MomWithOCDSon

My DH, DS17 and I live in the suburbs of Chicago. DS was diagnosed with classic OCD at 6 and had his first exacerbation at 7, at which point in time I asked about the possibility of PANDAS, was told "no" and dissuaded, and finally effectively put off by a negative throat culture. When DS suffered a much more massive exacerbation at 12.5 (after 5 truly "peaceful" years of subclinical OCD, managed by CBT and low-dose SSRI) which neither therapy nor SSRI medication could make a dent in, I circled back around to PANDAS. "Saving Sammy" was the first point of information for us that entirely asymptomatic strep could still pose a problem, and it prompted us to go for blood tests, which, in our case, demonstrated high titers and gave our pediatrician enough info to prescribe abx. We were strictly an abx and supplement family (Aug XR, 1,000 mg. twice daily), and we continue to do daily supplements and attack the remaining OCD behaviors with exposure therapy (coaching and homework at home, mostly, with occasional therapy sessions to "catch up" or address new challenges) and low-dose SSRI. We ceased the abx after 2 years, weaning slowly.

DS is awesome now: an honors/AP student entering his senior year of high school, eagerly talking about college options and his future. He's come an incredibly long way!

I work in real estate consulting, and DH is a graphic artist. DS is a computer "geek" and also enjoys swimming and writing. Two terrier mix rescue pups round out our small family.