List of things to check in blood work

[LindaMW]

My son has not responded to anything for the last two months. He will not go to school or do online. The abx are not doing anything this time. I do not even know if there is an infection or what. I just know my son is non-functioning everyday. He sleeps off and on, he has constant headaches, cannot concentrate, will not even talk to me. Something is going on. He was fine until October and then he had a sore throat, no strep but it all went down hill from there. In the spring we saw a huge improvement with abx, this time we have tried Augmentin and Keflex and still no change.

 

My point is,I want to have his blood work tested for everything that could be a factor in Pandas. I have seen some of you say mycoplasma, lyme, Igg and Iga, ASO titers, what else should I be looking at?

 

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

[kos_mom]

EBV and Cox Sackie. Anti-DNase B.

[colleenrn]

For strep: ASO, ABD titers and streptozyme titer.

 

Mycoplasma pneumoniae: make sure they run an IgM and IgG

 

Coxsackie A and coxsackie B panels. After years of PANDAS we checked coxsackie levels through Dr T and they are through the roof. Starting anti-viral treatment with fingers crossed. This link has been posted recently, but here it is. Apparently the strep and coxsackie infection together can be very dangerous. In light of this, I think that coxsackie should be checked in all children with PANDAS/PANS.

 

Vitamin D level, EBV

 

Tick borne illnesses: IgG and IgM western blot. Skip over the ELISA. Other tick illnesses to check for: babesia, bartonella, erlichia, anaplasma

 

CBC with differential, IgG, IgA, IgE, IgM, IgG subclasses 1-4

 

Colleen

[LNN]

Some have found mold to be an underlying factor. It can raise your levels of inflammation and then a second infection can trigger a cycle of inflammation that doesn't resolve even after the infection is gone, because a source of inflammation (your body's response to mold) is still stirring the pot. This is a very helpful explanation http://www.survivingmold.com/diagnosis/the-biotoxin-pathway Not suggesting you run every test, but here's what Shoemaker, the mold guru, looks at http://www.survivingmold.com/diagnosis/lab-tests

 

I've found mold on the drum of my washing machine (the plastic drum that encases the metal drum you can see - need to take your washing machine apart to clean it) and also in our A/C units. So it's not only a matter of saying my basement isn't damp, we have no water leaks... any place your home has water or condensation, there can be mold. Even in the cleanest, newest house.

 

You might also consider trying a combo of abx instead of just monotherapy. Sometimes, for a stubborn infection of an "intelligent" bacteria like Lyme, that can change it's cellular shape when under threat, it helps to use both an extracellular abx (e.g. augmentin, keflex, a cephalosporin, doxycyline if your child has all his adult teeth..) plus an intracellular abx like zith - at the same time.

 

One final thought is to consider the role of biofilms. The plaque on your teeth is a biofilm - a film that lets colonies of bacteria and viruses thirve under the cloak of a film where abx and the immune system can't penetrate. N-Acetylcysteine is a good film buster as is nattokinase. Even Mucinex can help in a pinch.

Edited December 19, 2012 by LLM

[LindaMW]

Thank you everyone who responded. I am going to talk this over with our Dr. and see if she will look into this.