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This is a case report about a 14 year old boy with psychiatric issues. Turned out to be PANS. Published in the Journal of Central Nervous System Disease, just a few days ago. There are images of the Bartonella rash. Just like the rash my dd has had in past. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1179573519832014

Hello. We have 6 children with lyme and co-infections. 3 have PANS. I am seeking advice for our 16 yo ds. We think his PANS symptoms began around age 3 1/2 yo (positive bull's eye rash at 2 1/2 yo w/only an 8 day course of antibiotics.) His prrimary symptoms until his teens were OCD and learning issues. He was never formally diagnosed; we've put it all together within the last year after his sister had successfull treatment for an eating disorder with IV antibiotics. Fast forward to now, he has major rages and still can't learn. Super high anxiety and OCD in the need to control everything in his life. He does not have relationships with anyone outside of our house and his siblings do not enjoy being around him as he is very abrasive. After one year of antibiotics, physical symptoms have improved with no shift in psychiatric symptoms. Our doctor has recommended brain mapping/neuro feedback and we are going to pursue that. In the meantime, I would like to figure out how we can start the process to be approved for plasmapheresis, realizing that this is a long shot. Does anyone have any advice? We are in Colorado and if anyone knows of a clinic or doctor that we consult with, that would be appreciated, too. Also...the Cunningham panel. Has anyone had a positive after 10+ years of illness? And, is it possible to get our son back after so much time spent in this illness? Amy

DD6 had a major meltdown in school today that landed her with an in school suspension and the response to the stimulus was way out of proportion. This is on DAY 3 of 1st Grade!!! ...With LOTS of supports in place... I'm thinking that we may have to home school or hospital school or something. She's dealing with Lyme and Bartonella which I suspect was congenital but Idk. We've been treating Lyme since mid-January and she herxed horribly. Any thoughts? Any advice?

I am hoping to get some help making sense of our current flare. My son got PANS when he was three, but he really fell off a cliff two summers ago at age 7. It wasn't until last summer that we began treating it as PANS with Dr. P, and by October had determined mycoplasma and HHV-6 as triggers. Two steroid tapers and 6 months on azithromycin and his infection numbers were down to nothing and he was doing well (making new friends, laughing, his personality back). However, his IgG numbers, which were very low in October, continued to drop. We planned on doing IVIG this summer. In early June he had a tick bite with a bulls-eye rash and began treatment that day for Lyme. Unfortunately, he has been declining as the summer has gone on. He did two weeks on doxy, a week and a half off before we realized he was still being affected then two weeks on Ceftin. Last week he became very aggressive which had not happened since two years ago so we started a prednisolone taper. We were also just denied IVIG coverage by our insurance and are planning on paying for it ourselves. He just switched from Ceftin to Rifampin three days ago in case he has bartonella. On top of all that, he was stung four times by wasps last week (can that cause flaring?) which has restarted a major bee/hornet phobia and has him scared of being outside. He also just started saying he hates the feel of water which takes away our only activity this summer of swimming. He is scared of everything, says he "doesn't feel right" and has started saying he wants to "go home" which in the past has meant heaven. His sister also has an open sore on her bottom which could be staph (we are having it looked at today). Can this be causing the flare? I am a wreck trying to trouble shoot and keep my own mental health strong. I am anxious to do IVIG as soon as possible to alleviate his suffering and give him time at home before school starts, but I wonder if we have all the possible infections covered. Any thoughts? I would also love advice about preparing for IVIG. Did it help? How did you keep your child calm? Do they need other medications at the same time to make it more effective? Any questions I should be asking of his doctor? Thank you for your advice!

Someone on the site referred me to a Dr. Carolyn Walsh in Leesburg. I see she is on the Lyme board of loudoun county. Has anyone had experience with Lyme? If so what are her modalities ? Antibiotics, herbals,HBot, ? Not sure I can get in? Desperate! He is just laying there say after day till we can get an appt saying he doesn't feel good, if anyone knows of other Dr in va, Md. D.C. Besides Jemsek, Fletcher, Fishman, Mozayeni, please let me know thx!

My son has been sick for 15 months bedridden with all the usual symptoms of mold/Lyme. He was treated for mold and most of his symptoms went away with the exception of headaches, fatigue, neurological symptoms like not wanting anyone to see him and isolating himself in his room. I discovered purple streaks on left side of body. He has had low testosterone and cortisol , not sure if it was from mold or Lyme. Went to infectious disease Dr. sand he said purple streaks are STRETCH marks ! He is 21 has not grown in 4 years, he is 150lbs. He used to be 175 before getting sick. What do you think about remaining symptoms! I want my son back!

