Is your dr having you get the shingles vaccine if you’re on Xeljanz?

I've not had one because the only vaccine available where i live is zostavax which is live and you can't take live vaccines on xeljanz.

Shingrix is safe to take but not available yet in my country.

The doctor did check my varicella zoster antibody levels and they were very high (i had chicken pox pretty badly in my 20s) so I'm not unduly worried at this point.

Ps i was 36 when i started xeljanz

Hi, Jayce! It could be that Shingrix vaccine got recommended to your daughter. They do give it at WCM. RE age limit: you can look up the specs online. I don't recall reading anything here by 30-somethings, but the over 50s+ generally get it-- in 2 shots given a month apart. An older member here posted a few weeks back that he's been on Remicade & got shingles shortly after his 2nd Moderna COVID vaccine injection. So that may be the reason (immuno-suppression by UC med) Shingrix vaccine has been recommended to your daughter despite younger age. (Best wishes to you & daughter!) / Old Hat

Post Edited (Old Hat) : 4/3/2021 2:43:30 PM (GMT-6)

Ps my doctor's advice was "if you get shingles you can stop taking Xeljanz for a week."

Thanks for your responses.
Old Hat, the dr. Doesn’t carry the shot and though it is recommended, won’t write the prescription.
I have a feeling it’s my daughter’s age but I wasn’t there and the dr said she just doesn’t do that,
Told her to see her GP.
She would pay for the shot out of pocket, but that’s not the issue.
It’s disappointing, with all the blood draws and scopes, and prescribing of biologics,
it would have been comforting to have the confidence from the dr prescribing the Xeljanz.
This will slow things down and the flare goes on a little longer.
Another day from work, waiting for another dr. appointment.
It stresses her, it seems small, who knows how the GP will feel he’s not prescribing the biologic, and in the past has wondered why she shows up there for GI issues, sometimes it was easier than waiting for GI.
She’s had so much to deal with since the positive Ana during the last 2 plus years, endless drs and most don’t have after work hours.
The outside pharmacies all require a prescription because of her age.

Post Edited (jayce) : 4/5/2021 8:46:02 AM (GMT-6)

Everything I have read about Shingrix including at their web site states it's for people 50 & over. I am assuming Jayce's daughter has not had a dr recommend the shots because of her age.

Jayce, there seems to be something required fairly recently at WCM whereby the patient needs to have a PCP or internal med MD prescribe certain lab tests & vaccines. I found out about it due to issues in the central gyn dept. It may have something to do with insurance coverages, probably trying to discourage patients from having specialist MDs prescribe certain lab tests & vaccines if a PCP can deal with that at lower cost to them!!!!! WCM does stock Shingrix, but may only permit PCPs to prescribe it and then refer patient to an out-patient division where RNs handle appointments for injections. Even though I have IBD, I can't get vaccines recommended for seniors through my IBD gastro; I was able to get Pneumovax & TDAP through my general obgyn at a WCM primary care out-patient facility. Neither gastro nor the gyn-oncologist who follows me post-2015 surgery can order those shots, but gen-gyn could due to primary care affiliation. Same thing happened to me in 2019 over a lab test considered to be primary care-- that I used to be able to get at gastro's office. *** Ironically, it's getting harder everywhere in USA to find a reliable PCP or internal medicine MD, including at WCM. / Old Hat

Thank you Old Hat, that makes sense, her rheumatologist at another well known city hospital also said he recommends the vaccine but couldn’t give it.
You’re so right about finding a GP the name she was given doesn’t have an opening until September.
We have a family dr that she has used since leaving her pediatrician when she began college.
He’s was my dr for decades as well as my extended family, siblings and their kids.
That brings him to around 70, and still going strong, though covid has had an impact on everything.
He’s worth his weight in gold. No insurance but he has been invaluable.
He’s just not geographically located for her, but at least we have the option.
So she will have a physical and will go over the situation.
She hasn’t needed him since she began with the Ana issues, her Rheumatologist brought in a hematologist so she has been monitored.
I appreciate your information, I was frustrated with the answers, but everything is different and still changing.

Post Edited (jayce) : 4/5/2021 5:53:31 PM (GMT-6)

Jayce, in 2018-19 I waited 6 months to see a WCM internal med MD who had stellar patient reviews, and had practiced for a dozen+ yrs there. When my appointment finally took place, I felt elated-- because this doctor was truly personable and kind in addition to being very intelligent, articulate, and straightforward. WOW, I thought-- FINALLY! (A practitioner who will coordinate with my specialist MDs, who do know how hard it is to find a reliable primary.) Well, 6 months later I received a farewell letter from this internist, who later joined a "boutique practice" elsewhere shortly before the COVID pandemic broke out!!!!! (Which I found out about online last summer.) In Sept. 2020 I phoned WCM internal med division to inquire about a replacement for the relocated internist, and was told it had not yet been settled. SO that is the heart of many problems patients face these days. For a decade or more the media keeps reporting that new med school students want to specialize rather than go into primary practice or internal med because those areas tend to come with poor working conditions. I believe that is true and also that insurance company policies contribute a lot to this situation, as they do, too, with prescription med access. / Old Hat

Thank you for that information TP.
It’s a maze, you can find Xeljanz but run around for the Shingrix .