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I posted this on the Members Introduction page, and Chemar suggested reposting it here... Interesting forum, as you specify Lyme and PANDAS. Per repeated blood work over the last decade I have both from childhood. I'm a 45 year old man, permanently disabled (so they say for 14 years), and have been on a hard-core course for Lyme for the last year. Things are looking up. First, PANDAS: (Pediatric?) Diagosed with PANDAS (along with TLD, chronic encephalitis unknown type, Asperger's, CFIDS, and many merely-descriptive diagnoses - over the course of a year at about age 30). Ask my psychiatrist, he'll tell you I have all of them. Ask another doctor, he'll say he only knows about Lyme. Ask another, I have hormone imbalances, and acknowlege auto-immune problems. Ask many other doctors, they'll say there's nothing wrong with me at all and to go see a psychiatrist - which of course is the first doctor that will tell you I have all of those conditions. Second, Lyme: First tested, and came out positive in 2010. It took until last fall to get a doctor to do anything about it. The "University Doctors" at the same university that did studies that show significant residual effects after Lyme, didn't acknowledge residual effects as being valid until confirmed by the CDC. Ironically that was only about a month after their researchers published findings on mice, a couple years ago. It was suggested elsewhere that I probably have "post-Lyme" and was actually infected when I was a child - which is extremely likely considering where I was living, which also has additional tick-borne infections, only other one I show is that I had (thus IgG not IgM) Ehrlichia Chaffeensis, tested a year apart. So, if I'm so messed up, how is it that I'm writing this (seems to me) lucid message? How was I an honors student in college? Symptomatically, I have a hard time expressing myself here. Severe anxiety and sleep issues, which only after more than a decade was I allowed to switch to diazepam. I had asthma all my life, which suddenly disappeared at the exact same time as a severely dibilitating bout which left me bedridden for months, only later learning that my thyroid blew out (called Hashimoto's) and my hormones (thyroid, androgenic, increased estrogen) went completely out of whack and a lump grew at my left elbow. All that cannot be coincidence, but no doctor seems willing to put them together. Epileptic response to light (flashing, certain patterns, sudden changes) that merely render me useless (called Temporal Lobe Dysrhythmia) for quite some time. Visual disturbances after originally having 20/20 sight. Glasses can reduce eyestrain (especially prescription dark sunglasses) but the adjustment they make is very slight, yet I need reading glasses to follow text on paper, especially high contrast paper (laser printed black text on high quality white paper is impossible to even look at, there have been times where I must read such a document so copy it to low quality (and lower contrast) paper or directly to my LCD computer screen, which I have adjusted to low brightness, with soft colors. High functioning Asperger's? Absolutely. Meet me on the street and I'll seem quite normal, or rude (If you try to get me to engage me because I won't), but polite and cordial conducting regular business. Meet me a second time, I will have no idea we met the first time unless there's context or you have something unusual about you (they call that face-blindness). Those few 'friends' I have are long time acquaintances that accept me as I am, know I'm 100% trustworthy, and am as helpful as I can be. Yet I will not necessarily recognize them either. Show me a famous face from the 1980's or earlier and I'll tell you immediately who they are - not that I understand that. Physically, I've had times where I was truly athletic, others where I've wasted away, and for longer than I can remember easily worn out. Energy comes in bursts, easily forget to eat, sometimes force myself to eat and it comes back up. Blood Work: (I can't possibly list all of the out-of-range results here) Anti-DNase B: at a lab where the reference was a titer of 85: 480 in year 2000 240 confirmed two months later 340 confirmed in 2001 554 at the beginning of this month, with reference of 301U/mL Anti-Glomular Basement Membrane (something about determining Chronic Glomularnephritis due to the above) 21.2 titer (barely positive) in 2002 retest by another lab in 2010 "Neg" with no further information (a few months after severe change) Lyme: (too complicated to elaborate here) 2/2010 - "neg" at one lab 5/2010 - Western Blot "Pos" IgM, with "neg" IgG (fine print says could be false positive with EBV - which I have), and positive for Borrelia Burgdorferi Plasmid (no other tests showed positive) 7/2011 - convervative lab: "Neg" near simultaneous tests at two labs: one shows Babesia Microti previous infection, other shows "neg" A doctor decided to treat my results and symptoms as a new infection of Lyme since last October (he's not allowed to treat "post-Lyme" or "chronic Lyme" because they don't exist per CDC, so I've been on a severe course of antibiotics, antimicrobials, anti-whatever for a full year at a cost of $10K so far [covered by insurance] and shockingly, my body is improving significantly. At first I thought this was due to the simultaneous treatment with Testosterone, as mine was marginally low, and I've verified his treatment all along with a highly renouned Urologist. Here's where it gets bizarre: after a few months, my testosterone has increased near 1200 (very high) so I keep lowering my dose slowly to less than half, and my level keeps staying up there. The Urologist says this is impossible. He says it is unprecedented. He concludes the only reasonable explanation is that some systemic disease is resolving. CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome) HHV4 (commonly called Epstein Bar) tested strongly positive in 2001, 2009, 2010 HHV6 tested off the charts high for IgG in 2001, and 4x reference in 2010, but IgM neg when only test was done in 2001 Symptomatically: thoroughly and completely consistent with this Syndrome, which many will say is not actually a diagnosis, but a description of symptoms; grouping together similar patients. A couple bouts of Fibromyalgia in over a decade, but gladly not long lasting. Tested for just about everything possible, ruling out all the obvious, and ~2001 learned that old records get destroyed, so went back and acquired every result that still existed, and keep every new result, and have them summarized. This prevents retesting the same old things every five years, as happened all my life. After relatively successful time through my 20's, I "crashed" starting in 1998, was put on the first 'band-aid' psychotropics which made things worse, cold-turkey switched to another set (major error and they would know better) which made me bonkers, switched and added and messed with my brain for about a year, then found my present psychiatrist which halted all that, tried several more but conservatively, and finding that they all made things worse, continued with testing and treatment of symptoms and I slowly went through stronger benzodiazepines, ending up stable on diazepam - not to suggest that's any cure, but at least I take absolutely no other psychotropics and do better than when I was on them. Permanent brain damage likely due to the 'bad science' in early 1999. Applied for disability in summer 1999. Have been mostly housebound since, with periods of reasonably good mental and physical health. I realize this is entirely improbable - but it is factual. I'm continuing the Lyme treatment which I guess I'll list (though may be incomplete) which will continue, possibly for a couple more years. Suggestions on protocol changes are welcome, as future stages will include anti-parasytics, maybe anti-malarials, and who knows what else. Thing is: I don't know that Lyme is really what he's treating. It is my suspicion that some systemic infection(s) are being treated, even if they are not even being identified: 1 year on Zithromax, concurrent to the following, some switched, others overlapped depending on how they might interact or affect the liver: Mepron for four months Ceferoxime Axetil Clindamycin (I think I'm forgetting some) concurrent to (not for Lyme) Testosterone injections (now tapering off) anastazole (now tapering off) Armour thyroid (now tapering off) diazepam (went up due to effects of others, may taper off) I have basically seven times a day that I take medication per protocol - makes it hard to leave home. Is this typical? Is it even like anyone else? Is it quackery that I'm allowing myself to be subjected to? (I'm terrible at proof-reading, and don't doubt some words or sentences are a bit out of whack) Lyme Green Panda (with TLD and CFIDS, too)