I want to hear other people's experiences about Lyme/ bartonella . How to help him while I wait 2 months for dr. Appt and can anyone recommend a dr in maryland/va/D.C.?

My son has been sick for 15 months bedridden with all the usual symptoms of mold/Lyme. He was treated for mold and most of his symptoms went away with the exception of headaches, fatigue, neurological symptoms like not wanting anyone to see him and isolating himself in phis room. I discovered purple streaks on left side of body. He has had low testosterone and cortisol , not sure if it was from mold or Lyme. Went to infectious disease Dr. sand he said purple streaks are STRETCH marks ! He is 21 has not grown in 4 years, he is 150lbs. He used to be 175 before getting sick. What do you think about remaining symptoms! I want my son back!

Hello, all. I joined the forum today and skimmed messages for our issue. I have a 17 yo daughter who is positive for lyme, bartonella, and babeisia. She is in treatment for those as of April and also has an eating disorder that she began treatment for in September of 2016. I am desperate to connect with anyone who has had the two illnesses as her ed psychiatrist does not believe that she has the tick infections and she is herxing bad (increased eating disorder and other symptoms.) Decreasing the antibx will not stop the restriction cycly. Her llmd does not fully understand the eating disorder and we are headed for a major hospitalization when she becomes medically unstable. Thanks. Amy

Hi. New and overwhelmed. My 4.5 YO had a sudden onset of motor and vocal tics, adhd, clumsiness, OCD, sensory stuff, sleep disturbances, tantrums after falling sick with a cough/fever Dec 2015. Pediatrician suspected PANDAS and started him on Cefdinir however ASO/DNASE negative. Symptoms improved 50% in a month however new symptoms kept emerging. We saw Dr B who ran more tests and diagnosed PANS with borderline Lyme. See Igenex and Galaxy results below. Started on Azith, Cefdinir and Malarone last week. We are seeing an increase in some symptoms (herx?) while others are in check. In hindsight, my son was bit by an insect when he was 3 but the ER doc did not think much of it and sent us home with a topical lotion. There have been symptoms (eg tantrums, meltdowns, wanting to be carried) that we chalked up to difficult boy behavior. So sad this has turned into full blown PANS. Do you think this is Lyme/PANS? I would hate to treat him with antibiotics/anti-malarial for two years if he doesn't have Lyme and we should have been looking for something else. BUT if it is Lyme then I need to toughen up and prepare for a long road ahead. Igenex Lyme: Negative overall IgM 41 IND IgG 23-25 IND, 39 IND, 41+++ B Microti IgM 20 (may or may not indicate active infection) IgG <40 Galaxy Bartonella IFA 32 (less than or equal to 32 indicates negative. Greater than 1.64 positive) All other co-infections negative. My questions are: 1. Do you think he has Lyme, Babesia, Bartonella? 2. Are there additional tests you would recommend to confirm diagnosis? 3. I keep reading that there is no cure Any stories of successfully eradicating these infections? 4. What treatments and length worked best, especially if you had a young child? 5. Should we find an integrative LLMD in addition to Dr B? Any suggestions close to NYC? Sorry for so many questions and thank you for your help! C

Hi, My DS (24) still not getting better after 5+ years. Too long of a story to go into it but have tried everything. LLMD and Pandas doc think its time to look into IVIG. Went to Neuro and he agreed to do it. I made appt. with Dr. B in CT just for another opinion. They said will have to test whole family with test, not covered by insurance. Could be up to 1400 per person in household. Is this normal? Can hardly afford test and appt. for DS no less rest of family. Is this a deal breaker if we won't do it? Has anyone else had to do this with this doc? Should I even bother to go see him? Just thought I should see an immunologist. Any info would be greatly appreciated. frikfrak

Hi, We just finished a bottle of Researched Nutritionals Arteminisin and have to order more but been reading up on Hopkinton Arteminisin. Would definitely like to try this. Does anyone have any info on it....helping? where to purchase? how much to take? thanks for any help frikfrak

I read a post a while ago about Stephen Buhner's book and protocol, "Healing Lyme Disease Coinfections: Complementary and Holistic Treatments for Bartonella and Mycoplasma". I downloaded the book and it is extremely informative. I am trying to schedule a consult with his referral (Julie) for 2 weeks from now. I am curious if others have tried this approach to kill mycoplasma and if it was successful. If so, how long did it take and do you have any suggestions. Thank you. Heidi

