Another positive strep test - I'm ditching antibiotics

[Stephanie2]

After giving azithromycin with no luck, and now a full treatment course of Augmentin, my 3 year old pandas son is still positive for strep (8 weeks now). We have also tried a few homeopathic remedies. The homeopath feels that she may not be able to clear the strep with the antibiotics in the way (they are working against each other).

 

I have been on the fence for several days, really trying to decide what to do next. I have no problem being patient with the homeopathic remedies, but my 6yo pandas son's health is then on the line!!

 

BUT, he has been able to withstand this 8 week exposure without exacerbation (due to his homeopathic remedy).

 

I feel like a bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush, but when it comes down to it, I JUST CAN'T GIVE THIS POOR KID ONE MORE ANTIBIOTIC!! I just can't do it! I just feel like Omnicef (our next abx) is not going to do it and then he's gonna be left with clostridia, yeast and strep and a hurt belly to deal with! (not to mention, his remedy is making him much more tolerable, it's not like he is the pandas nightmare that he was 2 months ago, or even a few weeks ago).

 

So I guess my mind is made up and I know that maybe disaster could be looming around the corner by leaving ds6 exposed.

 

No question really, just PRAY FOR US!! LOL!

 

Oh, and ped is sending us to ENT for tonsillectomy consult. I JUST CAN'T DO THAT EITHER! Going with "mommy gut" here, it usually steers me in the right direction, but every once in a while....yikes!

Edited April 12, 2011 by Stephanie2

[peglem]

Does he have symptoms of strep (swollen tonsils, sore throat, etc) or is he just testing positive? Is he culture positive or just rapid positive? This is so crazy!!!

 

We haven't ditched the abx yet, but I'm thinking about it!

 

Sending prayers!

[TexasDad]

Stephanie, I've appreciated reading about your results with homeopathy and the information you've shared. Long term, I would feel much better about that approach vs. abx, steroids, Ibuprofen, etc. Thing is, as challenging as it seems to find the right PANDAS treatment with traditional medicine, I think it's even more so when it comes to homeopathy. It just seems to be all over the place with everyone specializing in something different with completely different approaches. Wouldn't know where to begin to find the right one for any given situation.

 

I don't blame you for ditching the abx to see what happens. Everything is an experiment on some level with PANDAS. Our "mommy gut" did very well for us too, so I would trust it.

 

Prayers coming your way.

[thereishope]

This is scary and crazy! I'll throw this out there about tonsils....haven't some had them removed and biopsied and there was strep hiding in them? Tonsillectomy is such a tricky one to decide on since when you read on forums like this the outcome goes either way...it helps, it makes no difference. So...on one side some "strep carriers" finally clear when they get their tonsils removed as well. In our home we went from no strep infections to many then they died off after tonsillectomy. Did that have anything to do with having them removed? I don't know but I'd like to think so. I wonder if my son's last strep infection, shortly after surgery had something to do with surgery but then his body was finally able to clear it. But then one has to worry about the surgery itself, being given anesthesia, exposed to more bacteria, etc.

Edited April 12, 2011 by Vickie

[Stephanie2]

Well, I had a "revelation" of sorts last night. Another pandas mom who is also pursuing homeopathy asked me if, aside from the positive culture, the pandas symptoms are better. Well, yes they are. But I actually attached a percentage to that last night and I kind of blew myself away when I realized that I think he is actually about 40% better than he was 8 weeks ago.

 

8 weeks ago I had to hold him down to get him dressed, change diaper, give meds/supplements, give a bath, couldn't leave the room, etc. He was turning over furniture, throwing tantrums/rages, throwing things at me, lots of hitting, lots of OCD. Now, I would say that his OCD is cut in half, the tantrums are cut in half, the chronic fussies are gone, he is more compliant about meds/bath (back to LOVING his bath which is unheard of with strep infection due to sensory stuff)etc. 8 weeks ago he was positive for strep, and today he is positive for strep and every strep test in between has been positive.

