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motzart had PANDAS?


Guest pandas16

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Guest pandas16

So I was reading this article off of google alerts today saying that motzart possibly had PANDAS

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/aug/22/mozart-death-sunlight-vitamin-d

 

http://www.sciandmed.com/mppa/journalviewer.aspx?issue=1095&article=1046

 

Ironically, I started playing piano at my original onset of PANDAS and have perfect pitch. I can literally play almost any song off the radio if I sit down and try (without music) and perfectly. I find I'm able to do this better when PANDAS is bothering me. Does anyone elses child find this? I mentioned before I also speak multiple languages fluently. Was anyones child in the "gifted group" at school? I know I asked the language question before and got interesting responses. Just curious about music as well.

 

Edit: I think PANDAS has made me more intelligent?? Something must have changed in the brain because I can do things that aren't normal specifically with sounds.

Edited by pandas16
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Thanks for sending this. I emailed the links to my daughter who is a HUGE classical music fan- especially Mozart. She calls him "Mozzie"! She, also, could benefit from more Vitamin D- her PANDAS doc gave her prescription Vit D, as she is alomst completely nocturnal as well. Maybe reading about her beloved Mozart will encourage to go outside. Thanks!

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Mozart and PANDAS? Wouldn't surprise me at all. He certainly displayed emotional lability along with his genius, and he had signs of ADHD, also.

 

My DS began group music classes (singing and guitar) at 3; he began piano at 6 and viola at 9. Unfortunately, the Great Exacerbation so consumed his time and energy (as well as DH's and mine) that he wasn't able to continue with lessons and school orchestra. He loves music, though, so it seems likely he'll get back to it one day.

 

He's always had this uncanny ability to recognize and place any tune/song, though, even when they're just instrumentals. You know how they sometimes "recycle" orchestral music among various movies, TV show, commercials, etc.? From the time he could talk, he could tell you what the tune was and where he'd heard it before or in connection with which movie, video, etc. And he can hum anything back at you after hearing it just once.

 

I always associated his musical ability with his math capabilities, and vice versa. Don't think PANDAS contributed; I think he always had those "pathways" available to him.

 

And yes, he was in the gifted program at school through elementary and junior high. This is his first year at high school, and he's taking a whole string of AP courses: biology, geometry, computer science and engineering. Crossed fingers!

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It is so strange to see this post today, Pandas16, because, truly, I have been wondering the last two days about the possible connection between DS's PANDAS and his piano playing. He never had lessons, although we always thought he should because he has been humming or singing in perfect pitch practically since he was born. A couple years ago I inherited my grandmother's piano, and he would tinker a bit. Well, in the last six months or so, coinciding, now that I think about it, with his Pandas flare that started in January, he has been playing more and more. We got him an electronic piano at his birthday in March, and he loves it. These kids go on youtube to learn how to play a song, and he does this all the time, memorizes all the hand movements quickly, then practices it until perfection. Well, I noticed over the last couple weeks, and particularly in the last two days when the "school is about to start" anxiety and ticking has ramped up, that the piano is becoming an obsession. I don't know if it's a good, normal obsession or a PANDAS compulsion, but he plays non-stop. It is like a stress reliever sort of. And he's good, thank goodness, or it would be driving me crazy. :) He actually asked to get piano lessons yesterday so he can learn to read music. He never wanted to put the effort or commitment of lessons in before.

 

My only concern is that he is almost using it as a crutch/avoidance tool. Anything he wants to avoid or procrastinate on (homework, chores, difficult PANDAS discussions), he goes to the piano. But hey, better than some things he could be doing, right? But I'm not sure if it is something to mention to his pandas doctor or not, i.e. are we experiencing an OCD or not? His ticking is worse all of a sudden with the school worries, even though things have looked good since IVIG in May.

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"He's always had this uncanny ability to recognize and place any tune/song, though, even when they're just instrumentals. You know how they sometimes "recycle" orchestral music among various movies, TV show, commercials, etc.? From the time he could talk, he could tell you what the tune was and where he'd heard it before or in connection with which movie, video, etc. And he can hum anything back at you after hearing it just once."

 

 

SAME with my kid!! But his identical twin can't sing a note!

