MaryAngela

My first thought about your situation is that PANDAS/PANS is almost always dismissed when a child is on the so-called spectrum. My DS had sensory issues since he was an infant, but had his first major onset of PANS at age 8. He was then diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. His symptoms (sensitivity to odor & sound, lack of frustration tolerance, inability to focus, & OCD) turned exponentially worse overnight. If he already had Autism, this was not the natural progression of that condition. We also took our DS to many “experts” at a renown children’s hospital in our major city. PANDAS/PANS was never brought up, although I clearly expressed that the behaviors were abrupt within 48 hours of dental work. After I found out about PANDAS and directly asked the doctors, it was dismissed without running any tests. After 3 1/2 years, we were finally able to find a rheumatologist at the other major children’s hospital in our city who was willing to give DS 30 days of antibiotics. At this point he was completely debilitated and unable to attend school for several months. Miraculously, 90% of his symptoms went away for 3-4 weeks. Doctor gave him lower prophylactic dose of antibiotics for next 6 months, but he began to decline about a week after high dose was discontinued. Rheumatologist refused to refill higher dose. Symptoms became life threatening (refusing food and water) and he ended up back at first major children’s hospital. I was told it was a coincidence that DS went from severely mentally ill to “normal” for the time on high dose of antibiotics. Ultimately we were told by 2 different Integrative MDs (not affiliated with children’s hospital) that DS had Autoimmune Encephalitis. He has been receiving monthly IVIG for 20 months, and fluctuates from 80-90% symptom free. I’m sorry I can’t recommend a doctor in your area, but did want to give you hope that your son can improve even though he was undiagnosed and untreated for so long.

I know that “inexpensive” supplements can add up, but we also used 5-HTP for our DS. It was recommended by an otherwise unhelpful psychiatrist. This was when DS was at crisis level. Need to use on empty stomach. I was able to get DS to and from bloodwork appointment on public transportation because of the 5-HTP. I don’t recall why we stopped using it. This was in 2016. I believed we stopped a couple months later when we finally found a doctor to prescribe high dose of Augmentin. What form is your Oil of Oregano? Again, we saw improvement, but used a high dose. 15 drops of undiluted 5x a day (mixed with orange juice). Something else we use as antibacterial and anti inflammatory is tea made from ginger root. I grate a hunk of ginger root and steep it in boiling water, then strain. It’s pretty spicy, but we like it. We’ve been chilling it and using as an alternative to unsweetened iced tea. At the risk of bombarding you with information, those were a few things I thought of.

My heart breaks for you and your family. Since your DD’s onset is recent, there should be so much hope...if only the doctor’s weren’t working against you. What bloodwork did they run? Did they check for Mycoplasma Pneumonia? We spent years trying to find someone to evaluate our DS for PANDAS/PANS. Ultimately we used doctors that don’t accept our coverage or any coverage.

I’ve used Grapefruit Seed Extract plenty of times for myself and DS....for sinus infections, etc. instead of antibiotic, also works as anti fungal. We have used it for both. Never had any herx reactions.

I think that is Olive Leaf Extract. There are many positive posts about it here. I may try it for my DS as well. Also, I believe some of the premier PANS doctors recommend Goldenseal. From the older posts it looks like some families use Goldenseal along with the Oil of Oregano, as an alternative to antibiotics.

Not sure if it will hurt to give her 10 days if she needs more than 10 days.

My DS used Nystatin short term in the past, and there were no known side effects. When switched to Diflucan, he became so thirsty, he would need to drink what seemed like a gallon of water in one sitting. We discontinued it. Later I read that it is linked to death from dehydration. I also believe pharmaceutical anti fungals are not good for the kidneys. For yeast control he currently uses an herbal product called Candicid Forte. Also saccharomyces boulardii. Grape Fruit Seed extract works as anti fungal as well. From personal experience, the Master Cleanse can get rid of yeast.

After suffering with OCD and intrusive thoughts for over 3 1/2 years, we finally were able to get a rheumatologist to prescribe a high dose of Augmentin for 30 days for our DS in 2016. During the 3 1/2 years we tried unsuccessfully to treat his symptoms with pharmaceutical meds. The doctor let us start the abx before his bloodwork came back, which ultimately showed normal Strep titers. She said we may continue the abx for the 30 days if we chose to. He had no response for the first ten days, but on day 11 or so his symptoms began to rapidly improve. Again, his bloodwork had come back normal. I think if the infection was too far in the past it doesn’t show up on the bloodwork, although the misfired antibodies continue to attack the brain. The Cunningham Panel is what got the PANS diagnosis for my DS. With PANS, there are 3 things to address: the infection, the inflammation and the immune response.

