I already got it, apparently there's a weird uptick in men to the point where some doctors are like, nah you don't have that, and then sure enough they realize you do upon further inspection. For context I know men who have gotten it in their mid to late 20s I got it in my early 30s. I'm not sure what the cause is, but for additional context, Shingles is way more common in women.
So there might need to be more studies into shingles and why men are getting it more frequently and younger.
I've heard a theory that since the chickenpox vaccine for kids, natural exposure to the virus in the wild is way down, and our immune systems are more likely to forget about it. Not specific to men of course, but a possible explanation for an increase in shingles generally.
There's been a few studies that found increase in shingles as the chicken pox vaccine became more widespread in the US, actually. With the usual caveat that correlation is not causation.
If the vaccine became available in the 90s, and it was given to kids mostly, those people are 40 at most now, so how is the increase in shingles measured? More cases when younger? More older people getting it?
Thinking about it within this context doesn't make much sense.
The increase in shingles is in people who weren't vaccinated as kids. People who were vaccinated as kids and never got infected don't get shingles at all AFAIK.
So this is why earlier in the thread they said, less wild chicken pox, more shingles, because immune system goes stupid as there is no wild chicken pox?
I had chicken pox as a kid, the vaccine became available in my country in 98, several years after, so it seems I'm screwed for shingles.
I got it last year, as a man in my early 30s. My doctor didn't believe me but his eyes widened as I showed him the rash. It took him one second to say that is shingles, with no doubt. If you get it you have to get to the doctor ASAP to get the antiviral medicine before it spreads. It is the most painful thing I have gone through.
I'm pretty sure I got is because of stress. I quit my job, sold my home and all my stuff to travel for a year. I was awarded shingles the week after handing in my resignation.
I’ve self medicated with OTC acyclovir before getting a stronger prescription and it worked quite well. The trick was to diagnose quickly, the tell was the itching wouldn’t stop even while scratching.
Pro tip: keep some cold sore oral medicine at hand.
Add another datapoint here if you'd like, got it in my late 20s this year. Fortunately I caught it very early and didn't have as bad of a case as many here seem to have had. My doctor said it's not uncommon to have shingles as a young person, and when I researched it more I found studies that agree with some sibling comments re: lack of exposure to people with chicken pox making it more common.
For me it was a rash on my hands, and I thought it was my dogs leash. It was not until I got the uh blisters that my wife told me what I probably had, and it was too late by then unfortunately. The nerve pain is not worth it. I would have gotten the shot immediately had I known early enough. To make matters worse, I think I went to a family event, and the AC where we were staying had just died, so my itchiness was through the roof in South Florida. Nothing was as awful as the random nerve pain though, I cannot imagine being 50+ and getting the nerve pain.
Neighbouring country here, it’s a private vaccination but the companies are pretty forwards about it being available. But you do unfortunately have to wait until you’re 50.
Well sounds like I'm the youngest around here. I got it when I was 16/17. Honestly I kind of forgot about it for awhile but have weird nerve pain sometimes when I'm stressed now that I'm 41 so I assume it still lingers in me.
Looking to find out more about the vaccine and it's impacts on existing shingle victims.
I know one of my wife's childhood friends she got it at like 17 too. What was really interesting is her parents never had chickenpox, and they never caught it from them or something like that? Her brother also never caught it. There's some weird immunity to it I suppose or maybe it doesn't affect everyone the same.
Hello! Another datapoint here, both I and a friend of mine got shingles in our early 30s. I had to go to two different doctors because the first just assumed that it was "bad acne" (my shingles followed the trigeminal nerve across my face). Second doctor immediately clocked it as shingles. It was perhaps the second most painful experience of my life, not so much because it was intensely painful but because the pain was constant and resistant to relief.
I'm told that stress can cause shingles to flare up, in that stress also suppresses the immune system, and both my friend and I were going through one of the most stressful phases of our lives at the time, so I always chalked it up to that. Not a very strong hypothesis, though.
I had shingles across my back in 7th grade. I remember at the time being told since I didn’t have chickenpox as a kid that led to my shingles. I was also told that once you have shingles you are immune. I have since learned both are not true. I also will get pain in the same location that my shingles started when under great stress.
57 now. I have had such an abrupt life style change that I no longer experience stress like I did. I don’t know if the vaccine helped it’a been less then a year.
I never had the chickenpox as a kid, either. The doc shrugged and noted that I obviously had the virus in my system, so I must have had a sub-clinical case. I recall that when we were young, my sister had a very mild case of chickenpox, so I assume that I got some exposure from her even though at the time assumed I managed to avoid it.
So there might need to be more studies into shingles and why men are getting it more frequently and younger.