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kferricks

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Posts posted by kferricks

  1. He is a very nice man and he WILL listen to you. He will also ask a bunch of questions so he gets all the info he can., I am so thrilled to here that you are going! I find it best to write down all behaviors that I can think of, and then I write a list of everything that I want to mention or ask. (I literally read off the questions to him lol) Good luck and prayers are comming your way for the both of you.

  2. Hi! We are pretty new to the Lyme thing too. My dd11 has pandas and lyme with coinfections We are traveling from Georgia to ct to see a Lyme doctor and a pandas dr. Finding a Lyme literate dr seems to be a task, particularly that treats kids. I'm sure veterans of this board will help lead you to a good one. What state are you in?

     

    I am in South Western PA. My Pandas doc is in CT too. Hoping I don't have to travel as far... when was your child diagnosed? My DD is on Biaxin at the moment.

  3. My son just went to his follow up with Dr. B. He is about 75% better but tics still not responding to prednisone or abx. He also had one reactive band in all the lyme testing he had. He recommended Igenex testing. I had seen here something about it cost $200 when I was trying to prepare myself for this expense.(we are also doing Cunningham) Well in looking at the chart the three tests he has ordered will cost $860! Yikes! not quite what I thought. I was hoping someone could tell me if they have had any luck getting insurance to cover it and how do I go about it. My son has Blue Cross Blue Shield and then he has United Health as secondary. The UH is through his father's work and is very limited compared to other UH programs from what I gather. My BCBS is usually pretty expansive however. I've just never had to seek payment myself through insurance so I don't know the right way to go about it.

     

    Thanks for any info you can offer!

     

    I know what you mean. I was stunned at the cost. We just did ours yesterday. Hoping that our ins will reimburse us at least a little. Wondering if anyone ready this has UPMC ins?

  4. I am glad that you are checking for Lyme. I found out my kids have it and most likely got it from me. I thought it was just PANDAS but as it turns out it is several different 'bugs'. It was crazy because my one son was like the walking definition of PANDAS - as classic as they come. I feel the same way as you do about the whole Lyme and tick born illness world! I have told many people that PANDAS scared me but Lyme (and company) terrifies me!!! Please know that so many of these kids that have not properly responded or have not stayed well are coming up with TBI's. The majority of these kids are improving drastically on Lyme treatment. One of my boys is 6 months in to treatment and has greatly improved!! My most severe boy is refusing treatment but I pray to get him on board and give him his life back soon. Hang in there!

     

    I hope your son does get treatment. Whatever it is, I'm just praying to get my child well. (Like everyone else) It has been 7months since this kid has been in school, played with a friend or anything. Contamination fears suck because it emcompasses every single thing. Her biggest fear is one little girl who goes to her school is contaminated...hence, the school, kids, busses, pencils etc are all contaminated. Since she has flown backwards, instead of an 11yr old it is like having a frightened 4yr old. and I want to cry everytime I see or hear it. For her loneliness, sadness, and frustration at not being able to do hardly anything. she can't even walk outside into her yard without feeling contaminated. I know, we are all there but I just want to go foreward and gain some sort of life for her. did'nt mean for this to turn into a whinning post....I tend to do that alot. lol

  5. I have to agree that it is a Pandas symptom. Never had a problem with ODD before her sudden onset.

    It is much easier with my child also to give her time to do things willingly. I've also started repeating what she says to me when she is really upset. It works! *a tool I learned from here* Thanks folks.

  6. Doc thought she would be up to at least 80% at this visit. She had been progressing rather quickly begining with the prednisone and abx in Dec. Untill last visit when he changed the abx and added another round of pred. She flew backwards and he was concerned and ordered Igenex, and put her on Aug.

    So, now I'm left wondering Pandas, lyme, both? I guess we will find out eventually. I have read up on the lyme, it scares the bejeepers out of me more so than Pandas. I really don't want to have to go down that path. I also read the Cure Unknown...funny, I picked it up right before our trip to the docs and when I read it, I thought to myself,boy that sounds alot like me. So of course, that alone had my mind racing, now I'm wondering if the kid has it and if she got it from me.

