knot in leg after vax

[shanniesue2]

we have ds on a delayed schedule and are comfortable with that.

two weeks ago, he got a dtap shot and still has a knot in his leg at the injection site. there are no other s/s that anything is amiss... has anyone else ever seen a knot stick around that long?

[Marnica]

Yes,

I have heard from many parents that this has happened and I think it is even mentioned in the package insert as a possible reaction.

[Ophelia]

My understanding from what I have read is that it can be the aluminum that causes the nodules. I wish I could find more concrete information on that, but here is info on aluminum:

http://www.mothering.com/articles/gr...himerosal.html

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=815768

[Gitti]

It is from the aluminum which is in the vaccines and should never be injected into a human body.

Some day when he is grown up and gets a rash on this exact spot of his let leg, whenever he has loose change in his pocket, you'll know why. It is a reaction to the aluminum which the body never got rid of.

Aluminum is also linked to Alzheimer's Disease.

[shanniesue2]

Thank you Ophelia, for the links. I own the Vaccine Book, and have read the chapters the aluminum issue. We are pretty much following Dr. Sear's Alternative schedule (minus a few vaccines and with a few moved around). While I knew that getting a knot at the injection site is a possible side effect, I hadn't read anywhere that it was caused by aluminum. And I hadn't read anywhere that said specifically how long was typical for the knot to last.

Originally Posted by Gitti

It is from the aluminum which is in the vaccines and should never be injected into a human body.

Some day when he is grown up and gets a rash on this exact spot of his let leg, whenever he has loose change in his pocket, you'll know why. It is a reaction to the aluminum which the body never got rid of.

Aluminum is also linked to Alzheimer's Disease.

Gee.... are you trying to make me feel like an awful parent? Because that's not helpful.

If you read the note at the top of the forum it says that Mothering takes the side of informed consent and that it does not take a pro or anti stand on vax. I did my research and really went back and forth over what we should do. It was a hard decision and we feel like we made the best one for our particular situation. I really don't need people talking to me like, "well now you've done it. Just you wait, 20 years down the road, you'll see that you've screwed him over for life." It's not helpful.

I know that a knot at the injection site is a fairly common reaction. I simply wanted to know if it was common for the knot to stick around for 2 weeks and if I should be concerned. I didn't need to be spoken down to like that.

[nataliachick7]

my sons knots stuck around for months and months. we stopped vaxing at 9 months or so. also, the vaccine book isnt a very good resource as it is not very accurate. i would suggest reading aviva jill romms book.

[applejuice]

I think you should ask the doctor to look at it and ask him if you should be concerned. Obviously it is a reaction to the vaccine, and it is a common reaction at that. Only your doctor can look at it to see how large a knot it is and if there is any discoloration and how much would be normal.

Can your baby walk/crawl with it? That would indicate the extent of the swelling.

If you read the note at the top of the forum it says that Mothering takes the side of informed consent and that it does not take a pro or anti stand on vax.

I read the note at the top of this forum. I also know that Mothering Magazine has been an advocate of mothers being informed about all matters of health that affect their children from conception, to birth, to breastfeeding, to circumcision, and vaccines. Mothering has been a leader allowing parents to know that there are choices and exemptions to vaccines that parents can make for the past 33 years, since Dr. Mendelsohn wrote his syndicated column and the swine flu fiasco. This was before NVIC was organized and before Congressman Dan Burton's grandchildren moved him to write legislation to take thimerasol out of the children's vaccines. Mothering has been a leader in parents knowing that they have a choice. The fact of the matter is, that people had a choice before 1976, but few people knew it and few people informed others. That is the world I grew up in. I am happy that people can discuss the pros AND cons of vaccinating. This discussion needs to continue. We all need to know there are consequences to our actions or lack of action, because we are parents and we live with those decisions everyday.

When Mothering began in 1976 there were fewer vaccinations. There are even more now, and we need to be very informed about all aspects of vaccines.

[shanniesue2]

Originally Posted by nataliachick7

my sons knots stuck around for months and months. we stopped vaxing at 9 months or so. also, the vaccine book isnt a very good resource as it is not very accurate. i would suggest reading aviva jill romms book.

