thereishope

Here is a new PANDAS PSA from PANDAS Network...

My kids have switched from one taking Claritin and the other taking Benadryl to the Natural D-Hist Jr chewables and they work for them!

Here is a recent article you may be interested in... Are Allergies and Depression Related? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/health/12really.html?_r=2&ref=anahadoconnor

You have beautiful kids! They are so lucky to have a Mommy like you. Keep up the great work!

It could be viral, it could be allergies (depending on where you live they are worse this year than others), could be a sinus infection. If you're seeing a definite worsening, you could take her in to rule out a sinus infection as those are known to increase symptoms. If she has allergies, do you give allergy meds?If so, which ones and when did you start them? You could cosider giving Ibuoprofen for now and see if that helps with easing the symptoms for now.

I think there's a few things you could rule out. It does sound like yeast and it could be that mama thing where kids just act up more around the mom. Many on here have said that's the case. You could go and rule out any possible infection in yourself too. Also, have you added or changed anything in his regimen? Have you added any allergy meds in the last month? Some make kids act hyper, overly giddy, etc. Don't only look at what you've done recently, but the last month too. Sometimes if things will have a negative effect, it could take few weeks to see the consequences.

Well, I think it's great news! Not that she could have strep, but that a possible reaction is mild. It could be a few reasons. Maybe being that she was/is on some antibiotic could have helped keep it mild, maybe you're catching it really soon into the infection. Also, and just to be honest, you may still see a worsening of symptoms in the future. If you don't see a flare in a couple days, then you may have dodged a bullet. Yes, take her to the doc, remind the doc she has been on some antibiotics so she could get a false negative, then get all other family members checked. Pleae keep us updated!

I haven't heard "selective streptococcal immunodeficiency" before. But I will be curious of other responses. If anyone has been told their child has this, I'd be interested in which doctors gave the dx.

If the white was only one spot, I'd say it could be food. But if there's white in multiple places, even if just in the creases and not bumps of white, I'd would go for a strep test. Sorry, I know that's not what you wanted to hear. Now, it could be a virus or sinus infection draining down the throat causing the white as well. Best to get it checked out.

Perhaps it's the air pressure. It's known to cause sinus pressure, affect joints, I would not be surprised to see a correlation between a flare in symptoms and bad weather. http://www.ehow.com/about_5081553_effects-barometric-pressure-joints-muscles.html

When it's strep, we've had a tell tale meltdown or rage. Then we get the OCD and everything else. The severity , overall symptoms and duration has varied even with the same trigger of strep. Whne he reacted to non-strep triggers, it was not as bad. It was more mild OCD but no rages or meltdowns. Then as time wen on when he had a virus, it was jsut some heightened emotions. And,no, with strep it is not boom...gone. It's gradual. The rages and meltdowns have subsided earlier in the exacerbations. OCD being one of the last things to fully go away.

This is scary and crazy! I'll throw this out there about tonsils....haven't some had them removed and biopsied and there was strep hiding in them? Tonsillectomy is such a tricky one to decide on since when you read on forums like this the outcome goes either way...it helps, it makes no difference. So...on one side some "strep carriers" finally clear when they get their tonsils removed as well. In our home we went from no strep infections to many then they died off after tonsillectomy. Did that have anything to do with having them removed? I don't know but I'd like to think so. I wonder if my son's last strep infection, shortly after surgery had something to do with surgery but then his body was finally able to clear it. But then one has to worry about the surgery itself, being given anesthesia, exposed to more bacteria, etc.

When my son had a huge setback with PANDAS and allergies, the first sign of allergies was red eyes. They were so red you couldn't see white. But, we were able to get allergies udner control and the red eyes went away. Allergies are not a year round problem in my house, just seasonal. Interestingly, even though allergies still surface in my son now, those very red eyes do not.Now it is just the classic sniffles, sneezing, and his eyes bother him but no red.No nose bleeds.Does he take a nasal spray for allergies?

Granted my husband is an adult, but when he went to the dr on Thursday and requested Omnicef, the dr looked up how long to dose it for and said 7 days for strep. So, my husband got a 7 day script. My kids (who go to a ped) got a 10 day script.

Mike, even though some may not be religious, many have posted religious based messages on here before. I don't think anyone would be offended if you publicly posted them. If they don't follow that path, they simply will not read or respond. Please feel free to post them if you are comfortable. Thank you for updating that your child is doing well and giving back hope to others.

