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bigmighty

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Posts posted by bigmighty

  1. Bigmighty can I hijack your post to ask how your son manages such a challenging course load during a PANDAS flare? My DS is freshman in high school taking all honors et cetera. But during a flare, he can really fall behind. He has insomnia, memory issues and difficulty processing along with the OCD et cetera for at least 7 days before emerging. What is normally an 100 becomes about 80 if he's lucky during the flare. When not flaring he is able to handle his course work easily. I guess I'm just looking for hope - as I see these posts about kids going off to college. Any tips? Did it get easier to manage as he adjusted to high school?

    The first year of high school was very challenging for him. It definitely has gotten easier as he progressed through. When he was a freshman, we didn't anticipate him ever being capable of taking any AP classes. The school has been exceptional. High school teachers are extremely accommodating of students who are able to self-advocate. Asking via email for reduced homework or keyboarding during tests and such always results in ongoing assistance. His teachers check in with him to see if he needs anything or if he can handle the assigned task. There definitely is hope.

  2. Not sure if DS actually qualifies as a strep carrier, since he has negative throat cultures between infections. It is definitely worth asking Dr K if clindamycin is worth trying.

     

    He does have a 504 and the plan is for accommodations to continue in college along with a single dorm room. Thanks.

  3. He was off of antibiotics entirely for 20 months, during which he got strep every 8-10 weeks. He went on Augmentin 250 once daily this summer and managed to go 100 days strep-free, but then got strep again. At the start of the summer, he briefly tried Azithro 500 once every other day but found that he could not bring himself to eat on the days he took that medication, so it was switched.

     

    He is allergic to tumeric.

  4. Thanks. I don't believe those recommendations will fly with DS though. He has looked into but ultimately ruled out all of the various local programs.

     

    He is interested in studying mechanical engineering. The closest program that's a match for him is about 2 1/2 hours away from our home. If he gets in, that will put him about 2 hrs away from his internist. Not super far in case of emergency. Also close enough for us to come and check on him fairly regularly. His biggest challenges are weight maintenance and recognizing early signs of a flare. Worst case scenario, we have to help with those things as best we can from 100 miles away. Of course, if there were a way to bring about a more lasting remission so he has a shot at more than maintenance & management, we'd love to pursue that during this school year - hence my original post.

     

    For senior year, DS is taking five AP classes and two college courses, which I'm guessing is comparable to the work load freshman year in college. Yes, he will have to learn to live on his own, and there will be challenges. But he can't imagine being happy with less than a full course load or settling for a school that he doesn't feel is a good educational match. He understands that he may need to make mid-course college plan corrections if his preferred situation doesn't work out. But he does want to try living away.

  5. Thanks all. Started him on zinc supplements and are hopeful that there will be some improvement to report on the eating front a few months from now. Decided not to pursue plasmapheresis per se. Instead, went ahead and scheduled a consult call w/Dr. K. Will see what he thinks is best with respect to attempting to get DS ready for possible college. Thanks again for the advice!

  6. It doesn't actually say that all of these kids remained symptom free. I only skimmed, but one shows a kid who kept getting strep with re-emergence of symptoms each time (patient E). After IVIG, at every new strep infection the ocd returned and the child went on on a treatment dose of augmentin for up to a month. It looks like the kid was on prophylactic antibiotics, too but was getting new strep infections/symptom re-emergence anyway. That's not to say that the IVIGs weren't beneficial or positive. But I wouldn't call this 100% symptom free since the child obviously still has PANDAS and continues to become symptomatic sporadically even while continuing on daily antibiotics.

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