Local Reaction from DTaP

[teamsalem]

Ok, so we do our own thing with vaccination as I think many of you do. So, my experience is thus somewhat limited. Has anyone else's child had a huge lump after getting a vaccination? it is so huge, probably about 3-4 inches in diameter. It is red, warm to touch and hard. It is protruding out from her leg and looks just awful. Stupidly, I just spent 20 minutes looking for the spider that bit her. Then I remembered, oh yes, that shot was yesterday. My pediatrician says local reactions are common and recommends applying warm compresses. Thoughts? This is only her 2nd shot total and she is almost 17 mos.

[Bokonon]

Yes, my son had that.  He spent the next 8 months sick - on antibiotic after antibiotic, in and out of the doctor's office, trying to figure out why he couldn't stop coughing and why his digestive system was so messed up.  At one point his doctor thought he had pertussis, but he tested negative.

I have read that reactions are more likely with subsequent doses of DTaP - my son had 4 doses without incident and then reacted to the 5th.  So please consider that if you choose to get your daughter DTaP again.

I know they say these reactions are "normal", but I don't believe that means they are harmless, personally, and the reactions we don't see worry me. 

[teamsalem]

That is so horrible and scary, is he ok now?  I am definitely thinking twice about finishing the series. 

[Bokonon]

Originally Posted by teamsalem 

That is so horrible and scary, is he ok now?  I am definitely thinking twice about finishing the series. 

He did eventually stop coughing in February, after getting the vaccine in early July and getting sick the week after the shot.  His digestive system was still all messed up, and it looked on xray like his intestines were inflamed from all the coughing.  I cut out dairy and there was an improvement, but he tested negative for all allergies on a blood test.  After trialing back in dairy, I noticed a pattern and thought maybe it was lactose intolerance.  That solved the problem completely - he can eat all the dairy he wants with Lactaid pills.  :)  Again, this is not a problem he had before the shot.

And again, I'm sure many will say that it was just a coincidence, but his pediatrician agrees that it was probably from the vaccine!

[Taximom5]

I have had this reaction myself, on 4 different occasions (but with different doctors).  After the second time with the same doctor, I was told by that doctor not to get shots any more. 

In all cases, there were other complications concurrent with the swelling. With the flu shot, it was severe upper respiratory problems .I had NEVER had problems before, and suddenly found myself with asthma, bronchitis, and, the second time, pleurisy.  In both cases, I had grapefruit-sized, hot red lumps at the injection site.

In a previous case, I had 4 multi-vaccines at once (two of which caused only orange-sized, hot, red lumps), and had some major autoimmune issues beginning within days of the vaccines. One of those issues was celiac, which the rheumatologist said can be triggered by vaccines.