Anyone find it hard to walk to (non-vax) walk (esp. if exposed to VPD)?

[LoisLane]

Sigh.

A boy in my 4 yo twin girls' preschool classroom here in Europe has a case of confirmed measles. My girls have not had the MMR (one DD had a terrible reaction to the 4 mo vaccines and we are "delaying" as a result. Had actually talked about giving them the MMR before starting school this fall back home.) And so now we are watching and waiting.

And although I know most kids get through measles with no problem, and although I have educated myself (both when we decided to delay vaxxing and now) on things to do (we've been upping the Vit A and D, I am roasting a chicken and will make more bone broth tonight, giving probiotics and as many fruits and veggies as I can), I am still worried.

Suddenly, when it's your child, that 1 in 1,000 number of severe brain injury or death is much more meaningful.

My almost 8 yo DS has had one of the MMRs (at 13 months) and I am praying that is enough. He suffered from viral-induced asthma when he was younger and it used to be that any upper respiratory illness knocked him out. He is SO much better now (have been working hard to support his immune system the last few years) but I am surprised how I am both relieved he has at least had one shot and worried it won't be enough.

I wish I was either 100 percent on the anti-vax bandwagon, or 100 percent pro vax. This middle area -- seeing the value of some vaxxes in some situations, but seeing the danger as well -- is hard. Especially now that the threat is more real.

My girls got through chicken pox fine (and my DS, who had also had one of the two varicella shots, had a VERY mild case). I am hoping they will get through this too. But I wondered if anyone ever felt this way when actually faced with one of the VPDs?

Any support right now would be welcome. Thanks for listening.

[Marnica]

I completely understand where you are coming from.

Whenever our children are exposed to something that has the potential to make them ill, we worry. That's just being a parent. As for measles exposure, if your child does get the measles, they will be fine I'm sure. If you are not familar with treating measles naturally and homeopathically, I would do a little proactive research. Perhaps contact an ND or homeopath now just in case. Treating infectious diseases naturally (as oppsed to giving tylenol etc) will give far better outcomes IMO and decrease cahnces of complications.

As for the MMR, If you believe the MMR is effective and the risks of benefit may outweigh any risk of harm, Than I can understand your apprehension about it. Personally I feel the risk of harm (and I'm talking about long term consequences) from the MMR would be graeter than the tiny chance of measles complications, especially since I fell I could treat it naturally with our ND's support. With that being said, if my DS did come down with measles, of course I would still feel nervous and scared. Geez, I get stressed when he has a bad chest cold Hang in there, you will all be fine

[Deborah]

One other thing I know that helps kids cope with measles is making absolutely certain that they are not and do not become constipated while they are ill. This is something Dr. Incao mentions and he is pretty knowledgeable about measles.

Given the ages of your children and all you've been doing to support their immune systems, if they do get measles they should be absolutely fine. Remember that the 1 in 1,000 number is not based on kids in the optimum age group for having measles (over 2 and under 10) but includes infants and adults who are much more likely to have problems.

What else? Let the fever do its thing. Let the children be miserable and sick and lie around moaning and sleeping. I had measles when I was eight and I can remember being really miserable for a couple of days. One problem nowadays is that we no longer know how to just let kids be sick when they are sick. We give them drugs to suppress the symptoms and then wonder why sickness drags on and on.

I'm 60 years old. My mother got 5 children through the measles and all of the other terrible childhood illnesses in good order and we are all still ploughing along.

Relax. Prepare for the worst and expect the best!

[LoisLane]

Thanks for your words of support. It was just what I needed.

I have been amazed at what has happened since I stopped giving fever reducers to my kids ... they still get high fevers (104/40) when they are sick -- but then it's over. None of the up and down and up and down and up and down. And... the are calm when they are feverish, just what they need to be... resting.

A friend here put me in touch with a non-vaxxing mom who gave me a list (in French) of homeopathics and essential oils she is stocking up on. And I emailed our doctor to check in (I was curious if a virus they had about 10 days ago could have been mild measles, 2 days of high fever, 2 days of mild all over body rash -- he said not likely)... and he gave a response that I will cherish once we are through this (my translation):

Be reasonable. If the girls aren't sick now, they don't have measles now. If they get sick, come and see me.

Then he added a winking smiley. Nice, eh?

My last worry --what about me and DH. We only had one MMR as children in the early 70s. What are the odds it's still working?

Enough worrying for the night. Everyone looks well now. So clearly we don't have measles now

Thanks again.

[ammiga]

Originally Posted by Deborah

One other thing I know that helps kids cope with measles is making absolutely certain that they are not and do not become constipated while they are ill. This is something Dr. Incao mentions and he is pretty knowledgeable about measles.

Along these lines, remember that constipation is frequently a side effect of dehydration. To avoid this (and other side effects of dehydration), keep the fluids flowing!