I am unsure about tetanus shots... since I may have had tetnaus

[Koalamom]

I have a 20 month old. I am not vaxing her at all, but I am considering tetanus shots for her.
The reason is because when I was a teenager, I got a nasty wound from a rusty nail in a crumbling barn with animal bones laying around the nail. It tore up my flesh, but I was working all day outside, so I waited to clean it up since it didn't bother me much. Shortly after, my arm got all crampy, and I lost control of it. My jaw started to tighten, and my mother who is a back woods mother, and never took us to the doctor, just gave me many doses of homeopathic Ledum. I never got any new symptoms, but it took about 3 months to get better. The pain I went through was horrible, and I am pretty sure it was tetanus. We stayed away from all vaccines, but I just wish I had gotten hte shot. I went through so much to heal naturally.

Now that I have a DD, I don't know what to do, but I have more to be concerned since I may have goten tetanus and I never want my daughter to go through that.

I wonder if there are other ways to treat it besides homeopathy?

What do I do?

[Gitti]

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1

I wonder if there are other ways to treat it besides homeopathy?

What do I do?

The Tetanus only vaccine is not available for kids under 7 yoa. Before that age the DTaP vaccine is used and it is by far the most reactive vaccine on the schedule.

That being said...
Tetanus generally thrives in a wound that does not bleed AND lacks oxygen.

Your description of the "torn up flesh" wound which obviously bled and "rusty nail" (oxygenation) does no seem to be conducive to tetanus.

I don't doubt that the wound was awfully painful but I do doubt that the tetanus vaccine would have prevented that.

What needed to be done was immediate wound care.

There was never much tetanus in kids because they bleed so easily. All 3 or 4 people that die of tetanus each year out of 300,000,000 people, are old and generally have some sort of immune deficiency, diabetes, or are on chemo.

Since the body can get tetanus repeatedly and can't build immunity, there is doubt that a vaccine can accomplish that. Many people doubt that the tetanus vaccine does anything other than make money for the vaccine producer.

[Marnica]

I 100% agree with Gitti. Def not worth it to get the DTaP which is highly reactive. When you DD is young I doubt she will be in danger from getting a wound ike you described. If she is older and a teenager and got this type of wound than you could consider something for her at that point. (If the wound didn't bleed of course). I really wouldn't owrry about it. Good wound care is the most important thing with tetnus anyway.

[Emmeline II]

The problem is not that you didn't have the vax, but that you ignored your injury and didn't take care of it properly. The few adult tetanus cases I have read exhibited similar neglect. You could have had the same symptoms from the actual vaccine; if I had a dollar for every person on this board who has had a tetanus vax reaction or their dh (usually), or other family member, I could probably buy an Ipod shuffle.

In any case, should you believe an injury warrants it, you can give the TIG.

[kiara7]

Tetanus immuno globulin can always be given if the situation warrants it.

[Jemmind]

Originally Posted by Emmeline II

if I had a dollar for every person on this board who has had a tetanus vax reaction or their dh (usually), or other family member, I could probably buy an Ipod shuffle.

Wonder why dh's have the reactions in the cases you've heard about reactions?
My hubby broke out in hives after his tetanus vacc.

[Koalamom]

I am feeling a bit better about this. I really don't want to give my daughter the vaccine.

To be more specific about the wound, I had a previous deep wound, and it was reopened/torn up by the nail. It jammed into the old wound, and it didn't actually bleed if I can remember. I was so busy, and it didn't really hurt much, so I just decided to wear the gloves I was carrying in my pocket. I was a foolish teenager. I was trying to be tough, and not wash it right away like mom says. Now I regret it. I had so many muscle spasms afterwards for months, and it was so painful. I even had teeth problems from clenching my jaw afterwards. The Ledum did heal it very slowly, but atleast i didn't die.

With all the statistics, I now see how rare this was for me. I was hoping that I would have passed on an immunity to my DD. Is that possible? I am not actually immune to it am I?

(I must sound like a rare nut to have had tetanus, but I wont go into the time I got rabies symptoms from a dog bite who had just got his rabies vaccine a few days before. What luck!)

[Gitti]

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1

I was hoping that I would have passed on an immunity to my DD. Is that possible? I am not actually immune to it am I?

Well, we don't know very much about diseases and virtually nothing about immunity. There is one study that shows that some people who come in contact with a low grade tetanus spore infections repeatedly build some sort of immunity by the time they are old. From what I remember, they were some 70 yo sheep farmers in Australia.
I doubt that any of us have immunity to tetanus to pass on to our kids.

(I must sound like a rare nut to have had tetanus, but I wont go into the time I got rabies symptoms from a dog bite who had just got his rabies vaccine a few days before. What luck!)

Not to me. If you don't question things you will never know. Don't worry what it seems like to others. Do what is best for you and your child.

I know nothing about rabies, except that some people believe it is impossible for humans to actually get rabies. But I have never researched it.

[Full Heart]

How long is shortly after? Incubation can take up to 21 days but is typically 14 days. What I wonder is if it was tetanus or a nerve injury. My understanding is that once it enters your body it is not localized. It spreads to all the muscles. Which is why it can be deadly since it can inhibit breathing and heart rate. I don't think natural immunity occurs after infection so there is nothing to pass on.

If you had the shot it wouldn't have protected you from any of the other things that could have been introduced to you through that dirty wound. Vaccination is not an excuse to forego good hygiene.

[CookAMH]

I say no. For starters, you are aware of how one gets it, and you know to seek medical care. Is your daughter going to be in the same setting? Do you still live there and have her do those things?

Just because you had it and it wasn't treated very well, doesn't mean she'll get it and have it go untreated, you know? If a risky injury does occur, you can have someone give her the tetanus immunoglobin shot to treat it.

