Roll call: Vax Damage Autism result

[Tracy]

Can we do a little roll call here on the mommies who feel/know that vaccines played a part in their child's autism? or aspargars.

I know that Robyn and Stacie are in the mix.. can others say hello.

I'm trying to help a grandma I know who'se grandaughter diagressed after the MMR and has now been diagnosed with autism.


thanks
tracy

[Tracy]

bump...where are my mommies?

[thoesly]

Okay, I'll try, but I'm not sure this is what you're looking for. I think a lot of things contributed to my son's autism, and vaccines were probably one of them. I believe in the theory that says we all have a toxic threshhold -- a point at which the body has taken in enough toxins and starts to rebel. The threshhold is lower for kids like my son than it is for typically developing kids.

I know that some parents point to the vaccines with excellent reasons. In our case, though, there was no direct correlation. My son regressed at around age 22 months. He had the MMR at 12 months and no vaccines at 18 months. When I consider the toxic load he carried -- my dental fillings, my flu shot, my Rhogam shot, the vaccinations, the thimerosol in the vaccinations and the flu shot he got -- I'm not surprised that he came away with problems, especially if his body has trouble excreting toxins (we've got an appointment with a metabolic clinic at the end of August to follow up on some of this). So I'm sure the vaccines played a role, but I'm not sure that the role was very big in light of some of the other things going on (I've only mentioned a few here).

Hope that helps a little.

[Tracy]

yes, that helps greatly.
I don't know if we know the exact answers here anyway, but your input is so valuable.
my own take on the autism issue is similiar to yours. I think there are several components. And Genetic may be in the mix. but the trigger is enviromental and when I say enviromental that includes vaccines.
mercury/aluminum/yeesh..I could go on...
but the vaccines are just too many. 22 shots by 2. And for some systems it is too much.

question Thoesly:
Did your son have any ear infections? Were antibiotics given at any time?

[thoesly]

Originally Posted by Tracy

Did your son have any ear infections? Were antibiotics given at any time?

No. My son had his first ear infection at age 3 years, 10 months. Prior to that, he had an episode of pink eye (just shy of his 3rd birthday, and antibiotic eye drops were given) and some eczema (hydrocortizone cream, but no long after that, I learned about the autism and removed dairy and it cleared up). I thought I was such a great mother because my boy was never sick. Turned out, he was one of those kids with a hyperactive immune system.

And I totally agree on the genetics piece of it. All three of my kids have special needs, but the needs are different -- in part because I know more and do things differently now, so the youngest has benefitted the most.

[mothernurture]

Tracy,
hopefully this will be useful... my 4 1/2 year old ds has sensory integration dysfunction (mild), which can be considered along the autism spectrum although not as serious as autism.

After much research and kicking myself, I do believe the childhood vaccines he received (unfortunately) on schedule from birth to age 2 caused his SID. In addition, he was exposed to thimerosal in my rhoGAM injections at 28 weeks gestation and within 24 hours of the birth (through breastmilk). It was the cumulative exposure to heavy metal (mercury) that caused his issues.

We have gone through occupational therapy which has helped and are now seeing an integrative medicine doctor who specializes in chelation (for heavy metal toxicity) and detoxifying the body. I am hopeful... my son is doing better but we still have immune system dysfunction (recurrent ear infections since infancy and 2 ear perferations within the last year) as well as some behavioral issues.

[CerridwenLorelei]

my 7yr old

likely the hepb in the superset
ppdnos, sid

[Tracy]

my son is doing better but we still have immune system dysfunction (recurrent ear infections since infancy and 2 ear perferations within the last year) as well as some behavioral issues.

was he bfed? were antibiotics in the mix? My guess is that you know the pattern on that one... antibiotics wipe out the good flora, live virus in the shot goes and lives in intestines. at lease measles are in that story...

[thoesly]

Originally Posted by Tracy

was he bfed?

I forgot to mention this in my above post. All of my kids were breastfed. My son with autism nursed for 20 months (self-weaned when I was 4-5 months pregnant with his sister), my daughter with a variety of needs nursed for 30 months, and my youngest (also some special needs) is still nursing at 22 months.