How is it inaccurate? It simply describes the diseases and each vaccine according to the product inserts. It also talks about the controversial ingredients (i.e. aluminum) Then it has discussion about why some parents choose to vaccinate and why some don't. I'll be honest, I'm very leary of books that are obviously very pro- or anti- vaccine. I like Dr. Sears's book because it seemed so balanced to me. He didn't say to get or not to get children vaccinated.

Originally Posted by applejuice

Only your doctor can look at it to see how large a knot it is and if there is any discoloration and how much would be normal.

Can your baby walk/crawl with it? That would indicate the extent of the swelling.



We all need to know there are consequences to our actions or lack of action, because we are parents and we live with those decisions everyday.

His leg doesn't seem to bother him, really. If I bump it during a diaper change, he'll reach down to my hand. But other than that, it doesn't seem to affect him at all. It's not discolored or anything. And it's not like his whole leg is swollen. There is just this knot in his thigh.

For me personally, the struggle between consequences of action and inaction hits the nail on the head for the struggle I went through with vax's. AFter my research, what it came down to was that I wasn't wholly comfortable with pumping his little body full of chemicals.... but I was equally uncomfortable not getting him any vax... So I felt the best solution was to get him vaxed on a much slower schedule, being mindful of which diseases and which vaccines pose the greatest risk. Then I had to tell myself, that I have made this decision thoughtfully and with my son's best intentions in mind and that that is simply the best I can do.

[Gitti]

Originally Posted by shanniesue2

Then I had to tell myself, that I have made this decision thoughtfully and with my son's best intentions in mind and that that is simply the best I can do.

Please revisit that decision if you feel not quite as comfortable with it as time goes on. Sometimes the biggest mistake we make in life is to stick with something just because we had thought that was the best at the time.

As we know better, we do better - paraphrasing from Maya Angelou

[Lisa85]

Originally Posted by shanniesue2

we have ds on a delayed schedule and are comfortable with that.

two weeks ago, he got a dtap shot and still has a knot in his leg at the injection site. there are no other s/s that anything is amiss... has anyone else ever seen a knot stick around that long?

My dds stuck around for 2 months, and a friend of hers still has a knot from her 6mo dTap at over 3 y.o. despite reassurance from the dr. that it would be gone by 1 year.

[applejuice]

Originally Posted by shanniesue2

Then I had to tell myself, that I have made this decision thoughtfully and with my son's best intentions in mind and that that is simply the best I can do.

Which, in reality, is the best that any of us can do. As a non-vaccinated person and mother myself, I only tell parents to do the research for themselves. That is all. You did it and good for you.

I only said to ask your doctor since s/he looks at babies all day long and would be familiar with what is normal and what is not.

[InDaPhunk]

Originally Posted by shanniesue2

His leg doesn't seem to bother him, really. If I bump it during a diaper change, he'll reach down to my hand. But other than that, it doesn't seem to affect him at all. It's not discolored or anything. And it's not like his whole leg is swollen. There is just this knot in his thigh.

Then why are you concerned about it? It's a knot. A bump. From what you have observed, not painful. You did your research and you're comfortable with your decision to vaccinate and DS is fine, so try not to worry about it . People have vax reactions that vary from mild to extremely severe, as your research has shown you. Don't sweat it. Like you said, it's can be a tough decision, what can you do? Like PPs said it's a common reaction that can last for awhile. Don't shoot the messenger .

If you feel uncomfortable about the knot you can always have your dr report it to VAERS or report it yourself.

As far as the vaccine book being inaccurate, IMO, it manipulates the info to fit the agenda of Dr Sears. FWIW, I like Dr Sears well enough, but his book is biased...slanted, IMO. I hope DS gets well soon. Stinks when the kids aren't as well as you think they should be .

[alegna]

That's how my reaction to the tetanus component started. It got progressively worse until they finally ended up telling my mother to never, NEVER allow me to have it again- if she insisted, it should be done in an ER prepared with a crash cart...

I would never revax with a vaccine after that reaction. I am resentful that my mother kept "trying" with me.