 

What does that mean? Shouldn't his behavior be getting worse as the infection continues? Shouldn't the antibodies and resultant inflammation be so over-the-top by now that he would be totally psycho? But what I am seeing is that he is 40% better than he was.

 

Is that b/c augmentin, even though it did not clear the strep, reduced the infection level to some degree to the point where now his body can recover on it's own with the help of his homeopathic remedy (whose potency I dramatically increased the day of the positive culture)? Is it that, like my 6yo, the actual autoimmune reaction to strep has changed/diminished?

 

I was thinking today that if you look at my 6yo, his autoimmune response MUST be different if he can withstand this chronic exposure with no exacerbation. I mean, I have been impressed thus far that he has not actually CONTRACTED strep, but really it is more impressive that he can be around it without the exorcist reaction of the past (last time he was exposed to strep without actually getting the infection he literally had hallucinations and severe meltdowns; before homeopathy).

 

So are things better than I thought they were? No, maybe I have not been able to clear strep, but has the response to strep changed in both of my kids? Isnt' that what we all NEED to happen anyway? Let's face it, we're not getting away from this beast anytime soon, it's everywhere. The antibiotics don't always work. No way to avoid it.

 

Oh, and peglem up until last week his rapids have been positive, with positive culture. But last week his rapid was negative with positive culture.

 

With all that said, I guess he could go exorcist on me at any moment. We will see.

[matis_mom]

Well, I had a "revelation" of sorts last night. Another pandas mom who is also pursuing homeopathy asked me if, aside from the positive culture, the pandas symptoms are better. Well, yes they are. But I actually attached a percentage to that last night and I kind of blew myself away when I realized that I think he is actually about 40% better than he was 8 weeks ago.

 

8 weeks ago I had to hold him down to get him dressed, change diaper, give meds/supplements, give a bath, couldn't leave the room, etc. He was turning over furniture, throwing tantrums/rages, throwing things at me, lots of hitting, lots of OCD. Now, I would say that his OCD is cut in half, the tantrums are cut in half, the chronic fussies are gone, he is more compliant about meds/bath (back to LOVING his bath which is unheard of with strep infection due to sensory stuff)etc. 8 weeks ago he was positive for strep, and today he is positive for strep and every strep test in between has been positive.

 

What does that mean? Shouldn't his behavior be getting worse as the infection continues? Shouldn't the antibodies and resultant inflammation be so over-the-top by now that he would be totally psycho? But what I am seeing is that he is 40% better than he was.

 

Is that b/c augmentin, even though it did not clear the strep, reduced the infection level to some degree to the point where now his body can recover on it's own with the help of his homeopathic remedy (whose potency I dramatically increased the day of the positive culture)? Is it that, like my 6yo, the actual autoimmune reaction to strep has changed/diminished?

 

I was thinking today that if you look at my 6yo, his autoimmune response MUST be different if he can withstand this chronic exposure with no exacerbation. I mean, I have been impressed thus far that he has not actually CONTRACTED strep, but really it is more impressive that he can be around it without the exorcist reaction of the past (last time he was exposed to strep without actually getting the infection he literally had hallucinations and severe meltdowns; before homeopathy).

 

So are things better than I thought they were? No, maybe I have not been able to clear strep, but has the response to strep changed in both of my kids? Isnt' that what we all NEED to happen anyway? Let's face it, we're not getting away from this beast anytime soon, it's everywhere. The antibiotics don't always work. No way to avoid it.

 

Oh, and peglem up until last week his rapids have been positive, with positive culture. But last week his rapid was negative with positive culture.

 

With all that said, I guess he could go exorcist on me at any moment. We will see.

