Re: Immunization Triggering Diabetes?

I got the Measels, Mumps, and Ruebella immunization in November of 2007 during the big "outbreak" in Alberta.  They had huge clinics at the U of A (my University) offering free immunizations.  I started showing signs of diabetes at Christmas in 2007 (about 2 months after the shot), and was officially diagnosed in February 2008.  This was after people had really bad allergic reactions from this immunization.  It was said that Alberta got a "bad batch" of the immunization.  I have also read that Ruebella can trigger T1 Diabetes.    I asked nurses and doctors a few times about the possibility that the shot triggered my diabetes, but was never able to get a straight answer from any of them (grr!).  There were 4 other early 20s from Red Deer diagnosed within the same two weeks as me, which also could have lined up with the immunization, but I never had a chance to ask them if they had gotten the immunization as well.  I am wondering if anyone else was diagnosed after getting an immunization shot? 

I was officially diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was about 19, now 27. But very curious about this too! I wonder if the immunization theory has a timeline - ie does it only occur immediately, meaning a few months after the shots, or can this happen years later? Or does it even matter.

I was told that after whatever happens that "triggers" your diabetes it ususally takes anywhere from 1 month to a year to show signs, and this shot was within two months so it's possible. 

I don't necessarily have an answer to your question, but I've wondered about something similar.  My symptoms of diabetes started exactly 1 week after I donated blood.  The timing could have just been coincidence, but I don't think I can ever bring myself to give blood again!

Right! Very possible. 

No one in my family has diabetes so when I got the symptoms no one knew what it was. They all thought that I had some kind of eating disorder. I would keep eating, and could not put on weight in fact I lost so much weight I was just skin and bones. Had all the classic symptoms. The thing is, prior to this, I don't remember having any meds or immunizations...actually since I was a child. But similar to what happened in your situation, everything happened so quickly. Within a month.

I've been on the pump, a year after my diagnosis...and although I am not overweight, it is harder for me to loose weight.

Anything is possible. I would definitely not rule it out.

Heather Cole

I asked nurses and doctors a few times about the possibility that the shot triggered my diabetes, but was never able to get a straight answer from any of them (grr!).

You probably didn't get a straight answer because there is no straight answer. Aren't still under the impression that diabetes can be triggered by an illness at this point, but aren't 100% sure? I haven't heard any solid answer about how T1 develops in my 15years of being diabetic! So it's quite possible that it did.

..yet another reason I don't generally get those kinds of shots..not that it could change the outcome now...haha.

The real reason there aren't many straight answers when it comes to the "cause" of diabetes, especially T1, is because the scientific community still doesn't know what triggers the immune system to attack the islet cells. The best answer I have been given is that there are several factors which contribute to one getting diabetes:

• Genetic mutations (not necessarily present in previous generations)
• Outside triggers (illness, stress, a virus, vaccine, etc)

Just today, there was a story that I found via Twitter about some recent findings in a study funded by JDRF linking a virus to the cause of Type 1 diabetes. Here is the topic I started about it.

Yah, I just wish they would have at least answered me whether or not it could be a possibility.  I know there is no way to tell for sure, but it definitely makes me think about getting another immunization twice....

Heather Cole

Yah, I just wish they would have at least answered me whether or not it could be a possibility.  I know there is no way to tell for sure, but it definitely makes me think about getting another immunization twice....

To be honest, they probably didn't want to say "it's possible" and then have you going around saying it might be caused by this or that, without any actual proof that it could've been one of the immunization shot. There's enough speculation on how diabetes is triggered without doctors and nurses going around telling scaring patients into thinking an immunization they got may be to blame for it.

You may not have gone around saying "according to the doctor, this immunization shot I got may have triggered the diabetes" but it's already made you think twice about getting another immunization shot..imagine what kind of twisted story it would cause, if someone you mentioned it to told someone else, who told someone else...

Hey Heather,

The important thing to remember is that while it is possible that your body accepting the immunization may have triggered the immuno response that ultimately resulted in diagnosis, it didn't cause Type 1; there was a disposition there already.  Some doctors and nurses don't think we're too bright and don't trust us to know the difference.

While there are other factors and paths to diagnosis, there is a common ring to having fought off an infection, virus, etc. and being diagnosed within months.  

