TX
Re: PSA
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2022, 09:08:05 PM »
In Europe, "Shingles" has for decades been known as "St. Elmo's Fire" due to the intensity of the pain accompanying this disease for many of its victims.  I had a mild case about a decade ago and was little inconvenienced.  About 9 of 10 who contract shingles have it briefly and do not develop it permanently.  The other 10% are in for a rough time as it becomes a chronic problem.  If you have had chicken pox, the herpes zoster remains with you and you have a high chance of contracting shingles. 

I got the early - at the VA and then when a better version was created the VA updated me with that.  No recurrences of shingles.  As others here have pleaded, get the -; It works.

Ralph
« Last Edit: May 22, 2022, 09:11:05 PM by krglorioso »
Ralph
"You don't stop riding because you got old; you got old because you stopped riding".

2004 Moto Guzzi Breva 750
2017 Honda CB-500F
2021 Royal Enfield Interceptor 650

Offline krglorioso

  • Gaggle Hero
  • *****
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 1535
  • Location: Burnet County, TX
Re: PSA
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2022, 09:12:47 PM »
For some reason, where my post mentioned the preventive medicine they stick in your arm, it would not print.  Just a "-" symbol.  Attempts to modify this typo proved equally unsuccessful.

Ralph
« Last Edit: May 22, 2022, 09:13:49 PM by krglorioso »
Ralph
"You don't stop riding because you got old; you got old because you stopped riding".

2004 Moto Guzzi Breva 750
2017 Honda CB-500F
2021 Royal Enfield Interceptor 650

Wildguzzi.com

Re: PSA
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2022, 09:12:47 PM »

Offline sidecarnutz

  • Gaggle Mentor
  • ****
  • *
  • Posts: 978
  • Location: SE Virginia
Re: PSA
« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2022, 10:05:03 PM »
Good advice! I got both my shots for it earlier this year! Talked my wife into getting them too.
yeah, I might be addicted to brake fluid. But I can stop any time I want.

2002 Kawasaki ZR7S
2021 Royal Enfield 650 Conti GT

Offline moto-uno

  • Gaggle Hero
  • *****
  • *
  • Posts: 1397
  • Location: Burnaby , B.C
Re: PSA
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2022, 01:53:14 AM »
 I too got the shots around a year ago and still haven't developed a third eye  :popcorn: . Peter

Offline jumpmaster

  • Gosling
  • ***
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 474
  • Location: Gaithersburg, MD
Re: PSA
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2022, 07:08:14 PM »
I got a case that affected 1/2 of my face.  Woke up one morning with facial paralysis and numbness on one side only.  I was relieved when I found that was the only place affected, but that relief disappeared in a day or so when my skin started tingling significantly, & when the first "cold sore" broke out on my cheek I finally knew what it was & was energized to get to a dermatologist, who then immediately recommended a neurologist.  By the time I actually go treated, several days had passed & the entire right side of my face & neck had started to break out in VERY painful sores.  It took about a month for the sores to (mostly) heal.  After the sores finally healed, I was left with paralysis resembling Bell's Palsy that took about 6 months to (again mostly) clear up.  I had gradually decreasing episodes of facial muscle spasms (tics) but even now, 18 years later, I'll very occasionally get some tingling or minor facial muscle tremors.  Shingles is nothing to take lightly; if it had hit a different nerve close to the one that it did hit, I could have had significant eyeball damage or even blindness in one eye.

I've been preaching to anyone who would listen ever since then about getting the shingles shots.  A close encounter with colon cancer several years later led me to add sermons about getting timely colonoscopies - I waited waayyy too long for my first one  & came close to paying a steep price - to my preaching routine. 
JC
90 Mille GT (sold), 73 Eldorado, 75 Norton Commando, 46 Whizzer, 13 Harley Road Glide

Offline Guzzidad

  • Gaggle Mentor
  • ****
  • *
  • Posts: 812
  • Location: Tampa, FL
Re: PSA
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2022, 08:09:05 PM »
   My doctor immediately sent me to an opthomologist to check my left eye. Close, but not in my eye. Thank God. A friend of my wife came down with it same time as me and it did get in his eye. He lost his job because he was driving for a living. From what I've seen, there's been an unusually large outbreak of Shingles this year. Hmmm...

Offline Tom H

  • Gaggle Hero
  • *****
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 3377
  • Location: So. Cal.
Re: PSA
« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2022, 10:02:56 PM »
Since there are ones here that seem to know  about the issue or have had it.

I could search the net for questionable answers. I'm asking here.

I never had any of the Pox issues. Never went to a mumps measals party or the like as a child.

I understand that if you never had chicken pox, your good. Is this true or false??

My dad get shingles late in life, but I think he had chicken pox as a kid in the '30's

Thank you,
Tom
2004 Cali EV Touring
1972 Eldo
1970 Ambo V1000
1973 R75/5 SWB with Toaster
2007 HD Street Bob
1953 Triumph 6T (one day it will be on the road!)

Offline jumpmaster

  • Gosling
  • ***
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 474
  • Location: Gaithersburg, MD
Re: PSA
« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2022, 06:51:35 AM »

I never had any of the Pox issues. Never went to a mumps measals party or the like as a child.

I understand that if you never had chicken pox, your good. Is this true or false??

FALSE!  The latest info I've read from authoritative sources is that you can get shingles even if you've never had chicken pox.  If you have had chicken pox, the chances of shingles showing up later are about 1 in 3 (if you're not vaccinated).  If you haven't had chicken pox, the chances are much lower, but it does happen occasionally.  If you've had shingles already, you CAN get it again, but the chances are low.  Shingles also apparently can show up in people under the age of 50, although the current guidelines, as far as I know, are that it is mostly of concern to those of us age 50 and better.

