Pertussis: First hand EXPERIENCES - share your story HERE - Page 5

[kittywitty]

There is a chance...I think that the bacteria is hard to test once the cough sets in, though, right?

My niece has had a cough for about 2 years now almost every day. Her parents smoke, she is vaxed and goes to daycare. Every time we are around her we get it and it is a really bad cough. She has had croup twice that she has been diagnosed with. It may just be that. I would up your vit. C and other immune boosters just in case.

[Proverbs31]

1.Please share with us the age/s of those who were affected: ds (8 months at the time), myself (27 at the time)

2.Whether or not they'd been vaxed: ds had 3 doses of DTaP and came down with perussis shortly after the third dose, I am unvaxed and we aren't sure if dh was vaxed

3.The severity of the disease: ds had a bad cough that lasted a good 2 weeks (the worst coughing was at night), pink eyes and no appetite. I had a cough that wasn't quite as sever but lasted about 3 weeks and also no appetite.

4.How you treated it and what effects the treatment/s had: origionally the doctor thought he had bronchitis (which had been happeneing after each round of vaxes: ), but I pushed for him to check for pertussis. Sure enough, that's what he had. I started out giving him abx but stopped after 2 days because I learned that they wouldn't do any good and might make the problem worse, so instead I called his doctor back to find out what kind of Vitamin C does would be safe at his age to treat WC (learned that from you-know-who's book ). I came down with it about a week later because I was so busy taking care of him that I didn't think to dope up on VIT C myself to prevent it! We got through it with no complications and minimal discomfort once the worst of the coughing started to fade away. Dh had barely a light cough, but he had also been taking mega doses of Vit C and sleeping on the couch.

[joannejoanne]

After reading through this thread I am positive I had pertussis in college when I was 19. I had this terrible "cold" that started out as congestion and then moved to a really bad cough that made me throw up several times. Then it settled into a horrible hacking cough with a barking sound at the end of it. The cough would come upon me at all times of the day and night and I couldn't control it. I went to my campus health services and they said it was my asthma changing form (from wheezing to coughing). I never questioned it at the time but now I wonder. They just told me to keep using my inhaler (which really did nothing for it). The cough lasted over a month and then I had bruised ribs for about another month that would ache whenever I sneezed.

Sounds like pertussis, doesn't it?

I was fully vaxed as a kid.

Does having the actual illness it create any sort of an immunity? And if so how long does it last?

Our first baby is due this June and we are going with a selective/delayed schedule. The only one I am slightly worried about is the DaPT. Really bad vax but unsure of how bad it would be if baby got it (we live in Washington where rates are pretty high). Glad this thread exists.

-Joanne

[spero]

Actually, a barking cough (think, like a seal) is indicative of croup.

[joannejoanne]

I thought croup was a childhood illness. I actually had croup many times when I was younger. But would I have had it at 19? And would it have lasted a month?

Well, maybe it wasn't pertussis. It just sounded like it with the throwing up at the end of coughing spells and the cough lasting for so long and the bruised ribs. It was such a strange "cold" and such a weird diagnosis by the doctors (asthma changing form).

Oh well. I thought I had figured it out . . .

[Spy]

I had pertussis at the age of 29.
Fully vaccinated as a kid (3 doses wholecell)

Severe. A couple months with a classic whoop/going blue/suffocating and another six months just barking like crazy. My coworkers teased me 'german shepherd'.

Three or four (don't remember) courses of different antibiotics, trying new ones when previous ones didn't do a thing. Which about did me in completely at some point, I got really vitamin deficient and weak. At this point I happened to have done a blood test (just a general one, not for a bug) the results of which came so bad the clinic didn't want to give them to me. I might have had it complicated with pneumonia, which was suspected, but I never did the Xray to confirm it. In the end, I dropped all drugs altogether, started taking some vitamins and then slowly recovered.

My 7 year old unvaccinated son has been in contact for the whole time and didn't cough once.

[Imvishta]

I recently thought I had pertussis, but it turned out to be nerve damage in my throat. From what I read about pertussis the vaccine does wear off by the teen years, which is why they are now offering a booster for teens and adults. From what you've written about the bruising it does sound like pertussis. However, once you have it there is nothing you can do for it except try to boost your immune system with some vitamin C and try sleeping upright in a recliner. Also, it's difficult to diagnose with the nasal swab so always get the "spit" test, too.

