Intro

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

My name is Judy and I have three children aged 5 1/2, 3 1/2 and 9 months.

The eldest two are girls, baby is a boy. I used to be on the AVML list but

the mail volume was overwhelming so I had to sign off. I'm glad to find

you all :-) Here is my experience with vaccines:

My eldest daughter received her first three vaccines (NOT an informed

choice) - after the first my perfectly healthy

baby had three and a half hours of cerebral screaming. Thankfully she had

no lasting damage. After that she

experienced her first bout of tonsilitis and an ear infection. Two weeks

after the shot she was seen at the hospital with

screaming like the one she did after her vaccination. The doctor that

referred her was concerned but since they hadn't

heard her in the hospital they said it was probably colic and I was a

fussy first time mother. Believe me, I have plenty of

experience with babies and having since had three kids, all of who had

colic, I have NEVER heard a baby scream like

that. I suspect that was vaccine related but can't prove that so it is

only speculation.

Although I was told it was a contraindication my first daughter received

two more rounds of shots because I was

scared into it. Her immune system crashed each time. After this I decided

no more vaccines after reading some

information I had looked for but been unable to find when I had been

pregnant with her. Thankfully it is much more

available now.

My eldest daughter was sick ALL THE TIME - my two unvaccinated kids have

almost never been sick. My eldest

daughter is now that way but it's taken time. They get one cold each

Winter and have had chicken pox and rubella - if

they hadn't had spots I would never have known they were sick!

My eldest daughter got HIB when she was 17 months. I had earlier refused

the vaccine so was of course chastised for

that in the hospital. They didn't know at the time of course that she had

contracted the disease from an IMMUNISED

child who had also given the illness to a second IMMUNISED child. My

daughter was probably sicker over the three

hours she had the rash and was in hospital overnight (only because they

suspected meningitis) but the vaccinated kids,

although they never ended up in the hospital, were bedridden and very sick

with the full blown rash for TWO WEEKS.

I consider that my daughter came off best in that one.

My eldest daughter may have also had whooping cough - as the doc pointed

out, in most cases it can't be diagnosed

without tests so she couldn't confirm that diagnosis. She was vaccinated

against whooping cough as a baby so if vaccines were so effective she

shouldn't have got it - I didn't know at the time that the pertussis

vaccine has only got a 35-45% efficacy rate. My husband had

whooping cough as a baby when he was vaccinated against it.

I must also point out that my daughter's reaction was NEVER reported - it

has been since, three years after it happened

because I made sure of it, but if it wasn't for me finding out it was

supposed to be reported it would never have been

known. I also have myself as an example - I have never had measles since

my parents had me vaccinated against it.

After contracting chicken pox at 22 I asked for a test to show if I was

immune to measles as I didn't want to get that

too so wanted to know where I stood. Well, I was told that the results

suggested some immunity but he couldn't

promise anything since it was questionable. Well, I WISH I had had both

measles and chicken pox as a child. After my

experience with chicken pox I don't relish the idea of having to go

through measles as well. (No, I won't get

vaccinated). I don't want my children to have to deal with this sort of

thing as adults like I have had to. I want them to

get the illnesses now so that they will have lifelong immunity, not the

transient immunity I apparently had. Of course I can't guarantee I would

have got measles since I didn't get chicken pox which I wasn't vaccinated

against...

For some reason, even after I'd had rubella as 9 year old my mother saw

fit for me to be vaccinated for rubella as usual

at 11. (Why on earth she saw the need to do that is beyond me). For YEARS

afterwards I suffered joint pains as can

occur after this vaccine. I remember sitting in typing class at school

unable to type due to the pain. Thankfully, that has

also passed. My pregnancy blood tests show very high rubella titers.

I have no hesitations about my decision not to vaccinate. Had I known what

I do now I would never have started vaccinating - my instinct told me not

to. I had searched for the 'other side' of the vaccination debate when I

was pregnant with my first but couldn't find ANYTHING anywhere. I guess in

some ways it is nice to have the validating experience I got with this but

it's a shame my poor daughter had to suffer for it.

Sorry this is so long. Nice to meet you all :-)

Judy.

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Judy <earthmum@...>

My homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/3144/

Mother to 2/93, 2/95, and 11/97.

" If you educate a man you educate an individual, but when you

educate a woman you educate the whole family and the community.

When the woman moves forward, the family move, the village

moves and the nation moves forward. "

Mahatma Gandhi.