    I'm glad we got the Augmentim, thats what I was hoping for, I never dreamt that he would bring up the lyme.

     

    Jodi

  7. how long has she been in this state of exacerbation? I'm so sorry you've had almost no relief. Very scary. Are you thinking about ivig? I think with immune deficiencies that are significant, most insurance would cover it.

    Since the first day of school, but in hindsight, she was showing worrys a couple weeks prior, but it all seemed like normal stuff. She did improve in Dec. meaning she could walk from room to room by herself and a couple improvements up to 50%. Dr. still thinks she won't need IVIG. But we will see after next Monday what he has to say. Thanks for asking.

  8. My child has:

    Lyme

    Chronic infection

    Chronic Strep

    SIGNIFICANT IMMUNE DEFCITIENCY

    No known current infections

     

    What group is you child in?

    Group 1 - my child only reacts to strep. other illnesses do not cause exacerbation

    Group 2 - my child exacerbated, and stayed that way, we see very little difference between baseline and exacerbation, regardless of illness (like Saving Sammy)

    Group 3 - my child reacts to almost all viral illnesses. I see huge symptom flair within 1-2 days (either just prior or just after) a virus or other infection, and it takes weeks to return to baseline

    Group 4 - my child exacerbates, but we cannot tell what the tirgger or pattern is with the exacerbation.

    Group 5 - other presentation (describe)

     

    If you had

    a Cunningham's test - what was the Cam K, and which anti-neuronals were elevated?NO TEST

     

    What symptom group would you put your child in:

    tics only

    ocd only

    tics first, and ocd came later

    ocd first, tics came later

    completely balanced

     

    How many symptoms do they have at baseline? (list them next to the appropriate group below (see reference list below)

     

    N/A - they don't exacerbate - its always pretty bad

    one

    2-5

    6-10 obsessions, compulsions dialated pupils, urinary frequency reassurance questions nightmares separation anxiety emotional liability

    10ALSO SENSORY ISSUES

     

    ACTUALLY AT BASELINE SHE IS COMPLETELY WELL ADJUSTED KID WITH NO OTHER PROBLEMS..

     

    How many symptoms does your child have in exacerbation? (list them next to the group below)

     

    one

    2-5

    6-10

    10+

    obsessions, compulsions, add/adhd, dialated pupils, urinary frequency reassurance questions, regressive behavior, rages/tantrums, insomnia, nightmares separation anxiety, decline in math or handwriting, depression, extreme irritability, emotional liability, or other. sensory

     

    What is your current treatment, and how is it working? Please note if your child had ivig or PEX prior to the treatment and what the results of that were.

     

    Omnicef and pred worked for awhile and then she was just put on Azith and pred but not much help there, we went backwards instead but she could've been exposed to something in the process... so Yes and I don't know.

  9. Kara,

     

    I can really sympathize with you. I have been dealing with this for so many years. Just when you think you have the PANDAS under control...WHAM!

     

    I agree about waiting for the IGX test results before considering IVig and trying prednisone again and I agree wholeheartedly about finding a good LLMD ASAP. You may want to consider Richard Horowitz, MD in Hyde Park, NY or Dr. Jones in CT. Ann Corson, MD in PA is also fantastic although impossible to get an appointment with.

     

    In the meantime, do lots of Epsom salt baths and consider giving bentonite clay. I think you're already giving ibuprofen. How about NAC? That can work wonders with OCD. Keep stress to a minimum. Minimal scheduling minimal demands, minimal everything. Lots of sleep, lots of patience, and lots of loving time. Also, good heathly food. Eliminate all dyes and additives.

     

    Wishing you the best and answers soon!

    Nancy

     

    what is NAC? and what are the epsom salt baths suppose to do? I'm game for anything that can help with the ocd.

