PANDAS

July 1, 2006

Jill,

How long after the exposure to strep did it come on? I had strep in December

of 2005, my son's OCD came on strong in January even though he did not test

positive. His initial onset of OCD came right after a summer of severe sore

throat, even though he never tested positive for strep, but I mean he was down

and out on the couch for 3 weeks with a sore throat!

Thanks for the info!

Jill Schreibman <jillschreibman@...> wrote:

-

My 4 year old- , was diagnosed with PANDAS a couple of months ago after

sudden onset of OCD symptoms. Like your son, she also tested negative for strep

(the rapid and overnight culture) but my older daughter did have strep when

's symptoms started. We had the bloodwork taken for PANDAS to test for

the titers and they came back within the normal range. BUT, we have a great

pediatrician and child psychiatrist and they both agreed that the " normal range "

of titers might not be normal for and they have been treating her as if

she has PANDAS.

We have found that when she is exposed to Strep at pre-school, her behavior is

definitely affected.

She has been on a prophylactic dose of an antibiotic and it seems to really been

helping. She's not tantruming anymore, she'll eat and brush her teeth again (she

wouldn't when things were at there worst) and she's just happier. We told her

that she is allergic to strep throat so she has to take her medicine or she gets

very cranky and thinks things are dirty when they aren't. We also met with a

therapist who specializes in OCD and anxiety in young children. I've been doing

a modified version of CBT with . That has been helpful in giving us a

common language to talk about her anxiety.

I would pursue the PANDAS diagnosis a little more with your providers given the

sudden onset.

Good Luck!

Jill

__________________________________________________

July 1, 2006

We had the blood test done and it showed no strep. The initial swipe test showed

a slight positive.

Looking back he had shown signs of ocd earlier, but the sudden crisis level was

after a high fever, bad sore throat and body aches. There were so many things

that could have triggered the initial crisis level, Dad was working out of town,

a bad experience during a birthday party (he saw his friend's dad slap his

friend across the face, at his birthday, we never spank, so it was a shock to

him, then he had to stay two extra hours while we were working, came home very

upset and ocd started 2 days later, still talks about this event) so who knows

what triggered the full onset.

He was always particular about his hands, worried about fresh foods and germs,

has always had separation anxiety, and had complained of bad thoughts a year

before, but they went away. So I think it was always there. It seems to be

pretty mild at this point. I hope it stays that way.

J

Re: Re: Pandas

Jill,

How long after the exposure to strep did it come on? I had strep in December

of 2005, my son's OCD came on strong in January even though he did not test

positive. His initial onset of OCD came right after a summer of severe sore

throat, even though he never tested positive for strep, but I mean he was down

and out on the couch for 3 weeks with a sore throat!

Thanks for the info!

Jill Schreibman <jillschreibman@...> wrote:

-

My 4 year old- , was diagnosed with PANDAS a couple of months ago after

sudden onset of OCD symptoms. Like your son, she also tested negative for strep

(the rapid and overnight culture) but my older daughter did have strep when

's symptoms started. We had the bloodwork taken for PANDAS to test for

the titers and they came back within the normal range. BUT, we have a great

pediatrician and child psychiatrist and they both agreed that the " normal range "

of titers might not be normal for and they have been treating her as if

she has PANDAS.

We have found that when she is exposed to Strep at pre-school, her behavior is

definitely affected.

She has been on a prophylactic dose of an antibiotic and it seems to really

been helping. She's not tantruming anymore, she'll eat and brush her teeth again

(she wouldn't when things were at there worst) and she's just happier. We told

her that she is allergic to strep throat so she has to take her medicine or she

gets very cranky and thinks things are dirty when they aren't. We also met with

a therapist who specializes in OCD and anxiety in young children. I've been

doing a modified version of CBT with . That has been helpful in giving us

a common language to talk about her anxiety.

I would pursue the PANDAS diagnosis a little more with your providers given

the sudden onset.

Good Luck!

Jill

__________________________________________________

July 1, 2006

What happens if you don't catch this?

