Hello,
This is my first post, but I have been lurking here since April when we started putting together that our 7 year old ds' symptoms was more than just misbehavior. Working backwards, I believe that the inciting event was over a year ago about a month before he turned 6. He was diagnosed with both strep and impetigo, had a horrible rash and was put on amoxicilan and mupirocin. The next day his behavior shifted drastically. He was not himself. I scolded him for being mean to his younger sibling and he cut off a chunk of his hair. He was in a ridiculous state after, laughing uncontrollably and inappropriately. Making crazy faces. Dark mood. Didn't seem to care about any consequences. Overtime things improved, but this winter he had multi[;e strep infections in a row and his symptoms escalated. His math skills declined, his handwriting got worse (messier and drifting). My son who is normally empathetic, kind, introspective and a rule follower, is like a different person when he's infected, he's in this state he doesn't make eye contact (he normally does in conversation), there's a sort of wild look in his eyes, has trouble managing even the smallest disappointment, increased anxiety, rages, sometimes restricted eating--says he's not hungry. Rarely eats much for breakfast. Has a fear of trying new things (even foods he's had liked before.) I could go on and on.
Things have largely improved since his 3 course of amoxicillan in a row. He's had a few minor flares that we haven't been able to figure out the trigger of--allergies? overheating? his younger sibling being sick with a fever? We are awaiting his blood work and the results of his EEG, but the partial panel that we did showed elevated strep titers and the sleep study that we completed showed sleep apnea. His tonsils are constantly swollen so we are pursuing an tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy. Since his symptoms are largely better right now the neurologist we're seeing, who specializes in PANDAs, said she doesn't want to put him on a long term course of antibiotics to avoid him developing a resistance but I'm worried about him not having antibiotics before and after the surgery. If you have pursued the T&A procedure, can you please share what you did re: antibiotics? And anything else you wish you had known when you started this journey.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.