The news is currently quite heavy with stories of lawsuits and settlements and the link (or lack thereof) between vaccines, especially the MMR vaccine, and autism. I’ve been watching, but not closely. When Lane was little, the idea of this link made me nervous and I did a lot of reading, and it became clear pretty quickly that any “link” between vaccines and autism was pretty much based on shoddy science and anecdotal evidence.
It is well-documented that the MMR vaccine can cause joint pain, especially in adolescent and adult women. Up to 25% of women will experience joint pain, from the rubella component of the vaccine. Joint pain is rare - but not unheard of - in adult males and children.
We got to experience this first-hand. 12 days after receiving her MMR vaccine at 15 months old, Lane stopped walking. (She’d been walking for 2 months at this point.) We figured out pretty quickly, even though she couldn’t tell us, that her right knee hurt. We didn’t know what it could be. We didn’t remember her injuring herself at all, but then again she was at day care 5 days a week at that point and perhaps she got hurt there. After speaking with her teacher, they could not recollect an injury either but in retrospect did notice a hesitancy to walk. Then I remembered that she’d gotten a couple different vaccinations at her appointment a couple weeks earlier, and as I do, I started Googling. I discovered how common arthritic-like joint pain was for women who receive the rubella vaccine, and that it can take up to 2 weeks before it sets in. To me, it didn’t seem like much of a stretch that if 25% of women could experience joint pain, that the occasional toddler might too.
However, my otherwise healthy daughter wasn’t walking, and experiencing pain in her knee. It was enough that I wanted her to see a doctor. And, as it often goes with pediatricians, my suspicions were dismissed. The pediatrician had never seen such a reaction in a child to the vaccine, so naturally such a reaction could not be occurring. Just to be on the safe side, I went along with his desire to do an x-ray and some blood tests to rule out an injury or something else like rheumatoid arthritis. The x-ray was clear, and I guess the blood test did show some slightly elevated something that could indicate rheumatoid arthritis. But in my mind, as I’d done more reading over the next day or so, I became more convinced that this was a reaction to the vaccine. The whole pathology of her symptoms was so in line with the typical joint pain in the older women — it was the knee on the leg where the vaccine was administered, it started within two weeks of getting the vaccine, it was local to that one joint, and then it went away a week after it started, and hasn’t happened since. I spoke to the pediatrician again after the fact, and he still dismissed the idea that the pain could be related to the vaccine. I guess he made up his mind pretty quickly, or had another idea, and my hypothesis didn’t fit with his, and since he was the ‘expert’ his ideas trumped mine.
The whole thing has come up again in my consciousness because Lane just had a well-child doctor’s appointment. She wasn’t due for a visit, but we’d just moved and she needed a doctor’s sign-off to sign up for pre-K in the fall. The doctor asked me about any medical history (asthma, injuries, etc.), and it was the only thing that I could really think of, so I mentioned it. This new pedi, too, was dubious.
And I understand the dubiousness. It’s not a documented side effect of the vaccine for children. I’ll also bet, for little kids getting the vaccine and experience the reaction, it goes unreported. Plus, how many other cases are like ours — the reaction happens, but is never officially reported as a reaction because the pediatrician and/or the parents don’t link the reaction to the vaccine?
So, Lane will be due to get her second dose of MMR at her 4-year appointment, which will happen this summer. Above all, I don’t want my child to experience pain, but a small part of me really wants to see the reaction happen again, so that I can be confirmed in my suspicions, but also perhaps then we can get the pediatrician to officially report the reaction to the powers-that-be. In the meantime, I filled out the VAERS online form to self-report her initial reaction. Maybe if more reports happen, more pediatricians will become aware of this possible reaction, and more parents won’t have their suspicions dismissed.
All that said, I have no intention of skipping or delaying that next MMR vaccine administration. The benefits of being vaccinated against those diseases far outweighs some temporary joint pain.
I’m also hoping by writing this that parents whose child has also had this reaction will stumble across my post. If you suspect your child has had a similar reaction to the MMR vaccine, I’d love to hear from you in a comment.