My son (6 yrs) has had ocd symptoms (plus adhd and anxiety) four almost

three years now. He did take antibiotics for an infection just prior to this

but

it was only for ten days.

His ears were infected. His throat was red but they did not do a strep test

since an antibiotic was being prescribed anyway.

What if he had/has PANDAS and never had the extended course of antibiotics?

Would the ocd persist, get worse, go away on it's own?? What is the long term

picture?

Liz

July 1, 2006

What happens if you don't catch this?

My son (6 yrs) has had ocd symptoms (plus adhd and anxiety) four almost

three years now. He did take antibiotics for an infection just prior to this

but

it was only for ten days.

His ears were infected. His throat was red but they did not do a strep test

since an antibiotic was being prescribed anyway.

What if he had/has PANDAS and never had the extended course of antibiotics?

Would the ocd persist, get worse, go away on it's own?? What is the long term

picture?

Liz

July 1, 2006

Hi Vicki, thanks for passing this along.

My OCD son (17) also has Aspergers (on the autism spectrum), very mild

overall. I've read some about the possible autism/virus connection in

some cases. Interesting!

>

> Hi! I've been lurking off and on the list for awhile but haven't had

much

> time to post. The discussion on Pandas and whether of not it could be

> triggered by more than just strep infections reminded me of

something. There

> is an antiviral medication, Amantadine, that was originally made to

July 1, 2006

What was the original message on this? I didn't see it ... about Amatadine?

Thanks!

<@...> wrote:

Hi Vicki, thanks for passing this along.

My OCD son (17) also has Aspergers (on the autism spectrum), very mild

overall. I've read some about the possible autism/virus connection in

some cases. Interesting!

>

> Hi! I've been lurking off and on the list for awhile but haven't had

much

> time to post. The discussion on Pandas and whether of not it could be

> triggered by more than just strep infections reminded me of

something. There

> is an antiviral medication, Amantadine, that was originally made to

---------------------------------

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates

starting at 1¢/min.

July 1, 2006

What was the original message on this? I didn't see it ... about Amatadine?

Thanks!

<@...> wrote:

Hi Vicki, thanks for passing this along.

My OCD son (17) also has Aspergers (on the autism spectrum), very mild

overall. I've read some about the possible autism/virus connection in

some cases. Interesting!

>

> Hi! I've been lurking off and on the list for awhile but haven't had

much

> time to post. The discussion on Pandas and whether of not it could be

> triggered by more than just strep infections reminded me of

something. There

> is an antiviral medication, Amantadine, that was originally made to

---------------------------------

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates

starting at 1¢/min.

July 1, 2006

,

I'm certainly no expert, the parents on here who have PANDAS kids

are, I'm sure.

But I *think* PANDAS OCD, etc., would be a diagnosis, at least " of

sorts, " in that the *cause* of OCD (or tic or whatever) is

different. It sort of makes a distinction between, e.g., OCD and

PANDAS OCD. A physician/psych might want to try (or add) antibiotics

with a child who seems to have recurrent OCD due to being a PANDAS

child for instance, or have a child go on antibiotics during strep

season, etc. Many with PANDAS do go on the regular OCD meds though.

It's probably an individual type thing. And some kids seem to get

strep or other more often. With PANDAS, the symptoms/behaviors can

go away after a few weeks and not return until another bout of strep

or illness; or maybe for some, symptoms/behaviors are just very mild

compared to any increase with illness.

Kathy R. just posted a great link to some info, includes OCD and tics:

http://www.tourettesyndrome.net/pandas.htm

One of my coworker's has a daughter who always got strep, many times

a year, from childhood on up thru middle school. (Well, the " many

times " covers that it got so that it lasted longer, the antibiotics

just wouldn't knock it out any longer in the typical number of days,

she was on them much longer). I just consider her soooo lucky that

her daughter has never developed PANDAS OCD!

>

> Hi All,

>

> I know that Pandas is an abbreviation for a lot of words what I

wonder is, is

> Pandas a diagnosis? Does it go away? I had a friend who's son got

a tick

> after having strep and everyone said it may have been Pandas. I'm

July 1, 2006