Thermisol free shots are unnecessary according to my docs
Carrot303
member
I have spoken to two different doctors about the whole Thermisol free thing. Both of them have independently said the exact same thing: That it is done to satisfy all the crazy women out there but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a regular shot with (gasp!) mercury in it.
Just an FYI. I have not researched this in depth and I'm not claiming to know it all ... I know we're all SO sick of vaccine discussions but I see a lot of posts about this particular subject. Both of the docs I talked to literally rolled their eyes at the topic. I think it's a big nothing according to medical professionals but so many women are freaked out by it that they make a separate one for those girls. Again - I'm not claiming to be an expert -- just passing this along. Feel free to talk to your own doctor about it. I know there will be some girls that get their panties in a bunch over my post. 
*Edited to fix my spelling of Thermisol.
Re: Thermisol free shots are unnecessary according to my docs
Clearly
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/updates/thimerosal.htm
Personally, I agree with the OP's doctors.
One doc was female, the other a male. I trust that the male would be just as concerned, however, for my baby's well-being. I'm not being sarcastic - I'm assuming that's what you meant.
At this point, I have absolutely no idea how to spell Thimerosal. Whatever!
WTH does that have to do with anything? ?Male OBs are less concerned for their patients? ?What a dumb comment.
ITA with the OP. ?I have an OB and a pediatrician for DS because I didn't go to med school and they did. ?I trust their advice when it comes to things like vaccinations.?
(read it. you know you want to.)
anderson . september 2008
vivian . february 2010
mabel . august 2012
yes, that's why I asked- you'd hope that would never be the case. I did have my nurse practicioner tell me if I couldn't get one without thimerosal to make sure I skip a fish meal for the week. I don't even eat fish so wasn't worried, but I got the shot preservative free anyway.
Yeeeah... and in 20 years, if they tell us that it contributes to X, Y, and Z conditions, who is going to be rolling their eyes and laughing. For me? Better safe than sorry. If you can get it without, why the heck not? It's obviously not going to hurt anything to NOT have it, but there's always a possibility that further down the line that they WILL find a problem with it, and that possibility is too much for me.
Actually, not sure why I'm debating this... I refuse to get any vaccinations while pg.
I agree that you are completely entitled to your own opinion on this matter, and I know it is a personal decision. But, I feel like I have to point out that they've been using thimerosal in vaccines since the 1930s without any evidence of it causing anything other than redness and swelling at the injection site. So it's been almost 80 years, and no problems.
Not trying to change your mind, just pointing out the facts.
And just so everyone is aware...
"A preservative-free version of the inactivated influenza vaccine (contains trace amounts of thimerosal) is available in limited supply at this time for use in infants, children and pregnant women." "Vaccines with trace amounts of thimerosal contain 1 microgram or less of mercury per dose." https://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/VaccineSafety/UCM096228
So thimerosal free shots are not necessarily completely free of thimerosal.
Over 20 years ago I received several vaccinations that probably had way worse preservatives then thimerosal and I turned out just fine with no defects. I am going to double check with my OB Friday and I will trust his opinion. I'm not a doctor so I believe he knows what he's talking about. It's really no different then trusting an engineer to say a building is structurally sound.
Because I'm bored...
If you can make the shot without it and the shot is the same with or without, then what the hell is it doing in the shot in the first place? Why have it at all?
The only reason it was ever taken out was because people thought the mercury in thimerosal could be linked to autism. At the time (1999) there was not enough evidence to rule out a possible link between the two, so thimerosal was removed or reduced from most vaccines. After a study done in 2004, the Immunization Safety Review Committee rejected the theory that there was a relationship between thimerosal and autism. However, vaccines have remained the same since 2001, with either no thimerosal or a reduced amount of it.
There was never any evidence of thimerosal ever being harmful. Taking it out of vaccines was done as a precaution. As I stated before, thimerosal has been used in vaccines since the 1930s with no evidence of causing any harm other than redness or swelling at the injection site.
https://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/VaccineSafety/UCM096228
Clearly, neither have you. I'll go with the CDC, thanks very much. People are truly freaks about this thimerosal thing, when most don't have the faintest idea why they're even freaked out.
But this still begs the question... WHY is it IN there if it doesn't HAVE to be??? Mercury is obviously NOT something that is good for us, if we're supposed to avoid eating fish in large amounts while pg. Why the hell are we still manufacturing a vaccine with something in it the obviously doesn't need to be there? I mean, I guess I know it's a preservative, but when they freaking run out of vaccines, how long does it really need to stick around?? It's not like they use the same vax year after year for the flu shot!!
I guess this is how I look at it: I try to eat as much food that is preservative free as possible and do things as naturally as possible. And that's just what goes into my stomach and is digested. This is being injected directly into my bloodstream to alter my immune system, which science really doesn't know nearly enough about. I realize that it's been used for a long time, but in recent years there have been entirely too many rises in various auto-immune diseases and cancers... SOMEthing is causing it, and I realize that it's a variety of things, but I still stand by my assertion that because we don't know nearly everything about the immune system and all its intricacies that they may discover that something that's been used for a long time in this manner might not be so harmless after all. No, it may not CAUSE autism, but it could very well be part of a larger puzzle of other equally devastating conditions.
So for me, personally, that's enough to keep me doing what I've always done to avoid the flu and has kept me pretty healthy for the last 29 years, wash my hands thoroughly, avoid sick people and overly crowded indoor places whenever possible, etc, etc.
First, the preservatives are only used in multi-use vials to prevent contamination after they are opened. Single-use vials do not contain thimerosal. Second, obviously nothing I say is going to change your mind about vaccines. I don't know where you have gotten your information, but a lot of it is just wrong. If you really want to know the truth read the studies that have been done. And please read the real studies, where years of research and many different test subjects are studied. My suggestion is to start with the CDC. Science does not know everything about the human body, but scientific facts do not lie.
The increasing rates of disease could have any number of causes. It could be air pollution, but I doubt you stopped driving, or decided to farm all of your own food, and weave your own fabric for clothing. I just don't get the logic.