Cheers,

My Uncle believes his immunizations caused T1, he points out the anthrax vaccine in particular. I think anything is possible.

He was diagnosed at 47, and received the anthrax vaccine along with other shots prior to his scheduled deployment (Navy). Apparently, within two months the symptoms started, and he along with 4 other guys ended up being diagnosed. He finds it too coincidental that 4 others were diagnosed in the same timeframe.  

Immunized with the influenza vaccine in late November/eary December of 2005.

Bad gastritis (vomiting) and fever around Christmas of 2005.

Diagnosed January 5th, 2009.

So, it could have either been caused by the immune reaction produced in my body to develop antibodies to the influenza virus, or it could have been caused by the flu-like infection I had around Christmas of 2005.

Regardless, my immune system attacked my pancreas and I'm now a type 1.  It certainly could have been from the immune reaction produced by my flu-shot.

The real question, in my opinion, is (like Canadian James mentioned) why did my immune cells attack my pancreatic islet cells along with the immunization/infection?  Was it a genetic predisposition?  Or was my body at the time of the immune reaction in some way unhealthy or deficient?  That's the question I'm interested in.

I agree. I don't think a doctor is going to admit that "[this or that] shot or treatment *caused* [this or that] reaction." Especially not if the same doctor is the one who administered that shot.

Interestingly, my diagnosis also coincided with a shot, albeit not an immunization. Mine was a steroid shot - dexamethasone, to be precise - given to me along with antibiotics, to help fight an ear infection I had just 3 weeks before I ended up in the ER, presenting with Type 1 Diabetes, and a blood sugar of 1600.

Now, as my serious symptoms (i.e. excessive thirst & urination, dizziness, blurred vision, extreme weight loss, etc) hadn't begun until after this shot, neither my primary physician (who administered the shot) nor my endocrinologist will say directly that the steroid shot triggered my onset. They're more likely to point to the ear infection as the trigger, saying that Type 1 is just in my genes and was bound to rear its head at some point. But something I shared in another discussion forum actually makes a bit more sense to me, and I'd be delighted to hear thoughts on the subject.

Please see below: 

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I am the first Type 1 Diabetic in my family as far as anyone knows.

BUT - remember this is an AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE. Have any of you ever read "The AutoImmune Epidemic" by Donna Jackson Nakazawa? I believe it's the final chapter of that book which addresses the idea that we - as a people - are so overworking our immune systems (via pesticides in foods, exposure to harsh cleaning chemicals & pollutants, and stress) that our immune system, which is charged with the duty of protecting us from these natural enemies, can no longer recognize friend from foe; and so it attacks our own bodies. In the case of Type 1 Diabetes, the immune system attacks the pancreas.

This theory fits, I think, with the idea of Type 1 *not* necessarily being linked by genetics, or some hazy genetic pre-disposition. I'm no doctor, but Ms. Nakazawa's theory (supported by evidence from numerous data and doctors) sure makes sense to me. To use one of her examples: Suppose you feed yourself organic broccoli (free of pesticides, growth hormones, etc). Your body will recognize what you're feeding as broccoli. But the moment you feed yourself broccoli that's sprayed with pesticides and treated with hormones, etc, your body's going to recognize it as 1) broccoli and 2)whoa!-something that needs attention from the immune system. And your immune system will then go to work. Work your immune system enough, however, and like anything that works hard, it will soon become exhausted and do lesser quality work. It may even make a mistake... It may even make an irreversible mistake.

I first heard of Ms. Nakazawa because she interviewed me briefly (just after I was diagnosed last year) for an article on autoimmune diseases for the September 2008 issue of Glamour magazine, in which she discussed disturbing statistics which pointed to more and more young women being diagnosed with everything from Celiac, to Type 1 Diabetes, to Rheumatoid Arthritis. The numbers were in epidemic proportions. Ms. Nakazawa herself actually suffers from more than one autoimmune disease, and appears to have made the education and consciousness-raising of others into a life's work.

That said, if any of you have read the book (or even just part of it) or has some opinion to offer on the ideas I just mentioned, please... let's have a discussion. It seems increasingly crucial that we educate ourselves and others as much - as quickly - as possible. Thanks!

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I have no history of diabetes in my family. I think immunization could have triggered it. sucks they don't tell you that could happen before they give you the shot.