• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Did you have a vaccination not long before developing ME/CFS?

Did you have a vaccination not long before developing ME/CFS?

  • Yes

    Votes: 39 45.3%
  • No

    Votes: 47 54.7%

  • Total voters
    86

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,665
Location
Alberta
I didn't see a poll for this before, and it seems like a useful one. I only recently remembered that I had gotten a tetanus booster not too long before developing a Type IV food sensitivity and subsequent ME/CFS. Maybe I'd have developed the immune system problem from some other trigger--such as a cold virus--at that time of my life, but the vaccination certainly seems suspicious in timing.

If you developed some immune system hypersensitivity soon after a vaccination, and then developed ME/CFS, vote yes, and maybe post a qualifier explaining it.
 

NotThisGuy

Senior Member
Messages
312
also had a tetanus booster.
but I was going downhill before that and there was a lot of other medication I had to take so no Idea if that made it worse. I think it accelerated the progress.
 

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
At age 11, my pediatrician decided to vaccinate me for mumps because I would be going off to summer camp in a month or so. The mumps vaccine itself had only been around for less than 5 years at that time.

I trace my initial development of OI symptoms to within about a month after this, but it could just be coincidence. It might just as well have been related to the onset of puberty. It is kind of odd that I had these "low blood pressure upon standing" symptoms in my teens which gradually went away and then came back with a vengeance in the wake of the viral onset of ME in my early twenties.
 
Last edited:
Messages
1,082
Location
UK
Tetanus booster for me too. Though i also had an ongoing virus for 6 months prior to that, it was the tetanus booster, that completely shut down my body and brain (within weeks) leaving me a living corpse for a few years
 

adelheid55

Senior Member
Messages
424
My son got a vaccination for Tetanus and some sort of Hepatitis. 3 month after this he complained about being tired a lot. Some months after that he got a cold, sore throat, then sinusitis and never came back to feeling healthy.
Finally he got his diagnosis of ME/CFS.
 

Skycloud

Senior Member
Messages
508
Location
UK
Flu shot.

edit to add that I also had a virus, and antibiotics for something else prior to developing ME. I was also under a lot of stress due to a bereavement 2 years previously and the fall out from it. I tend to think that these things may have played a role in my going on to develop ME, but the virus stands out as the initiating factor as I never recovered from it.
 
Last edited:

charles shepherd

Senior Member
Messages
2,239
General information on vaccines and ME/CFS from The MEA

Anecdotal evidence indicates that a number of vaccinations are occasionally capable of either triggering ME/CFS, or causing an exacerbation of pre-existing symptoms

The UK Chief Medical Officer's Working Group report acknowledged (in section 3.3.2) that vaccinations can occasionally act as a trigger factor in the development of ME/CFS. The CMO report can be e-accessed using the document archive on the MEA website: www.meassociation.org.uk

The link is biologically plausible. However, there hasn't been any really robust research carried out to investigate the role of vaccinations as immune system stressors in the causation of ME/CFS.

Two fairly recent published reports of interest relate to an MHRA review of HPV vaccine (Cervarix) and ME/CFS >>

http://www.mhra.gov.uk/NewsCentre/Pressreleases/CON316330

and two case reports re Swine Flu vaccine and ME/CFS:

http://www.meassociation.org.uk/201...accination-bmj-rapid-responses-21-march-2014/

I have a longstanding interest in the role of vaccinations in ME/CFS and my patient evidence on the subject, which is now quite substantial and includes a number of health workers who were vaccinated almost as a condition of employment, indicates that hepatitis B vaccine appears to play an unusual and significant role here

This is supported by the results of the MEA website poll on the roll of vaccinations as trigger factors for ME/CFS (see below)

The MEA has an information leaflet which summaries the research evidence relating to vaccinations and ME/CFS.

Similar information is summarised and referenced in the MEA purple book

MEA WEBSITE POLL:



  • If your ME/CFS was triggered by a vaccination, which vaccine was involved?
    • Hepatitis B (57%, 338 Votes)

    • Flu (9%, 51 Votes)

    • Other (7%, 41 Votes)

    • BCG (6%, 33 Votes)

    • Cannot remember (5%, 31 Votes)

    • Combination (5%, 27 Votes)

    • Tetanus (3%, 18 Votes)

    • Meningitis (3%, 17 Votes)

    • MMR (2%, 14 Votes)

    • Polio (2%, 10 Votes)

    • Hepatitis A (1%, 7 Votes)

    • Typhoid (0%, 4 Votes)


      Total Voters: 591
Start Date: April 30, 2010 @ 3:20 pm
End Date: June 2, 2010 @ 3:20 pm
 

charles shepherd

Senior Member
Messages
2,239

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,930
my problems came progressivly, so I can't remember if vaccine shot were involved;

one professor in France thinks CFS can happen after myofascitis from aluminium adjuvant, but I don't think his findings were reproduced...
 
Messages
8
I developed ME/CFS 6 weeks after a Hepatitis B vaccine.

I was diagnosed with Macrophagic Myofasciitis (MMF) following a deltoid muscle biopsy. Typical MMF symptoms are muscle pain (worsens after exertion), chronic fatigue and cognitive impairment - identical to ME/CFS. MMF is caused by the aluminium hydroxide adjuvant in some vaccines. There have been cases of MMF diagnosed in a number of countries (UK, Ireland, Portugal, France, Germany, Australia, USA). The medical experts in France recommend testing for MMF if a patient is diagnosed with ME/CFS and has a history of aluminium based vaccines in the 10 years prior to ME/CFS diagnosis.

