vaccine-related personality changes?

Ok, I know there is no proof of a link between autism and vaccines, but I have this lurking fear that I have to get out before I take my babies for their 6 month shots...

The last two times I took the babies for vaccines, they had the normal sleepy/cranky thing going on for a day or so, but then DS snapped out of it, but DD didn't smile for over a week. She is such a smiley, happy baby, always giggling and making eye contact, trying to talk, etc. After her 4 month shots, it was really freaky...no smiles, no coos, nothing for days. She barely even looked at us...she kept looking down (DH said she was discovering her hands and I overreacted). It was way worse after the 4 month than the 2 month (probably because she was so much more interactive by then I noticed it more). I was so scared that I had lost a part of my baby with those shots, and I almost cried when she finally smiled again. I go again on Tuesday and I'm getting more and more worried every day. What if she doesn't snap out of it this time?

Please don't slam me for posting this...I've read both sides and I know it's a contraversial topic. I don't want to start a debate whether or not to vaccinate. I just wanted to know from those of you with older babies (with or without autism)...if you vaccinated, did you notice any changes in personality after the vaccines, and if so, did your babies always snap out of it?

 

I never noticed personality changes in any of my children after they had their shots. I did choose to delay my twins vaccines, though. They received their 2 month shots at 4 months, their 4 month shots at 6 months and they will be getting their 6 month shots next month.

I do believe in the importance of vaccines, but I also believe in parents being allowed to make those choices for their children. Every baby reacts differently to different things. Everything has risk factors.

What you witnessed in your DD would really scare me, too. Have you talked to your pediatrician about what you observed? What did he/she say/think? Honestly, if it were my child I probably would not feel comfortable giving her the 6 month shots. Maybe 1 shot at this visit, another shot next month, etc. Or just postpone them until she is 9 months old or something. Considering you saw those personality changes both times she received vaccines, it is definitely something worth looking more into. :hug: I would speak with her pedi. But don't let him/her dismiss your concerns, either. Good luck!

 

You know your child best and I would tell your peidatrician your concerns and what you noticed after both rounds of vaccines. If he or she dismisses them as nothing I would still request your daughter not be given all her vaccines at one visit. I have never had any doctor take issue with a delayed vaccine schedule with any of my children. Given the way your daughter reacted, I would either delay all vaccines until 1 year (or later) and do a delayed schedule or break them up to one per visit from now on. I am all for vaccines, BTW and I do not believe they cause autism. However, anyone can have a reaction to a vaccine and some of these reactions can be scary.

My twins have autism and they have never had any personality change associated with vaccines when they have had them. My oldest son does not have autism and he never had any personality changes besides being fussy for a day or 2 after his vaccines. I do know they can make you feel crummy and in small babies, they can act off for a few days. However, you have to go with your gut and do what you think is right for your child. My oldest just recently had his Kindergarten vaccines and he had a reaction to the tetnus shot. It was a physical, not mental/personality reaction, but if it had been I would have reported it just like a physical one. His Pedi said he will write a waiver for school so he does not get the tetnus shot in 7 years (before middle school) like it is required in our state. I would report any and all reactions besides a fever, to the pediatrician no matter what. If everyone reported all reactions, we would have a better idea what reactions are really happening out there, not just the severe ones.

Good luck with your decision. I hope everything goes well.

Kelly

 

I totally agree w/ pp… my older DS has all his shots… I believe our society has come a long way because of these vaccines… BUT w/ that said… I do what my gut tells me, everyone else can go to heck…, and you should to… make your decision (you said you have researched both sides) and don’t let the Dr scare you… he/she is only a hired “consultant” on the topic, not the all knowing… time will tell if they find a correlation or not (I don’t want to have this debate either, I’m not saying I think there is)… history has its proof of Dr saying “this is the cure for something” only later to have us look back and think how barbaric…

I always go w/ my gut.... God gave it to me for a reason... if i thought for a second something was changing my baby... i would take great issue w/ it!

GL

 

We've never had any personality changes following vaccines, but my older DD did have bad reactions otherwise -- fever, upset stomach, extreme irritability, etc. Based on what we experienced with her, I chose to space out vaccines for my younger two. We'll still get them all, but just one or two at a time, over a couple of years. And, we didn't start until 6 months (except for rotavirus, which you have to get earlier).

I agree with the PP's -- if your gut is telling you that your baby had an odd reaction, then maybe you could do the same, and just space out the vaccines a little more? Delay them a bit? I would definitely talk to your pediatrician about what you observed.

Yes, it's controversial, but you are the parent, and you know your child best.

 

Since our boys were born, Reese has always been the happy-go-lucky one and Riley has been the one who tends to be easily upset. When they got the first MMR shot, Reese wasn't himself for at least two weeks. He was constantly cranky, wouldn't laugh, hardly ate, and was just overall "off." Immediately after the shot, they both ran fevers and had large lumps on their legs. I still get an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach just thinking about this.

I am not a big believer in the theory that vaccinations cause Autism, but I do believe that there are real questions as to whether or not they may trigger something that may already be there. Because of that belief, I've put off getting their next round of shots. I can't bring myself to do it right now, no matter how much I rationalize. It's possible that Reese was teething. It's possible that he didn't feel good. There are tons of other possibilities that make so much more sense.

I have talked to our pediatrician and she has give me the okay to delay their vaccinations. Better to be safe than sorry, and there's absolutely no way that I won't vaccinate my children. I just won't do this one right now.

Go with your gut. Lots of :hug: because I know how scary that is.