Proper cleansing and treatment of wounds is key. You know that and can protect your daughter better than the shot.

[CanidFL]

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1

I am feeling a bit better about this. I really don't want to give my daughter the vaccine.

To be more specific about the wound, I had a previous deep wound, and it was reopened/torn up by the nail. It jammed into the old wound, and it didn't actually bleed if I can remember. I was so busy, and it didn't really hurt much, so I just decided to wear the gloves I was carrying in my pocket. I was a foolish teenager. I was trying to be tough, and not wash it right away like mom says. Now I regret it. I had so many muscle spasms afterwards for months, and it was so painful. I even had teeth problems from clenching my jaw afterwards. The Ledum did heal it very slowly, but atleast i didn't die.

With all the statistics, I now see how rare this was for me. I was hoping that I would have passed on an immunity to my DD. Is that possible? I am not actually immune to it am I?

(I must sound like a rare nut to have had tetanus, but I wont go into the time I got rabies symptoms from a dog bite who had just got his rabies vaccine a few days before. What luck!)

You are not immune to tetanus just because you had it and you can't pass immunity to your daughter either. I don't think you are a nut I know someone who had tetanus and they describe the pain like you do. She was in the hopsital through the treatment but there is only so much you can do. It sounds absolutely awful and I would never want that for my son. If I suspect a tetanus wound, I have no problem giving TIG to myself or him.

[k9sarchik]

In Anthroposophic communities Tetanus is one of the only vaccines that they may give to their kids. But not until after the age of 7.
I wouldn't give the Dtap.
Sorry about your painful ordeal. Now you know that you need to tell your kids that keeping wounds clean is serious.

[Symbi]

I understand your conflict in wanting your child to remain vax-free, yet protected from tetanus. I am struggling with this dilemma myself. If I thought I had suffered tetanus as a teenager, I think I would most certainly vax my child for it. It is a tough decision. My son is younger than your daughter, but he is extremely active--and all boy, and I'm not sure I feel comfortable with the TIG protecting him (what I've read doesn't convince me of how effective the TIG shot is) when the most likely inevitable tetanus-risk injury occurs.

[kangaroomum25]

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1

I wonder if there are other ways to treat it besides homeopathy?

http://www.rvita.com/conditions/tetanus.html

Probiotics, eat your ferments (all the time, I consider this more of a prevention thing)
that site also mentioned iodine, Astragalus, Tea tree oil, and Sorrel but I really didnt read that much about them.

Vitamin C and make sure the dose is high enough and you're using the right kind, some vitamin c's don't work as well as others and some will strip your body of salt. A lot of people reccomend sodium ascorbate but usually only when fighting off something.

I also read something about castor oil being used to draw the poison out.

Or

a poultice of freshly crushed plantain leaves. If plantain leaves are not in season use ointment. Reapply until the wound is healing well (Dr. J Christopher and Cathy Gileadi, Every Woman’s Herbal p.165).

http://abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/36727/

Let your kids play in the dirt, it helps to build up natural immunities. I don't mean dirt full of pesiticides or herbacides of course.

Here's another great article http://www.vaccinetruth.org/tetanus.htm

I think the fact that you lived through it is reason NOT to get your daughter the shot (plus you really don't know how effective the shot is anyway) besides I think you have a lot more options for treatments then your mom did back at the time.

Tetanus takes awhile to develop, (not as long for the shot to work so please don't ever get the booster after a wound has happened) anytime there's a wound that you have a concern about, after you've cleaned it you can also take some of the above precautions. Up vitamin c, probiotics, etc other natural immune boosters.

[anewmama]

Originally Posted by Gitti

Well, we don't know very much about diseases and virtually nothing about immunity.

Do you really believe we don't know much about diseases? I am having a hard time fathoming that. I think we know a whole lot about them. Can we always control them or treat them? Heck no. Are they always so predictable? Following some logical linear path? No. Can we always explain them? No. But I think we know a lot about diseases.

[kangaroomum25]

Originally Posted by anewmama

Do you really believe we don't know much about diseases? I am having a hard time fathoming that. I think we know a whole lot about them. Can we always control them or treat them? Heck no. Are they always so predictable? Following some logical linear path? No. Can we always explain them? No. But I think we know a lot about diseases.

(not answering for gitti, jmo)

I think in the grande scheme of things, no, we don't know near as much as we could or should. Just think, what do we *know* now that we didn't *know* 100 or even 50 yrs ago. Heck how many people go to the dr to get diagnosed and the dr either can't, or it's incorrect, or the person even ends up diagnosing themselves. We're still seeing new diseases we've never even seen before. And if we know so much about these diseases then how come we haven't found better ways to treat and prevent them. Sorry, no we've allways thought we had advanced medical care and then 50 yrs later we are amazed at how stupid we were.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by Jemmind

Wonder why dh's have the reactions in the cases you've heard about reactions?

Because they're the one's getting the vaxes. A lot of times the guys haven't done the research. Either they are not on board with not vaxing or they cave without back-up or in high pressure situations since they don't have their own knowledge to rely on.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by Symbi

I understand your conflict in wanting your child to remain vax-free, yet protected from tetanus. I am struggling with this dilemma myself. If I thought I had suffered tetanus as a teenager, I think I would most certainly vax my child for it. It is a tough decision. My son is younger than your daughter, but he is extremely active--and all boy, and I'm not sure I feel comfortable with the TIG protecting him (what I've read doesn't convince me of how effective the TIG shot is) when the most likely inevitable tetanus-risk injury occurs.

I have a very active boy, but I know that the chance that he will be one of the 1-2 children per year that contract tetanus is very small. There are a lot of active children in the US, a lot of people that live on farms, a lot of people that work with equipment that could cause a deep wound...but the yearly average is 43 people contracting tetanus, and most of them are over fifty years old.