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My son 16, is extremely gifted at the piano. He has been able to play very difficult classical pieces for years. He has taken lessons since first grade. He also can play by ear and improvise. He plays the violin fairly well too and loves to sing. He is in two choirs (singing is one of the few things he can still do well). Math and science were his best subjects. By ninth grade he had completed through chemistry and advanced math. In October of tenth grade, PANDAS hit.

 

Unfortunately now he can barely play the piano because of his OCD. It is one of the things I miss the most about him. Science and math are impossible for him now also--require too much decision making.

 

My son is also low in vitamin D (25.8) and has recently started taking D-3 supplements.

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That's very interesting what all of you say. I can play piano in general as I took lessons and can read music, however I learned it after PANDAS. I starting playing piano with my onset and then got interested and took lessons.

 

For me, when PANDAS is bad I need no music ever, I can just play. The sounds sort of vibrate in my head and then I remember the vibrations and play it identically w/ perfect pitch. When PANDAS is not a problem, I can still do it. That makes me wonder if something changed permanently in my brain?

 

HT's Mom: That's also very interesting about his identical twin. Does that confirm in your mind that the piano thing must have something to do with PANDAS then? My sister, who does not have PANDAS has no musical talent either. Actually, nobody in my family does except me and I'm the only one that has PANDAS.

 

 

Yes, the twin thing has always been one of the weird parts of this in my mind. It wass one of the reasons I kept pursuing an answer when DS was first diagnosed with Tourettes, before PANDAS. I kept reading that TS was genetic, but his identical twin was showing nothing. There are still questions, tho, like the few VERY minor tics the twin has from time to time, and both of them being ADHD to some extent. And some on this board have said that PANDAS is genetic after all. But twin brother has never had OCD, multiple tics, or a PANDAS episode at all. So, like so much of this syndrome, hard to know. And wouldn't musical ability be somewhat similar in genetically identical twins?

 

DS and I had a conference with DR. K today, to talk about where he is at now, 12 weeks post IVIG. With the obsessive piano playing, he's been ticking like crazy for two or three days, which seems connected to school anxiety. Dr. K recommended going to 1000 mg 2x day from 500 1x (Augmentin) for a week, just in case this is an infection based flare. Hope that does the trick. If not, and it really is anxiety/stress causing the flare, how is that explained by PANDAS that has been treated by IVIG? Any thoughts?

Edited by HT's Mom
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Hmm interesting thread.

 

When I saw Dr. Schulman she did mention that Pandas kids are usually exceptionally talented.

Dr. K. says PANDAS kids are frequently exceptionally bright . . . especially in math.

 

Dr. Schulman says PANDAS kids are exceptionally talented.

 

We know here on the forum, from having run past this or similar topics a handful of times over the last couple of years, at least, that we have a lot of "gifted" and/or "twice exceptional" kids in our ranks.

 

Begs the question, doesn't it, what's the common element? I know I sound like a broken record, but I think it's glutamate. Glutamate is released when synapses fire and neurons pass messages. Doesn't it make sense that bright people's synapses fire more often than an average person's? So isn't there the potential for more glutamate release in that intelligent population?

 

I'm just hypothesizing based on my current area of obsession. :P

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But I don't "get" math despite that I get 100's in it. I have trouble but get 100's. How is that bright? I get languages, (I speak 5). I get sounds with piano, like I mentioned. Idk. I'm all messed up. lol

 

Well, we've "talked" about that before, haven't we? My DS is the same way. He'll do his math perfectly, but then complain that he doesn't understand it and that even if he's done it right, if he doesn't understand how he did it, then it "doesn't count." It seems neither of you are the only ones who go on some sort of "automatic pilot" and cruise through some problem-solving without knowing how you're doing it. Seems to me that's two parts of your brain working well independently, but not talking to each other all that well, like having cognition without expression, or something like that. Maybe somehow that ties into the glutamate thing, too? Where it is, where it isn't, where it's needed, where's it's in excess?

 

Glutamate is becoming my obsession as well!

So I'm in good company, then! Love it! :P

Edited by MomWithOCDSon
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Well, my PANDAS kid isn't musical at all. :) But math comes pretty easily to her, as it did for me and her dad.

 

I think that the parents of children who figure out that their kids have pandas are intelligent people with drive who don't give up easily. It makes sense that the apple wouldn't fall far from the tree. I think that is certainly one reason why pandas kids seem to be an intelligent lot. They come from intelligent parents. ;) People who aren't thinking outside the box aren't going to figure out their kids have this rarely diagnosed disorder.

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