Super quick question

[Mikeb123]

If pandas really is just inflammation of the brain, (I know that is a super basic definition of the disease) is there a way to get your brain scanned for inflammation? I ask this because while I am 70% I am dealing with a pandas flair, I have had OCD my entire life, OCD that is mostly focused on my mental health. So it makes it hard for me to say whether my really bad anxiety/OCD right now is just regular OCD that I've let get bad by delving too deep into pandas research or if it's actually pandas. The fact that this all came about after I got sick in October makes me feel like this is pandas, but I just wanted to see if there was a way for me to make sure?

 

Thanks

 

Mike b

[LNN]

If a brain scan could tell you whether you had Pandas or something else, Pandas wouldn't be "controversial". Swedo has done MRIs that show inflammation of the basal ganglia in kids she diagnosed. But I doubt that would convince non-believers and believers wouldn't need to go to those lengths. They'd treat based on clinical presentation and history.

[Luna]

Both my DDs are going in for MRIs with contrast this Saturday. Of course the MRIs are not diagnostic of PANDAS - the girls have already been diagnosed by history (mostly) and supporting blood work by Stanford PANS Clinic. The purpose of the MRIs, Im told, is to determine if and how much inflammation is on the basal ganglia. If there isnt any then the assumption is that the inflammation is in the blood only. The results will help determine if higher dose steroids to treat future flares will do more harm than good.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Luna

[Wombat140]

Hi Mike. I understand what you're saying, OCD is dependent on so many external factors (stress, seeing stuff that reminds you of your OCD theme, etc.) that it's a complete swine to try and guess just what is going on - whether things are worse biologically or whether it's just that life has been provoking it more. OCD is my main symptom and I have the same problem working out whether it is responding to anything I try taking or not.

 

Looking at your previous postings I see that you've had elevated test results before for strep anti-DNAse B, mononucleosis and mycoplasma. Rather than trying to get an MRI (even if MRIs could answer this question which, as others have said, they can't really), wouldn't it be easier to find out whether you're having a flare by getting those re-tested and seeing whether any of the numbers have jumped since last time? (Other people - is that right, that titers go up when you have a flare? I'm pretty sure that's right but I'm going from memory of what I've read.)

 

I may be misjudging how much easier that would be, of course; there's a super-long waiting list for MRI scans of any kind here, it may be different where you are. Here, getting your titers redone would certainly be much easier and quicker than getting an MRI, if you had access to the titer tests at all.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Wombat140