Back toUpdated on October 24, 2025
In this video, Kimberly shares her experience with shingles, including the physical and emotional impacts. Learn why she advocates for the shingles vaccine.
Transcript
It felt like someone was putting an ice pick through my ear, which was very uncomfortable.
So the first day I had symptoms, I was really tired, and my legs just ached very badly.
I didn't break out with lesions until about two or three days later. And then I got the lesions all over my chest
and up on my back and my neck. Emotionally, it was very difficult. Because the symptoms are so close to fibromyalgia,
I actually thought I was having a fibromyalgia flare, so I didn't go to the doctor at first, not until I got the lesions. So mine lasted a little bit longer, which
wore more on me emotionally. I was trying to work 40 hours a week, and I was exhausted and tired.
The pain in my ear actually didn't happen until I'd had shingles for about a week or week and a half. And so that was discouraging because you
think you're getting better, and then all of a sudden, you feel like, oh, my gosh, this is getting worse. It caused me stress and anxiety over it.
I gave up a lot of social activities. I received my vaccination just this past fall.
I've had both doses. The first dose was a walk in the park, no problems. The second one, I had several symptoms
that they list on your vaccination sheet, but they only lasted about 12 hours. So 12 hours of symptoms versus a few weeks of symptoms
was much better. So yeah, I highly recommend getting a shingles vaccine. It's very easy. You just get two doses, and you're all done.