30 responses so far ↓
Good Fountain // March 8, 2008 - 12:55 pm at 12:55 pm
Very interesting. To me, it just ‘makes sense’ that that’s what the reaction is … no matter how rare it is.
I’ll be interested to see if it happens again this summer.
Ruby // March 8, 2008 - 5:02 pm at 5:02 pm
Why do pediatricians think that the parents are morons and don’t know their own children? Of COURSE the parent knows what their child is going through - you know your kid best!!
BeThisWay // March 8, 2008 - 5:16 pm at 5:16 pm
Interesting. My son wasn’t walking when he got his 1st dose. We’ll see what happens at his next.
Lisa // March 8, 2008 - 9:29 pm at 9:29 pm
To the person who commented I should read up more about vaccines before injecting my kids with heavy metals — wordpress was acting all screwy before and I accidentally deleted your comment in moderation!
Please feel free to leave the comment again if you’d like.
To your point - I’ve read up on the different vaccinations, and as a parent I choose to vaccinate because I feel the risks of not vaccinating are worse than the risks of the vaccines and the diseases they protect against.
Sheryl // March 9, 2008 - 1:09 am at 1:09 am
I would wonder why someone who clearly “knows” as a mother that the shot caused this problem would then go ahead and subject her child to another mmr shot.
Lisa // March 9, 2008 - 1:21 am at 1:21 am
Sheryl, I thought I was clear about that. I’d rather my daughter go through a little knee pain rather than, oh I don’t know, get the measles and end up dead from pneumonia or brain damaged from encephalitis. Or lose a child during pregnancy because of exposure to rubella. Or suffer deafness due to mumps. These are rare complications, true, but more common than serious side effects of the vaccine in question, and more severe than the reaction she had last time. In my opinion, the risk of not vaccinating is worse than the risk of vaccinating.
Shez // March 9, 2008 - 9:56 am at 9:56 am
I don’t know if this is relevant, but my son complained of knee pain for years and all tests came up negative. Then when he was four and a half we discovered he had celiac disease. Within weeks of going gluten free, his knee pain resolved. It came back with a vengeance a few months ago when he had some gluten free oats. We took the oats out of his diet and the pain resolved again. I can’t comment on the link to the MMR because we have not give our children the MMR.
Sheryl // March 10, 2008 - 2:29 pm at 2:29 pm
I understand “knee pain” is mild compared to a severe case of one of the diseases. I have heard that sometimes when a child has had a reaction a 2nd reaction could be more severe. I am not anti-vaccination. I just wish I felt the MMR was safe and it is really scary. I have a 14 month old that has not had hers yet. She has had all other shots but MMR and Varicella. I did sound sarcastic and for that I apologize. =)
TRACY // March 11, 2008 - 7:31 pm at 7:31 pm
Hi I stumbled on your page while searching for MMR and pain. My 18 month old just had his MMR today and is now limping. I think it’s related. He also keeps holding his thigh and saying “boo-boo”.
It’s making me real anxious as I was nervous to give him that shot in the first place.
I wish someone who didn’t have an ax to grind would do a proper study of the MMR.
Sheryl // March 12, 2008 - 3:16 pm at 3:16 pm
Tracy,
The whole thing is scary. I want to protect my daughter from disease’s but also want to make sure the shot’s are safe. I hope your little one feels better soon.
Ruby // March 15, 2008 - 2:36 pm at 2:36 pm
Just FYI, according to Dr. Stephanie Cave’s book, 95% of children have immunity after the first MMR shot, so don’t need the booster. The second booster is given purely for that 5% of children who don’t have full immunity after the first shot. You can request to have your daughter’s titers checked before getting her the second booster, just to make sure that she really needs it
Ed Darrell // March 28, 2008 - 4:19 am at 4:19 am
One of the issues is that younger parents today don’t know that these diseases can be fatal.
arrielle // April 1, 2008 - 9:39 am at 9:39 am
I found this site by Googling ‘toddler not walking after shot’. Thanks so much for posting your child’s experience! My 14 month old had several shots yesterday morning - one of them mmr. And by evening he started really favoring the leg and finally got to the point where he would not even stand up - just slowly crawled around the house. When he woke up this morning still wouldn’t stand up. I put him down on one spot on the floor and he sat in that spot for a good 30 minutes. Now he’s finally up to slowly (and fussily) walking around an hour later. I’m going to call his ped and report it and see what she says.