I'm sorry you're having to take her in for a swab:( You know this, but I will post anyway that you might want to "remind" the doctor that she can get a false negative strep test if on prophylactics. My non-PANDAS asymptomatic daughter tested positive on a rapid recently. She was NOT on prophylatics but my PANDAS son was. The ped wanted to go with a Cephalosporin. She was saying Keflex but I chose Omnicef and requested that directions be written twice daily instead of the once daily dose that Omnicef can be given. I remembered reading, maybe it was Kayanne that posted, that Omnicef may be more effective if dosed twice a day. My PANDAS son and my other asymptomatic non-PANDAS son were all put on treatment doses of Omnicef as well as a precaution (we didn't evne take them in for swabs because they got the scripts). My husband too. My primary gave me treatement dose of keflex. My throat started hurting on Thursday. But yesterday (Sunday) it was feeling better. As for clindamycin, being that your daughter is 4 like mine, she may totally throw that up in an instant. If she works well with you and taking meds, then clindamycin is a possibility...but it is bad tasting as a liquid. Oh, because this might help, I live in Cincinnati, OH. For those in my area, the good news is my daughter was the doc's first postive strep in a week. We probably caught it in a different state while travelling.So, it may be dying out in our area.

How receptive is your pediatrician? If you feel your ped will not give antibiotics if the rapid is negative, then I would consider Urgent Care today. If the rapid comes back negative, tell them you want a culture too but also want antibiotics (like Augmentin perhaps) while waiting on the result. You could say you know she was exposed to strep as well and that will also help your plea for antibiotics with a possible negative rapid. Has your daughter been symptomatic when she's had strep before (sore throat, fever)? Also, I think Ibuprofen is every 6-8 hours. You can give it every 6.You can check a website like https://www.motrin.com/page.jhtml?id=/motrin/products/1_2_1.inc&sec=directions for dosing based on weight.

Thank you to those who answered the poll. Since a small amount answered, it's hard to really get anything out of it. Even for the Augmentin/Zith strep numbers.... We have to remember that more people are on those antibiotics to start with since those are the two most suggested on here so that may askew the numbers.

The chlorine does aggravate some kids' PANDAS symptoms, specfically tics. Some have also said that rubbing magnesium on ahead of time helps.

You have no idea how much I wish I could make your family better. I just stare at your posts trying to think of something to offer you guys.I know your family will get better, you're such strong fighters, but like you probably think...why can't you get better sooner than later already.

Let's see what antibiotics have been helping/not helping this season. I didn't have room to add if your child was not on a prophylactic and did not contract strep. So, if you fall in that catagory, maybe just leave a comment. As usual, read all options and you can check as many boxes as needed. If you did not contract strep, you can put yourself into the "other" catagory on the second question. "Other" is also be appropriate if you we given an antibiotic not listed...they only allow 10 voting options.

What I noticed is what seems like an increase in kids who are on Zith getting strep. I am not saying to pull any kids off of it, just stating an observation. Maybe the Zith resistent strain is spreading? Maybe we need a poll of what kids are on when the get strep again and for those not erradicating it, what antibiotics were tried. As for your chronic sore throat, all I can think of if it isn't strep and it gets better with antibiotics is a possible sinus infection, but I think you said you ruled that out? edit...I started a poll about prophylactic antibiotics and what's been helping/no helping clear strep.

From your mouth (or fingers from typing) to God's ears! Glad things are improving!

So far, so good. Fingers crossed, knock on wood. My husband went today and they gave him Omnicef as well.They only did a culture on him. My husband wanted to know if he had it as oppose to just getting the script. I was able get the doc who gave my the Bactrim, to switch it to Keflex after a couple phone calls. He tried saying that Bactrim would be fine for strep but it has a high failure rate and you know we can't afford that.Right now we continue in wait and see mode. I'd like to think that my PANDAS son started the Omnicef without any PANDAS symptoms present so it will remain that way,but I also know that when he has had strep before, it worsens for a few days after starting antibiotics. So, our first milestone will be maybe one week after starting antibiotics. If he is still stable, I think we can say no strep. The second milestone is retesting the + child. You know I won't feel safe until my daughter goes for a follow up in a few weeks and tests negative. I also decided I will do routine testing on her and my other asymptomatic son every month or so at home. It's so scary to think there was no reason to test her except for someone being nice enough to tell us they had strep when they saw us (they didn't know they had strep when they saw us). Side note, my dd4 that tested positive is showing no PANDAS symptoms (she's one of my non-PANDAS children). So, she's had strep twice now with no sign of impending, possible PANDAS.That's good.

After having a strep free house for two years, strep has entered the building. We found out we were directly exposed and brought our non-PANDAS daughter in first. Rapid was positive. No sore throat, no fever. We think my dd has had strep for possibly 6 days. All 3 of my kids have been put on Omnicef. We are not having the PANDAS son or my other son tested just because they were given the scripts already, don't want to expose them to more germs at the office,and to be honest we have horrible insurance and even strep visits are expensive. The last few days, my PANDAS son has been okay.Hopefully, it will stay that way. To our knowledge, he's never been "just exposed" before. He has always had strep when someone else in the family had strep.He was taking prophylatic Pen VK and had his tonsils removed in Feb 2009. For those that don't know our background, 3 strep triggered PANDAS exacerbations since 5th birthday. Remission since Sept 2009. Symptoms: oh, boy, I can't type those now. Too much of a reality of what we could possibly face.