Did I cause my radiation to be less effective?

SallyS70 · February 2014

I had a shingles shot last week after 18 of 33 radiation treatments. I did not ask my RO. Then I read that you should not get a shingles shot during radiation. I feel so dumb and so scared. Will the vaccine mean that the radiation will be ineffective?

redsox · February 2014

Ask your radiation oncologist about it.

I don't think the caution is based on the shot making the radiation less effective. Rather, I think your body may have a bad reaction to the shingles shot because your immune system is less able to deal with it.

ruthbru · February 2014

redsox is right. They don't recommend a shingles shot during radiation because your immune system is compromised at that time & you would be more likely to have problems from the shot itself. It should not make your radiation less effective. I would definitely 'confess' this to the RO though.

Kicks · February 2014

I, too, was told to wait til after end of TXs to get shingles shot. According to all my Drs this is based on all the stress the immune system goes through during all the TXs so why add more stress to it that is not immediately needed. Nothing was ever said that the shot would have any negative effects on chemo or rads.

Talk to your Dr though and give him/her a "Heads Up' about getting the shot. We - here - are not Drs so can't tell you what is/isn't going to happen.

SallyS70 · February 2014

redsox, ruthbru, and kicks, thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. I do plan to tell my RO at my appointment on Wednesday morning and will post what he says. I feel so dumb. My MO had told me to get one. When I had my annual physical, I told my PCP, and she had her nurse give it to me. I just did not think about that when my MO said to get the shot, I had not started radiation.

icebaby10 · February 2014

About 20 treatments in I actually got the shingles.. as a matter of fact they are still painfull My RO told me that even if you get the shot you can still get shingles.. I was actually going to get the shot just before starting rads but we had a bad snow storms so I did not go get it..

Moderators · February 2014

Sally, following up on the advice you've already received, the main Breastcancer.org site includes info about the shingles vaccine in the article Sequence of Treatment, saying:

"If you will be getting chemotherapy or radiation to treat breast
cancer, your immune system will be weakened. If you had chicken pox as a
child and you’re 50 or older, your age and your weakened immune system
can put you at higher risk for shingles, a painful, blistering rash
caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. There is a shingles
vaccine and in most cases it’s better to get it before you start breast
cancer treatment. If your immune system is weakened, you shouldn’t get
the vaccine until you’re done with treatment and your immune system is
at full strength again.

If you had chicken pox as a child and are
50 or older, it’s a good idea to ask your doctor if getting the shingles
vaccine before you start breast cancer treatment makes sense for you.
While shingles can still flare up even if you get the vaccine, the rash
is usually less painful and less severe."

icebaby10 · February 2014

I was started on Acyclovir 5X a day for a week and it put the shingles to rest... minimized the breakout..

SallyS70 · February 2014

Hi all,

I had my weekly RO appointment today. Although he said that the shot did not seem to be causing me any problems, he would have recommended that I get the shot after my rads were finished rather during them.

Did I cause my radiation to be less effective?

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