Allergies . . . Yes, AGAIN!

[MomWithOCDSon]

So we recently moved to a new psych for our DS14, looking for some additional assistance with a major OCD flare. She takes PANDAS as fact, so that's helpful, though I think many of the nuances of the condition remain unknown to her; we're doing our best to "school" her, though!

 

Anyway, at our last appointment (only our 3rd with her thus far), she asked if DS has allergies by chance? She noted that the tree pollen count in our area has been unusually high of late.

 

We told her, yes, he does have allergies and in fact regularly takes Zyrtec, Flonase and Benedryl (not at the same time, of course), and that we also use a good bit of quercitin on a daily basis.

 

She proceeded to tell us that it is "well accepted" among the psych community that allergies can contribute to "flares" of psychiatric conditions, especially anxiety! Said she's seen the phenomenon in her practice clinically over the last 20 years. Just makes you wonder how many of her other young patients might actually be suffering from an auto-immune condition (PANDAS/PITANDS) but have gone undiagnosed for such.

 

And yes, we'll keep working on her! Maybe she can help identify some of the conditions that slip past the pediatricians!

[LNN]

Nancy,

 

Interesting take on allergies. Last night, DS and I had a long talk about his insecurities at school, because he's not into sports and "everyone else" is and now that weather permits outside recess, the boys naturally spend their time in games like soccer and kick ball and he feels left out if he doesn't play and awful if he does. If he makes the slightest error, he feels inside like it's the greatest humiliation in the world. So he's feeling like odd man out and that his friends are moving on without him.

 

I commented that he had the same feelings pop up last year in April, when his best friend and he had a falling out. His anxiety in general seems to be escalating just like it did last spring. He doesn't have allergies but it does feel "seasonal". I was thinking about re-starting inositol to maybe help him over the hump but was feeling like it would be a band-aid and we should instead work harder on CBT. But on the other hand, if he could only care just a little less, he'd be so much happier. Your post has me thinking that maybe a little something to help him over an immune-triggered blip until end of school might be the right thing.

 

I'm really sorry to hear about your son. You've all worked so so hard! I hope he's able to get back on top of it in short order...

[thereishope]

Here is a recent article you may be interested in...

 

Are Allergies and Depression Related?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/health/12really.html?_r=2&ref=anahadoconnor

[thenmama]

xx

Edited March 26, 2013 by thenmama

[philamom]

Yes, while I agree that allergies (or anything that causes inflammation) can increase symptoms, I find many doctors just use it as a diagnosis, but don't look for an underlying cause. When this latest episode began for my dd 2 years ago, we took her to a Neurologist who said her intusive thoughts, contamination fears, rages, exc., were due to seasonal allergies and wrote a prescription for claratin. All for a price of $250.00! If it were only that simple!

[matis_mom]

I think for our family is just something to be aware of. While it's definitely NOT the cause, it does agravate things. I think it's very helpful to know what is making them worse (be it pollen, something they ate, a traumatic event), just so I don't go into panic mode thinking somebody must have strep. Same thing for us around full moon, ds is always a little worse when the moon is full for some reason. I guess there are so many triggers, you can't avoid them all, just be aware and understand why they feel that way, and understand that things will pass.

[Becky2]

Very interesting, we are noticing an increase in OCD symptoms in our ds related to allergies and antihistamines (allegra). We would like to start allergy shots but are wondering if they will also trigger the immune system and increase OCD symptoms? Has anyone had luck with allergy shots?

[LNN]

Very interesting, we are noticing an increase in OCD symptoms in our ds related to allergies and antihistamines (allegra). We would like to start allergy shots but are wondering if they will also trigger the immune system and increase OCD symptoms? Has anyone had luck with allergy shots?

My DD started shots last June. They seem to have helped, in that her reactions, which used to start in March when the grass started turning green, didn't start until last week this year (when the birch and oak came into bloom). So the shots seem to have shaved about a month off of her "season" but haven't (yet?) stopped the problem entirely. I suspect she'll be on them for a few years.

 

We have not seen any uptick in her symptoms related to the shots (tho we did have to do a fair amount of ERP therapy to help with the fear of the shot itself). But full disclosure, my daughter is PITANDS, not Pandas (CamK 179, very high antineuronals, C3D immune complexes twelve times above normal). She is being treated for tick borne illnesses.