Recent blood work, strep carrier?

[Thesuzie]

My dd11 flares every time she has interaction with my dd25. Thankfully dd25 does not live with us, but she visits every weekend and hates to be away from her little sister. Dd11 was diagnosed with pandas in April and started Duricef 500mg 2x's daily and prozac. Tics decreased significantly but severe joint pain, chest pain, ocd and self hatred have only slowly decreased. After dd25 visits, dd11 complains of sore throat, debilitating joint pain, chest pain, and makes statements of self hatred.

 

Dd11 had the initial appt with Dr. B in July and he said that he would not be surprised if dd25 also needs treatment, as she has suffered from chronic sinusitis, strep, upper resp infections, OCD, depression, anxiety, ADHD since age 5. By that point, I had already asked dd25's primary md to order blood tests, so Dr B requested to have the results sent to him. Unfortunately, they were not received in time for our 2nd appt with Dr. B (we saw his assistant) but I have since emailed them. I tried to schedule a phone conference, but none were available and must wait until our next appt in late September (for both of my girls). DD25's results were Anti-Dnase 258 ( 0-120) Aso 340 (0-200). She currently has no symptoms but has had a few sinus infections this summer. No strep tests were done.

 

I am hoping to have some questions answered so things can continue to move in the right direction. It has been an overwhelming long and painful pandas journey and I truly can find no further patience. I scheduled an appt with dd25's primary md, but he has no experience with pandas. Do these results indicate that she is a strep carrier? Any suggestions regarding antibiotics? Dd11 is now on Augmentin and Azithromycin. If dd25 is a carrier, when is it safe for her to see her sister? dd11 is immune def and Dr. B's office is requesting approval for IVIG. She has had a rough summer and starts middle school next week.

 

Any suggestions or info would be appreciated.

[Missmom]

It sounds to me like dd25 has something going on. I would ask her to go to any clinic and get them to run a strep rapid and culture even though she has no symptoms. I think if she explains that she thinks she may be a carrier and this is affecting others around her that they would at least be willing to run those simple labs. If she tests or cultures positive then they will start her on abx and hopefully you will see improvements in your dd11. I don't know why they just did not do this when they ran the bloodwork.