My doctor keeps pushing for me to take the shingles shot. But I’ve heard so many stories of people who had bad reactions, I’m hesitant to do it. Is it the second shot which is worse? Why is that?
A normal vaccine reaction isn't fun, but it usually isn't horrible, and you can plan it for when it works best for you to take a couple of days off to lay on the couch, or at least to not have anything super active planned.
The thing about Shingles, aside from hearing that it's usually a very painful disease to experience, is that it's not something you can avoid just by staying away from sick people, the way you can (to an extent) with covid, flu, or colds.
Shingles comes from a virus that is ALREADY in your body (assuming you had chickenpox before), just waiting to be activated. And what can activate it? Among other possible triggers, STRESS can activate it!
I can for the most part manage my exposures to contagious illness, by managing my public activities and using masks when I need to be around others. But I can't always manage when life will feel stressful, and when it does feel stressful, that's the LAST time I would want to add a painful illness to my calendar!
So I say yes, plan a quiet weekend, get your chores out of the way, and then on the Friday, go get that Shingles vax. By Monday, you'll be really glad you did. Then in a couple of months, do it again, and then you're done, protected for life.