Here are links to a couple of other threads in which I posted (includes links to articles) when I was convinced I had pertussis and received advice from others:

I want to start selectively vaxing my 5 year old.
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=565681
(My pertussis post is on the last page.)

Pertussis "prevention" tip
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=557530

"Pertussis, booster for adults, and healing; x-posted in vaccinations"
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=566920

"Pertussis, booster for adults, and healing; x-posted in vaccinations" http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=566920

Pertussis vax at age 2?
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=569099

As far as what to do about the vaccine for an infant, I'll leave that up to others who are more informed on that topic. I am considering getting a booster for myself. I don't think I can go through this much coughing ever again!

[majorsky]

Originally Posted by Merilin

I had it myself 3 times at ages 3, 5 and 10, my sister had it with 2, my brother with 6months.

I'm not at all questioning that you were seriously ill, but it seems weird to me that you could have had pertussis three times? I would think having it once would create immunity to it for a while (longer than the years between your episodes). Could it be that you were misdiagnosed and had another serious illness or two? I'm not doubting you, I'm doubting the doctors who treated you only because it's not uncommon for them to misdiagnose.

Kristin

[mamakay]

Originally Posted by majorsky

I'm not at all questioning that you were seriously ill, but it seems weird to me that you could have had pertussis three times? I would think having it once would create immunity to it for a while (longer than the years between your episodes). Could it be that you were misdiagnosed and had another serious illness or two? I'm not doubting you, I'm doubting the doctors who treated you only because it's not uncommon for them to misdiagnose.

Kristin

Actually, immunity to pertussis fades really, really fast. It would be unlikely that you'd have a really bad case just a couple of years apart, but a minor case just a few years after having it is very plausible.

ETA:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

To investigate the frequency of unrecognized Bordetella pertussis infections in adults, we performed IgA and IgG ELISA antibody studies with four B. pertussis antigens--i.e., lymphocytosis-promoting factor, filamentous hemagglutinin, pertactin, and fimbriae-2--in 51 health care workers from whom six consecutive yearly serum samples (from 1984 to 1989) were available. Overall, 90% of the subjects had a significant increase in antibody (IgA or IgG) to one or more antigens between 2 consecutive years during the 5-year study period; 55% of subjects had evidence of two infections, 17% had three infections, and 4% had four infections.

[ruthieroo]

This is SO interesting reading these experiences of pertussis in adults because it sounds just like what my dad experienced several years ago. He coughed terribly for months and was very worn out (any illness is worse in him because he is an overworked, self employed farmer who gets no time off! ) and never really got an official diagnosis though he visited several doctors. I think the general consensus was a shrug of the shoulders and,"chronic bronchitis?"

He was likely vaccinated at some point prior to that and us kids were as well. Very interesting...

[Maxine45]

Originally Posted by Peppermint

Heidi Great idea.

I don't have "first hand experience" as *I* never had it, but- last Fall my 2 ds's and dh had it.

My then 4 year old ds, who was fully vaxed for his age, and my then 20 month ds, who had 3 out of 4 shots, got it the worst, although Dh had a good case too.

At first we didn't know what it was, and my Dr. diagnosed "allergies" in my 4 year old, and gave us an allergy med to try, which, of course, did nothing. When my younger ds caught the "allergies" I knew we were dealing with something more. When I found that cold air and shower did not help, I started to realize it wasn't croup. As it went on, my younger ds started to vomit/cough up a gelatin-like whitish-clear yuck. I started reading here and found a link to the sound of pertussis and the symptoms, etc. I then realized that was definitely what we had (my husband and youngest got the "whoop" eventually).

When I finally realized what it was, read how to treat it with SA, and actually bought the SA at the Natural Foods store, things improved in only a couple of days.

Unfortunately, I had spent many many weeks at that point stuffing cough syrups and such into my boys to try to allow them to sleep.

I admit, the disease really was hard on us, but- if we had known about the SA and gotten a good diagnosis early on, I am certain it would've been quite manageable.

There is not a snowball's chance in hell of me using that vaccine for future children, as I know first hand that it doesn't work, and my 3rd child did react to the vaccine (hence him having 3 out of 4).