Hi, Can anyone help with how to take Zeolite. I purchased the powder form and it states "Does not mix well in water" They suggest putting it in yogurt but we are dairy free. Can I mix in applesauce? or something else. My DS is great with taking anything. I'm sure if I did put in water he would just down it, how much water, full glass? Also do you detox everyday or maybe just on weekends? I'm assuming you need a 4 hour window just like activated charcoal so at best I can only do this once a day.....good enough? For how long, weeks, months? thanks for any help frifrak

DD13 is doing wonderfully! Three years ago I would not have believed that she could improve to the extent she has. She has lost all cognitive/executive impairments and her Tourette's is only suggestible (if I ask if she needs to tic she will have to - motor only, no vocals), and not otherwise visible. Going back to school has not resulted in any sort of relapse. We were at the cottage this weekend and without me asking she got out her homework (Grade 8) and reviewed (reworked) 30 math questions for a test that she has today. She packed the homework herself, got it up to the cottage and took full responsibility for studying. She worked for at least 3 hours. Neat and tidy writing, organized work area. At dinner time she admitted that she was having trouble with one question, but that she felt after dinner when she had had a break that she would figure it out - and she did. No screaming or crying. No throwing things or raging. Absolutely no frustration; just confidence. It was truly amazing! This was a child that 3 years ago (Grade 5) I had to physically dress, brush teeth, tie shoes, pack backpack, pick up homework from school and work through unfinished school work/homework one on one because of ADD. She had an IEP and the help of the classroom EA. She sat behind a screen and wore ear plugs to decrease distraction. She was removed from the classroom for testing and had an EA sit with her to redirect her attention. She had an EA or another student go to the bathroom with her because she would become distracted and forget to go back to class. She had to eat lunch in the special needs classroom so the teacher there could redirect her to eating; otherwise her lunch would return uneaten. Her printing was huge and messy and her books covered with doodled pictures (the same one over and over - her OCD). She raged, she screamed, she hit, she was socially withdrawn and regressed. She was so fatigued, dizzy and in so much pain that she had to sit out of gym class, or sit on the curb watching the neighbourhood children play. She had Tourette's so badly at times that she couldn't read because of head snapping/bobbing/eye rolling, and often couldn't give presentations in class because her vocals were so bad. A couple of times her Grade 6 teacher would recount this to me and cry, she felt so sorry for our daughter. Her improvement has been nothing short of a miracle. We are maintaining low doses of Buhner's bartonella protocol (minus l-arginine), I am still messing about with the babesia herbs. Both DD and I are reacting very strongly to bidens (1 drop 3x daily) (which Buhner says is not supposed to be as potent as cryptolepis), with brain herxes (dizziness, brain fog), but with the help of Julie McIntyre we are still seeing improvement. One thing that I found to be a surprise was Julie's recommendation of cilantro/zeolite for detox. I put off using cilantro for about 8 months. One because I thought it was baloney (you'd think I'd know better by now), and two because I couldn't find an organic source. Well I found an organic tincture source, and as soon as I started using it (1 drop 3x daily) our daughter's remaining symptoms declined noticeably (that is, even my husband noticed). I messed about and ended up being too enthusiastic (10 drops 3x daily) which resulted in a yeast infection (googling revealed that the gut may overgrow yeast to protect the body from too many metals being dumped into the intestine at once). Instead of using zeolite we are using Diatomaceous Earth; we may switch to zeolite (which Julie swears by, and she hasn't led us astray yet - except for dosages which are very tricky for us (we find 1/4 of recommended dosage to be best). The amazing thing is that during a recent trip which entailed a week's stay in a "free wireless" hotel (meaning wireless is EVERYWHERE) both our daughter and I were unaffected by the EMF's. We are usually quite electrosensitive. Previous trips to wireless available buildings (museums, hotels, restaurants, malls etc.) generally resulted in an increase in symptoms for our daughter (especially ticcing, fatigue and headache to the point of having to sit down and rest) and palpitations/anxiety for me. I was not looking forward to staying in the hotel, and neither was our daughter, but after our first night there we realized that we weren't being impacted to the extent that we had been. We actually slept like logs! Cilantro and clays are used in many natural metal detox remedies; and it would make sense that removing metal burden from the body would decrease reaction to electromagnetic frequencies. No child should have to suffer the pain, fatigue and cognitive dysfunction that DD has had to endure, but I have learned so much from this journey: That mainstream medicine may not be the be-all, end-all. That bacteria are not the only problem, that compromised immune/detoxification systems are responsible for symptoms as well. That our children are being poisoned by the pesticides in their food (big agriculture) and by the metals/adjuvants in the 70 (!) vaccines now recommended by experts (mainstream medicine / big pharmaceutical companies). No large corporations/conglomerations are ever again going to tell me what is best for me or my family. Although in the past I would have considered myself nuts to even suggest this to anyone else (let alone believe it myself), I now read several alternative health sites: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/ http://www.mercola.com/ http://www.greenmedinfo.com/gmi-blogs http://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/ http://www.i-sis.org.uk/index.php http://www.ageofautism.com/ http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/blog

