Guest guest Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Thanks so much for the info. I appreciate it! LM wrote: > > > Certainly Pandas didn't suddenly appear in the '90s. It was only given > a name then. > > There are no studies on adults. The thinking is that Pandas is an > autoimmune response to strep - akin to an allergic reaction. A child's > thalmus - the place where T-Cells are created - is about the size of > your fist. Once a child hits puberty, the thalmus starts to shrink > until, by adulthood, it shrivels to next to nothing. As an adult, > T-cells are created in the GI tract (thus you'll read that " 70% of the > immune system starts in the gut " ). > > So it's assumed (and anecdotally supported) that children outgrow the > " allergy " . It's also why adults get far less strep infections than > kids. Your immune system changes and becomes more efficient in > fighting childhood diseases. But no one can rule out an " adult " Pandas > - it just hasn't been studied. > > You can always do an ASO/AntiDNase B titer test which will test your > blood for the presence of antibodies to strep. It may show that you've > had a recent infection even in the absence of strep symptoms. But not > everyone has elevated titers. So it's not a conclusive test. > > In any event, you can see if your doctor would be open to trying a > longer (21 day?) course of antibiotics, or prednisone to see if you > experienced a relief in symptoms. However, if you have a tic disorder > that isn't Pandas, prednisone can make tics worse. So you need to be > very careful. > > If you've had OCD for 40 years, you will be fighting responses that by > now are based as much - if not more - on learned behaviors as on any > physical trigger. Even Pandas kids benefit from CBT and ERP skills. > > Sorry this doesn't give you a definitive answer. Best of luck! > > > > > > > > > > My son is 13 and was just diagnosed with PANDAS. Interestingly, the > > > PANDAS doctor explained to me that the brain swelling of PANDAS > causes > > > the child to be in state of hyper alert due the brain not being able > > > to filter out sensory input. Everything around him is given equal > > > value of importance until he is not only hyper alert but in a > state of > > > fear due to the overload on his senses. The brain then begins to find > > > things to be afraid of - thus the OCD. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 , By your description, do Pandas kids " outgrow " it then? Dina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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