Belinda // April 2, 2008 - 4:36 pm at 4:36 pm
I just did a search on google for “mmr limping”and came up with your comments. My 18 month old son had the mmr and prevenar immunisations this morning. I take it from your comments that your little girl is fine now, with no ongoing problems?
Lisa // April 2, 2008 - 6:58 pm at 6:58 pm
Hi arrielle and Belinda!
I’m sorry your kids had some pain from their shots! It sounds like your kids are going through pain at the site injection itself - the MMR is not supposed to tickle - vs. actual joint pain.
Either way, it’s a temporary reaction and should go away very soon, could take up to a week.
And yes, my daughter is completely, totally fine. She was walking again within a week, and never showed another instance of pain in that knee (or any other joint for that matter).
SJ // April 9, 2008 - 3:26 pm at 3:26 pm
My son 3.5 had his jabs last thursday MMR in one leg and Diptheria, tetnus, Whooping cough, in the other. Within hours he was screaming in pain and limping. This happemed for two days and then the limping stopped. Monday night I put him to bed and he was really restless and whimpering in his sleep. I woke him Tuesday morning and he could not walk at all. The hospital say it is a co-oincidence and he has reactive arthritis caused by a previous virus. I’m not convinced!!!
Another Lisa // April 12, 2008 - 3:30 am at 3:30 am
I would be wary of giving another MMR shot if your daughter has had an unusual reaction. Could you hold off on the booster & check titers? It’s the whole “what if?” thing, but what if the next time it’s all of her joints or she does develop rheumatoid arthritis? She has had one MMR shot so she should have the immunity if vaccines work like they tell us. I think there are some vaccine schedules that space out the shots so the system isn’t overloaded. I believe arthritis & autism are both auto immune diseases so maybe it’s not just the MMR but injection a lot of vaccines at once. Just a theory. Best wishes.
Monique // April 15, 2008 - 1:54 pm at 1:54 pm
Hi,
I just took my 13 year old son to the emergency room yesterday because he was not able to walk or stand due to pain in his left leg. They did x-rays, ultra sound and blood test, all tests came back clear. He did have a fever of 99.9. He also has been very constipated the last couple of days which I found is also a side affect. I woke up at 3:00 am this morning searching the internet for similar symptoms to find out what’s going on , then I found this blog and put two and two together and realized he had his MMR Vaccination about 10 days ago. I am going to bring him to the pediatrician today to have him looked at, I know they will dismiss that it was the vaccination, that’s a given. I am so glad to know this is temporary and should go away, I am almost sure now that it’s the MMR. Thanks everyone for posting the blogs about this, I am so releived!
Monique
Monique // April 15, 2008 - 1:55 pm at 1:55 pm
I meant 13 month old son, sorry. Must be the lack of sleep last night!
Charlotte // April 18, 2008 - 4:44 pm at 4:44 pm
Hi,
I am travelling back to England next month & am concerned as there is an outbreak of measels in Europe & it is also increasing in England. I did not give my son the MMR & he is now 2.5 yrs old. Does anybody know if the measles vaccine is available separately or do you have to do the whole MMR? I am very against these vaccines where they inject your child against 5 diff. diseases in one go - seems too much for these little bodies to handle…
JR // April 22, 2008 - 8:58 pm at 8:58 pm
I’m a family medicine resident studying for my final exams. While reviewing side effects of immunizations, I came across arthritis as a potential side effect of the MMR vaccine - not just in kids, but in adults, as well. I was shocked to learn that up to 25% of women may experience arthritis symptoms, a small number of which may become chronic.
This was interesting to me - more than interesting - because I developed a significant arthritis in medical school - shortly after receiving this vaccine. It was initially diagnosed as aggressive rheumatoid arthritis; since then, my (many) doctors have decided that it isn’t RA, but they don’t know exactly what it is. It doesn’t fit any real profile of the known arthropathies.