ETA: I should have added that out of all four of our boys, Reese is the only one who has ever had an adverse reaction to immunizations.

 

I agree with many of the pp's. You need to go with your gut, and do what you believe is right for your family. I would talk to your pedi and express your concerns. I chose to delay vaccines, and give no more than two at one time. So I go to the pedi more frequently- but it feels right for me. They have done well- but I do still get anxious when I know it's "vaccine" day. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

Thanks for all of the feedback...I think I will talk to my doctor about delaying her shots. DS has been fine so I may keep him on schedule. I did bring up a delayed schedule last visit (before the 4 month shots) since she had acted weird after the 2 month and my doctor went into a whole speech about how much safer vaccines are now than when we were little...and in the end convinced me to go ahead with getting all the shots at once. This time I'll try to stand my ground.

QUOTE(4lilmonkeys @ Jan 9 2009, 09:21 AM) [snapback]1139598[/snapback]
Since our boys were born, Reese has always been the happy-go-lucky one and Riley has been the one who tends to be easily upset. When they got the first MMR shot, Reese wasn't himself for at least two weeks. He was constantly cranky, wouldn't laugh, hardly ate, and was just overall "off." Immediately after the shot, they both ran fevers and had large lumps on their legs. I still get an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach just thinking about this.


Oh, this sounds just like Aubrey! I'm scared just thinking about it. What schedule are you following with Reese now? My mom had been visiting for two weeks right at the time they got the shots...she spent a week with happy Aubrey and then a week with "off" Aubrey. She is not someone to believe any hype about vaccines, etc., but she was even convinced that it really changed her. Oh, I'm dreading this...

 

I had a similar experience to you. After their four month shots, one of my DDs, Cricket, was fine. Piper, however, was withdrawn and not herself for almost a week. She didn't smile. She didn't make eye contact. I was truly scared. I didn't know if she'd snap out of it and become her happy little self again. (fortunately, she did) My girls received six shots at their four month appointment. Most contained aluminum and other "toxic" chemicals. I suspect Piper's system could not process all of the chemicals at once and it caused her system to overload a little. I chose to delay vaccines and space them out as a result.

We're about six months behind on shots now. I will ensure they get all of them, but it's going to take a while. The only one they won't get is MMR-- not because I think it causes autism -- but because it seems to be the vaccine with the most reactions. They'll get the individual shots (measles, mumps, rubella) rather than the combo when they're preschool aged.

Talk to your pedi. Share your concerns. I agree with everyone else. Go with your gut. You can easily space out vaccines, skip some, skip all, whatever it takes for you to be comfortable you're doing the best thing for your children.

 

QUOTE(mamabee718 @ Jan 9 2009, 09:18 AM) [snapback]1139672[/snapback]
What schedule are you following with Reese now? My mom had been visiting for two weeks right at the time they got the shots...she spent a week with happy Aubrey and then a week with "off" Aubrey. She is not someone to believe any hype about vaccines, etc., but she was even convinced that it really changed her. Oh, I'm dreading this...


The only shots I've delayed are their 15 month ones (they'll be 16 months in a few days). I honestly haven't entirely decided what to do because I think I'm still just in shock over it. I can tell you that Reese is totally fine now. It lasted maybe three weeks tops, and then he snapped out of it. We haven't had any problems since. He is walking and talking and back to his old happy self.

I think maybe giving the MMR to them right at 12 months just wasn't a good idea. If I could do it again, I would have waited a little longer. That is the ONLY vaccination that ever changed his personality entirely. The three little ones have never done "well" with vaccinations. They have always had a fever or lump and were cranky for the first 24 hours, but that MMR is the only one that scared me so badly.

I want to make it clear that I am not anti-vaccinations. I'm really, really not. But after that experience, I'd tell anyone to go with their gut and wait it out. Right at twelve months is way too early for that shot and I wish we would have waited. That's all.

 

Always go with your gut.

 

Here's a quick update in case any of you see similar reactions or just want to know how it turned out. I talked to my pedi about it today and we decided to hold off on the DTP vaccine for a week or so and just do the rest of them today. She did WONDERFULLY...creid at first, of course, but an hour later she was smiling and babbling away. So far, no issues! DS got all of his shots at once so next week when I go back, it's just the one vaccine for DD. Then I guess we'll see if it was the specific vaccine or just the mass given together that caused the reactions. They had to give the Hib vaccine seperately (usually it comes in one with the DPT) so it means she's ending up with more total injections, but judging by her attitude, it's so worth it. If I knew where to upload it, I'd post a link to a video I took this afternoon of her absolutely cracking up giggling. Thanks so much for encouraging me to go with my gut and seperate the shots!

 

My twins are 2 and I delayed the MMR vacination due to concerns I've heard from others. For reasons of snow storms and scheduling issues my boys 2 year check ups ended up being scheduled a week and a half apart. At the first appointment for Jeremy I went ahead and got the MMR vaccination. 10 days later he had a high fever, a bad rash and was VERY cranky. The doctor diagnosed it as a reaction to the MMR. We are now 5 days into the reaction and the fever is gone but the spots remain and Jeremy is just not himself. He isn't as happy go lucky as he once was. He is very easily frustrated, cries easily and is barely eating a thing. I read some of the other replys and it seems like others have experienced their kids being "off" for a while. Please tell me he will get over this and how long does it last? I'm very concerned. I did not have his brother vaccinated at his 2 year checkup. Maybe at 2 1/2. I think reactions are rare and the vaccinations are a good thing, however it is hard when your child is one of the 5% with a reaction.