What do we know about chickenpox?

[monarchcat]

So a child in my daughter's 3rd grade class came down with chickenpox a couple weeks ago. My daughter had one varicella vaccine when she was a year old then was diagnosed with PANDAS at 3 1/2 and not vaxx'd further after that point. Can you guess where this is leading? Yep! We have chickenpox! Woot! Back when she was 3 1/2 she was diagnosed quickly and easily with PANDAS due to my 14 year old son already having paved the way, so to speak. She was on antibiotics for several years, and we just pulled her off last June. She has been doing GREAT, no issues at all.

 

Before I knew it was chickenpox this weekend and just thought it was a virus (fever, runny nose, cough, no appetite, general malaise for two days before the blisters started) I had been giving tylenol during the day and advil at night. Today, once i knew it was chickenpox, I started Zyrtec (which she has been on in the past for hives) to help with the itching. I have some questions, though. I feel like I have been out of the loop lately so you guys may have some info that I don't know:

 

1. I came across a thread that said something about no Nsaids with chickenpox. Anyone know if that's a true concern, and if so, why?

 

2. She's done fine on Zyrtec for hives in the past, but anyone know if there's a reason not to give (i.e. MTHFR mutations, etc. I've done 23andMe for both kids but haven't looked at that issue specifically)

 

3. My 14 year old PANDAS son... he is flaring the past couple days and I'm thinking he's reacting to exposure. I *thought* he had been fully vaxx'd for chickenpox since we didn't diagnose him til he was 8 1/2, but I looked at his records and he only had one vax as well. I have no intention of getting him vaxx'd at this point (though that is what the schools recommend). I think as it stands it's probably better that neither had the second booster, but damn... we actually HAVE chickenpox in the house now! He was diagnosed after several years with PANDAS so he is still on Biaxin. I also currently give him lithium orotate, hydroxy b12, oregano oil, COQ10, zinc, and iron. I'd love to keep him from getting the pox... if he has to miss school, my life will be heck on earth (he would consider missing school completely horrifying).

 

Anybody have knowledge about dealing with the actual chickenpox virus, especially as it relates to PANDAS kids? eeek... I'm freaking out just a bit.

 

 

[kim]

monarchcat,

 

This will give you a some information on why it might not be wise to allow no rise in temp (of course you don't want the fever to get too high either). I think this points out that a high fever can be a sign that things are going south.

 

http://www.whale.to/a/butler_chickenpox.html

 

Vit A & C and a little selenium, supporting the liver (low protein/sugar/ lot of fluids) as it deals with handling the toxins that the pox produce, are things that I believe are important. This sure isn't medical advise but what I believe would be the "go to," treatments for chickenpox at our house. One of my kids had really low neutrophils during a high fever illness and those first responders or the innate immune response is important in dealing with CP, so these things make sense to me.

 

Easy reading short article here

http://www.livestrong.com/article/362153-what-vitamins-are-needed-to-increase-white-blood-cells/

 

The video on this page, about 1/3 of the way down, is really worth watching if you want to make yourself feel better about not doing the 2nd CP vaccine. It's also scary and maddening in the respect of no vaccine that you could even sort of feel good about for an alternative for an older person who is at greater risk of complications or for a person with autoimmune/hyperinflammatory concerns.

 

Video presentation by Dr.Theresa Deisher:

Skip forward 21 minutes to the important part of the talk.

Dr Theresa Deisher – Worldwide Autism Epidemic & Human Fetal Manufactured Contaminated Vaccines Published on Sep 10, 2014

http://jeffreydachmd.com/2015/02/greater-threat-measles-measles-vaccine/

 

Please keep us posted on how they're doing!

Edited April 6, 2015 by kim

[MaryAW]

I would recommend calling Dr. Swedo's office at the NIMH and ask if they have suggestions for you. It's a serious concern that very few doctors would understand, but she should. My understanding is that you probably won't speak with her, but someone on her staff would check with her and get back to you. Here is a link to the website. A phone # is at the bottom of the page. If you decide to send an email, I would check with them to make sure the email on the page is the correct one.

 

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/labs-at-nimh/principal-investigators/susan-swedo.shtml

[searching_for_help]

I got this in my e-mail today, but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Our PANS dd had the first shot, and got the chicken pox also, but her case was mild.

 

http://jeffhaysfilms.com/bought-movie-bonus-short-chickenpox/

[EAMom]

Definitely watch the Jeff Hayes short video.

 

My non pandas dd (vaccinated for CP at age 1) got Shingles at age 5. The dermatologist we saw commented he was seeing a lot more shingles in little kids since the CP vaccine came on the market.

 

I've heard of several kids that have gotten CP despite vaccination. My friend's child actually contracted CP from the grandma who had been recently vaccinated for shingles.

 

It seems like a bad joke! CP vaccine to prevent CP in kids-->increased rate of Shingles in entire population-->Pharma promotes Shingles vaccine-->which sheds-->gives kids CP!

 

"New research published in the International Journal of Toxicology (IJT) by Gary S. Goldman, Ph.D., reveals high rates of shingles (herpes zoster) in Americans since the government's 1995 recommendation that all children receive chicken pox vaccine.

Goldman's research supports that shingles, which results in three times as many deaths and five times the number of hospitalizations as chicken pox, is suppressed naturally by occasional contact with chicken pox."

