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My DD (almost 13) started menses about 6 months ago. Her PANDAS symptoms had been pretty mild and manageable until a few weeks ago- mostly anxiety/OCD which is worse at night. Her OCD consists of intrusive thoughts as the obsession, and telling me (mom) as the compulsion. She can't go to sleep until she has purged her brain of all of the bad thoughts and I assure her that everything is OK and she doesn't need to worry. Within the past few weeks, those intrusive thoughts have gotten much worse- more disturbing to her and more intense and frequent. Bedtime is a nightmare! The strange part is that since puberty, her tics have become almost non-existent. Before puberty, she cycled through all sorts of tics. Before puberty, when PANDAS was bad, the main symptoms were tics, anxiety, and intrusive thoughts, but she never seemed depressed. In fact, when tics were bad, her seemed almost giddy she was so happy (high Dopamine?). Now, after puberty, the tics are gone, but along with the OCD that I described above, she seems depressed. Maybe it's because the intrusive thoughts are more disturbing and she often talks about how guilty she feels about the thoughts. She never mentioned guilt before. She's had PANDAS since she was 5 (maybe before). Treatment has included antibiotics and IVIG one year ago. She seemed to get worse for many months after the IVIG, then slowly got better, though I'm not sure if she got better than she would have gotten without it. Anyone else experience a big change in how symptoms present after puberty? I've read all the thread I could find about puberty, but mostly people were discussing whether symptoms would go away or not. Thank you!

Hi, please kindly advise me of what natural supplements I can take to alleviate OCD, anxiety, ADD and depression. I am a 41 year old mother who has two wonderful children. I am always the type of person easy to get worry and depressed. I now have two major anxiety triggers- 1) my son has chronic motor tics for 2 years now but under control for now 2) My older daughter has myopia and wearing overnight ortho-K lenes for 2 years to control progression but latest Nov retinal scan shows her retinas are thinned a bit, but no tear no holes. OD did said to me that she is fine and it is normal to have retinas stretch since she is myopic since young age. But since the appt, I have developed very obsessive thinking of the most worst possible outcome of my kids that my daughter may need eye surgery in the future, maybe retinal detachment and loss of vision etc... I cry a lot and my husband keeps telling me Dr said she is fine for now, but only God knows what will happen in the future... My obsessive thoughts is wearing me out...I feel anxious and keep thinking of the possible worst outcome... I am a Christian, I start keep reciting Bible verses, but seems like my brain doesn't believe what the OD said about my myopic daughter who is fine right now...so I am in anxiety and depression, hardly have energy to teach my kids or eat... I start taking Kirkman multi-vitamin for a month since I am low in Vit D. I also start taking a potent high quality omega 3. And Kirkman L-theanine 200mg at bed time but seems no help.. Thanks, Barbara

Qannie47 posted an interesting link on histamine levels and I'm thinking about asking our LLMD to check ds. There were just too many similarities in the description of high histamine kids/people to ignore. Has anyone else looked into this?

I know this has been addressed before... what SSRI's have you tried for depression? helpful or harmful? Thank you.

Just picked up the April issue of Psychology Today. Pg. 40 "The Psychobiotic Revolution". "It may be possible to relieve anxiety and depression solely by manipulating bacteria in the gut." "Recently, he coined a term for the live organisms in the gut that are psychoactive and of potential benefit to those suffering from a variety of psychiatric illnesses - psychobiotics." (Yeah, they are just probiotics...) Some interesting info: A cocktail of Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum was found to reduce cortisol levels and curb inflammation. Gut microbes that actively secrete GABA are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. (Lack of GABA in the brain may bring on the negative ruminations long linked with depression.) Bifidobacterium infantis as a probiotic alters levels of serotonin - just like Prozac. Lactobacillus reuteri, delivered in either yogurt or supplement form, improves mood, appearance, and general health by increasing levels of oxytocin. B. infantis, L. reuteri and several other strains work throughout the immune system by attacking inflammation, a hallmark of depression. Lactobacillus rhamnosus reduces anxiety and depression and beefs up production of GABA receptors. B. infantis and L. reuteri work on the immune system, where they suppress proinflammatory cytokines. HERE's what makes me aggravated about this article. Instead of encouraging probiotic use NOW, they talk about these "therapeutic psychobiotics being a long way from reaching the market", but that you can still eat yogurt and fermented foods. They say that most probiotics don't make it past our stomach acid - but this article is from Psychology Today, so I'm sure it's not "Pharmaceutically Correct" to push anything that is already out there on the market. Sorry, but I'm fully aware that most research is paid for by the pharmaceutical companies, and they want to get their money grubbing paws on this. All of the microbes listed are in probiotics I have here in my refrigerator, and some of them are specifically made to get to the gut. That rant being said, I'm just glad that psychiatry is starting to see the light of day! Finally realizing that the brain is actually attached to our bodies, and affected by them! Hoorah! Since I pretty much typed out the whole article, I guess I should give the author credit! Thank you, Jordan Davidson.

The events I will tell you about occurred only 3 weeks ago. Suddenly and without warning I fell into a deep and dangerous depression. My mother was frightened at my state so she called the police and they found me huddled in a corner crying, not good. I explained to them that it is physical and I do not want to see another psychiatrist, I already see the best one in the state of florida. I showed them all my medical records. I showed them everything I was diagnosed with. I told the cops that I spend almost all day lying in bed with unspeakable and death-like fatigue and on top of it I have OCD. I AM DEPRESSED B/C I AM MISERABLE AND SICK. Once they hear "depression" and "ocd". I am baker acted but they promise to take me to the ER to get "fresh new eyes to look at my medical problems" b/c the cop is SOOO understanding since he has chrohn's. Insert "eye roll". I was taken to the ER and locked in a room for 8 hours, nobody came to bring me any food and water even though I told them I have TERRIBLE dysautonomia (hyperadrenergic pots) and need hydration as well as medication in the afternoon for tachycardia. They didn't bring me anything and it turns out they just forgot about me. None of the douchey doctors had heard of PANDAS. I told them I have movement disorder stuff. Fast forward to 10 pm, I have never felt so fatigued in all MY LIFE. A security guard takes me to the psych ward. I then have to do a 2 hour interview intake with a psych nurse, who in his defense was very caring and compassionate. By this point, I had periods where I thought I would pass out, I would drift in and out when finally in my bed. The psychiatrist who came in was my first doctor ever, THANK GOD, she had treated me for 4 years starting at age 18. She knew all the physical stuff and once she looked at my chart and saw that I'd tried almost every psychotropic medication, she let me go home. Sadly, they had NO recommendations for my depression which has not changed since that week. I share this experience to tell you don't go to the ER. The male psych nurse told me that right when they hear: "depression" "ocd" "insomnia" - to the psych ward you will be shipped. The ER doctors are in residency, arrogant, and don't know anything about complexity or rarity. The ER is way too busy and I was overlooked. This would be very detrimental to my health. That week I developed c-diff, worsening of tonsil and throat infection, UTI, and vag. yeast infection. I did not have any infections at the time I went into the hospital. I am still taking abx weeks later to treat them. I think the trip was far too hard on my body. I expected to be seen by a neurologist, someone, anyone, who was willing to help. AVOID THE ER.

to read more please go to: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/06/18/infections-linked-to-mood-disorders-like-depression-bipolar/56195.html