I dont know of any relationship but I have symptoms of shingles even from before I was diagnosed with sjogrens. I would venture to say that there must be a relationship.Im interested in seeing the response as well. Sorry I could not be of help though, are you having symptoms?

My guess is that anybody who is immuno-surpressed and/or compromised is more susceptible to things..including shingles. I have had many bouts with shingles ( the first episode in my early 30's I think) and I am 45 now. Luckily I have not had any outbreaks in ahwile and that is surprising since i am on high steroid doses for adrenal issues. I was on daily Valtrex to prevent outbreaks ( I also get blisters on my hands) but without insurance coverage to pay for it I had to stop taking it.

Oh and what is mctd?

Just diagnosed with shingles yesterday. Mctd-mixed connective tissue disease-catch all for autoimmune stuff--I also have sjogrens.

Shingles is caused by the chicken pox virus, people who have had chicken pox often break out in shingles when contracting the virus. it could be, people with auto immune diseases take meds to suppress the immune system thus making people more susceptible to different disease.
My heart goes out to you all though, shingles can be extremely painful, I you all are feeling better soon.

I had shingles in June. It was on a Saturday so my regular internist and rheumatologist weren't in the office. I went to a local clinic. I had a bump on my scalp and I told her my eye was throbbing and was intensely painful. She focused on the bump and said I had a spider bite and gave me an antibiotic. I was watching tv that night and felt like something was crawling on my forehead. I got a mirror and I could watch a rash developing horizontally above my eyebrow. Then it made a turn and was heading for my eye. I called the hospital and talked with the triage nurse. She immediately suspected shingles and told me to go to the hospital. The shingles follow nerves and the ER doctor diagnosed shingles. He woke up an opthamologist who said if not treated, optical shingles can cause blindness. The pain was terrible and they gave me Tylenol-3. It's been six months and occasionally, I still have pain. I wish now I had taken the vaccine. The rheumatologist told me there is no association between shingles and Sjogren's but there is a high association between shingles and stress. He also told me that you can have shingles numerous times.
Karen

i had shingles a few years before i was diagnosed with sjogren's. I don't think i ever got my energy back from it and i had it on my face around my eye. I can't help but wonder if one caused the other but can't prove it x

When you have the chickenpox, the herpes zoster stays in your system. When your immune system is down, it can blossom as shingles. When I started on plaquenil and turned 60, the doctor recommended I have a shingles vaccine. I figured I'd probably be on immune suppressants before long and got the vaccine. Two months later, I went on cellcept and wouldn't have been able to take the vaccine. The vaccine is live, so you can't take it unless your immune system is strong. I'm happy I got it when I did.

I do not think that sjs and Shingles are associated. However, I have been told that if we do get Shingles it can be twice as bad for us. I just got the vaccine about a month ago now. I had about a 5 inch long red mark and my arm was painful for about a week. I am glad I got it though. Better a little pain than full blown Shingles.

My stepfather had it many years ago. It was horrible. The doctor said it was one of the worst cases she had seen and even wanted him to be put in a medical journal but he didn't want to do that. He did not have any autoimmune disorders that I am aware of.

Hope everyone gets passed by with this one..............

Auto Immune diseases attack your own body, therefor overworking your immune system - creating more "opportunities" for infections/diseases to attack unchecked. So, in a sense there is a connection - just not a DIRECT connection. Meaning not everyone who has an auto immune disease will get shingles- they're just more prone to "catch" diseases - and existing diseases are more prone to flare (aka Shingles virus is always there after you get chicken pox lurking for the right opportunity to strike...and it gets more opportunities if you have an AI disease).

If you've EVER had chicken pox - you're at risk for shingles. My docs told me: If you get shingles, the vaccine wont help. You've already been exposed.
And BOY HOWDY....was I ever exposed. When you see your doctors wince...you know it's a bad case :(

Here's hoping you guys stay shingle free....it's PAINFUL!!!!