 

http://www.news-medical.net/news/2005/09/01/12896.aspx

[bws1565]

I don't what is the big deal with chicken pox, I and all of my siblings had it, as did my two older children. We all survived!! and got some TLC from mom as a bonus. The chicken pox vaccine was only promoted as a great tool "for saving moms from staying home from work when their child was sick" !!!

 

Oh, yes, one good thing did come from the vaccine. Many parents are waking up to the reality that vaccines are not all great, by being mandated to vaccinate against this very mild disease.

 

For immunosuppressed children, that is a different story. My friends child with asthma, on drugs, was not allowed to be exposed to chicken pox, due to severe problems associated with the drug he was taking and chicken pox. OK, these are the children that need the vaccine. I agree......

[searching_for_help]

I know this is an old thread, but our 23 year old was just diagnosed with shingles. She got the CP vaccine when young, and ended up getting a mild case of the chicken pox anyway.

 

She has had Bartonella streak-like rashes in the past, so when she broke out with the current rash (which is NOT streak-like) I wondered if it had something to do with Bartonella. But the pain associated with it was a dead giveaway to the dermatologist she saw that it was shingles.

 

Does the fun ever end?

[kim]

SFH,

 

Can you update on how your daughter is doing with the shingles?

 

If you're looking for a bright spot, those who get shingles at a younger age are supposed to be at much less risk for PHN (postherpetic neuralgia).

 

They're finally admitting that the chicken pox vaccine is causing more shingles and at a younger age. I think the latest report says something about 30's? Then they point out the thing about younger age being assoc. with less PHN. My question is, what happens when a young woman gets this while pregnant? Are we working up to a shingles vaccine along with a flu vaccine and a Tdap while pregnant? How far do they think they can take this manipulation before we have even a worse situation on our hands than now, with all of these vaccines? will these young people end up with subsequent cases of shingles later? You can get it more than once. What strain is causing this, the wild or the vaccine strain? It just p's me off to no end!

Edited October 16, 2015 by kim

[searching_for_help]

kim,

 

The first couple of days were pretty painful. We got her on antivirals 2 days after she started having symptoms, and I'm giving her some l-lysine in addition to the Valtrex. Today would be about her 3rd day on abx, and this morning she became very emotional - Bart/Pandas style out of control. I'm guessing it's partly due to herxing - she had been on antivirals about a year ago and herxed on day 3 and 4.

 

Her rash has not progressed to the oozy stage. It is still red, but a bit less so this afternoon. I'm wondering if we caught it early enough that it won't form the oozy, scabby stuff. Hoping...

 

Yes, I'm reading the same thing about shingles increasing due to the vaccine. But now they just push the shingles vaccine! And the shingles vaccine only stops the shingles in a little over half the cases, but I do think it helps some with the post-pain stuff. (Like 67%, I believe.) Ugh...

 

I'm reading a continuing education course on The Hidden Medical Causes of Mental Disorders by William Matteson, Ph.D. Wow, REALLY interesting read. He is talking about the brain, and says this: "The blood-brain barrier, which restricts the penetration of toxins to the brain, is not fully developed in humans until about one year of age. It is not known when the barrier becomes fully functional." (He is NOT talking about vaccines, but just discussing cortical growth). But that got me thinking - should we be giving vaccines to children BEFORE the blood brain barrier has developed? And should breast fed babies be given vaccines before they are done breastfeeding? There are so many questions that we aren't allowed to ask without being called ANTI-VAXXERS. Ugh! What an affective strategy to shut people up...

[kim]

Thanks for the update. Sure hope any negative effects disappear quickly.

 

I've heard if antivirals are started fairly early on, it does seem to take some of the punch out. Personally, I would like to go the all natural route but not sure at this point. I don't even know if my kids would get shingles or chicken pox. They have had one dose only too.

 

I know someone who got shingles in their late 40's. He decided not to take the Valtrex which had been prescribed. Dr. seemed puzzled that the case seemed as severe as it was (he didn't let on that he hadn't taken) so I'm assuming that it does help considerably with shingles.

 

It would be appreciated if you could let us know how it progresses with your daughter.

 

There are so many questions that we aren't allowed to ask without being called ANTI-VAXXERS. Ugh! What an affective strategy to shut people up.

 

.

We just can't afford to shut up anymore. No matter where you stand on vaccines or a particular vaccine, I just can't see too many people who want that choice taken out of their hands. I was reading this today. The paper won't be available until 2016 but the abstract makes you wonder if anyone knows what's going on. It seems the only thing that has been ruled out in relationship to autoimmunity/neuro disorders is vaccines. None of those vaxed vs unvaxed studies though, that would be unethical. How convenient.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25484004

J Theor Biol. 2015 Jun 21;375:101-23. doi: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2014.11.022. Epub 2014 Dec 4.
Unresolved issues in theories of autoimmune disease using myocarditis as a framework.

 

Monarchcat, if you're reading did your kids do o.k? Did your son end up with CP?

Edited October 18, 2015 by kim

[searching_for_help]

Just an update. DD's shingles rash didn't progress to the vesicule stage. It just began fading away, I'm assuming due to the antivirals. She had a couple of days of some pretty intense pains, but that has subsided substantially as well.