Hi - my 12-year old daughter has PANS, I believe. Seeing PANS/PANDAS neurologist in northern NJ. Very elevated titers for myco (1400) and slightly for strep. Treating with Amoxicillin AND Zithromax. Has tics which may have actually increased since being on antibiotics (only about 9 days though). She will not take pills, tried Biaxin liquid but will not tolerate so switched to Zithro. Also has increased anxiety and has had one rage since on meds. Used to take Omega3 (Nordic Naturals with DHA for kids) , then stopped, and recently started again. Taking probiotic too. Her diet is GF and mostly dairy free but she is a picky eater and so has a lot of carbs. Trying to get her off sugar and carbs but taking the meds is easier when she has something sweet (nutella is her favorite chaser, also soy choc milk mixed with plain almond milk). Questions: Does anyone have any ideas/thoughts on antibiotics she is taking? Seen an increase in tics/anxiety/rages on these drugs? Read some kids have increased tics with Omega3 - maybe stop that? Any luck with steroids? Does anyone report ANY relief from just doing nothing - no meds, no discussion, just ignoring tics? All my daughter's anxieties and tics got 10x worse once I actually started looking into it and treating it. Started therapy. But scared to not treat myco and strep after reading Saving Sammy and online info. Any advice would be so helpful. Thank you. Bless you all for this forum and for your information.

Hi, My son seems to greatly benefit from Zithromax taken for immunomodulation purposes. It acts an as anti-inflammatory drug, not for the anti-biotic properties. It seems he would need it every 3-5 days or so to be symptom free. Any thoughts?

Hi, My 6 yr old son has a mild case of PANDAS for two years now. Last September we put him on prophylactic weekly zithromax because his ocd and rages had gotten more severe. All of his symptoms diminished almost immediately and he had a really fabulous winter, almost no signs of pandas. Then about 2 months ago he started having hyperactivity after getting his oral suspension (red liquid) zithromax, to the point where he said, "mom, I can't stop my body!" So, then I gave him a med holiday to see how he would be off of the zithro. Within 2 weeks a new tic started. Then we all got sick and he flared more (4 behavioral meltdowns in one week). He took some zithro for 3 days thinking we all had mycoplasma and found that he could now swallow pills. So, his behavior is pretty good, maybe some sensitivity 2-5 times a week, not full tantrums. However, his tics have increased in type of quantity. But no one hardly even notices them, not even him. But they exist, just watch him closely for 5 minutes and you'll see the repititions. Oh, also not sleeping well, bad dreams, peeing in bed at night. So, my question is should I put him back on a weekly oral pill of zithro or do we just tolerate all of this since it is quite tolerable. I understand that the zithro is used more for its immuno-modulation than for its antibiotic qualities. I just don't want his basal ganglia inflamed and causing him these mild discomforts. And I want his body in a neutral place. So, meds or no meds..... maybe for some weeks until we're more into summer and school is out so less germs around??? thoughts?