I want to do the Igenex co-infections panel on DS, who tested positive for Lyme a few months ago, but he is on two abx currently (plus some natural antimicrobials and a host of supplements). I don't want to risk taking him off abx because he is doing well on them right now, but if he is taking them, will that mess up the results of the testing? He is on Augmentin and Biaxin which I do not believe are used to treat babesia or bart. What about the other co-infections? I can't find any info on the Igenex website about how abx affect the test results. Help please?

This was posted on another forum and I thought it relevant to our story, and perhaps to those of others here. DD's major downturns have both coincided with MMR vaccinations. http://sanevax.org/gardasil-decision-will-always-regret/ Thanks "surprise"!

As DD with PANDAS/PANS is being treated for lyme and Bartonella, we mentioned our DS also has "stretch marks". He is healthy and "typical". The NP treating DD said DS should be treated for bartonella if the stretch marks are in fact bartonella rash. What would you do?

Hi, We just got our results back from Igenix, 1st igenix test we took. Came back negative for babesia, bartonella, Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasma. Doc forgot to check the box to check for lyme so ordering that now. My DS 23 was positive when this all started back in 2009 for lyme and RMSF through Quest, all bands positive. Then is 2012 tested positive for babesia, again thru Quest. We've been treating for both since, Always negative for bartonella and other co-infections. So does this mean he now longer has any of this? We've actually gotten rid of it? If so then why is he no better? The things that are better is his laughing and sleeping. Been giving Japanese Knotweed which I believe did it. He's currently on Alinia, Minocycline, Nystatin, Malarone and Cipro. Of course on multiple supps. including Neem and Core. Did a stool test and it came back very high in Lactoferrin...90.7....normal is <7.3. Doc rx'd the Cipro for this...only taking for 14 days. His Lactoferrin back in July 2012 was only 19.2....so it went way up in a year. See LLMD on the 19th to discuss all this and see what they think. Also have appt. with neurologist (Dr. Chong) in Jan. and making appt. with immunologist. Any thoughts? thanks Terry

Hi all, Just hoping for some suggestions here: Recap: DS (23) diagnosed Dec. 09 with lyme, all bands positive and RMSF (was regular kid w/job/car/friends)....starting treating with 1st LLMD....DS very angry/let hair and beard grow (looked like mountain man), started listening to RAP music (which he never liked) all within 1st 6 months....started see Dr. B in Red Bank also. then switched LLMDs, all those symptoms went away and then starting being paranoid, calling police to confess car accident that he had had year earlier, washing hands, going in bathroom for long periods of time...at some point was slamming doors badly (broke molding off the doors)...then all that went away, stayed with that LLMD for 1 1/2 years...son still getting worse mentally. By this time on all kinds of abx, IV doxy for 9 months, shots..too many to lists DS started laughing daily, uncontrollably for long periods of time...still does to this day. Took a few months between LLMDs at this point and took DS to local doc who does treat lyme and wanted to test for metals / parasites....no parasite, metals fine....they found babesia. Starting treating that too. Fast forward to now...with new LLMD (8 months now) still seeing Dr. B who has prescribed numerous meds to try and "connect" and stop the everyday laughing, which is not only hard to listen to ALL day but it can get VERY loud, it must be hard on his body. He also "talks" to himself or someone (scary) because he'll talk during his laughing so its hard to make out what he says. Also will repeat a lot, either something from the TV or something we (his parents) are saying. If he's quiet, I can see his lips moving sometimes. FYI: He doesn't "talk" to us...sometimes 1 word answers but that's it. Sometimes the answers aren't correct for the question so we can't always count on that. The only thing that seems to work "maybe" is seroquel. I hate giving it to him but I figure he needs a break. It does quiet him down some but not always. Currently on Rifampin/Mino/pulse Tindamax (for possible Bart), and Malarone/Zhang's Artemesia (Babesia) and a lot of supplements. Positive for A1298c (?) mutation, positive myco, ASO AB high, and a few other things.....don't really want to list it all, too much. Also getting appt. with Dr. O in CT soon (hoping they can help shed light on why he's never gotten better). Didn't know about PANDAS back then, no one mentioned it...now thinking he had it also. Anyway, my question: Is there something you all give your children to help with psych symptoms or do you all just give abx / supps and hope/pray they just get better, these type of symptoms go away? Seeing Dr. B today and was hoping to suggest something...I research this ALL the time and come up empty. FYI: tried Neudexta and it didn't work. Still trying after 3+ years....all this is just horrible. His Mom

