LucyC

Oops sorry, posted before I was finished. In the week before the frequent urination started, I had bullous impetigo from infected insect bites and was treated with anti-biotics. I believe that bullous impetigo isn't usually strep A but can be strep B but I could be wrong. Anyway, when I took my son to the doctors in early March, he did blood tests and my son did have an elevated strep titres. The GP gave us 7 days antibiotics, but at the time we started taking the antibiotics the tics were much much reduced (but never completely gone) and remained so whilst on the antibiotics. It wasn't until 2 weeks after he finished the antibiotics course, that the tics flared up again. I went back to the doctors and they gave us more anti-biotics (penicillin) for a longer course. We are 4 or 5 days into that and there is no reduction in tics or other symptoms just yet. So I'm not sure if the reduction we saw on antibiotics first time/exacerbation after finishing was just antibiotics related/normal waning of tics or related to other triggers not yet identified. In the meantime, my doctor has been in contact with the PANDA's person in NZ, and has got a protocol for treatment and I see him again this week. The doctor I am seeing practises both medicine and alternative medicine. He did electromagnetic (or maybe muscle testing) on my son and strep showed as a problem from that - although I'm not sure how much I believe the muscle testing tbh! We have no other known allergies in the family. He has never shown sensitivity to any foods/medicines/products before. Thank you for any insight you can offer me. I feel very very far from my friends and family right now - I'm in a new town and its so hard painting a smile on my face when my heart is breaking inside for my boy.

Thank you for your replies - it is very much appreciated. The house we have moved to is an old house that has been renovated in the last 10 years. There is mold on a very old window in his bedroom - when I made the potential connection a couple of days ago, I've moved him to sleep (with his dad) in our sleep out which doesn't have any mold in the hope that will resolve things. We will deal with the mold on the window as a matter of urgency. Other potential triggers - he had a hepatitis B vaccine two days before the frequent urination started as part of New Zealand's standard vaccination programme. I bought your book and saw that the hepatitis vaccine was mentioned a number of times as a trigger. I did some rapid Internet research and found some research linking thimosel containing Hep B vaccines (only published last month) with tic disorders but NZ's vaccine's don't contain thimosel since 2012, so I'm a bit confused about the likelihood of the impact of that, or even what I could do about it if it was that. In terms of the PANDA's link - my son had a sore throat 3 or 4 weeks before this started, which was not treated with antibiotics. In the week before he

Hello, 6 weeks ago my 5 year old son started sniffing/snorting -and gurgling noises and then jerking his neck. They both started within days of each other - I have never seen him do any other kind of tic before this. It coincided with us moving half way across the world to a new home, and starting at a new school. He is not a particularly anxious child and so this behaviour has come out of the blue for me - although his dad did have some minor tics as a child. The neck jerking he is doing is violent and happening at least every minute, and sometimes two or three times in a row. Anyway, I have a specific question please for those of you more familiar with Tourette's. Prior to the onset of these tics, my son started needing the toilet very frequently. Sometimes he would go 3 or 4 times in a 5 minute period. He has no UTI and ultrasound was normal. I understand that this frequent urination is common in PANDAs cases (often as a precursor to flare ups) but I am just trying to guage whether it happens in individuals with Tourette's too? My son is almost urinary incontinent when he is at home now - small bits of urine are constantly escaping into his pants. I'd welcome your views please - I'm in New Zealand and my GP thinks PANDAs but I don't think he fully understands Tourettes (based on the fact that he clearly doesn't understand what vocal tics are and thought they had to be words).

Hello, Thank you for all the info in this forum - I am trying to take it all in but so difficult as I am so exhausted/frightened about what has happened to my 5 year old boy in recent weeks. All of a sudden he has developed severe urinary frequency issues and within 2 weeks of that, severe motor and verbal tics. He is also drooling and chewing on toys, fingers etc all the time. Our story in short. We just moved half way round the world from UK to my husband's native New Zealand in January. It was supposed to be the start of a wonderful new life but somehow it has turned into a nightmare in a matter of weeks. My son started a new school first week of Feb. He wasn't especially anxious about it (he's not a particularly anxious child). At the end of the first week, he was constantly going to the toilet for a wee. I took him to the doctors as thought he had a UTI. No UTI. Then came the sleep disturbances. Repeated nightmares, and he got so scared he didn't want to go to sleep so he'd take 2/3 hours to get to sleep at night (also because he was constantly getting up/down to go to the toilet). About 2 weeks after this started, I noticed he was making a loud sniffing noise incessantly. I didn't realise it was a tic, and asked him to stop, but it became obvious that he couldn't stop. And that very day (26 Feb) he started with violent neck jerks. He has never displayed any tics before - he is not anxious by nature nor does he display any OCD type traits normally (I should say that his dad had mild tics as a child but not on the scale of the neck jerks we are seeing in my son). I took him to the doctors who ordered blood tests, but he thought just a reaction to all the changes my son had undergone in preceding weeks. But the following week, the strep blood test came back as elevated and he prescribed 7 days antibiotics, although the tics had calmed a bit by the time he started the antibiotics (but not the incessant weeing). His tics were much reduced for a period of 2 weeks (one of those weeks he was taking antibiotics), and nightmares seemed to calm down, but still excessive weeing. Then about a week after antibiotics had finished, the tics came back much more severely than when they originally came on. He is now pretty much urinary incontinent - he wees so often and commonly doesn't make the toilet (only small amount of urine each time). I've been back to the doctors and they suspect PANDAs and have prescribed at least 3 weeks of antibiotics, which he has just started. PANDAS symptoms started in first week of Feb (urinary frequency). He had a sore throat in January which he didn't take antibiotics for, and he seemed recovered enough. I had bullous impetigo which I had to take antibiotics for in the same week the urinary incontinence started (which was a complication from insect bites). He also had the hepatitis b jab two days before the urinary incontinence started, as it is part of the standard childhood vaccine schedule in NZ but not UK. I also noticed the other day that he has a sore looking red ring around him anus (now gone). There seems to have been so many potential triggers/changes in our lives at the moment, I am so overwhelmed! Strangely enough, in spite of all of this, I am in regularly discussion with my son's teacher at his new school, and she is very happy with his progress. He has made friends, doesn't seem anxious at school. She has noticed the head jerk tic (you can't not) but that aside, he is settling well and doesn't seem anxious. Sigh. So much to wade through. Not really sure of the point of this post. I just feel so heartbroken, and am desperately trying to help my gorgeous boy.

Anneio My 5 year old son is having terrible problems with excessive need to wee. (It started 8 weeks ago, along with significant nightmares, and sleep disturbance and then 3 weeks later, vocal and motor tics). He has no history of any OCD type behaviour or tics, or any other developmental issues for that matter. The doctor did a blood test for strep and found elevated titres and he was treated with anti-biotics for a week. Symptoms improved (but not the excessive weeing) but two weeks later, it is worse than ever. He can go to the toilet once a minute at times - very little comes out. He has started to just wee in his pants, he is so fed up of going to the loo, and I have even found he has weed on the floor near the toilet a couple of times (he said scared of centipede in toilet). sometimes we are going through 5 or 6 pairs of pants/shorts in an hour or so. I have wondered if it is Pollakiuria, or maybe it's a tic as it appears there is such as thing as a bladder tic. He had an ultrasound of his renal tract last week - no evidence of any problems. I'm going back to the doctors today. I don't have any answers - I hope your daughters clears up soon x