This was not a minor illness or inconvenience. I lost 10 months in my residency and was on long-term disability during that time, after which I have been able to complete my residency part-time, with difficulty. I have seen over a dozen doctors in three different countries in search of an answer to what this might be.
Now, having read this about the MMR vaccine for the first time, I recall that I was screened for immunity to various infections during medical school, and found to be non-immune to mumps (big deal). Nevertheless, I believe I was re-immunized shortly before developing this arthritis. I will have to check the records at the university clinic to be sure.
This may be the answer I have been seeking now for almost 4 years. It probably won’t cure the arthritis I now have, but at least I may have an answer as to what it was that’s made me ill.
This makes me think hard about the many times I have reassured parents about vaccines. Serious side effects are indeed rare - but I guess that doesn’t matter much if you’re the one who gets them.
In the end, I still think vaccines make sense for kids - unless you’re a doctor, you probably haven’t seen a kid with meningitis - and the chances of your kid getting meningitis without a vaccine (and ending up deaf, brain-damaged or dead) far outweigh the chance of your child getting autism.
Of course, if your child ends up with autism and not meningitis, you probably won’t see it this way. And naturally, if your child ends up with autism, you want an explanation for why this happened, and someone or something to blame. I guess people have to make their own decisions.
Ironically, if you choose not to immunize your child because “these diseases are so rare these days, anyways,” consider that the reason they’re rare is because OTHER people are immunizing their kids, and inadvertently protecting yours. Something to think about.
JR, MD
Jordan // May 22, 2008 - 10:08 pm at 10:08 pm
I was checking on just how long vaccines actually work. Some are shorter than I thought. I came across this site while looking into side effects. I have a daughter with autism and am having my son evaluated for autism. My daughter had a seizure about a month after receiving the MMR and DTaP at about age 15 months. They could not thoroughly explain the seizure and it was not linked to the shots. She began exhibiting strange behaviors in the next couple of months. I reported these and it was always dismissed. We worked with her and tried to teach her not to do some of the odd behaviors and tried to encourage “normal” behaviors. I reported this at every check-up. Fast forward to now. She is 12 years old. She has JUST been diagnosed with autism. Formally Asperger’s Syndrome. Having lost so many years listening to idiots with a license we have a lot of work to do with her, not to mention the toll this has taken on her emotional health. Now- the reason why this has anything to do with your blogs. My son, who also shows signs of autism, has had chronic leg and joint pain since he was a little over 1 year old, which is when he recieved the MMR. He is 10 years old now. Again nobody can figure out why he has this pain. It impacts his ability to sleep, walk, run, and generally just tolerate this pain while trying to go about a normal daily routine. Interesting. I did not know that joint pain was a side effect of that shot. It seems that vaccine information keeps getting better and better. My husband works in the medical field and because we exist in that community we always considered ourselves “learned”. Not now. What you think is true, isn’t always. We spend our time trying to push undereducated practitioners into figuring out our children’s health issues. I have found that most doctors are frighteningly uninformed on just about any health topic. They all vary. By the way, they also cover up each other’s mistakes. I know this to be true from living in this community. Be careful who you believe- how well do you know your doctor? To sum it up I guess I think that medical science, while improved and improving the lives of some, is only still in it’s infancy. We need to really figure out more of what actually happens to the human body with all that we throw into it, before we make it mandatory for all. A well-meaning attempt is just not good enough.
sharon - jamies mum // June 5, 2008 - 3:49 pm at 3:49 pm
my son has a dead leg after receiving his mmr jab this morning… it developed at nursery this afternoon and having just taken him to the doctor who has prescribed paracetamol and advising that if it doesnt get better by 10pm tonight (by which time he will be asleep! handy) to take him to a & e.. I am very concerned now having not received any literature on the vacine and am not prepared for such an experience…if anyone can offer any reassurance that his leg will return back to normal, I would be interested to hear from you.
Its now 9pm and he has fallen asleep. what i have to ask myself is, do i wake him and take him to spend two hours in a & e, being heavily pregnant I dont relish the thought!!
