Need help to fight yeast...

[MMWG]

My ds (age 5) was diagnosed with PANDAS last December. He has had strep twice in the past year, the last time being in April. He is not on daily abx but was on them for 3 weeks with his first post-diagnosis strep and then 4 weeks with his second bout. He had a negative strep test this summer but went on abx as a precaution because we saw his slight tic return. He has had chronic constipation since he was a baby, and takes miralax everyday for that.

 

Anyway, I have always wondered whether he may have sensitivity to certain foods or dyes because of his constipation issues, and now with all the abx he has had this year, I am concerned about yeast. I picked up a book at the bookstore tonight about undetected allergies in children, and read that redness around the anus can be a sign of yeast infection.

 

We definitely have that, and have for awhile. He is not on any regular probiotics, but I have tried the Kefir probiotics and he seemed to do well with those. How else can I fight the yeast? I have a feeling our pediatrician won't think much about my concerns--he has been great about the PANDAS, and we like him, but I raised the allergy issue once and he blew it off. There is a homeopathic doc in our area that deals with these things, but he is anti- antibiotics for the most part, and I am concerned about taking my son to him, as he would likely not agree with how our pediatrician is treating his PANDAS....the last thing i need right now is two docs disagreeing on how to treat my child.

 

What can I be doing at home to combat the potential yeast issue???

[smartyjones]

the last thing i need right now is two docs disagreeing on how to treat my child.

 

 

MMWG -- that is the last thing you need! i was there a while ago with me thinking i wanted to go the route with the ped who was prescribing a 30 day course of abx (which actually brought about 100% remission - although short-lived) and the ND who was wanting to not go with the abx, but just work on gut issues. it was very stressful. i remember the day of me chain-drinking coffee mochas and bouncing back and forth between them.

 

 

you may want to try to find an integrative MD -- they can certainly vary but are usually Medical Doctors who take a more naturopathic path than an average MD. good luck.

[momaine]

Is there a reason he isn't on any regular probiotics? those help. we have had good luck with culturelle as far as not having an upset stomach after taking antibiotics. (probiotics taken two hours after antibiotics) My dd still had vaginal/perianal strep though and she went on Diflucan which has taken care of the yeast.

[MMWG]

There isn't a reason he isn't on probiotics regularly, other than my head spinning about what to have him on and what not to...he is on vitamins, and fish oil/DHA. I gave the Lifeway Kefir a try and figured we would keep up with it, but he hasn't had it in a couple weeks. Would that alone be sufficient for the yeast, if he had it everyday? I have heard mixed things about Culturelle...

[Sylvia]

Ketoconazole seems to be the antifungal that works best for us. We have done pretty much every probiotic, most of the naturals such as Uva Ursi, and Nystatin and Diflucan. And lucky for us, since we are not able to use our insurance for out of network treatment - which is basically ALL of our treatments, Keto is one of the least expensive prescription antifungals. I just picked up a refill today, and a 30 day supply was only $25

 

There isn't a reason he isn't on probiotics regularly, other than my head spinning about what to have him on and what not to...he is on vitamins, and fish oil/DHA. I gave the Lifeway Kefir a try and figured we would keep up with it, but he hasn't had it in a couple weeks. Would that alone be sufficient for the yeast, if he had it everyday? I have heard mixed things about Culturelle...

[momaine]

Not sure what you heard about Culturelle but I can tell you that if my dd doesn't take her Culturelle, she gets diarhea from the antibiotics. I am not familiar with the product you are using but if he still has yeast, you need something else. Our dr. put our dd on Diflucan as soon as he learned she was struggling with yeast. When she was having yeast problems, she also had a worsening on her PANDAS symtptoms. It's been crucial for us to control the yeast.

[Stephanie2]

My ds (age 5) was diagnosed with PANDAS last December. He has had strep twice in the past year, the last time being in April. He is not on daily abx but was on them for 3 weeks with his first post-diagnosis strep and then 4 weeks with his second bout. He had a negative strep test this summer but went on abx as a precaution because we saw his slight tic return. He has had chronic constipation since he was a baby, and takes miralax everyday for that.

 

Anyway, I have always wondered whether he may have sensitivity to certain foods or dyes because of his constipation issues, and now with all the abx he has had this year, I am concerned about yeast. I picked up a book at the bookstore tonight about undetected allergies in children, and read that redness around the anus can be a sign of yeast infection.

 

We definitely have that, and have for awhile. He is not on any regular probiotics, but I have tried the Kefir probiotics and he seemed to do well with those. How else can I fight the yeast? I have a feeling our pediatrician won't think much about my concerns--he has been great about the PANDAS, and we like him, but I raised the allergy issue once and he blew it off. There is a homeopathic doc in our area that deals with these things, but he is anti- antibiotics for the most part, and I am concerned about taking my son to him, as he would likely not agree with how our pediatrician is treating his PANDAS....the last thing i need right now is two docs disagreeing on how to treat my child.

 

What can I be doing at home to combat the potential yeast issue???

 

It sounds like you need a DAN doctor who specializes in pandas. They treat yeast, bacteria, strep, you name it. and yes they use abx and rx antifungals (which will knock yeast out of the ballpark). I guess you already guessed this since you mentioned it, but constipation is a big yeast symptom. You can probably get rid of the constip by treating yeast (and even if you can't, I find that regular high dose vitamin c and magnesium will keep things moving and is much more calming, immune supporting and safer than miralax). If you are interested in a good DAN doctor, PM me and I can tell you who would be good based on where you live and if they treat pandas, etc. I can also give you the name of some herbs that you could get started with to kill yeast while you are waiting to get it with a good MD...

[matis_mom]

My ds (age 5) was diagnosed with PANDAS last December. He has had strep twice in the past year, the last time being in April. He is not on daily abx but was on them for 3 weeks with his first post-diagnosis strep and then 4 weeks with his second bout. He had a negative strep test this summer but went on abx as a precaution because we saw his slight tic return. He has had chronic constipation since he was a baby, and takes miralax everyday for that.

 

Anyway, I have always wondered whether he may have sensitivity to certain foods or dyes because of his constipation issues, and now with all the abx he has had this year, I am concerned about yeast. I picked up a book at the bookstore tonight about undetected allergies in children, and read that redness around the anus can be a sign of yeast infection.

 

We definitely have that, and have for awhile. He is not on any regular probiotics, but I have tried the Kefir probiotics and he seemed to do well with those. How else can I fight the yeast? I have a feeling our pediatrician won't think much about my concerns--he has been great about the PANDAS, and we like him, but I raised the allergy issue once and he blew it off. There is a homeopathic doc in our area that deals with these things, but he is anti- antibiotics for the most part, and I am concerned about taking my son to him, as he would likely not agree with how our pediatrician is treating his PANDAS....the last thing i need right now is two docs disagreeing on how to treat my child.

 

What can I be doing at home to combat the potential yeast issue???

Hi there,

You'd be surprised, we took ds to a naturopath and even though he is very anti-antibiotics, in ds's case he said if they are keeping him stable, then just stay on them. We run a food sensitivity testing through him (it was about $200 out of pocket) and I'm glad we did because it turns out he is allergic to wheat and milk, even though he never had a "reaction" to them.

Even before we got the results we had put him on a very restrictive diet and he did very well on it.

About the yeast, it feeds on sugar, so anything you can do to avoid sugar will help tremendously. I would recommend you look up the GAPS diet, and/or the Specific Carbohydrate diet. The premise of these is that you eat in such a way that you starve out all the bad bacteria/yeast. So basically no sugar, no potatoes, no grains. It's a bit hard, but you get used to it.

[MMWG]

Thanks everyone!