-Angela

[newmum35]

How old is he , and is this his first DTaP? My 15 mo old has been selectively vaxed with only DTaP at approx 3,5, 7 months. With his first shot, there was a hard lump where shot was given that lasted for a few months, but got much smaller by the 2nd month. With his 2nd DTaP it was hard and red for 2 days. I didn't take any more notes than this, so that means I either forgot, or, the reaction wasn't as bad as with the first shot. It took a long time to go away but he had no other notable reactions except on the thigh and the lump didnt seem to bother him in any way. No fussiness, no fever, etc. with any of the 3 shots.

[brendaziz]

My son had a knot after his 2 months- then when i came back at 4 I said that it was still there and they said it was normal for that to last a few months. I stopped vaxing after 4 months but the knot was there for about a year.

I never really understood it either. I'm finding all this info very helpful!

[mountainsun]

We had the same thing happen to my ds (before we stopped vaxing 4 years ago ) The doctor said the lump was "normal." To me and my dh, a lump in my baby's leg for 3 weeks was anything but normal. It is a reaction from the aluminum in the vax The way I saw it was that his little body was telling us something was WRONG.

Also, FWIW, Vaccinations by Aviva Jill Romm is a completely unbiased book, based on facts. I highly recommend it, as well. The Vaccine Book IS written by a pro-vax doc (a better AP doc, for sure! but still, I personally believe he is pushing his own vax schedule.)

And NEVER stop researching - My oldest ds is 5 and I am still learning new things every day.

Good luck!

[Marnica]

Shanniesue-

Partenting is hard no matter how you slice it. You clearly feel that you have researched throughly and are comfortable with the choices you have made. People on this board have differing opinions, some quite strong. I don't think anybody is trying to make you feel like a bad parent. they are just expressing their views or telling you about their experiences. All we can do is the best we can and the fact that you even express concern about this lump indicates you are a good parent!!
Here is an atricle that discusses the accumulation of aluminum in mucsle after vaccines. It is quite a difficult read, and it's focus is on myofasciiitis, but I found it quite informative and thought provoking.

http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/...urcetype=HWCIT

[marlne]

I had my son on a selective and delayed schedule for certain reasons and it was his 3rd DTaP that gave him the lump that lasted a couple weeks.
It was that 3rd one also that made his leg so painful and sore, he wouldn't walk on it for a week.
That made me decide to stop vaccinating even though I had agreed to do a selective and delayed schedule. There was no way I was going to wait and see what the "4th" one would do to him.

[Theoretica]

Originally Posted by shanniesue2

we have ds on a delayed schedule and are comfortable with that.

two weeks ago, he got a dtap shot and still has a knot in his leg at the injection site. there are no other s/s that anything is amiss... has anyone else ever seen a knot stick around that long?

Any reaction is still a reaction. Please report it so proper documentation occurs. I'd recommend warm compresses on the knot, and I'm sorry this happened to you guys!

As for the 'snarkfest' in some of the other posts, I think people easily forget that informed consent is just that. Personally, I am totally against vaxing my children. I've got two adopted kids that were vax'd prior to coming to our home and we aren't doing that ever again, for a multitude of reasons that involve what I believe is russian roulette with their health, to the benefit of the pharmaceutical companies pockets. At the same time, MDC is a great resource and it would make me sad if mamas are so turned off by getting jumped for making the decision to vax that they stop asking questions/learning from the wealth of info here. I think answering your question and pointing out some other resources to consider is a MUCH more supportive way of handling it. You are the mama, and you have the right (and responsibility) to make decisions you believe are best for your baby. And, provided they are legal decisions, your decisions can be opposite of what I believe is best for my baby. That's the glory of independent thought

I do agree, however, that there are other resources to consider looking into regarding the vax's you are currently ok with administering, and you've gotten some good info already so I won't duplicate. My personal hope is that you continue to research and explore neutral, unbiased, and objective research that HAS been done around the world. Ultimately, your child is having a reaction you can SEE. What about the internal reactions to these chemicals that you can't see?

Something to think about, JIMHO

Theoretica

[Ophelia]

I second (or third!) the recommendation of Aviva Jill's book. I've read several vaccine books and it was THE most non-biased one of them all.

I also second the suggestion of reporting to VAERS. A reaction is a reaction is a reaction. I do hope it goes away soon!

Thanks for the link Marnica, I needed that!