Hi, Just received blood test back... ASO AB 375...3 months ago it was 368 DNASE-B AB 189...normal Streptozyme Screen....Positive A We've been treating lyme for 2 years then found Babesia, treating this for 1 year when I thought possibly he could also have PANDAS..only came across the ASO AB test after I had him tested because I had strep. My DS (23) doesn't speak, mentally disabled by all this, was "normal" before this all started. His babesia level is now 1:64, 3 months ago it as 1:1024 (normal is under 1:256) so I guess were doing much better as far as that's concerned...numbers going down. Now treating Bart (suspected). Last test was negative. So does this mean my DS does not have PANDAS? Within the 1st year this all started he did exhibit some PANDAS symptoms (looking back) OCD, rage. Both have "gone away". Didn't know about PANDAS back then. any thoughts?

Hi, My DS (23) has high levels of ammonia via blood test and high levels of lead (34) via urine provoked test. For ammonia, he was on Lactrolose for 30 days, 2 tablespoons once daily, and then we rechecked the levels and they actually went up...now doc wants him on it 2x day but because of everything else he takes we can't fit it in. Does anyone know of something else I can use besides Lactrolose. If so, for how long and how much? Also just received his urine results and it says high levels of Lead. How he could have gotten this I don't know. He was on 6 months of chelation pills (chemet) stopped in March. Should we go back on them or do IV chelation? Is there another way to deal with this? any thoughts are appreciated His Mom

My dd16 is scheduled to start clarithromycin in the am and I have been reading the insert. It states that it could cause psychosis and, Lord knows, we have dealt with enough of that with the disease so I don't want it with the treatment. I see that several of you have experience with clarithromycin/biaxin and I am hoping that you can share your experiences with me. I am doubly worried because we are flying cross-country on Wednesday and I really do not want to create a problem. She is currently doing pretty well, although we are still dealing with eating issues and a very short fuse. She hasn't really been raging, however, and I am afraid to give her something that could trigger a backslide. I need to get her started on it because her summer is short and we need to get as much healing done as possible before school starts again. Soooo.....anyone have experiences? The good, the bad, the ugly???? Thanks so much for taking time to help. QueenMother

I am very new at all of this so please bear with me. After years of trying to figure out what was going on with my daughter, she recently tested positive for mycoplasm, bartonella, HHV6, and some bands of lyme(though inconclusive). Mycoplasm showed current activation and past (IgG and IgM). Our current struggles started in December with a severe bout of Influenza B that dragged on and on resulting in severe depression, rage, mild ocd, intrusive thoughts, and ultimately she stopped eating. Completely. Hospital stay was pretty useless and nobody would even remotely consider PANS/PANDAS (I begged). Local doc listened and ordered panels. Bingo...looks like mycoplasma is a BIG trigger for her. We started her on azithromycin but my daughter got so much worse on azithromycin that we had to stop after a couple of days (She tested resistant to amoxicillin). 12 days ago, she started doxycycline (100mg am and 100mg pm) to see if she tolerated it better. The first 4 days were an absolute nightmare with all the worst behaviors surfacing. Just when I was about to stop the doxycycline, everything changed.....my daughter came back. More like the new and improved version. She is the best we have seen her in, well, I can't even remember seeing her like this. Even she says that she feels different and she feels happy. I am trying to remain positive and enjoy this turnaround but I find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop. Is it possible that the doxycycline has hit the mycoplasma? I know it's not the first choice for treatment, but there is no other explanation that we know of and it seems to be helping. I still want to get her into a PANS specialist. This will take a long time and I don't know how long she should stay on the doxycycline. Has anyone gone this route before? Thank you all so much! QueenMother