Lisalou

Thank you both for your insight. I feel bad saying this, but I'm not sure which antibiotic he was on. He's allergic to amoxycillan and I'm pretty sure it wasn't Zithromax, so that narrows it down a bit. Everything sorta came to a head last night and I pretty much lost it. It's so difficult being a parent and trying to figure out what's going on with your child. You just want to fix it and make it all better....NOW. Thanks for providing some more insight on PANDAS. As far as those other extras, here's our take: -changes in handwriting (messier)---Not that I've noticed. -changes in emotional reactions: often exaggerated emotional responses relative to the triggering event--No "changes" per se. He is "dramatic" in his responses to things, but this is definitely not a new thing. It's very common to here, "You NEVER listen to me..." stomp, stomp, whine. But since it isn't something that came on like the tics, I can assume he's just a little dramatic?? -sometimes OCD can be very subtle, it may look like he is just hyperfocussed on something-- I've been watching for something and I will continue to do so. -new, or unreasonable fears-- No...a little too fearless at times. -problems sleeping--Not problems, but he's a very dramatic sleeper---notice a pattern? Sleep walks and sleep talks, but he's done that since he could walk and talk. -sensory issues: bothered by lights, sounds, certain fabrics- or a combination of sensory stimuli causes "overload'-- Nothing overly concerning here either. When younger, he would be a little sensitive to sound but he's grown out of it. With most kids, too much going, going, going during the day will likely cause some sort of a fit in the evening. Not always the case, though. We meet on Monday with the doctor. I've got a lot of questions and I just hope he's open to communicating with me and hearing my concerns. We live in Wyoming and the resources here are definitely not abounding. He mentioned maybe wanting to try medication to control the tics but I'm not sure if I'm ready to go there quite yet. Thanks again for your insight. I sure appreciate it. Lisa

I feel like I've scoured this forum in an effort to find a simple answer. I've found a lot of great information, but I'm still left wondering about our specific situation. So, I decided to bite the bullet and sign up. My ds is 9 and has facial tics. These started in May with a mouth-opening type of tic. After doing a lot of reading and finding that about 20% of kids will develop some type of tic that will eventually go away, I decided to let it ride. The tic began to change and I saw it move from the mouth opening to eye twitching. He would do both, sometimes one after the other and sometimes at separate times. He also began to cough a lot at random times....leading me to wonder if it was a vocal tic. We finally called the doctor. I was wondering if the coughing was related more to allergies and not an actual tic. It didn't seem "tic-like." He's now on Claritin and I think the coughing is beginning to ease up. At the appointment, I was certain to point out that ds had been diagnosed with Strep in April (I believe?). He was having stomach issues (diagnosis: constipation) and while we were there, they tested for strep. It came back negative on the rapid test, but the cultured test was positive. He began a typical treatment of antibiotics and a month later the tics began. I was pleased when his doctor picked up on the strep/tic correlation and thus he ordered another strep test. He was put on antibiotics again after that appointment..."just in case." I got the call today that his test came back positive again. He is not showing any strep symptoms but for the second time it's positive. After the 5 day antiobiotic treatment, I am not noticing a difference in the tics. The facial tics are the only issue. He does not appear to have trouble focusing, he does well in school, he'll read or play with his action figures for long periods of time. He also does not appear to have any OCD tendencies. So....any thoughts on what this is? Do you think he's likely experiencing Transient Tic Disorder and it will eventually go away on its own? Could it be PANDAS when there are no other issues that I'm aware of? I do have anxiety disorder, which I know can be a factor with PANDAS. If it is PANDAS is it normal to show up a month after strep treatment? Could it possibly be TS when the facial tics are the only factor? We're meeting with the doctor again on Monday to check in. I guess I am just looking for some thoughts from those of you who have such great insight and experience. I feel so much better when I can walk into an appointment with some insight. Thanks in advance, Lisa