I believe that vaccines which contain aluminium hydroxide adjuvant include Hep A, Hep B, Tetanus, DPT (diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus) and Meningitis C.

HPV also contains aluminium, but it's a different variation. I don't think this has been linked to MMF.
 

charles shepherd

Senior Member
Messages
2,239
I developed ME/CFS 6 weeks after a Hepatitis B vaccine.

I was diagnosed with Macrophagic Myofasciitis (MMF) following a deltoid muscle biopsy. Typical MMF symptoms are muscle pain (worsens after exertion), chronic fatigue and cognitive impairment - identical to ME/CFS. MMF is caused by the aluminium hydroxide adjuvant in some vaccines. There have been cases of MMF diagnosed in a number of countries (UK, Ireland, Portugal, France, Germany, Australia, USA). The medical experts in France recommend testing for MMF if a patient is diagnosed with ME/CFS and has a history of aluminium based vaccines in the 10 years prior to ME/CFS diagnosis.

I believe that vaccines which contain aluminium hydroxide adjuvant include Hep A, Hep B, Tetanus, DPT (diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus) and Meningitis C.

HPV also contains aluminium, but it's a different variation. I don't think this has been linked to MMF.


I have a particular interest in the role of hepatitis B vaccine as a triggering factor in the development of ME/CFS

As you say, there is a condition called macrophagic myofasciitis, which has very similar clinical features to ME/CFS, and also appears to be linked to hepatitis B vaccine

Research paper reference:http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2014.00230/full

Dr Charles Shepherd
Hon Medical Adviser, MEA
 

Tammy

Senior Member
Messages
2,176
Location
New Mexico
This leaflet is currently free to download from the MEA website:

http://www.meassociation.org.uk/201...about-the-201718-flu-vaccine-04-october-2017/
In the leaflet it says that thimerosal (mercury preservative) is being slowly discontinued due to concerns of neurological issues. If that's the case why don't they just stop it completely right now instead of slowly discontinuing it. This is the kind of thing that infuriates me. I don't want any mercury preservative to be injected into me no matter how minute the amount. It's one of the worst neurotoxins there is. About a month ago my grocery/pharmacy store was advertising flu shots and I was curious if thimerosal was included so I asked for the leaflet that came in the box that the Dr.'s/pharmacists get.......and it listed 12.5 mcg of Mercury if you got the .25ml dose.................and 25mcg of Mercury if you got the .5ml dose. I also don't want formaldehyde injected either. Those aren't the only things that concern me either. It is also what is involved with the making of a vaccine from start to finish. The way they are getting the pathogen they will be working with and where this pathogen comes from......etc. etc. I will not go into any details but I have pages of notes when I really started investigating. Going to stop now cause I could really get on my soapbox about this subject and it just upsets me too much.
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,665
Location
Alberta
While I agree with avoiding unnecessary mercury exposure, 12.5 mcg is only double the normal daily intake for humans, so it's not something I'd panic about. A quick search didn't show how much seafood is the equivalent, but I'm guessing it's not much. We did evolve to deal with small quantities of mercury.
 

Tammy

Senior Member
Messages
2,176
Location
New Mexico
While I agree with avoiding unnecessary mercury exposure, 12.5 mcg is only double the normal daily intake for humans, so it's not something I'd panic about. A quick search didn't show how much seafood is the equivalent, but I'm guessing it's not much. We did evolve to deal with small quantities of mercury.
I'm not sure how we evolved to deal with small quantities of mercury? Mercury as well as aluminum adds up for a person that gets shots every year or from whatever other source we get it from. As the leaflet mentioned.........the Mercury is being slowly discontinued due to concerns that it may be causing neurological problems. That speaks volumes to me. I'm not panicking because I won't get anymore vaccines............but I am concerned for others.
 
Last edited:

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,665
Location
Alberta
We evolved to deal with small amounts of toxic metals because the predecessors who didn't deal with them didn't pass on their genes. ;)

Yes they add up, but I was just pointing out that the amount of mercury in the vaccination is pretty close to the natural daily amount we evolved to deal with safely. Maybe the health safety provided by the preservative is greater than the health risk, and the replacements just aren't as good, or have other health risks, like MMT replacing lead in gasoline. It's more likely that the mercury one is cheaper, but I can't demonize it without more info.
 

kelly8

Senior Member
Messages
191
I didn't vote here but I would like to add that I believe my autoimmune issues started after a got ridiculously sick with coxsackie b virus a week after getting my mmr shot at 18 months old. There was no other known exposure and one other child at the practice also developed the same strain. This was a time that this was unheard of (now it seems to be common). As a result I had immune issues all through my childhood including 3-4 sinus infections a year all the way through college. My cfs type issues came after an illness that never went away when I was 28. I think my immune system was shot from all the prior assaults.

This is obviously just my theory on my own situation and may not apply to others but I think it is important to point out since it took a lot of sleuthing on my part to find out this info (my parents never had mentioned it and there was no record). My mom finally mentioned in passing that I had been very sick as an infant and I had to dig a bit deeper and then hunt down my vax records.