I look forward to any comments anyone has regarding this..I hope he gets better, I can feel a claim to the health authority coming on.!!! very concerning - there should be more done into the reasearch on this.
Ed Darrell // June 6, 2008 - 2:40 pm at 2:40 pm
Sharon, how is Jamie doing?
Certainly you ought to ask your pediatrician to be sure you get warning materials.
Hope the kiddo is fine in the morning.
Mother of Four // June 13, 2008 - 2:34 am at 2:34 am
Allow me to correct my errors so that you don’t dismiss the message of my statement over semantics. Cooling down does wonders for proofreading!:
You parents who go along with this scaremongering they call modern immunization should have your heads examined. There is no coming back from permanent neurological or brain damage. I was really enjoying this blog until it hit me how blind you are. Your daughter had an adverse reaction and you’re inviting another go at it? You’re an idiot. NEWSFLASH - people recover from Tetanus after being treated with antibiotics. Complications from mumps, rubella and the like are almost never permanent. There is no coming back from Autism and the like.
Lisa // June 13, 2008 - 11:07 am at 11:07 am
Thank you for coming to my blog and calling me an idiot. Who the hell do you think you are?
People who choose not to vaccinate are the most selfish of all. They bank on EVERYONE ELSE vaccinating so that their precious snowflakes don’t get sick.
Are you frigging on drugs talking about tetanus like it’s strep throat? Tetanus infection creates a neurotoxin - a poison - in your body that causes permanent neurological damage and death. Tetanus has a 5-10% death rate. That’s not in a third world country — that’s here in the U.S. Have you ever read anything about tetanus that wasn’t prepared by the anti-vaccine lobby? Tetanus is a frigging scary mofo.
From the Web MD article on tetanus (http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/tetanus-topic-overview):
If you are infected with tetanus, you will need to stay in a hospital so you can get medicines and fluids to control muscle spasms and pain. You also may need treatment to help you breathe. Your doctor will fully clean any wound or cut to remove bacteria. Cleaning the affected area stops bacteria from making toxin. Treatment also includes:
* Antibiotics. These medicines kill bacteria.
* Tetanus immune globulin (TIG). This is a protein that helps your body’s immune system find and destroy bacteria. TIG boosts your immunity while your body fights the infection.
* Medicines to decrease muscle spasms. You also may be treated in an intensive care unit (ICU) with medicines that paralyze your muscles for a while until your body begins to recover. In this case, you will need treatment to help with breathing and other body functions.
Heather // July 7, 2008 - 1:36 am at 1:36 am
My 15 mo. old son had just the rubella vaccine 6 days ago. And since the night of his shot, he has been walking funny- his right leg is affected & he has had high fevers- up to 105.5. We have made two trips to the ER since the shots & I’m positive these are caused by the vaccine.
I’m glad to know we’re not alone.
Ed Darrell // July 16, 2008 - 12:09 am at 12:09 am
Back in the old days, parents used to be told to treat symptoms — sore legs, sore joints, other pains — with aspirin. I suppose acetominophen might help, too.
Are y’all giving the kids any analgesics at all? If not, why not?
Lisa // July 16, 2008 - 12:28 am at 12:28 am
Well, now because of the Reye’s Syndrome stuff, there’s no giving aspirin.
When my daughter had her reaction, giving her baby tylenol seemed to make it feel a little better, but before I knew what was going on I sort of wanted to know how bad it was, if that makes sense. I wanted to know how long it lasted and how bad it hurt her, without tylenol muddying the data, even though it was only me that seemed to care about the data.
Nona // July 17, 2008 - 11:36 pm at 11:36 pm
When I picked up my grandson from day care Wednesday they told me he was limping bacuse of a blister on his foot. It was not a blister. It was a small measle -like pimple and he had a few more on his body. I later learned some babies get a measles reaction to the MMR in this manner and he recieved it about a week ago. Since yesterday his limping is more profound and the pain seems to be of a high level. Tylenol is taking the edge off but I’m so afraid after reading these blogs that this could go on for some time. Has anyone found a doctor who can help explain this and the outcomes we can expect.
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