Kirkman Update

[nola]

Hi everyone,

 

Now that school has started it's been difficult for me to visit the site. Of course, I seem to be pulled toward it when my son's tics start escalating. In the summer, with the help of the many informative and supportive souls on this site (thank you!), I decided to try a new multi. We started using the new Kirkman multi. I thought I'd write about my observations. But, please stay tuned...I have another important question regarding PANDAS. Please bare with me. Here goes...

 

My 8 year old son's tics have been getting progressively worse. By the beginning of this summer, my son was doing head turns, eye rolls, lip-popping and smacking (with spit), throat clearing, and intense blinking. I'm pretty sure there were more tics that I have forgotten. In November, we stopped homeopathy because we thought his tics got worse. They were actually intensely scary at the time. We were also doing cranial therapy, which we've stopped during the last few months. In mid-July, his tics were very bad. We started acupuncture and Kirkman supplements at around the same time. We continued to use Natural Calm at night. So, to summarize, we now only use Kirkman, Natural Calm and occasional acupuncture. Oh, this week he is also getting the HERBST appliance. Ugh.

 

Within two weeks of taking the multi, his tics seemed to be getting better. His lip popping was less noticeable. He just had some pretty bad blinking. By the end of summer, his tics seemed to be only noticeable to us. Our friends barely noticed a thing and commented on how he seemed to improve. He did, however, have some intense separation axiety. He would cry when I would go out at night with friends or would worry every time I left the house. All in all, I felt like for about two months, I could start breathing again. Could it be a coincidence that the new multi helped reduce his tics?

 

I wanted to wait to post anything until school started so I could see if stress would bring on more tics. It's been about 3 weeks of school. This weekend, his tics seem a little worse. I'm hearing more lip smacking, seeing some head turns, he still does eye rolls. He's getting a bit annoyed with the whole thing.

 

One question I have is what do I do next? Should I be supplementing with something else? I noticed a post from Chris mentioning GS (not sure what that is). Is that something I should give him, too? What are my next steps?

 

Okay, here's the big question (or concern). The pediatrician just called and said that my son's blood work tested positive for antibodies and elevated anti-stretolycine O (please forgive the spelling) She said something about the antibody for Anti-DNASE B. I'm sure I'm butchering all the spellings. What is all this? Does this mean he has PANDAS? If so, are all of the things I've been doing worthless?? If he has PANDAS, would anything I do even help him? What's the difference between TS and PANDAS? Is PANDAS more treatable? With antibiotics?

 

I really apologize for all of the questions. This just threw me for a loop. I don't know what to do now.

 

I should probably start posting on the PANDAS site but it's hard to leave my support system here on the TS forum.

 

What do I do now??

 

Thanks,

Nola

[mythree]

Hi Nola,

I have no idea, but would be very interested myself in the answer other's may have. Was you doctor specifically testing for PANDAS? Or was he/she test for a recent strep infection?

Good luck,

Lisa