Please tell me the tech stuff I need to know

[puppydog]

I recently read about hexing and undermethylating (which I have to look up) on another thread. I'm a bit of a novice. What other things contribute to PANDAS/PAN?

[MomWithOCDSon]

That's a really big question and certainly full of varying answers, as all our families' cases tend to have both some similarities and some distinct differences.

 

I wouldn't say that herxing "contributes" to PANDAS/PANS so much as it may be the result of a treatment plan, particularly if Lyme or co-infections are in the mix. It's what can happen as a person's body and chemistry react to medicines and/or therapies for irradicating the infection. And the methylation cycle is very complex . . . I certainly don't understand all of it, and I'd honestly be way over my head in terms of capability or resources (time, especially) trying to wrap my brain around all of it. But there are some basic concepts there, some simplifications, that have been provided in some research and expert opinions that I'm able to both understand and incorporate into therapeutic responses for my DS that work.

 

Yet, despite some great research, a growing roster of PANDAS/PANS experts to whom we can turn, and this very well-versed forum community, EVERYTHING -- all the information and advice -- has to be taken only alongside your own experiences with your PANDAS/PANs person. What works well for one sufferer may only aggravate another and vice versa, so it is a complicated web of triggers, behaviors and therapies and every family, hopefully along with a knowledgeable medical professional, ultimately has to sort out what works best from what doesn't for their own situation.

 

PANDAS/PANS can be triggered/exacerbated by many things, unfortunately. For most/many of us, it starts with a bacterial infection (strep, myco pneumonae, lyme), but then once the immune system is off balance, other, more innocuous (or seemingly innocuous) things can set off the behaviors and/or illness: allergies, atypical stress, a viral infection, other medical conditions such as colitis, etc.

 

My best suggestion to you would be to search the forum for some of the most prominent symptoms/behaviors you're seeing in your case, and see what others have experienced and might recommend going forward.

 

All the best to you.

[mama2alex]

For us some of the contributors have been Lyme and co-infections, including Bartonella and Babesia, mold, heavy metals, methylation, and vitamin/mineral/anti-oxidant deficiencies.

 

Your best bet to learn about methylation is to look at any threads where LLM has posted on this topic. She's the resident guru. (-:

[puppydog]

Thank you