Re: PITANDS question re Valtrex and IMGG

[Guest guest]

PITANDS is similar to PANDAS, where your child can be

normal one minute, and you watch them unravel before

your eyes with a viral (or bacterial) trigger. PITANDS

is triggered by any virus, not just strep. Needless

to say, we live in fear of every little germ. (Sorry

- I thought most everybody here knew what PITANDS was,

but I think it is more rare than PANDAS.)

Carmel

[Guest guest]

Carmel,

I would be interested to hear when/how you realized that your child

had PITANDS and what doctors are helping you now.

When my 5 yr old son first got sick two years ago, I read almost

every journal article out there on PANDAS (most written by Sue Swedo

at NIMH). If I am not mistaken she and/or her colleagues also coined

the phrase PITANDS either before or around the same time as the

phrase PANDAS. When my son's psychiatrist talked with Swedo two years

ago though she seemed to disavow her paper on PITANDS saying the

focus now was on strep alone as a trigger. (ultimately, this may have

a lot more to do with her research than her beliefs but anyway...) I

thought this was unfortunate because my son had all the PANDAS

symptoms, but negative culture and negative titers (although everyone

else in the family had strep at the time he first became ill.)

Kim in MD

> PITANDS is similar to PANDAS, where your child can be

> normal one minute, and you watch them unravel before

> your eyes with a viral (or bacterial) trigger. PITANDS

> is triggered by any virus, not just strep. Needless

> to say, we live in fear of every little germ. (Sorry

> - I thought most everybody here knew what PITANDS was,

> but I think it is more rare than PANDAS.)

>

> Carmel

[Guest guest]

,

I can't believe it... I found the article.

Here's where I got it...

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

CAN ADULTS HAVE PANDAS?

The " P " in " PANDAS " stands for " Pediatric. " Does that mean that adults

can't get PANDAS?

Bodner et al. (2001) described one adult with OCD that emerged at age 25,

following a severe antibiotic-responsive pharyngitis. In all respects except

age, he met the diagnostic criteria for PANDAS, including evidence of an

active post-streptococcal process. Elevated antibody titers against

streptococcal antigens have also been described in adult patients suffering

from Tourette's Syndrome. Thus, although research focuses on pediatric

cases, there is a possibility that a subset of adults may also be

susceptible to this type of problem.

Dinn et al. (2001) compared adults with OCD to adults with other (non-OCD)

psychiatric disorders in terms of recurrent infections. The 65 patients in

their sample had primary diagnoses including OCD, posttraumatic stress

disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic

disorder with agoraphobia, and dysthymic disorder. Chart review of their

records revealed immune-related symptoms and syndromes among OCD patients at

significantly higher rates than found in the anxiety and mood disorder

groups. Because there was no difference in the incidence of non-immune

symptoms and syndromes, the investigators concluded that OCD is associated

with significantly increased immune-related illnesses. The nature of their

design (retrospective chart review) does not permit any inferences as to

whether adults actually experience the post-streptococcal acute-onset or

dramatic worsening of OCD symptoms that is the defining feature of PANDAS,

although their data do suggest that there may be an increased vulnerability

to such problems.

But for now, and simply by definition, adults can't have PANDAS.