This is so very interesting. The good thing is, your kids are doing BETTER right now, so I would say you can try and see. From my own experience, after trying Augmentin (possitive rapid after a week on it), Biaxin (negative but tonsils still red and swollen), and Cefuroxime (on month, no much improvement), I got my tonsils out. I insisted on a culture and there was strep AND pseudomonas in there. Pseudomonas is resistant to nearly every antibiotic out there, so they had to give me Cipro for that. Anyway, all I am saying is maybe your son is not clearing the strep because there might be some other bug in there. Can you ask for an "upper respiratory" culture, to broaden the spectrum? That being said, I would NOT try Cipro on a 3-yo. I made the mistake of letting them prescribe it for my 7-yo, and he broke out in a rash from head to toe. Follow your mommy gut. Are you taking the strep nosode yourself?

[Stephanie2]

.

This is so very interesting. The good thing is, your kids are doing BETTER right now, so I would say you can try and see. From my own experience, after trying Augmentin (possitive rapid after a week on it), Biaxin (negative but tonsils still red and swollen), and Cefuroxime (on month, no much improvement), I got my tonsils out. I insisted on a culture and there was strep AND pseudomonas in there. Pseudomonas is resistant to nearly every antibiotic out there, so they had to give me Cipro for that. Anyway, all I am saying is maybe your son is not clearing the strep because there might be some other bug in there. Can you ask for an "upper respiratory" culture, to broaden the spectrum? That being said, I would NOT try Cipro on a 3-yo. I made the mistake of letting them prescribe it for my 7-yo, and he broke out in a rash from head to toe. Follow your mommy gut. Are you taking the strep nosode yourself?

 

Amazingly, my own remedy has cleared my own sore throat in the last week. My homeopath told me it would take a couple weeks and it seems to finally be gone after 2.5 weeks, so no I am not taking the strep nosode, nor am I giving it to either of my kids. They are both getting ignatia, buy my strep-positive son is getting a very high dose that I had to order from a pharmacy in london.

[Stephanie2]

Just throwing this out there, but I'd heard Goldenseel prevents strep from "sticking."

 

Nancy

 

Thanks Nancy! I have used herbs in the past with success, and maybe I should add it to his daily supps right now, but I am trying not to do anything that will prevent the remedy from doing what it is supposed to do. Sometimes this stuff works against each other.

[matis_mom]

Amazingly, my own remedy has cleared my own sore throat in the last week. My homeopath told me it would take a couple weeks and it seems to finally be gone after 2.5 weeks, so no I am not taking the strep nosode, nor am I giving it to either of my kids. They are both getting ignatia, buy my strep-positive son is getting a very high dose that I had to order from a pharmacy in london.

So you cleared yours with your own constitutional?

Well, like I said, as long as they are both doing well, it would make sense to just pull the plug and see what happens. And then again you don't want to give up this beautiful recovery you are seeing so far... It is SO HARD TO MAKE DECISIONS!

[Stephanie2]

Amazingly, my own remedy has cleared my own sore throat in the last week. My homeopath told me it would take a couple weeks and it seems to finally be gone after 2.5 weeks, so no I am not taking the strep nosode, nor am I giving it to either of my kids. They are both getting ignatia, buy my strep-positive son is getting a very high dose that I had to order from a pharmacy in london.

So you cleared yours with your own constitutional?

Well, like I said, as long as they are both doing well, it would make sense to just pull the plug and see what happens. And then again you don't want to give up this beautiful recovery you are seeing so far... It is SO HARD TO MAKE DECISIONS!

 

Yes, my constitutional has cleared my chronic sore throat. On an unrelated note, it is doing wonders for PMS, menstrual cramps, depression, restless legs and my neck injury from a car accident (I had tingling and numbness, occassional pain, going down my right arm)!

 

Well, I don't think the beautiful recovery has anything to do with the antibiotics! My 6yo has not been on them in almost 3 months, and my 3yo's last two rounds of abx have done nothing as far as I can tell. The only hard part of the decision is that MAYBE omnicef has the potential to finally get him over the strep but maybe not and then I have more gut issues to contend with (although his remedy seems to be keeping him steady there). :-)