Heading to doc tomorrow - need help - child with ASTHMA

[WhiteHorse]

I should have got on here earlier but forgot we had a dr appt in the morning. My son who is 2.5 years old has not had any vax since he was 6 months old. (After the last vax experience, he suffered from diarherra for a couple of months - yes I know its not a normal reaction, but wait, there's more.) He is also DAIRY allergic, this is a severe allergy and we have known this since birth. Now, we've been seeing this family doc who does not pester us too much about the vaccines, however, my son is now very low weight and looks and probably is malnourished. (He does not eat.) We have yet to see a nutritionist - waiting on a blood test for anemia. He also has moderate ASTHMA, and might be considered higher risk for such things like pneumonia, measles, anything really. He tends to get sick a LOT. This past winter, he went from an ear infection to the FLU to Roseola in a matter of a month. Feb. he had an infection, not sure if it was pneumonia or not. When we went to have him looked at, the PA did not really look at him too much because he did not have a fever at the moment (I had just given motrin) but did prescribe amoxicillin because one ear had fluid and it was a Fri eve. He went home and spent the entire weekend sleeping and coughing. He could not even walk. He had never been so sick, even with the flu which I think was swine flu since none of the rest of the family got it.

Anyway, I say all this because the doc mentioned last month that we might want to do the vaccines for stuff he is more at risk for. It made me start thinking, a healthy kid would probably be up and running around after a week of the measles, but if my kid gets it, he might end up in the hospital. The other thing is, I am hoping to start watching other children in my home, and with the increase of kids he is around, he will be exposed to more stuff.

Does anyone here have a child with asthma and what do you - do you do select vax, no vax, all? Just curious what some of you have chosen to do. Thanks

[Katerz2u]

I wouldn't get any vaccines until you have gotten him as healthy as possible again. You might not be able to knock out the asthma but he should have clear blood labs and be gaining weight again before you proceed with anything else. Was there ever any explanation for the long bout of diarrhea?
We are a non vaccinating family but I would feel way more comfortable vaccinating a healthy child before one that is malnourished, asthmatic with severe allergies.

[nicolebeth]

I would wait on the vaccines as well, and consider a check for celiac (stomach issues, low weight, etc.). If they check for total IgA, you might find that is low (which can explain the frequent illnesses also).

[WhiteHorse]

This is why a lot of people are confused about the vaccine issue. If you have a child who is high risk for dying from some of these diseases, just as in the case of developing countries where children are malnourished, wouldn't the benefits of vaccinating outweigh the risk? If a child is healthy and not likely to be exposed, then I can see here that the benefits do not outweigh the risks. If he was healthy then I would not worry about vaccinating. People have different reasons for not vaccinating. Some people believe that ALL vaccines are wrong and should never be given no matter what. Some don't want to risk another serious reaction from who knows what vaccine caused it because 4 shots were given. Other people just don't trust the CDC or the pharm companies.

We did our appointment and I can see now that the reason the doc wanted a follow-up was to do the vaccines, to which I said no. He asked me why and I said I wanted to wait until he was 3 and maybe then space them out. I did not want to get into a debate about vaccines because I need to brush up on my research. He did say that he follows the recommended schedule from the CDC (of course) and said that there was no research to support a benefit from spacing out the vaccines. He even said that "it is estimated that the body can withstand 500 vaccines at one time" which is ridiculous but he probably meant 500 organisms. I am not sure how many new organisms we encounter regularly, but probably not that many all at once unless we get dropped into a foreign country and wallow in a shared latrine. I really like this doctor, and after looking for a long time for a good one, I am not ready to go searching for another doc based on one stupid remark. He was just trying to make a case, which he did not convince me by that blathering, but I am going to do some more research and pray.

[ASusan]

We have what is likely asthma. Food and environmental allergies. Eczema. DS responds with wheezing to allergens and to viruses. We do not vax, although DH would like to in the future.

DS does get cod liver oil, which gives him plenty of Vit D. Would you be open to something like that?

[Jojoma]

It's not unlikly that kids who already have asthma, allergies etc. react serverely to vaccines, making their allergies/asthma worse. Their body is often too weak to handle all the vaccin ingredients in a way healthy kids can. That would be my reason not to vax him.
If you want to argue with kids in the 3rd world: They never get as much vaccines as they give our kids, their living conditions are way different to ours (almost no allergies but many infectious deseases) and there is no good study saying that more 3rd world kids survive if they get vaccinated.
Good that you could stand your ground saying no and giving it more time for research.
500 vaccines in one day: There is a big diffference between coming in contact with organisms the natural way (skin, mouth, nose) and injecting them directly into the body (added with preservatives, antibiotics etc.) bypassing all natural watch guards. Many docs seem to generously overlook this fact.

