Can a child really have Strep, Lyme, Bartonella and high Mercury?

[lbee]

My 5.5 year old daughter started presenting with what I now know as PANDAS symptoms this past fall. I thought it was TS until I started doing some reading. In February of this year she tested positive with high strep titers. So we've been on Augmentin and a strict diet and have been showing great improvement with a few glitches along the way. The tics have come way down.

 

We're in Canada and very few doctors acknowledge PANDAS, let alone treat it. It took me 3 more months to find a doctor who would run more tests other than an ASO ( I was quite hysterical so I think she was just agreeing to run what I wanted to I'd get out of her office).

 

We just got back - positive Bartonella 1:64, high mercury (where the heck did this come from), the 1st Lyme test was reactive but they say the western blot was non reactive. Ironically, her strep titers are now normal

 

The doctor didn't believe it. And is re-running the tests. She said "What is the likely hood a child has strep, lyme, bartonella and mercury toxicity"

 

This is clearly out of her realm. I've just requested Igenex. Not sure where to go from here. I need an LLMD I guess who has worked with young children and who knows about mercury?

 

Any suggestions near Toronto, Canada? I'm happy to drive to the US.

[kim]

lbee,

 

Could you explain what kind of test detected mercury toxicity (blood, hair, urine)?

 

Maybe check this thread for Dr.s

 

Doctors we have seen who helped with PANDAS
http://latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=5023

 

edit..

I see where you were asking about an llmd. Check the pinned threads (the first few on this page). I'm not sure but there may be a list for them there as well.

Edited July 8, 2015 by kim

[jan251]

A couple ways to think about this: a person with immune system issues can have difficulty getting rid of lots of infections.

 

Also, there is a theory that lyme can depress the immune system. Since strep exposure is extremely common, it makes sense that a child with lyme might pick up strep during one of the many exposures during the school year.

 

Bart is typically a co-infection of lyme, so while it's a separate germ to treat, the exposure may be one and the same with lyme. It can also come from cat scratches.

 

I don't know anything about mercury, but thinking out loud, I would wonder about possible genetic defects that make clearing mercury more difficult (say, following exposure via vaccines), either on a cell metabolism level (mfthr?) or a liver-focused level (comt? I can't recall the names for the liver ones). I really don't know whether this is a correct perspective, but that's my two cents.

 

(FWIW, I have a child with positive tests for strep, mycoplasma, and lyme, and clinical diagnoses for babesia and bartonella. We have not tested for mercury.)

 

Adding: I'm interested to hear about your strict diet and whether you think that is helping - did you eliminate foods following test results or simply try GF, for example? Thanks!

Edited July 8, 2015 by jan251

[mama2alex]

Absolutely! And, I'm sorry to say, there can be more than that. My son has tested positive for (or been clinically diagnosed with) Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia, HHV6, Epstein Barr, heavy metals, and mold toxicity. He also had pneumonia 5 times, but we never knew if it was mycoplasma. Jan251 explained it perfectly - it's the immune system.

 

The mercury can come from several sources: fish, amalgams, some vaccines, and little ones can pick it up in utero/breastfeeding from a mom who's been exposed to one or more of these sources.

 

If your daughter has elevated mercury, you need to chelate, but it's extremely important to have it done by an experienced, knowledgeable doctor who also understands methylation and treats Lyme, etc. DAN! doctors are well-versed in chelation and some - like ours - are also Lyme-literate. Chelation needs to be done slowly, carefully, and in the correct order with other treatments for methylation deficiencies, Lyme, coinfections, viruses, etc.

[Mayzoo]

Not sure where you are, but here is a Canada Doc:

 

CANADA

http://pandascanada.wix.com/pandascanada

 

Dr. Ayla Wilson, ND

Naturopathic Medicine

Vancouver, BC

604-988-1411

Email available through contact page of offices website

 

[lbee]

lbee,

 

Could you explain what kind of test detected mercury toxicity (blood, hair, urine)?

 

Maybe check this thread for Dr.s

 

Doctors we have seen who helped with PANDAS

http://latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=5023

 

edit..

I see where you were asking about an llmd. Check the pinned threads (the first few on this page). I'm not sure but there may be a list for them there as well.

Hi Kim, it was a blood test. The doc is re-running it so I hope to get it back soon.

