Posted 9/17/2015 4:53 PM (GMT 0)
Before I got Lyme (or before I realized I had Lyme), I was fully for vaccinations. I was nervous about them, but believed that the risk was worth the reward.
When I got sick with Lyme in July 2013 we initially thought I must have bitten by a tick at some point earlier that summer. As time went on and I did more research on immune systems, health, and chronic illness I began to change my theory.
I couldn't remember being bitten by a tick, but I knew that didn't necessarily mean anything. We also thought it was odd that I would have bitten by a tick that summer because I hadn't done anything "risky". No hiking, camping, or even walking around in foliage. It was a busy time and we were mostly at the swimming pool (my daughter was on the swim team), at home or running errands.
My husband and I had, however, done lots of "risky" things when we were younger. We'd had two dogs who we used to hike with a lot. We used to camp a lot. I began to wonder if maybe I'd had Lyme longer.
But why would it have just come on with such a vengeance in July 2013? My LLND had said childbirth, a huge life stressor, serious illness, or some other stressful situation were all things that could cause Lyme to surface. But I hadn't experienced any of those things. The closest thing I experienced was a mild case of the stomach flu I had caught from my daughter. Two days after coming down with that stomach flu, I woke up a different person. I didn't know it then, but Lyme had taken over.
I began to research more and postulate how could a stomach flu cause Lyme to come on so suddenly and so strongly, if, in fact, I'd had it longer than just a couple of months, which was what I suspected.
I began to wonder about a vaccine I'd had in June of 2013. I had gotten a call from Costco that I'd been exposed to Hep A from some frozen berries I'd purchased. At the recommendation of my PCP, I got the first dose of the Hep A vaccine. I was to get the second dose at a later date. I never got that second dose, because we went to Disneyland and life just got busy. Then my life as I knew it changed.
We began to believe that the Hep A vaccine messed up my immune system enough that when I got that mild case of the stomach flu, it was enough to let Lyme rear its ugly head. I came across this article (http://www.naturalhealth365.com/vaccine-Lyme-disease-symptoms-1527.html) which, in my opinion, supported my theory, and we decided that that's what happened.
One day at a visit to my LLND, she asked how my children are...thinking I might have had Lyme long enough to pass it to them in utero. I told her of my oldest's behavioral issues (very ADHD-type behavior since I can remember) and she suggested we get her tested.
We just got her test results back this week. She has Lyme too. She got at tick bite at 5, but has exhibited her ADHD-type behavior long before then, so we believe I gave it to her. And I believe were it not for that Hep A vaccine, I would not be as sick as I am today.
Since my illness, we were already leaning towards stopping vaccinating our kids, but now that my daughter has Lyme, we will definitely never vaccinate them again. We live in California, and the mandatory vaccination law has just passed. I'm expecting I'll be able to get a medical exemption because of Lyme, if not from her pediatrician, from my LLND. But if we end up having to home school or leave the state, my kids will never get another vaccination.