Tonsillectomy and tic resolution?

[Mom23boys]

I have two boys who had a tonsillectomy yesterday after 3 months of Bicillin shots, per Dr. Latimer. Both have tics and mild ocd/anxiety. The oldest son has more severe tics - what Dr. Latimer thought was chorea (hand rolling, facial grimacing), and a Cam Kinase of 176, which is borderline Syndeham's Chorea. The younger son has mild blinking tics, and sniffs occasionally. We saw no improvement on the Bicillin.

 

The tics for the oldest child vanished for at least 12 hours yesterday after the surgery, but then returned. They seem to be less frequent than before (they were fairly constant). I have not noticed any today, which is unusual, but he may have had some when I wasn't watching

 

Both boys received steroids during the surgery and also Levaquin antibiotic. I am trying to figure out if the tic suppression was because of the steroids, or whether the surgery may have in fact helped.

 

Anyone have tic improvement after T & A? Was it immediately or did it take some time (after the inflammation from the surgery resolves)?

 

My understanding is that if it was suppression from the steroids, this shows the tics are autoimmune in nature rather than a tic disorder. Does this sound correct? I know tics from Tourettes can flair on steroids, but my nephews (both diagnosed with PANDAS) had their tics resolve while on a steroid burst.

 

Guess I am just needing some feedback as to whether I should hold out hope that the tics have disappeared

[DreamingPanda]

I just had a tonsillectomy last month and did have immediate improvement with tics. I also managed to avoid flaring after surgery, which from my understanding, is slightly unusual. Since then, I had a minor cold and had a mini-flare of tics again and difficulty walking (my legs giving out on me), but over all, I'm doing so much better. Don't be suprised or discouraged if the tics come back a little bit in a couple weeks. It can be two steps forward and one step back.

 

I don't know if my immediate improvement was from the steroids or the fact that the infection was gone (or both). I had Serratia marcescens in both tonsils and my adenoids. I've heard that a decrease in symptoms after steroids means autoimmune, but I've also heard that some people have worsened tics on steroids. I guess it varies from person to person.

[dasu]

One of our kids experienced no benefit, and the second experienced a slight increase in OCD and tics, however was not taking the proper abx at the time. Both experienced severe flares after T&A, and one had much worse flares after.

 

Neither, however, had their tissues cultured, which appears to be useful.