[lbee]

Not sure where you are, but here is a Canada Doc: CANADA http://pandascanada.wix.com/pandascanada Dr. Ayla Wilson, ND Naturopathic Medicine Vancouver, BC 604-988-1411 Email available through contact page of offices website

Thanks Mayzoo. Dr Wilson was one of the first people I spoke with when we realized we were dealing with strep /PANDAS. She is lovely

[lbee]

A couple ways to think about this: a person with immune system issues can have difficulty getting rid of lots of infections.

 

Also, there is a theory that lyme can depress the immune system. Since strep exposure is extremely common, it makes sense that a child with lyme might pick up strep during one of the many exposures during the school year.

 

Bart is typically a co-infection of lyme, so while it's a separate germ to treat, the exposure may be one and the same with lyme. It can also come from cat scratches.

 

I don't know anything about mercury, but thinking out loud, I would wonder about possible genetic defects that make clearing mercury more difficult (say, following exposure via vaccines), either on a cell metabolism level (mfthr?) or a liver-focused level (comt? I can't recall the names for the liver ones). I really don't know whether this is a correct perspective, but that's my two cents.

 

(FWIW, I have a child with positive tests for strep, mycoplasma, and lyme, and clinical diagnoses for babesia and bartonella. We have not tested for mercury.)

 

Adding: I'm interested to hear about your strict diet and whether you think that is helping - did you eliminate foods following test results or simply try GF, for example? Thanks!

Thanks Jan, my daughter does have mthfr and I believe comt so perhaps she just doesn't get rid of it. But I just can't believe she would have so much exposure in the first place. She hasn't had a vaccine in years, no amalgams etc.

 

As for diet... when she first started the unusual behaviours and tics, I bought the Natural Guide to tics and Tourettes... I had no idea about Pandas at the time. I assumed she had TS. So I started Feingold. She improved but was still ticcing. Then a week later we added abx, and she did what I now know to be herxing. But since she was still ticcing and I was frantic (the tics were full body and pretty severe) I did more exclusions. Testing (23andMe and food intolerance testing) showed her to be lactose intolerant. So we removed dairy, then gluten... saw more improvement. Then removed, sugar and corn. We still limit salicylates.

 

Right now most people wouldn't know that she has tics....But I know they're still there.. though mild. If mercury comes back elevated still (re doing blood work and sent in a hair sample) I feel we will need to chelate. But before I do that I will need to find a proper doctor to hold my hand through it. As well as an LLMD to walk me through the rest.

[rowingmom]

We have never tested for mercury or metals, but before starting a natural chelation protocol recommended by Julie McIntyre (Buhner's associate), DD13 and myself were quite electrosensitive, which I think is an indication of metal burden. I experienced palpitations, jitteriness and some brain fog, while DD showed increased motor ticcing, headache and fatigue.

 

I wasn't willing to do chelation through our LLMD, however we did start supplementing with organic cilantro tincture (5 drops 3x daily) (Flower Fairy Herbal Healer) and diatomaceous earth (1 tsp 2x daily), which is a more natural long-term chelation. Within 2 weeks we were no longer electrosensitive. Hopefully that means our burden of metals has declined.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3654245/

 

http://naturalsociety.com/6-foods-natural-heavy-metal-chelation/

 

http://www.drdavidwilliams.com/cilantro-clay-for-detoxification/

 

The above author suggests pascalite clay, but being concerned with the amount of aluminum it might contain, I opt for Diatomaceous earth for our binder.

 

Then of course I figured that if a little was good then more would be better, so I started dosing at a rate of 10 drops 3x daily, and within a few days DD developed a whopper of a yeast infection (and she doesn't often get those). I have read that the body will allow proliferation of yeast if there is a large release of metals into the intestine. The yeast keeps the metal sequestered there to decrease reabsorption through the intestinal wall.

 

http://www.yeastinfectionadvisor.com/mercurypoisoning.html

 

It was interesting that as soon as I decreased cilantro dosage, the yeast infection cleared up.

 

http://drsircus.com/medicine/essentials-natural-chelation

 

Mercury can also be bound to sulfhydryl groups in garlic or to sulfur in the form of organic sulfur (MSM).

 

We also supplement 1/4 tsp MSM 2x daily.

Edited July 13, 2015 by rowingmom