[pilesoflaundry]

My ds is still not evaluated we are trying to work with the peds to get a referral (HMO) but from reading symptom lists my best guess is either adhd/odd or aspergers. Possibly all of them? He has the 'different' behaviors of aspergers, licking things, no empathy, smelling stuff, sensory issues (his clothes "burn" him he has said I never understood that and always brushed him off until I read up on it I feel horrible now!) tags bug him but not always, no sheets on his mattress. But he is also very impulsive and defiant so that's why I suspect adhd/odd

I think without a doubt the rhogam I got and all the vaxes he got with thimerasol did it. I also ate some fish while pregnant with him before the serious warnings about that came out.

[Tracy]

I think without a doubt the rhogam

Isn't it interesting how this comes up and up...what is the deal with rhogram. I don't really know much about this piece of the equation.

[pilesoflaundry]

Originally Posted by Tracy

Isn't it interesting how this comes up and up...what is the deal with rhogram. I don't really know much about this piece of the equation.

It used to contain mercury in the form of thimerasol and to give that at 28 weeks to a developing fetus..well that along with vaxes starting at 2 weeks old (not it's birth!) messes up things. The total amount of thimerasol kwim? He got it in utero, plus through vaxes and the fish I ate while pregnant also.

[Tracy]

I'll be honest, I tended to skip a lot of threads about rhogam, can you explain to me why it was given to moms?

[mothernurture]

Tracy,

yes, my son was breastfed until 6 weeks after his 2nd birthday. My dd is almost 24 months and is breastfed as well... we have had no sensory or other related issues with dd... here's the difference....

with my son, he rec'd rhoGAM (given to rh negative blood type mothers to prevent complications that can occur if baby is rh positive) at 28 weeks gestation (an especially bad time for fetus' brain to get exposed to mercury) and within 24 hours of the birth... The rhoGAM I rec'd with my son had thimerosol in it as a preservative. The male OBGYN did not inform me of ANY risks associated with getting the injection, only the risks of NOT getting it. The AAP came out with their warning to keep thimerosal away from pregnant women, babies, and children SIX months prior to my son's birth in 1999. Unfortunately, there were a hell of a lot of practitioners who were either uninformed or just plain irresponsible to not heed this warning ASAP.

My son also got all childhood vaccines (many containing thimerosal) on schedule from birth to age 2. I ate fish frequently during this pregnancy, including albacore tuna fish (which had not been listed as harmful to pregnant women yet), farm-raised salmon, and halibut.

With my daughter, I did receive rhoGAM injection from my midwife but it was by another manufacturer who does not use thimerosal. We had a natural, out of hospital birth with no meds. Also, we chose to discontinue vaxing at 2 months when she had a reaction to Hib and polio vaxes... she was a fully breastfed baby and had a neurological reaction (jerky arms and legs during nursing that had never happened before) as well as an ear infection (very rare is newborns who are fully breastfed). She has had no further vaxes after 2 months and has been a very healthy baby. She continues to breastfed and will be 2 at the end of July. I did not eat much fish (and no tuna at all) during this pregnancy.

The Mothering magazine article from either summer or fall 2002 provided a clear picture of the link between rh negative mothers and children with autism... I feel this is statistically significant.. something like over 50% of the autistic population has mothers who are rh negative (and in all likelihood would have rec'd rhoGAM during pregnancy)... the overall percentage of the population who is rh negative is only about 15% (assume roughly half are women).

[mothernurture]

p.s. unfortunately, my son was put on antibiotics for the majority of ear infections he has had... now that we have done the research, we're pursuing alternatives to antibiotics for ear infections.... anyone have any tried and true approaches???

[hcsl]

rhogam

If a mom is rh- and the dad's blood type is rh+ or unknown they give moms a rhogam shot at 28 weeks to prevent a possible problem: If a fetus' + blood comes in contact with its mother's - blood the mom's blood will start making antibodies for + blood (since it's a foreign substance). This won't harm the baby she is currently pregnant with but could pose problems for future children since the antibodies build up over time. The shot is given at 28 weeks so it will cover the mom until the end of the pregnancy (in case she goes into labor early the shot is taken care of).

My main question about this is: Unless it's a very traumatic birth experience, when is a fetus/baby's blood going to mix with the mother's? If it does mix, a rhogam shot is effective in preventing the production of antibodies if given within at least 72 hrs after exposure. (It's at least 72 hrs because rhogam was tested in NY prisons and 72 hrs is the threshold set by the researchers. So it may be effective if given at a longer interval but no one has looked at it.) It's best to just test the baby's cord blood after delivery to see if the shot is necessary at all. I was given some what I suspect is BS by my mw when I asked how blood could mix prior to delivery. She told me some crazy scenario how it could happen and we wouldn't even know it so I should get the shot and be safe. I had to chuckle at the thought of injecting a chemical substance into my pregnant body as being safe.

