DTaP questions for those who did not get it or delayed it.

[mrs.t]

I'm trying to figure out whether I want DS to get the DTaP vaccine. The part that scares me is the possibility of seizures. There is a family history of epilepsy (my brother has it) and I am completely wary of anything that has seizures as a possible side effect. I really want to avoid this vaccine, but like many others, pertussis scares me. I was thinking of delaying it instead of avoiding it altogether, but is there really a point when it seems to be most dangerous in the first year of life?

I am exclusively breastfeeding and DS will not attend daycare. I don't have any other children.

[Marnica]

I would suggest looking in the archived threads. There are a few about people's personal experiences with pertussis and how to treat it.

Also I would suggest looking more in depth into the vaccine, particularly it's effectiveness and balance that with the associated side effects. Vaccinating out of fear is never the best approach. Arm yourself with as much information as possible and then make a calm, educated choice.

[poppan]

Pertussis is on my mind this month. It's supposedly going around in my area and DD with diagnosed with it although she got over it sooo fast that I'm questioning whether it was pertussis to begin with. She did have the characteristic whoop, but by that time I had started vitamin C therapy and although I never even got up to full dosage, the vitamin C seemed to have an instant effect and in a few days she didn't even have a hacking cough anymore, let alone the whoop.

DD had the first DTaP shot when she was 2 months old. Her reaction to it is what caused me to call a halt to the vaccinations and eventually after I researched and thought on it a lot, I decided no more vaxes at all.

She acted like she had had a stroke. I believe she had encephalatic fever. She was so hot and had hours of unconsolable crying that turned into glazed over eyes and acting like she had a stroke (totally out of it). Her twin brother had a more "normal" reaction of "normal" crying/crankiness.

Since that time I have learned DTaP is one of the more reactive vaccines. And that pertussis is one of the least effective vaccines (as in, vaxed people seem to get the disease a lot). Also, that when I read accounts of people who dealt with it and got through it, it became a lot less scary (my pedi told me scary stories). For me, I got them that first DTaP shot because although I had reservations about vaxing in general, I figured I was going to take the middle of the road and just spread out the vaxes. In retrospect I regret it. I got lucky -- DD seems to have suffered no ill effects and is perfectly fine today. But that night I knew something was wrong, even when everyone was telling me that it was a "normal" reaction. If I only had one baby, maybe I would have accepted that. But I had her twin there with her, and I could see that he did not react anywhere close to the same way. I have no way of knowing what would have happened if I didn't have that mother's intuition and gone ahead with the next DTaP and the next one after that (I later learned the reactions build and the real damage is often done on a second or later shot, after the body's been sensitized to it). Maybe nothing would have happened. But I'm glad I didn't risk it -- the first one was scary enough.

[lovebug]

[japonica]

I agree with Marnica...do some reading in the old threads. You need as much information as possible to make the decision that's best for you and your family.

We just went through it here a few months ago with my DS who was 23 months old when he had it. It wasn't pleasant, but we managed and he recovered without any complications. We did SA (sodium ascorbate) and it made a noticeable difference in the cough.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[hapersmion]

My first son had four doses of DTaP, on schedule, and no noticeable reactions, thank goodness. But with my three-month-old son, we're delaying, and we may skip the pertussis component all together. As you said, when it's most dangerous in the first 6 months and wears off after a few years, just delaying doesn't seem worthwhile. Do your research - after doing mine, the risk of the vaccine doesn't seem outweighed by the risk of pertussis at any age. It just doesn't seem likely enough that the vaccine will work to be worth giving it to him. I really don't want him to get pertussis - I want to give him a magic vaccine that's guaranteed to work without side effects - but sadly I now know that the pertussis vaccine just isn't like that.