Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

I’m almost 17 weeks preggers and my mind is spinning.

Autism, Autism, Autism

Being that both my hubby and I were born in the 70’s we didn’t have nearly the number of vaccinations as kids in the 80’s and going forward do. Yet, my generation has a much lower Autism rate. I’ve been reading article after article and its making me so concerned.

Am I crazy to be so concerned so early?

I want delayed shots. I have been reading up on NY State Law and whether or not it’s really ‘required by law’ to shoot up your kid before it leaves the hospital. We have rights.

Mercury in shots
Too many too soon
Too many too often

Am I the only one wracking her brain with this?



ETA: to clarify topic

Message edited 4/2/2008 2:00:10 PM.

Re: Am I crazy?

No you aren't crazy. I think about this all the time. I am convinced that the shots could have possibly contributed to my DS speech and OT delays. This time around I will be delaying some of the shots and not be giving any of the shots together ( for instance the new db will not be getting the MMR...they will be seperate and not at 15 months either). I believe in vaccinations, but not the way some drs like to give them. A friend of mine sent me a lot of studies on mercury and autism. It is very interesting.

Re: Am I crazy?

No, you are not crazy. I wish all moms and moms to be took the time to educate themselves on vaccinations.

As a mother of an autistic son I firmly believe vaccinations had something to do with it. Did it CAUSE it? No. I do believe he was pre dispositoned to it and the vaccinations pushed him over the edge (the amount and the timing).

Do I still believe in vaccinations? Of course but sooooo not at the schedule and amount the pediatricians suggest.

I am currently pregnant with twins and they will be vaccinated on a delayed schedule. No shots will be given together. Flu and varicella will be eliminated and they will not be vaccinated immediately after birth. I just don't see the reasoning in injecting a baby a few hours old with the same amount a 300 lb man would be given. It just can't be good.

I wish I would have been more educated while pregnant with my son because maybe, just maybe, we would not have gone through the hell we did but it happend and has only made me more aware for this pregnancy.

So do not feel as if you are overly paranoid for thinking of this. Instead commend yourself for wanting to know as much as possible.

Re: Am I crazy?

Do either of you have recommendations for pediatricians who will work with you...?

I have a little brother (one of a set of twins) with learning disabilities. He was fine until vaccinations and his brother still is.

They don't want to label him autistic but he has struggled. Ever since then (17 years ago) I've been keeping a casual hand on the pulse of autisim and vaccinations.

I want to take as many precautions as I can so at least I know I tried, ya know?

Re: Am I crazy?

I don't live in Queens anymore but when I did I used a wonderful pediatrician who supported my views on vaccinations and was all for only giving one shot at a time. He was located in Middle Village and if you would like his information, feel free to FM me.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

I'm sure you've seen parts of CNN's autism awareness week.

I vaguely recall one short on CNN where they mentioned a kid who had a genetic abnormality that would produce autism following an immune challenge.... so in this kid's case, it wasn't a vacine preservative, rather it was the vaccine itself which induced autism.

I wonder how many cases of autism are triggered by immune challenges. The Dr's claimed that it could be triggered by a vaccine OR by getting a bad flu / chicken pox.... but really, you know it's likely the vaccines.

I think 1 shot at a time and a delayed schedule is a very good idea.
I should look this up.... after all, I'm supposed to be a neurophamacologist....

I'll get back to you with what I find on PubMed.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

I found a practice that will let me delay and separate the vaccines. I was told they don't think it is necessary but if I don't mind the extra visits it is totally up to me. I think I will probably just have to pay more copays because I will be going there more, but who cares about that.

Let me know if that is what you are interested in. I had found several people in my search that had recommended more "crunchy pediatricians" but the locations were too far for me to travel. I don't know if that is more along the lines you are looking for.

I am also reading The Vaccine Book written by Dr. Robert Sears at the moment and it is very interesting and educates you on all the vaccines, if you were looking for a way to become a little more knowledgeable.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

That is a great idea. I would be very interested to see what you find.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

Dr. Stephanie Cave's book is very good too. You can buy both hers and Dr. Sears book for $18 on amazon.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

http://www.lifamilies.com/chat/topic-271786-1.html

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

No, I started thinking about this right after my BFP also. I am def going to spread the shots out a bit. Other than that, what can you do? There is no definitive cause or explanation to any of it.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

Sofia Ava is 3mts old...