     

    Kara, I so feel for you with the ocd and contamination. AT the begining of all this, we cloroxed our whole house literally and was washing everythng all day long. But, we also informed her that hospitals use clorox cause it kills all germs and you can walk on it a millions times and the clorox is still working untill you reclorox and that is why hospitals use it. Really did work for the most part. I also kept a spray bottle of bleach and would do a quick spray in the sinks so that the smell would remind her that it was clean... I hope your family can find some relief soon.

  10. I have seen ERP work on so many kids & teens. My DD went to a specialized clinic 4 days a week for 2 1/2 hrs. It did not help her because she was in a major exaboration for months. Before I knew she had P.A.N.D.A.S. She was just too sick. But, it really helped me and DH. We learned how NOT to get sucked into her new OCD. We were already involved in so many rituals that I just could'nt do 1 more..I was done, but her OCD just kept mutating into another form.

    The ERP helps the kids become numb to the bad feelings associated with whatever there OCD is. They made a separate page for each TYPE of ocd. bad thoughts, just right, contamination, anorexia etc. On each page numbers 1 - 10. Put on as many as they can think of for each number with 10 being the scariest for them. You start off with the easiest, so that they can easily see that they can succeed and build confidence. You give each item a fear # from 1 - 10 with 1 being just a little scarey or annoying.

     

    The kid takes a piece of paper and writes what the exposure will be, and what they feel the (#) level of fear will be. The exposure starts as soon as the kid takes the paper and beings to write and should be done at approx the same time every day. The only talking or interference should be you asking what is your fear # now? So say the fear is writing with a pen. You would put the pen infront of him and just let him look at it and sit with those feelings until they come down at least two #. Then it is over till the next day, same time. When the beinging # is at least 2 lower than the previous day, move on to touching it, repeat, then move on to holding, then drawing a line etc. It does take a long time but with each thing mastered no matter how minor, it builds thier confidence. Just don't let him go up the later too fast or they may take on too much and end up at the begining.

    Also, make sure you have the time before starting an exposure. Most of them often last around 45min....

     

    Hope this helps,

  11. We got DD up to 50% in Dec with pred and Omnicef. Was wonderfull. Jan she went up another 5%, not much progession. Middle Feb, was put on another pred and another abx. and we got her lab work redone.Within a week, she flew backwards... Well, titers are up a little higher and the

    M.Pneumoniae IGG are up even higher! @ 4.07 ref range .90, and her C3D immune complex is now up to 87...

     

    So, that leaves me guessing as to what happened. Exposure to step and myco? I don't think march 14 can come quick enough! :(

     

    Any thoughts? Advice?

  12. That is the hardest when your hopes go up and then you see her backslide. I'm curious, how long was she on the steroids? Was it just a week?

     

    Has she only started backsliding t he last two days? I'm only asking because in Dec. we did a steroid taper and at the end of it she backslid for only 2 days and then started forward again. Is she also on abx

  13. Meds were changed and now I feel like we have been throtteled back in to september. Am trying to get her out of the house to get her bloodwork tht Dr.B had ordered. Hope to find out if she still has strep or what in the world is going on. Prayers and good vibes would be awesome. I was so excited after our last visit with him, and happy to be put on azith for the myco p.

     

    How do you tell if your kid has yeast overgrowth? I can't seem to get any probiotics in her. Is there one that I could put in juice that she would never know?

     

    Shadowtails - sorry for the backslide. I am wondering when you changed meds and if you contacted Dr. B about the backslide? He is usually pretty good about problem solving these things. Do you use an antifungal? Probiotics help to keep good bacteria in the gut, but they do not remove yeast. You may need an antifungal and a probiotic. You may also need a different antibiotic. I would let him know you are having problems. It may take him a couple days to get back to you, but it would be worth it.

    I'm kicking myself in the butt right now wishing I would have called him sooner. I did'nt call right away because I was hoping that it was a short backslide and then progression like last time. He is off on Fridays so I will be calling at 9am sharp tomarro. All she is on are: prednisone and azithromycin.

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