I know. It is so overwhelming. Let me know if you start the Oil of Oregano. If I recall we saw an improvement within a week with a high dose of Oil of Wild Oregano.

My DS’s first major sudden onset of OCD at age 8, happened within 48 hours of dental work. The conventional psychiatrist he first saw said it was possibly triggered by the Nitrous Oxide. Apparently it can deplete vitamin B6 or B12 (can’t remember which). She threw that theory out the window after his labs showed no B Vitamin deficiencies. Years later, another PANDAS mom informed me that dental work is a common trigger for PANS/PANDAS. It can unleash hidden bacteria. Now my DS starts an antibiotic a few days before dental appointment (even cleaning), and continues for 2 weeks after appointment. I’ve been skipping the fluoride treatments for him. The dentist disagrees, but I don’t want to take any chances.

That is so disappointing! I’m really sorry. For what it’s worth, we had about 10 doctors either say that it was “unlikely” or flat out that my son did not have PANS, without even running any tests. His integrative psychiatrist ran the Cunningham Panel, which was what he used to get IVIG approved. I can’t imagine what you are going through dealing with this and 2 other children (especially with a newborn). I will send you a personal message with my email if you want some insight on the Prozac What state are you in? Maybe someone can suggest a PANDAS/PANS doc near you.

Let me know how the CBD oil works. There is also a supplement called NAC that we had some success with. There was a Yale clinical trial for OCD with NAC. You may want to ask her new doctor about it. The dose for the clinical trial was 900mg 3x a day. My son stopped taking it a few months ago, because he was tired of taking supplements, but recently said he wants to start it up again. It’s easy to find...Whole Foods, etc.

I’m so sorry she is going through this. My DS was at crisis level OCD/intrusive thoughts from late 2015 to late 2017. We had never felt so desperate in our lives. He is about 85% better, but getting monthly high dose (HD) IVIG treatments.

Is the functional health doctor an MD or DO and able to prescribe antibiotics? Although my DS 14 has had success with herbal antibacterials as a prophylactic, when in crisis mode we saw the most success with conventional antibiotics. The first time he used a high dose of Augmentin. We saw nothing for 10 days, but on day 11 he began to improve rapidly.

My DS is receiving monthly IVIG and now has a medical exemption. Previously we were able to get pediatrician to write “Alternative Schedule” on his vaccine records for the school district. A couple times she wrote a letter saying “due to parents concerns” she is holding off on further vaccines at this time. Or once it was something like, “while monitoring for side effects of medication changes, we are holding off on vaccines for the time”. She was a pro-vaccine doctor, so I guess we were fortunate to get those letters. There are other doctors in the same practice that will not see a child that is not up-to-date on vaccines. Once when we changed pediatricians due to insurance coverage, we received a letter saying they would no longer see my son because he wasn’t up-to-date.

This is a long shot, but have any of your kids had any of the antibody bloodwork done? My DS had only one dose of MMR (at age 10, due to constant pressure from our school district). He is now 14. Last month he had the MMR antibody test, and it shows him immune to all 3. It made me think that he may show immunity all other illnesses. I believe the schools will accept this in lieu of the vaccine. Is it possible to show immunity to Chicken Pox for instance with no known chicken pox illness or vaccine? Does anyone know of any other antibody tests aside from MMR?

I sent details to your email, but the integrative doctors that I recommend are Donald Raden MD in Highwood, Illinois and Anju Usman MD in Naperville, Illinois. The IVIG has worked like magic. His OCD symptoms were so severe his former psychiatrist said he was Schizophrenic. He also had tics. Since IVIG, his OCD is 80-90% gone and tics are gone.

I would highly recommend an integrative MD...someone open to unconventional treatment but able to prescribe pharmaceuticals when needed. My DS’s doctor is an integrative psychiatrist who specializes in Lyme (although DS does not have Lyme). We also had luck with an integrative pediatrician. Had some improvement with antibiotics, anti fungals (herbal and RX), but most dramatic improvement with IVIG. DS has been receiving weekly then monthly IVIG for 18 months now. Yes, it was the Cunningham Panel that I believe got the IVIG covered.

