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Thinking to trying steroids


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I have been reluctant to try steroids on my child. She has a long lasting tic that has recently gotten worse again. We have added omnicef to her regular zith in case of strep exposure (tons of strep at school) but have not seen an improvement. At onset she was positive for myco p and strep titers rose with last exacerbation.

 

I am curious about the "miracle" steroids have been for many on here but realize some do not last and others have negative reactions. I understand if there are yeast issues steroids can make it worse.

 

Any experiences will be appreciated in helping me make my decision. Thanks.

 

Mom Love

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I think no matter what others tell you, you won't know how your own child will react unless you try it. My general impression from what everyone describes is that prednisone helps more with OCD than tics. But since it puts an overall damper on the whole inflammation process, it may help bring a sense of improvement in multiple areas. It did reduce tics for my DS (but did not eliminate them).

 

I can understand your concern and there is a risk that if there's an active/chronic infection from some bacteria (strep/myco/lyme etc), the prednisone won't give you long lasting improvements. But if "just" Pandas and no current infection, it might and I think it's worth a try. You always have the option of stopping before the end if you don't like what you're seeing (so long as you taper down with a doctor's advice and don't just stop cold turkey).

 

Best of luck with your decision.

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Back in October, my son was exploding with tic behaviors. We did a 5 day Medrol pack (steroid). Two weeks later the tics lessened considerably. We were tic free all of November. Was it the steroid? I don't really know, he was also taking clonidine for the tics, but it wasn't until after the steriod that they stopped. He was doing great until recently, when OCD (hand rinsing) started up again. Still not tics, but I'm reluctant to do the steriods again for the hand rinsing (OCD), only because he also has asthma and was on a 7 day course of steroids the week before Thanksgiving. I'm concerned about the long term affects of too many steroids. I am curious about the ibufrofen, how much do people give? My son is 10 and about 80 lbs.

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Thanks LLM and Vickie for your replies. Vickie, I hadn't really thought of added motrin, I don't know why. I will do that tonight. No one is sick that I can tell and she has no cold etc. symptoms. She does have two teeth coming in strong now that I thought about though. She does have this white sort of stringy stuff in the very back of her throat. She used to have alot of green post nasal drip back there before her T&A but not since. I wonder if she could still be draining white stuff from up under the adenoids almost 2 months after her surgery. Her uvula did only recently go down to normal size after the surgery. What do you think about the white stuff?

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Yes, teeth coming in can increase some PANDAS symptoms, along with loose teeth. As for the stringy white stuff...does she have allergies that could cause nasal drainage? Allergies can increase symptoms as well. With winter upon us and heaters on, dust is flying all over the place in houses. If you have a saline nasal spray at home, you can spray that and it will help her blow it better and possibly cut down on the drainage. It's non medicinal so it can be used with any other meds she is taking.

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My daughter was prescribed Omnicef and a prednisone taper. We did not see much improvement untill Christmas Eve.(her last dose of prednisone was the day before) The child was finally singing Christmas music (OCD did not allow her to hear any music) from that point one she was moving full speed ahead doing things she would'nt even consider trying at therapy or anywhere. We had a wonderfull week, still had ocd but nothing to point it had been previously. Sad to say that as of yesterday evening she has been rapidly sliding backwards. I even gave her an ibuphrofin this afternoon and it had no effect. But it has worked before. I know that most ppl here give only one pill every 3 or 4 hours on bad days. I'm wondering though... she is 11 and weighs at least 110pds (was only 85 in sept when this all started) would it be more beneficial to give her an adult dose of two? Just wondering of others thoughts. I can't wait till the 10th when we go back to see Dr. B. by then she will be out of her omnicef too :/

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