OT-MMR symptoms

[asktriplets]

Sorry to be off topic, but it IS vacation related (we're trying to figure out whether or not to keep our hotel reservations tonight so we can head into a local amusement park tomorrow morning):

my son got the MMR vaccine (not the one with the chicken pox vaccine with it) yesterday afternoon. it's his 2nd dose, he's almost 6, and he received no other vaccines with it.

i don't recall a reaction from his first MMR, but he woke up this AM with a sore throat, runny nose, and his tonsils are HUGE. he didn't feel well this morning, but after motrin and sudafed, he says he feels "pretty good". he's been outside playing and is currently pestering DH to go for a bike ride to the park, so i know he feels "well enough", but i can also tell that even if it doesn't HURT him to swallow, his tonsils are swollen enough that he can really feel it when he does swallow.

i called the insurance nurse line today and they said that the mumps vaccine can cause the swollen glands and the measles vaccine can cause runny nose/sore throat, so it makes sense that he IS indeed having some reaction to the vaccine (as opposed to him randomly coming down with a cold on the day of the immunization).

does anyone have any experience with these minor side effects? (please, no horror stories of more serious side effects! ) how long before these minor things went away for your kids? obviously, our gut reaction is to cancel for tomorrow, but we've already cancelled this trip 2 times, and we're worried that we won't go this summer as we promised the kids if it isn't this weekend. (and, obviously, if DS said or acted like he didn't feel well, we wouldn't be considering it tomorrow!) i'm hopeful that the typical turnaround for this is 24-48 hrs. any ideas?

THANKS!

 

[asktriplets]

...DS just agreed that waiting to go to the park until next weekend would be better (and if my 5 y.o. is agreeing to WAIT for something he really wants, he must not be feeling 100%!!)

i would still appreciate any stories anyone has about their child's recovery from these mild reactions.

thanks!

 

[snow88]

My son just got his MMR shot and what a surprise that was. He had it on Aug 1 and came down with a high fever on 9. About Aug 11 or 12, he came down with the rash. He had a sore throat and a very high fever on Aug 10 so I took him to the dr. who gave me some antibiotics because his throat was real red and his ear was a little red as well. I had a hard time keeping the fever down. I wouldn't take the child on vacation for at least ten days after this starts because sometimes it gets worse in like day 6 or 7. I didn't know for sure which shot that my son got because my bf took him and he couldn't remember. He had other shots but 5% of the children that get that shot has those reactions. At least that's what I read. I never knew about this. I was scared. My son looked like he actually had measles. The spots are brown and fading now.

I just re read what you said about receiving the vaccine yesterday. That's too soon for these symtoms. It's normally a week at least. This is my son's first MMR.

 

[asktriplets]

thanks for the response.

so sorry to hear your little guy had a reaction!

you know, i was thinking yesterday that we had about a week before the fever might set in (if he were one of the ones to get a reaction), so that's part of the reason i liked the idea of going for this quick, 1 1/2 day getaway trip this weekend (and while i was thinking this last night, DS felt great)....i had forgotten this morning (as i was trying to convince DS that next week would be better for him) that next weekend might be even worse, symptom-wise! thanks for the reminder.

take care,

 

[heazer]

My son is 16mos now, and when he got his MMR shot at 15mo he got symptoms as well. Our pediatrician said they would appear about seven days out, and they did...like clockwork.

My son was fussy, had a low-grade fever, and broke out in a rash. He looked like he was getting measels, but the spots didn't bother him. They went away within 48 hours and everything settled back down.

 

[bumbershoot]

Be sure you have your MD report the reactions, so the people who keep track of such things have accurate information!

 

[livie1205]

I hope he feels better......none of my kids ever had a reaction to their vaccines...my ds11 just got his menactra (sp?) shot on friday and he has had no reaction.

 

[disneymarie]

Hi I did not want to hijack but when talking about vaccines made me recall a doctors office trip last fall.
I am 50 and I needed a tetnis shot from a cat bite. The doctor stated they are giving the vaccine with the purtusis I think she said as the one Adults had as youngsters is not holding up. I recalled how sick DH was the year before and realized he must have had whooping cough.

The other thing was my dd12 had the chicken pox vaccine when she was an infant and it was new. Then the question was getting the vaccine or having them the old fashion way.

Well, I called the pediatrician up just after Easter this year as it looked liked Chicken poc on my DD but she had not been as sick or severly covered as the older three were years ago.
I learned at her physical that year she would have been given a booster, but now would not need it from getting them.
Low and behold, I must have only had chicken pox mild in my youth or not as all because I got them too, Under my breast, the hair on my scalp were the worse and I assume warmest areas for them to have come out. We both had the marks from them a lONG LONG time after too.

So talk with our docs about any boosters we all need!
dianne

 

[asktriplets]

excellent info, disneymarie, thank you!

on that note, i have been telling everyone i know over the age of 50 to

TALK WITH THEIR DOCTOR ABOUT THE SHINGLES VACCINE!

my poor dad got through surgery for pancreatic cancer and a life-threatening allergic reaction to his chemo drug last year and ended up getting a HORRIBLE case of shingles while recovering. he is now doing VERY well (1 year cancer free!!!! ), except he has post-shingles nerve pain that is just constant and horribly painful.

apparently, the chicken pox virus stays with you and can come back as shingles in adulthood (i believe the virus stays dormant in your nerves, which is why shingles can be so painful). the thing about shingles, too, is that you are more likely to get shingles if you are immunosuppressed, getting chemo/radiation (can't remember which), or on high doses of steroids (ALL of which my dad was!)...talk about kicking you when you are down.

wishing everyone health,

 

[asktriplets]

thanks for everyone's thoughts.

it looks like DS (and to a lesser degree, both DDs) has a cold. seems odd that they would all be ill 12-24 hrs. after the vaccine, but my understanding is that any "cold-like" symptoms that come along with the vaccine show up later (about a week?)
we did cancel our trip, but we'll hope they feel well enough to go next weekend! thankfully, everyone feels better today with only congestion (no fevers or super sore throats!)

bumbershoot, thanks for the reminder. i'm going to talk to my ped. office tomorrow to see if i should report this.

 

[asktriplets]

because we were home this weekend instead of at the amusement park, i filled my free time by uber-planning our dining reservations! holy cow...i want a DDP so badly just as an excuse to eat at a sit-down restaurant EVERY day.....all of those beautiful looking menus on allearsnet!! we usually just do 2 or 3 sitdowns per trip, but now........