Woman Says Flu Shot Triggered Rare Disorder

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Woman Says Flu Shot Triggered Rare Disorder

Surae Chinn Date last updated: 10/14/2009 7:51:04 AM Smaller

One Ashburn woman wants you to hear her story before you line up to get your

seasonal flu shot.

ASHBURN, Va. (WUSA) -- Many of you have been lining up to get the seasonal flu

shot. But there is one Ashburn woman who wants you to hear her story before you

do.

Jennings is trapped in her body. Intellectually she's all there, but her

muscles are fighting each other. She's been diagnosed with dystonia, an

extremely rare and debilitating neurological disease.

FOLLOW UP: Doctors Agree

She says after taking the seasonal flu shot she witnessed her body's rapid

decline. She doesn't know what else it could be but she has serious questions

about the seasonal flu shot. The Centers for Disease Control cannot comment on

her case.

was a healthy 25-year-old up until two months ago, working at AOL and as

a Redskins cheerleading ambassador.

But her world has now been turned upside down.

has trouble talking and speaks in a staccato rhythm.

She says, " It's a battle every day because when I wake up I think it's going to

be normal, but then I'm quickly reminded that's not going to be the case. "

She says 10 days after getting a seasonal flu shot at a Reston grocery store in

August, and on her second wedding anniversary, she got sick. First, she came

down with flu like symptoms, then convulsions and blacking out.

She's seen more than 60 doctors. She says all of them were stumped until s

Hopkins diagnosed her with dystonia. She believes her seasonal flu shot

triggered it.

says, " Nothing else explains such a fast moving neurological damage. The

medical hospitals ruled out everything, CAT scans normal, blood normal, MRI

normal. The only thing that explains it is the shot caused the neurologic

damage. "

She says it is a strange disorder where muscles work against each other. She

can't walk forward, only backwards. She can run, but she can't stop without

help. She can whisper but has difficulty speaking. Noises can cause convulsions.

Her resting heart rate is 90. When she runs her blood pressure dips to 58. She

gets exhausted walking a few steps but she could run for hours.

Drugs such as valium and klonopin that make other people sleepy give her energy

for hours.

Simple exercises become nearly impossible.

's husband, n, says, " It gets worse everyday. It's heartbreaking to

see. "

says the disease is irreversible. Once she loses an ability it doesn't

come back. She says there are only three ways you can get dystonia as an adult

and they include head trauma, drug use, and poisoning. She says she has not

experienced any of that.

There is no cure. One in a million are diagnosed with the disease. She says she

just wants healthy people to talk to their doctors and weigh the risk.

While the Centers for Disease Control cannot comment directly on this case, they

say they have no knowledge of a link between the seasonal flu shot and dystonia.

Written by Surae Chinn

9NEWS NOW & wusa9.com