I've never read or heard about any significant reactions to the -, so that's not a reason to avoid it.  As Dirty Harry said, "Do ya feel lucky...?  Personally, the pain & possible long-term damage from shingles far outweighs any inconvenience in getting the -, but it's a personal decision.

JC
90 Mille GT (sold), 73 Eldorado, 75 Norton Commando, 46 Whizzer, 13 Harley Road Glide

Offline guzziart

  • Gaggle Mentor
  • ****
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 838
  • Location: Northeast Ohio
Re: PSA
« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2022, 07:02:44 AM »
Yeah, the shingles thing is rough, a friend of mine got it and was miserable for what seemed to be several months.  I am fortunate that I never had and was vaxed for it.  Anyway, the reason I'm posting is because if you are going to get vaxed for it, you may want to do it before you get off your company healthcare plan. My Medicare drug plan didn't cover the cost of the shots, you need two and they cost about $180 each.....FWIW.
'71 CB350, '72 Eldo, '72 CL350, '81 CB125s, '87 LMIVSE, '91 CT70, '03 V11 Lemans, '08 Wing  ('12 Wee Strom - R.I.P.)

Offline John Ulrich

  • Gaggle Hero
  • *****
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 5324
  • Location: MN & AZ
Re: PSA
« Reply #11 on: May 24, 2022, 07:18:21 AM »
Worst 4 weeks of time of my life.

Ice pick headaches.  Ramsey Hunt face droop for a week.  Got close to my eye.  Ear canal closed up.   

Shot(s) is the best money you'll spend!

Eagan, MN & Scottsdale, AZ
MN MGNOC Rep  L#800

Offline Tkelly

  • Gaggle Hero
  • *****
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 1030
Re: PSA
« Reply #12 on: May 24, 2022, 07:43:53 AM »
I had it in 14 and got a shot right away.Very nasty experience.I am reluctant to get the new shots,thinking I am immune.What are my chances of reinfection?

Online bmc5733946

  • Gaggle Mentor
  • ****
  • *
  • Posts: 797
  • Location: East Lansing, MI
Re: PSA
« Reply #13 on: May 24, 2022, 08:37:18 AM »
I had, had, both types of the shot and still got it. 6 weeks I'll never get back, lots of nasty meds with nasty side effects but I got through it. Don't want it again. Missed my eye, got in my ear, whole right side of my face. Remarkably painful and relentless, meds did help but took all of my energy.

 Brian
1989 MILLE GT 
2004 BREVA 750     
1975  Convert

Offline sidecarnutz

  • Gaggle Mentor
  • ****
  • *
  • Posts: 978
  • Location: SE Virginia
Re: PSA
« Reply #14 on: May 24, 2022, 11:41:52 AM »
You're reminding me of why I was glad my medical coverage covered my wife for the shots. They were listed as $240 each on her bill from Walgreens!
yeah, I might be addicted to brake fluid. But I can stop any time I want.

2002 Kawasaki ZR7S
2021 Royal Enfield 650 Conti GT

Offline old head

  • Gaggle Hero
  • *****
  • Posts: 1568
  • Location: Prairieville, LA
Re: PSA
« Reply #15 on: May 24, 2022, 12:10:19 PM »
I have it twice, once when I was 17 and again about 15 years ago.  Both left scars on my face, not a pleasant experience.
the scars have faded some what, but they are still noticeable. 

Wife got the shots this year.

Old Head
06 Breva 1100
Hepco-Becker crash bars
Givi A620 screen
Garmin GPS

Offline blackcat

  • Gaggle Hero
  • *****
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 8854
  • Location: USA
Re: PSA
« Reply #16 on: May 24, 2022, 12:11:21 PM »
I had it in 14 and got a shot right away.Very nasty experience.I am reluctant to get the new shots,thinking I am immune.What are my chances of reinfection?

I'd get it, the new shot is supposed to be way better than the previous version.

I got mine as soon as it was covered under our insurance and got a prescription for my wife when I went to our doctor. She declined to get the shots and you guessed it, she got shingles. Bad, in agony for a month.  When she got over it and the proper time passed she got the new shot.

And I never said, "I told you so" for self preservation reasons.
« Last Edit: May 24, 2022, 12:12:32 PM by blackcat »
1968 Norton Fastback
1976 Lemans
1981 CX-100
1993 1000S
1997 Daytona RS
2007 Red Norge

Offline Mayor_of_BBQ

  • Instagram: @Mayor_of_BBQ
  • Gaggle Hero
  • *****
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 3618
  • 'Ever thus to deadbeats, Lebowski'
  • Location: Asheville, NC
Re: PSA
« Reply #17 on: May 24, 2022, 12:28:53 PM »
Shingles is terrible... like "I got the worst sunburn of my life and then fell in a poison ivy patch while being stung by bees"

If you havent gotten it, if you ever had chickenpox, GET THE SHOTS
Chad (Shadrach) in Asheville NC
1979 LeMans CX-100 (battle axe)
2007 Breva 1100 (Sport 1200 tribute)

 

***Wildguzzi Official Logo High Quality 5 Color Window Decals Back In Stock***
Shipping in USA Only. Awesome quality. Back by popular demand. All proceeds go back into the forum.
http://www.wildguzzi.com/Products/products.htm
Advertise Here