Age: 68.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: VARZOS
Symptoms: Ear pain, Fatigue, Gait disturbance, Gastrointestinal tube insertion, Herpes zoster
Clinical narrative: Because I was 68 and my husband was 78 our doctor suggested we might consider getting the shingle shot because shingles could bring on a condition known as postherpetic neuralgia.  Therefore, we got the ZOSTAVAX shot July 19th, 2007.  About 6 months later I had sores that itched and hurt at the same time around half of my waistline.  I kept putting lotion on them, and finally they went away after four weeks.  I did not go to the doctor-- I never thought about shingles.  At the end of November, 2008 I had the same problem, but this time I went to my doctor.  Dr. said that it definitely was a case of shingles, and that my waist had some brown spots that came from a previous case of shingles.  There is one spot that is small like a pimple.  He said that may never go away, and that I could possibly get them over many times.  Since I have epilepsy and I'm taking KEPPRA and LAMICTAL these are the best you can take.  This episode lasted until April.  At the end of May I was bitten by a bee and within a few days my check on the right side, my right ear and throat started to hurt very much.  I went to an ear, nose, and throat doctor, he called for a CAT scan, and he set up an appointment on Friday, June 19th with Dr. an ear, nose, and throat specialist at hospital.  He immediately sent me to the hospital because by that time I could only drink tea and broth.  I was there for nine days during which they inserted a feeding tube, ran all kinds of blood test, a MRI, a spinal tap and much more.  I went home with the feeding tube and no diagnosis.  We kept asking for Dr. my neurologist for epilepsy, but they kept saying he treated epilepsy only.  However, when a report about the spinal tap being lost, and that another one had to be done, he became aware of the problems because the neurologist on my case was accountable to him.  My neurologist for epilepsy then called one of my daughters about everything that went wrong.  All my children had taken notes throughout my hospital and he talked to her for 45 minutes about my case.  He immediately met with the hospital staff involved, and a week later called her to say that he had set up a team of five doctors to work on my case - Himself, another neurologist dr., another dr.............., another ear, nose throat and speech therapist dr., and my regular internist.  From the beginning when I went into the hospital, I told them that I was perfectly fine until I got the shingles shot and they ignored it.  Dr., one of the neurologist set up by my epilepsy dr. to work on my case, listened to me about the shot and later bouts with shingles...and immediately said that I had a viral infection in my body.  It was then that they realized that it was written on Dr. my regular internist chart that I was allergic to Neosporin, and should have never been given the ZOSTAVAX shot.  For three months I was only on the feeding tube, I was very weak and, therefore, had trouble walking, very tired, my immune system is low, and my tongue is very weak.  After the tube was removed the end of August, I had a hard time eating, and am still having trouble swallowing certain foods, pills... I also still have at times some itchy skin, but I put IVAREST (a salve for poison ivy) on the spots and that seems to help.  Dr. give me a prescription for the pill, ACYCLOVIR, which he said some people have to take the rest of their life.  However, the medicine caused hair loss, and he said that there were 2 other medicines, but they were all interrelated and the results would be the same.  He said at that time to stop taking the medicine.  I have another appointment with him on November 18th.  Dr. has given me numerous pages of exercises to do to try to strength my tongue and improve my speech.  I have trouble with certain letters and, therefore, some words are hard to understand.  The outcome is uncertain.  I'm only writing this letter so that others do not go through this.  I feel that Merck & Company and the drug salesmen should have a pamphlet to hand out to the doctors, as well as, anybody planning to get the shot.  This pamphlet should include in big letters why certain people should not be given the shot because of certain allergies....My children only found out about this, after the fact, through the internet-patient information about ZOSTAVAX. 12/30/09 Medical records received for dates 7/22/09 to 11/18/09. Pt has had several OV. 7/22: c/o not being able to swallow. Pt states was stung by bee in 5/09 which caused swelling and soreness on rt side of neck, then burning on face, then weakness on tongue/mouth, difficulty swallowing. Assessment: mild dysarthria, (+)tremors of chin. OV  10/20/09 f/u seizure visit. OV 11/18/09 f/u shingles blisters, neurologic sx stable, lingual dysarthria stable, lower cranial neuropathies improving, fell like neuropathies are related to recurrent varicella infection. 1/8/10 DC summary and medical records received for dates 6/19/09 to 6/27/09. DX: multiple cranial neuropathies, aspiration, dysphasia. Presenting SX: inability to tolerate PO intake, neuro pain, swallowing difficulty, SOB. Hosp. course, NPO, pt had feeding tube placement, speech therapy during stay. Feeding tube removed by dc date. Pt able to tolerate PO and swallowing.