[Deborah]

Although it doesn't directly apply, the book: Special Needs Kids Eat Right by Judy Converse, has a lot of good info on figuring out how to nourish children who are having problems eating properly for whatever reason. She has a web-site, too.

You do need to focus on the immediate health problems rather than worry about infectious diseases to which he probably won't be exposed, at least not in the next few weeks!

Good luck.

[WhiteHorse]

What is the recommended amt of Vit D for his age? He weighs 23 lbs. I was looking at calcium sources with the pharmacist and she told me not to give him an adult dose as it would be too much. She suggested Tums along with his regular multivitamin gummy which has 400 IU.

[ASusan]

No, not tums - especially with a child with allergy issues. It reduces stomach acid, which will impair digestion. Your child will ultimately get fewer nutrients from the food he eats.

May I gently suggest you stop by the allergies forum here? The women there are super-knowledgeable about these kinds of things.

I think it is difficult to get too much Vit. D.

I think you should look into the proper ratios of calcium and magnesium intake. You probably should not sup calcium without also supping mag. Most children are low on mag. Its easy to supp mag with Epsom salts baths.

[2boyzmama]

I am living in this circle of "my kid is at risk, so could benefit highly from vaccines...conversely my kid is sick and is at higher risk of side effects from vaccines" It is a painful place to be in.

My son has a primary immune deficiency, and about a dozen other diagnoses stemming from a chromosomal deletion. He is at very high risk of illness, particularly viral and anything respiratory. He is very low weight (25 pounds at age 3) so illnesses hit him hard, take him a long time to recover.

So I *want* to vaccinate him, I really really do. I want to give him every single vaccine on the market, and every single one in testing right now. I want to protect him from everything imaginable.

But his little body has already taken such a hit. His gut is a mess from so many course of antibiotics. His immune system is already barely functioning. I worry that the side effects of vaccinating will be much worse for him.

I agonize over this decision constantly. Some of the vaccines are easier to dismiss than others. Some of the illnesses are easier to prevent and/or treat.

The deciding factor in our case was his immune function tests. It isn't likely that he will mount an appropriate antibody response to a vaccine, as evidenced by his illness history. He frequently gets the same illness multiple times (lab confirmed). He also has strings of illness, like you've experienced (last winter he had an umbilical infection, then RSV, then rotavirus, then a nasty double ear infection, then some other stomach bug...all in less than 2 months, including a week-long hospitalization for rota). Honestly we've never had a long enough healthy streak for me to think that his body might be in the position to get a vaccine.

Take each vaccine individually. Explore each ingredient thoroughly (be on the lookout for dairy, several vaccines have casein in them). Research the illness extensively. For example, this fall was the first time anyone in our family has ever had lab-confirmed flu, in the past we've had "textbook flu symptoms" that turned out to be lab-negative. What good would a flu shot have done us??

In my son's case...the vaccines that I wanted to give him the most, taking into account his specific risk factors, were (in order of importance): pertussis, flu, prevnar, HiB, varicella (chicken pox). Knowing that order, I worked through each vaccine and illness, evaluating each one individually.

Right now, today, my conclusion is that it isn't worth the risk of vaccinating him. That could change. I don't know when or how, but I know that it could. I don't think I'll ever do prevnar or HiB because of serotype replacement issues that greatly concern me. But the other three are still on my list, and I still research endlessly (why do you think I lurk on this forum so much!)

[kkfum]

Originally Posted by WhiteHorse

What is the recommended amt of Vit D for his age? He weighs 23 lbs.

Has he had a Vitamin D blood test? I would definitely do that. Vitamin D deficiency is linked to asthma. Please take a look at research from scientists/doctors about Vitamin D deficiency (links below). Their recommendations are for 1,000 IU for every 25 lbs of weight. However, that's for people/children who are not already low...he would likely need much more if he is deficient (and most people are).

It is almost unheard of to overdose on Vitamin D (make sure it's D3, though, not D2). My daughter (4.5 yo and 42 lbs) is low and takes 3,000 IU/day...I (also low) take 6,000 daily and my doctor put me on 50,000 IU once/week for 8 weeks in addition. 13 mo (not tested yet & 25 lbs) takes 1,000 IU. We are going in to re-test this week.

Supplements are relatively inexpensive (and of course, sunlight in the late spring/summer, is free!).

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/scien...d-asthma.shtml

Lots of great information:
www.vitamindcouncil.org
http://vitamindfoundation.org
Take the time to look at the video by Dr. Vieth-it's a very interesting, easy to follow critical information about the vitamin d deficiency epidemic

Good luck!

[amnesiac]

Please continue asthma treatment etc discussion in Health & Healing so we can remain focused on the vax issue in this forum. Thanks!