pandas and antibiotics

[deagar]

I don't know if my son has PANDAS but his recent SUDDEN onset of tics and exposure to strep has me wondering. We did not do the strep titer test but instead put my son on amoxicillian. (We ran into this a 1 1/2 years ago and did the test when we were having a hard time controlling his first terrible outbreak and found his strep titers very elevated even though he showed no visable signs of strep.) After 24 hours on the antibiotic this time, his tics decreased. They are still there but so much better. We also increased his gabapentin (which helps his tics) so I don't know for sure which one is helping the most. At this point, I am just glad things are getting better. I was curious though, if he would have PANDAS, how soon do people usually see a favorable change in tics once antibiotics are started??? Deanna

[ad_ccl]

We saw a dramatic improvement on the third day of antibiotics. Dramatic meaning within a couple of hours tics decreased 80-90%. On day 2 I had called the doctor as the tics were not any better, he told me to give the meds 72 hours to work. I could not believe how much better he got on the third day.

[Ronnas]

In our case we saw a DRAMATIC improvement within 48 hours. When we first discovered PANDAS my son had severe tics and was being assessed for neurodegenerative and metabolic disorders and had skin, muscle and nerve biopsies. He developed a post-op infection at the nerve biopsy site and was started on Keflex. We were shocked and AMAZED at the improvement we saw with the keflex. He went from a kid whose every waking moment was spent ticcing and he was begging me to make it stop (he was 6 years old at this time...he's 10 now) to his tics almost completely disappearing within 48 hours...it was stunning. I typed antibiotics and tics into the computer and was stunned when I read about PANDAS/rhuematic fever/sydenham's chorea.

 

Since that time antibiotics have always helped tremendously when he has tics, which in our case are ALWAYS in combination with weepiness (emotional lability), separation anxiety, and oppositional behavior and his response is always within a few days.