It's kind of like Rotavirus for me, those 3 were the worst things we have dealt with (I know I am Blessed in that way) medically with our kids, and if there were some magic way to ensure none of my other kids ever got those things, I would be thrilled. However, given that vaccines are not safe, IMO, and don't work IME, I will instead learn to treat things and know when to seek outside help.

My point? Learn about how to use SA for pertussis, it really is as simple as that.

ETA: my kids acted pretty "healthy" during the day, the worst of the disease was definitely at night.

Wow this SA stuff sounds really powerful. What Is It??

[purple_kangaroo]

I was fully vaxed as a child. I think I may have had pertussis as a teen, although if I did have it the case wasn't super-severe.

I remember coughing and coughing until I thought I'd maybe cracked a rib. I wanted to just stop breathing because it seemed like breathing made me cough, and it was just so much work trying to breathe when I kept coughing and coughing. I felt like I was going to die. I think the dx was bronchitis. I don't remember how long it lasted--weeks, I think. I don't think I was in any real danger, but it was sure miserable.

Interestingly enough, if I remember the timing right, for months after that I was somewhat short-breathed and would have coughing spells that were diagnosed as exercise-induced asthma. But the "asthma" eventually went away.

Just a few months ago I had a bad coughing illness with coughing spells that I couldn't stand up or walk through, and I felt like I would suffocate or break something. I had the loss of bladder control and near-vomiting, but it lasted only a few days or a week, so I'm sure it couldn't have been pertussis. Just a normal bad cough is so miserable. I hate coughing.

My husband's sister and her family had pertussis recently, and it was really serious. The newborn baby had to be hospitalized for quite some time and was in serious danger. My brother-in-law was also extremely ill with it--turning colors and struggling to breathe; my SIL said that she was truly worried for her husband's life when that kept happening (along with being worried for the baby's life, who was even more ill). BIL would beg for help between coughing spells because he would have such long spells of being unable to get his breath.

The rest of the family had lighter cases. I think they follow a normal vaccination schedule, which would mean the baby was too young to vaccinate and BIL wouldn't have been vaccinated since childhood, but the other children were probably vaccinated.

The family was quarantined until they had all been on antibiotics for a certain amount of time, and all their close contacts were given antibiotics. The baby did recover without permanent lung damage, which was a relief. We were worried about that.

We spent time with them when they still thought they all just had bad colds, before it turned really severe. But since we were outdoors at a park for just a few hours, there wasn't much risk of us catching it. The doctor said we would have needed to have been essentially indoors with them for a number of hours to be really at high risk of catching it.

Ironically enough, another family we are close to had been exposed to pertussis right around the same time, too . . . a child they spend several hours a day with had been coughing for weeks before getting a pertussis dx. They all went on antibiotics because they were at risk. But they didn't catch the pertussis. (They were all vaccinated, too--I don't know about the child who had it.)

We were offered antibiotics when my kids came down with bad coughs a week or two later, since we'd possibly been exposed twice during the right time period. But we decided to wait until the swabs came back or it got worse to go on them. By the time the swabs came back negative the next week, the kids' coughs were better, so we never gave them the abx.

I mentioned to the doctor that I was mainly worried about Baby E getting it, since she is unvaccinated. He shrugged and commented that the pertussis vaccine "isn't all that effective, anyway."

The disease really does scare me, especially for infants. But I'm not convinced the vaccine is effective enough to be worth it.

[spero]

bump for cynotgirl

[harpertrance]

age/s of those who were affected: 3 years old

whether or not they'd been vaxed: yup

the severity of the disease: pretty bad. we got home from the UC tonight and they are probably going to admit him tomorrow, to the hospital due to complications.... been going on for a month now.

how you treated it: we got a script for atbx tonight, but weve been using VasoTan and some other OTC stuff

and what effects the treatment/s had. - nothings helping it. ugh

[turnipmama]

what exactly is SA?

[Wildecat]

Wow, it amazes me that most of you whose families were affected by WC have been vaccinated.

[tanyalynn]

SA is sodium ascorbate, a powder form of vitamin C.

[harpertrance]

Originally Posted by Wildecat

Wow, it amazes me that most of you whose families were affected by WC have been vaccinated.

yeah... im kind of pissed because this one one vax we actually counted on