So far she has gotten I believe 4 shots..

I did 2 one week 2 another. I do NOT believe my child should endure that much pain in one day..

My PED rocks and said it was fine :)

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

You are not crazy. I'm sure everyone thinks about it. I am very torn about it, I will definitely delay some shots and spread them out. But it's hard to know what's right b/c there is so much conflicting info out there.

I actually was talking to my RE about it, he has twin sons, one is autistic, one is not. Both had shots at the same exact time on the same exact day. It can't just be the vaccines.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

OK, I skimmed the abstracts from the most recent literature...

you know how a study one week says something is good for you, and the following week, a study says it's bad? well, usually that's becuase the # of participants in the study is small. wow, a lot of these autism studies have under 100 participants. I wouldn't trust the results becuase of them. You can't do population stats with such small #'s!

At any rate, there's obviously a lot of handwaving. the one thing that keeps coming up again and again are studies linking autoimmune responses to autism. a couple linked vaccinations to inappropriate immune responses leading to autism. For example, the measles component of the measles/mumps/rubella vaccine (which is like getting 3 vaccines at once ) has been observed as triggering an autoimmune response. what I mean by this is that a normal response is the development of antibodies against measles. The abnormal response they saw in many autistic children is the production of measles antibodies (good) PLUS the production of certain antibodies against proteins in the brain (bad!). This autoimmune response would cause the immune system to attack/harm neurons expressing these common proteins.

The other study I saw that looked more convincing was an MRI study showing that most autistic children have an excessive gray matter in various parts of the cortex. Usually, during normal development, young children prune back excessive neuronal connections to increase the efficiency of the brain. The autistic children apparently didn't have this happen, so they have lots of extra connections which I imagine would lead to slowed higher thought processes and increased confusion. This study had no possible explanation for what caused this developmental abnormality.

So, I'll look into the measles thing a bit more. I'm curious to see if the results from this study was reproduced by other labs. I'm also curious to look up the developmental function of the neuronal proteins that were attacked by
the immune system.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

I totally agree with the OP! I have been doing alot of reading and also want to delay and spread out vaccines. I know there is a certain vaccine that is given by the hospital as soon as the baby is born, does anyone have more info on it?

Also I am looking for a ped that would be supportive of this, so for those that know some, could you post on this thread?

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

ok, I looked up the most fascinating find, and actually found a paper you don't need a subscription to PubMed to read....

one of millions of autism reviews

the measles vaccine has been LOOSELY linked (it's by no means conclusive... I must stress that point!) to an autoimmune response to myelin basic protein (MBP). MBP is found in the 'insulation' of all of your brain 'wiring'. So, attacking it with antibodies is not a good thing! The interesting thing about this observation is that it explains the timing for the onset of autism, if this indeed is a trigger for it. Myelination (and therefore a very high presence of MBP in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells.... the cells that 'insulate') occurs between age 1-2 (some say 1-3). Older children have less MBP (like adults), becuase the process of insulating is now complete. Vaccination for measles occurs during this age range... So, if you accidentally generate an autoimmune response for MBP while myelination is going on, you will damage or kill the cells that do the 'insulating' and will presumably damage the brain, since its wiring can not be properly insulated.

Curious. Even though it's circumstantial evidence, it makes a lot of sense... it makes me want to not vaccinate against measles until at least age 3......

Message edited 4/2/2008 3:34:44 PM.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

When infants are born they receive the vitamin k shot and antibiotic drops in the eyes. In NYS if you refuse, child protective services will be contacted. You are also given the option for Hep B, and can sign a waver.

We did a ton of research on the vitamin k shot, and talked to many people and besides having a home delivery there was not much of an option anyway.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

For those that asked, the pediatrician I used was Dr. Joe Savitt in Maspeth. He worked with children who were developmentally disabled in Manhattan but had his own private practice in Queens.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism

not at all. vaccinations and autism are really big concerns of mine. i had a cousin who became paralyzed and dealthy ill from one of his shots. it's a scary thing. i've heard some doctors recommend to give your children shots when they are at least a year because their immunity is a little stronger.

Re: Am I crazy? Vaccinations/Autism