I believe the PANDAS Physician Network recommends full strength abx before (not sure how long before) and 7 days after dental cleaning or dental work. My DS had his first major onset within 48 hours of dental work in 2012.

@searching_for_help I am so sorry your DD was unable to get the treatment. I can completely relate to the issue of thinking she would jump out of the van. We were at that point less than two years ago. What an awful feeling when you don’t feel safe getting your child to and from medical appointments. I am curious what treatments you have already tried. My DS was also a severe case. I thought the day would never come when he would get better, but he did.

@h202 Although he wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until age 8, my DS also had ADHD and sensory issues since infancy. We used conventional therapy and treatments until he was almost twelve.... 2 1/2 years on anti-psychotic which increased OCD and caused violent behavior. We were continually told this was coincidental that it began at same time as medication. Prior to using medication, his first grade school year was amazing. This was before we had any knowledge of PANDAS. He was treated with back to back doses of abx for a sinus infection. Again, in retrospect, it appears that his ADHD and sensory symptoms subsided from abx. We have seen 2 different integrative MDs in past 2 1/2 years. Both say that his PANDAS onsets began as infant. He responded beautifully to abx in 2016, but wasn’t lasting. From my understanding it’s a 2-step process. First getting rid of infection, then turning off immune response (that’s where IVIG comes in). It seems kids that get the IVIG younger, respond better (i.e. don’t necessarily need continual treatment). I wish we knew about / were able to get IVIG sooner. As for the bug fear, it went away while we had abx success and from IVIG. The bug fear was only the beginning (this was right before he turned eight). It escalated to one of the worst PANDAS cases that I have read about. So bad that conventional psychiatrist diagnosed him with Schizophrenia. His turnaround from IVIG is miraculous. As a side note, don’t ever use Miralax. It has been linked to OCD and other psychiatric symptoms. Seems to especially affect kids with autoimmune issues (like PANDAS).

@h202 The summer before my DS’s first major PANDAS onset, he developed a fear of insects. He avoided all outdoor activities at summer day camp, and would panic at home if a fly or fruit fly got in the house. In retrospect, this appears to have been the beginning of his onset. Although he had OCD symptoms, his psychiatrist said she would never prescribe a stimulant to someone with OCD, as it would exasperate the OCD. After a hospitalization, he was put on a stimulant (Focalin, later switched to Metadate) and indeed, he developed a compulsion to pinch me. This was his “happy” pill, though. It completely changed his mood when we gave it to him right before school, but he would “crash” and nighttime was unbearable. He also wouldn’t eat from after breakfast until bedtime, and lost a lot of weight. Ultimately after a year and a half, he developed priapism from the med after an additional dose was added during the school day. ....fast forward 4 years after taken off stimulant, and he his medication free. He has been receiving monthly IVIG for almost 18 months.

Not sure, but my DS had “normal” strep titers in 2016, but responded beautifully to high dose Augmentin for 30 days...then rapidly deteriorated when Augmentin was discontinued.

Yes, it was IV Ozone. It’s considered “alternative” in the U.S., so it definitely wasn’t covered by insurance. I believe Glutathione is usually administered with Ozone. My DS didn’t have it with first treatment, but had the Glutathione with 2nd treatment. He went into a rage after the 2nd treatment. Doctor said it was a reaction to Glutathione, and had me give him Molybdenum (mineral) to help him tolerate the Glutathione.

@searching_for_help Yes, my DS did 13 Ozone treatments over 3 weeks in August of 2017. It was supposed to be 15 treatments, but his OCD symptoms were so severe, it was a safety issue getting him to and from the treatments. After about 10 treatments one of his OCD issues went away. This was where no one could speak while standing in a doorway or near a doorway. We are in a 2 bedroom condo, so we are almost always near a doorway. This was a huge relief when this went away, but he still had many, many more equally difficult symptoms left. Not sure if it would have made a difference if he completed all 15 treatments. After the treatments his bloodwork did show him clear of all infections. Ultimately, he was approved for monthly IVIG. He has had great success with these...nothing short of a miracle. He had one HD IVIG six months prior to Ozone. This was no where near as successful as the post-Ozone IVIG. It could be argued that clearing the infections with Ozone impacted the success of the IVIG.