Pregnant

[Bttrfly1]

Can PANDAS run in families? Recently learned that I am pregnant and trying to determine my next step. I do not want to have another PANDAS child. What are the chances that the next baby will also have PANDAS? Also my husband has chronic lyme disease and no testosterone. He has been injecting hormones to replace his Testosterone. How I got pregnant is beyond me. What are the chances that this baby will not have lyme or PANDAS?

[Bttrfly1]

Forgot to add that my husband also has hashimotos. I have no known illnesses. I do not want an ill baby. Thank you.

[PANS-mom]

Yes, it does run in families. All 3 of my children are on long term Zithromax. This is what I would do if I were pregnant. I am not a doctor. But I am pretty experienced in kids with auto-immune disorders, so here goes.

1. Eat organic food as much as possible and avoid sugar as much as possible

2. Take lots of fish oil and your pre-natals of course

3. Don't use chemicals while you are pregnant, and for cleaning the house use white vinegar 

4. Make sure your hand soaps are fragrance free

5. When your little one is born, breast feed if you can while staying organic, and if not, use Pregestimal 

6. If possible be dairy free a couple of weeks before you give birth and then for the first year you are breastfeeding

7. Lot's of smoothies with greens in them!!

8. Keep up the "clean" living and do slow or no vaccines (check with your dr about this) and your little one should have a good chance of avoiding it.  

Good luck. I know how hard it is to have children with auto-immune issues. But all 3 of mine are doing fantastic right now. I think that "clean" living definitely helps and you get used to it pretty quickly. 

[Bttrfly1]

I am not sure I want to take care of another child that may have this. I have two kids already (one PANDAS and one who is normal). I don't want to risk having a child with this and going thru the worry, anxiety, pain and finances. Is there some sort of test? Also, I suspect my husband is not clear of his lyme. What are the chances of the baby getting that through him. He's not healthy - so should I keep a child that comes from not the best sperm? I'm being honest. I'm about 3-4 weeks pregnant.

[sf_mom]

I have 3 children with Gestational Lyme. 

Lyme can be passed sexually.  If you are pregnant and your husband has Lyme you should see an LLMD as soon as possible.  Combination antibiotics can prevent the Lyme from being passed to your child.  

 

[bobh]

We don't have a clear biomarker for PANS/PANDAS in children, so we won't have it for unborn children.

Probably the best you can do for knowing the chances of a 2nd PANS child is Dr. Murphy's paper "A Survey of Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome Characteristics and Course". It reports that 12 percent of 698 PANS patients have at least one sibling with PANS.  We have have 5 children, only one is PANS.