Should my baby have the MMR (CP/possible epilepsy)

[CocoDeBearisCocoDeBear]

DD2 has hemiplegia (cerebral palsy). She had seizures shortly after birth, and was on meds until July. She's been seizure-free for a year, but I don't want to do ANYTHING that might bring on seizures again. They are terrifying.

I'm trying to work out the risks of her having the MMR vaccine. I know her consultant will say yes, yes, go ahead, but I have a bad feeling about it.

Her big sis had the MMR at 13 months, and was very ill with a fever for about a week afterwards. What if DD2 had febrile convulsions?

Any wise words?

I wouldn't risk it.

but what if the child then gets measles?

What we did was postpone till the summer, when she was off school so not going to catch anything else nasty, and on top form. As it happens (and DD1 has what her Paed has called "a particularly nasty refractory epilepsy") she didn't get particularly ill with it or have seizures, just got a bit grouchy. And she does get ill a lot and does have a history of febrile convulsions - not that it guarantees anything for you, just that you can't tell iyswim.

Do you have permanent open access to the local childrens' ward? If not, might be worth your paed arranging something like that for the few weeks after the jabs so at least you don't have to go through the A&E "and what makes you think it's a seizure?" (dur, the way she's bouncing across the bed you *$&!wit) nonsense.

Hello CoCo

My son has Hemiplegia aswell, he is 6 now. He has absence seizures when he was little, although he has now grown out of them now. I remember going through your dilema and worrying for the same reasons. I decided to go anhead with the MMR following the advice of two doctors and his Paed. I remember the doctors both said to me that Ds1 could be a lot more poorly, because of his disability and being quite weak chested, if he caught measels in the meantime before I had sorted it out. This was enough for me.

I was well aware of being 'coerced' into Ds1 having the injection, but took the advice of the doctors in the end, and it was the right decision. I did not want to be responsible for Ds1 having measels. He was absolutely fine afterwards, apart from being a bit grumpy and off colour. I should take the advice of the professionals in this case, I think it is the most responsible thing for you to do.

Good luck to your DD.

thanks for your replies, I like your idea r3dh3d. and it's reassuring to hear about your DS, magsi.

Is measles really that dangerous? Not being an *rse, I am genuinely unsure ... didn't it used to be something that everyone expected to catch as a kid?

I suppose that even a mild dose of measles could led to hight temps and convulsions though...

needmorecoffee, did your DD have the MMR?

My DS2 has triplegia and epilepsy. His seizures are generally brought on by tiredness and illness. He is constantly ill druing winter . He had the MMR, and like you, I was worried - but he was fine. Didn't even get a temperature. I would definately have it - much better then measles (which can be fatal in extreme cases - don't mean to scare you)

None of my 4 kids are vaccinated, including dd. dd1 had measles when she was about 3 and to be honest it was no big deal but I did have her treated homeopathically. Her two brothers (2 and a baby) didn't catch it off her (or if they did we didn't notice)
I've just seen too many brain injured kids from vaccines plus I was scared of ASD. Its in our family anyhow and dd can't talk cos of her severe CP. If she developed ASD as well as her brain damage, life would be very tough for her.
You can dealy it while you read more and ask more questions. A vaccine can always be given but can't be removed.
Febrile convulsions don't lead to epilepsy even if they are unpleasant and the effects of measles can be mitigated with vit A doses (there a bunch of scientific papers on it)

yes measles is a very very dangerous disease

we think of it as some childhood rash but it is actually very dangerous

coco - I decided against vaccinating my dd1 (who also has infantile spasms) despite advice for her to have MMR from all her consultants, including her neuro who I really respect.

I don't know if it is the right decision but I personally just couldn't take the risk.

I keep meaning to do some proper reading around the subject. Now she's older (5) and there don't seem to be any ASD tendancies I may consider a single vaccine for measles but I definitley wouldn't give MMR.

HITC (and coco) if you want to talk to a GP who is very up to date on vaccination (recommends it- although MMR in single form- for normally developing children- is far more cautious in others) I'd really recommend Richard Halvorsen. He does private appointments (unless you're lucky enough to have him as your NHS Gp )

yurt1, do you think there is a link between the MMR and ASD? I'd respect your opinions, I know that you know the research inside out.

And I will definitely look up that doctor you've mentioned, thanks.

(Hi HITC, hope you had a good Christmas! E-mail on its way v. soon!)

Thanks Nat1H (hope DS is ok? read your thread a while back) and Capp (hope you are on the mend).

NMC, I'm alarmed to hear about the number of children brain injured after vaccines, though I've noticed there are contact details for litigation/complaints about side effects/adverse consequences on NHS leaflets about vaccines.

We saw DD's consultant at the hospital yesterday, and as expected he said to go ahead with the vaccine. The thing is though, DD is just another baby on his caseload, whereas to me she's infinitely precious!

Yes, I think it's likely that in some cases that the MMR triggers autism. It seems to be a factor in about 8%ish of cases, so certainly not huge numbers, but not the same as never iyswim.

Thanks yurt1 - is that the guy who has recently written a book? I remember you mentioning one and keep meaning to look up in the archives.

that's him- the truth about vaccinations.

Hi Coco
my dd2 who is now 2.5 is epileptic, we found out (and she has been on meds) last feb. She suffered with abscence seizures and possibly others that we werent aware of from quite young (first saw her eyes roll at about 8 months. she had the mmr and it had no adverse effect on her. I just wanted to let you know. Know that I know, I would probably think twice about it though.