The risk of getting shingles is 1.5--2 times higher in people with autoimmune diseases. This is especially true if their immune system hasn't healed and has been injured by radioiodine or long-term use of prednisone. The risk is lower in Graves' disesase patients who achieve remission naturally or with meds.

A recent study suggests that the shingles vaccine is safe. Still, because vaccines stimulate the immune system, people who have recently moved into remission would want to approach any vaccine with caution.

For someone like me (diagnosed with shingles this week, 20-years post RAI) the vaccine (had I gotten it) might have been effective in preventing shingles. But since the vaccine only prevents shingles in 1/2 of the people who receive it, its preventive powers aren't certain. Researchers think that the vaccine reduces the risk for post-herpetic neuralgia in people who get shingles. So does early treatment with antiviral meds, and I started them early.

Shingles can develop in those of us exposed to children who were recently immunized for chickenpox. Because we can only get shingles if we had chickenpox in the past, the virus remains dormant and can be also triggered by stress. Other risk factors include a weakened immune system, age, prednisone and other immunosuppressant agents.

In autoimmune diseases, the immune system is weak and ineffective. Anti-thyroid drug treatment for Graves' disease, along with lifestyle changes and/or alternative medicine, helps strengthen and heal the immune system. The kind of treatment we use for Graves' disease has lifelong consequences.