[kdtwiss]

vaccines?autism

HI, I am Kelli. I have NO doubt that vaccines are the straw that brok ethe camel's back for most if not all autistic children. The first cases of autism were not observed untill shortly after the inroduction of vaccines. I think the rise in cases can be directly attributed to the rise in the # of shots (and therefore mercury) that our children receive. The threshhold for what they can handle is different for all children and as the amounts were increased, more and more children hit that threshhold.Just my opinion of course, but also makes sense with the observations within my family. I have 4 children. 3Boys and one girl . my oldest with the most vaccines is autistic, though not severely. I think if we had continued vaccinating after his 4 month shots he would be much worse. My second who had only the HepB at birth(UGH!!) has some sensory issues, suffers the same horrible eating issues (similar to oldest brother) has a hard time with transitions,very difficult for him to express affection (and does so awkwardly on the off occasion I do get a hug or a kiss), has little empathy, and has attention problems. Some OCD behavior he used to have used to have seems to be fading. He is 6. My next child is a girl, no shots, no issues at all. Great eater(will actually eat meat and broccoli and so forth) totally different child. My last (?) ds is 2, and no shots. He has some OCD behavior and is a little rigid with some eating issues, though not nearly to the extent of his older brothers. So in my observations, boys with the genetic susceptibity toward developing autism will display some of the characteristic of ASD but to much less extent and severity without the vaccines. With each vaccine assault on the system, the characteristics will become more and more severe with the end result being autism. I think with girl, they are much less likely to have this genetic defect to begin with and that is why there are so many fewer girls with autism than boys. I would think that the girl who develops autism has the genetic suseptibity inherited from both parents, thus the reason IF a girl develops autism it is usually more severe. In my experience, it seems that the first issues expressed with autistic children are the OCD and sensory issues (which I feel are the root cause with eating problems,attention, transition and possible even
the non-acceptance or expression of "normal" affection), next I think would be the ability to empathise, followed by the loss of speech. This is all just my opinion based on observing my children 24 hours a day for the past 10 + years. Interested in hearing other opinions/observations. Boy if I could jkust win megamillions I could fund a project to study my children's DNA to try to find some answers!

[Devaskyla]

I was given some what I suspect is BS by my mw when I asked how blood could mix prior to delivery. She told me some crazy scenario how it could happen and we wouldn't even know it so I should get the shot and be safe. I had to chuckle at the thought of injecting a chemical substance into my pregnant body as being safe.

I actually "know" someone from another message board who obviously had something happen during pregnancy to sensitize her. She lives somewhere rhogam isn't given routinely at 28 weeks and that's about when she got sensitized, so she's very upset, even though it could just as easily have happened at any time during the pregnancy. She's been told not to get pregnant again because it would be too dangerous for the baby. However, her situation is incredibly rare from everything I've read.

[littleteapot]

I don't know if this counts, and I hesitate to say it as a result because I'm not fond of sharing.

I am high functioning autistic because of vaccinations. I was highly allergic to egg, amoung other ingredients, and my behavior dramatically changed after a delayed (for health reasons) MMR. I was diagnosed HFA/aspergers by four, although it was highly suspected long before that, and I went through many, many years of therapy with my mother so that I could grow up and function normally. Which I do, for the most part. People think I'm just eccentric, and extremely shy. Those that know me on an intimate basis are aware, though...

[annalily]

Didn't see this thread till just now.

My 9 yr old dd has autism. I feel that my stress during pregnancy and my old sil/mercury fillings, combined with the hep b given at birth (followed by all the other vaxes, including DPT for part of the series) did it.
She did not regress after age 1. Had MMR at 15 months and cp at age 4 or 5.

She did not have any ear infections or antibiotics till age 3. However, I did have keflex for a kidney infection during pregnancy.

Kelli, your thoughts on this are very interesting. My dd is very high funcitoning. Personally, I feel her genetic tendency comes from my side of the family. I had a cousin with downs and (I believe) autism.

I think that Emma's autism would have been much more severe if she had not been breastfed or if I had had her vaxed when she was younger or when she was sick. Or if she had been on antibiotics a lot. Just my feeling on it, of course.