I have a 15 year old son with Intellectual disabilities and a history of absence seizures who is fun, energetic, happy, caring, loving, fun, understandable, helpful, polite and cooperative young man.
On July 1st, after getting the second dose of the Covid vaccine, it changed my son completely over night. Now he has aggressive and some violent behaviors. I went to the doctors and explained to them what happened. Of coarse, the doctors won’t believe me. Before the vaccine, my son was a normal energetic, happy, caring, loving, fun, understandable, helpful, polite and cooperative young man.
Now, he would have straight 3 days and 3 nights without sleeping with finding stuff to do to keep him busy. He would not eat or drink at all. He would refuse to take showers and brush his teeth. The doctor was able to prescribe medicine to help my son to go to sleep. When he gets agitated, he would have these aggressive and violent behaviors. I would be scared that he might hurt himself and others. He would turn on all the lights in the house, open up all the blinds, bang on doors and walls, scream, yell, shoot baskets, push you for no reason, go outside and make noises by banging the trash cans together, and run outside for a long time. He also would pick up the phone and call 911 and report to the police. The police would come over and check making sure things was fine. Luckily that nobody was hurt during his aggressive and violent behaviors.
One doctor was able to give me some relieve, state that it might be part of the side effects to the vaccine and the behaviors should subside in a month. She prescribed my son a medicine to treat inflammation in his brain if any and it seem to help him. He was more calm and started to listen to instructions.
A month later, my son started to recover and be somewhat normal again for 15 days. Then after on a Saturday at 3am, I discovered he was still awake watching videos on his iPad so I took it away not knowing that it triggered his aggressive behaviors to start again. His behaviors are manageable at least.
I am trying to seek behavior therapy for my son. I believe that he can be back to normal once the medicine in the vaccine fades away. His life was not good ever since he was born. I am willing to do anything to get my son back to normal. Please help my son.
FIND SOME HELP:
- Thank you for taking the time to write to Teen Central. We are happy that you feel this site, and our suggestions, may be helpful as you continue to care for your son. It’s brave of you to come forward with your concerns and questions – and fears. That’s not easy, so brava!
- We would have first recommended a trip to your son’s primary doctor, which you already did. Good for you. We encourage you to continue regular follow up appointments regarding the physical symptoms your son is experiencing.
- You mentioned that your son has both wonderful qualities as well as sometimes very challenging behaviors – which causes us to think you could probably use some support. Bayada offers a list of support groups for parents/caregivers of special needs children that you can check out here: https://blog.bayada.com/be-healthy/eight-support-groups-for-parents-raising-children-with-special-needs. Also, if you’re ever feeling completely overwhelmed with your responsibilities, please know there is help available 24/7 by calling 1-800-273-8255 or texting HELLO to 741741.
- Please consider also who the support people are in your life that you can talk with about the stress you’re experiencing. Those people are sometimes neighbors, other parents, community or spiritual leaders or teachers and support personnel at school. Having someone in your life to talk with is an important part of your own well-being.
- TeenCentral supports everyone getting the COVID-19 vaccine (with doctor approval), as it is our BEST SHOT at beating this virus. We see that your son’s behavior correlates with the timeframe of getting the vaccine. It may or may not have been caused by the vaccine. Kids’ behaviors can be caused by many things, or combinations of things. So let’s keep an open mind – and you definitely seem to have one!
WHEN YOU’RE READY
- Behavior therapy sounds like a good idea to help your son continue to learn how to cope with frustration and manage his behaviors, as well as provide opportunities for you to pick up some additional skills for supporting him. Your doctor should be able to help you connect with providers in the area. Also, if you have insurance, you could contact the customer/member service number on your card and ask them to help you identify a provider that is in their network and close to your home. County agencies for child welfare are also a good resource to identify services in your area.
- Being a caregiver can feel like more than a 24 hour/day job. Consider giving yourself some time every day to do something to take care of yourself – as little as 10 minutes can make a difference. We talk a lot in the behavioral and mental health field that you have to take care of yourself first before you can take care of others. It’s often difficult to do, but important nonetheless.
- Finally, please take some time to explore our resources on Teen Central. In our TOOLS section, we have information and resources about wellness, as well as in our LEARN section you can find information about Relaxation and Mindfulness. Please take care!
