PANDA AT BIRTH

[momcap]

I don't know about the possibility of PANDAS at birth. Perhaps it's possible, or perhaps there are factors in place at birth that lead to the susceptibility to PANDAS. I will say this. My son was "challenging" since the moment he was born. I couldn't put him down, he nursed 24/7 and he NEVER slept by himself until he was 4/12. He was high maintenance as a baby/toddler and had some anxiety. BUT, I say the PANDAS started when he was 5 and had a sudden personality shift and behavioral changes. Still, though... there was "something" before that.

 

Wow, I could have wrote the exact same thing about my DS7, except that the sudden personality shift and behavioural changes started at age 3. I know something was going on since birth though. I wonder about congenital lyme even though his lyme tests came back negative. I'm getting tested on Tuesday. Definitely "'something' before that" here too.

[Hierge]

My ex-wife has chronic strep throats. She had three of them while pregnant with my PANDAS daughter. Ex-wife has heart murmur, grandmother has heart murmur, my PANDAS daughter has heart murmur, my Rheumatic Fever brother has a heart murmur from birth. So, this is a syndrome that develops from birth.

 

Here's the real kicker: Mom had the three strep throats during pregnancy and a bad one in the delivery room. After PANDAS daughter is born, mom develops nasty rheumatism in her knees and elbow joints. This lasted three months. We were afraid she had Lupus, but she turned up clean on that. It was strep.

 

At eight years old, daughter gets a sore throat. Then Kazaam, she starts acting like a feral child crawling around on tables, scribbling like a cavegirl with crayons, moving in a very strange manner, unable to sit up on a chair, staring at the sun with eyes open... it scared the crap out of us. On the third emergency room visit she got the PANDAS diagnosis. Took four years to get proper treatment.

 

This is from birth. Talked to my Dr. who is a PANDAS expert. She agrees this problem is family based and it is likely the strep infections during pregnancy were a factor.

[EAMom]

After PANDAS daughter is born, mom develops nasty rheumatism in her knees and elbow joints. This lasted three months. We were afraid she had Lupus, but she turned up clean on that. It was strep.

 

 

 

Could you expand on this? I had a bad cold (runny nose, no fever, cough, just feeling icky) earlier this month and I've had painful knees (like arthritis? it comes and goes) ever since then. I suppose I should see a doctor myself.

 

Also, when I had strep (myself, age 43) a couple of years ago one of my fingers really swelled up (couldn't even come close to getting my wedding ring off). For a couple of months BEFORE that strep infection that same finger was a bit achey, but it really swelled up when I became symptomatic for strep....and resolved with antibiotics (augmentin).

Edited December 4, 2010 by EAMom

[EAMom]

Hi Wilma,

Is your dd on abs? I agree with the others that the sinus infection is a HUGE deal.

 

When did you see Dr. T? It's possible he didn't do the Cunningham test b/c the lab is closed for the holidays.

Edited December 4, 2010 by EAMom

[Wilma Jenks]

Hi Wilma,

Is your dd on abs? I agree with the others that the sinus infection is a HUGE deal.

 

When did you see Dr. T? It's possible he didn't do the Cunningham test b/c the lab is closed for the holidays.

 

i am starting abs tomorrow. i am worried because she is so hyper with this celexa they have her on. we saw dr t. in july 2010

[Wilma Jenks]

Isn't it really bad to be on the abx. for that long?

[EmersonAilidh]

Wilma ~ You've just asked one of the most loaded questions on this whole board, hahah. I know of people who have been on antibiotics for years. & some who can't do a month without a break. It all depends on the person, I suppose. But even that's probably up for debate.

 

I obviously can't speak for myself at birth but I can speak for my half-siblings, most of whom I suspect to have P.A.N.D.A.S/PITAND. I made sure to include PITAND on that one since I've never seen Pertussis discussed on here, but they get that all the time. My Dad/stepmom aren't very into medicine or doctors & only go when it's absolutely necessary, so bringing P.A.N.D.A.S. up to them has not proven to be fruitful in the past. I'm not entirely sure where you stand on the Autism-P.A.N.D.A.S. connection, Peggy, but I've talked to you about two of my siblings before. Abram & Millicent. Abram is diagnosed Autistic & mentally retarded, both of which were evident from birth. Well, not necessarily THOSE TWO, but, just that something was wrong. Extremely delayed developmentally in all areas, especially physically & emotionally. I don't remember much from when he was a baby because I was admittedly pretty young at the time (about five years old when he was born when my own P.A.N.D.A.S. was just getting started), but all I remember is just thinking "That's not what a baby is supposed to be like". Never cooing or garbling turned into never speaking. Never speaking turned into rarely speaking, & only in his own language at about three years old. Millicent is three now, & doing the same sort of thing. She isn't AS developmentally delayed; she was speaking before the age of three but not much & she still isn't potty trained, but physically she is better than Abram was. She's not diagnosed with anything, but my Dad & stepmom have expressed concerns that she might be Autistic too. I find it hard to imagine that P.A.N.D.A.S. & Autism can just co-exist in the same family without intermingling. Hmph.

 

Just my two cents on the whole P.A.N.D.A.S. at birth matter. Although, I don't really think anyone can find out, since I've only ever heard of one disorder (Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome) where psychiatric symptoms are undeniably evident in kids that young. You can't really tell if a six month old has OCD or not, & a whole lot of us have had our symptoms "as far back as [we] can remember", so who's to say? Part of me wonders if the brain has to be at a certain point developmentally to even handle something as complex as OCD. Just a thought.