Another question about antibiotics

[brett]

Hi to all the people that have helped me so far, and thank you so much. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday.

I have another question about antibiotics. We did take my son off of amoxicillin as it did not seem to help and in fact seemed to make him worse. Our dr. friend was willing to prescribe another antibiotic to try; he suggested Zithromax and prescribed it. I was wondering if anyone was helped by this antibiotic as opposed to amoxicillin. We are not sure it is PANDA as his strep titer was normal but all his symptoms do point that way. Thanks! Brett

[Chemar]

Hi Brett

as we never personally dealt with PANDAS, i am not knowledgable in that area....but

I am puzzled as to why your child is being put on antibiotics if there isnt an infection?

Antibiotics deplete the natural flora in the GIT and can lead to candidiasis, which in turn can cause tic intensification.

 

If there is a valid reason for the antibiotic use then so sorry for forgetting??? but I am just VERY cautious about antibiotics unless they are specifically needed.

 

I seem to recall that Ronna posted somewhere that keflex?? (hope i got that right) was the only antibiotic that brought relief for her son when he had PANDAS

[Ronnas]

Hi Brett,

 

I can understand your distress. I know all of this is very hard. I do not know if your son has PANDAS. Certainly from your posts there is some signs that point to it but in others ways not. You said that you had bloodwork done...was it an antiDNase B titer, ASO titer?

 

If you are concerned about PANDAS then zithromax is a appropriate antibiotic to try. I think it is appropriate to give it a try in order to reassure yourself one way or the other if it will make a difference. Overall you should know within a few days if it will help. Certainly in our situation and in most cases I have read the antibiotics make a DRAMATIC difference and for us it was unmistakeable that the antibiotics were helping. If the zithromax does not help alleviate your son's symptoms considerably I think you can rule out PANDAS as the cause of your son's tics.

 

Given that your son did worse on the amoxicillin would lead me to consider if yeast is a problem as Chemar has suggested. As well if your son does have yeast problems summer camp could aggravate the problem in terms of exposure to molds at camp in the bunk house etc. If yeast is a problem then antibiotics will not help with this and could make your son's symptoms worse. As well the stress could also be a trigger.

 

You may find this information interesting about yeast and tics...

 

http://www.nutritioninstitute.com/Tourettes_Syndrome.html

 

 

 

It does sound like your son had tics as a younger child as well as some anxiety and often the age of 9/10 is a time when tics etc seem to become more intense.

 

There are many things you can do to help your son but you need to do the changes slowly and one at a time so that you can determine what is helping and what is not and what may be making things worse.

 

You can start with changing your son's diet. I would consider looking at doing a food elimination diet or looking at a yeast elimination diet. I would consider doing a test of no "screens" (eliminating TV, PS2 etc) for a week to see if this makes a difference and then you can look at vitamins and supplements. Working with a knowledgeable doctor is important.

 

As well it may be helpful to reduce any stress your son is feeling by as much as possible such as reducing after school activities, lots of sleep and relaxation, time spent doing things he finds relaxing and fun and really take care of yourself and try to limit your time spent on the computer looking for answers (and from personal experience I know how hard this is).

 

Well I have to go b/c my wiggly baby loves to bang the keys while I am typing!

 

Ronna

 

 

Take care,

R