Flu season and possible MS-Jordan

New question.  Jordan (my 12 yr old son) has started another episode that began last Wednesday.  To update, Dr. says his heart is ok and agreed these are probably spasms.  Thanks to all that helped with that suggestion.  A drink of cold water or warm drink does help.  Jordan has been advised by both Neuros to skip the flu vaccine this year (scares me to death) but can't rule out that it wasn't triggered by vaccine or the EBV+ dx.  Jordan has not been sick with a cold or flu in 2 years.  Am I to assume that if he does get the flu or get a virus, he will become more sick than most?  He has a cold now and it sure has him thinking slowly and in a great deal of pain, especially on the right side.  Neurotin not helping much in the last few days.  Will be really hard to keep him well when he goes to middle school.  I am just nervous.  Coming up on the year mark (Nov. 22nd) when all this began.  Any suggestions on how to keep him well naturally?  Thanks!

[Caryopteris]

Train him to keep his hands away from his face and wash up whenever he can.  I have not been following the story, but hopefully he can fight off viruses if he gets them.  

[jensequitur]

I would especially advise you to get all the vaccines you can for Jordan.  When I am ill, I am so much more ill than the average person because of my condition.  Having the flu is especially bad - bladder weakness, leg weakness, muscle spasms - all that becomes worse when I have a fever.  Pneumonia and flu vaccine are a good idea, and if there's a cold vaccine, get that too.

Personally I don't think that the vaccine will cause any problems.  The live flu vaccine should be skipped, but the injections are fine.

With his current condition, I would seriously consider other options for him.  Is he in a small class, with the teacher aware of his condition?

[ku111]

He has always had the injection.  I don't understand either but I have called to confirm that they "do not" want him to have the flu shot.  There was so much overwhelming information that day I thought I misunderstood.  They explained they cannot rule out it triggered all this to begin (within 45 days of when illness began) and they say they have seen this before.  I am darned if I do and darned if I don't.  It is definately a place I'd rather not be.  I am scared to death and can only sit here watch, hope & pray.  I don't think he will do well if he does get the flu and can't take the chance to put him through the last year again.  One day at a time, right? lol

[Sumanadevii]

I wouldn't like the idea of him not getting the shots either but then I guess we have to trust the neuro on this.  I sure hope they are right.  If not, I would be looking for a new neuro in the spring.

[jensequitur]

I've never heard of the flu shot triggering neurological problems like this - I'm a little concerned that your specialists may be going off on the wrong tangent.  I'm all about trusting the neuro, but I throw in a healthy dose of skepticism too.

[jumpinjiminy]

My son reacted to vaccines. Whether he had a condition before that was exacerbated by them or not, they definitely made it worse. Much worse. I'm leery of them myself, but got one this year anyway because the results of getting the flu were pretty bad. It knocked me out for a month, and flared up a bunch of very painful, long-time silent neuro issues.

Getting the vaccine flared things up as well, but not nearly as bad is what catching the flu did.

Wish I had some advice on how to keep him healthy other than what's been posted above. Maybe try an anti-inflammatory diet - it's mostly fruits, veggies and lean meats. Also, things that help me (I have no diagnosis, but a hx and ss that read like ms - just no mri lesions) the most are staying cool and staying away from sick people. Heat and illness are my two biggest triggers. Without them, I do pretty well.

Another thought is to send him to school with a mini hand sanitizer, so he can make sure and keep his hands clean even when he can't get to the bathroom to wash them. They also have wet wipes singles that can be kept in a pocket, but they're more expensive than a little bottle of sanitizer. We know how schools can be. Our local school recently switched to more 'green' cleaning products. It's been a disaster for the spreading of illnesses.

While getting my flu vaccine, the nurse informed me that certain people they don't recommend getting them at all. She told me that my son (because of his asthma) probably shouldn't be getting the MMR and chicken pox vaccines anyway - because they're live and he's at a higher risk of reacting to them. Those are the only vaccines left he has to get.

EBV can trigger this type of illness. It's one virus at the top of the list, and I can say I've never felt the same since coming down with it in my teens.

[ku111]

JumpinJiminy-  Very interesting.  The school is pushing for the Chicken Pox vaccination so I called Neuro's a few days ago because I thought forsure they would say no way.  Nope.  They said she wanted him to have in case they needed to put him on medications and she didn't want him to get the shingles on top of another event.  I am so confused!  The only thing I know to do is listen to them (not trying to sound rude but NOTHING better happen to him), pray a lot and take one day at a time.  He has just gotten a cold and isn't doing so hot with just a cold.  I can't wait for flu season to be over.  I am going to worry all season.  Thanks for the info.  Have a great day!