PANDAS and Dr. Murphy

[michele]

250 mg of omniseph once a day compared to 250 mg of pen v twice a day. It seems strange that 250 mg of omniseph would be that much stronger only once a day. We weighed him and he was 37 lbs before she prescribed the dosage. I think he seems to be ticcing less already and playing so much nicer. I pray this helps.

Michele

 

 

Michele,

 

To answer your question, yes Omnicef and Augmentin are both stronger than plain penicillin. Regarding the dose of Omnicef, it depends on the weight of the child and whether you are giving it once or twice daily. Antibiotics are dosed by weight in children. Good Luck.

 

Dedee

[michele]

250 mg of omniseph once a day compared to 250 mg of pen v twice a day. It seems strange that 250 mg of omniseph would be that much stronger only once a day. We weighed him and he was 37 lbs before she prescribed the dosage. I think he seems to be ticcing less already and playing so much nicer. I pray this helps.

Michele

 

 

Michele,

 

To answer your question, yes Omnicef and Augmentin are both stronger than plain penicillin. Regarding the dose of Omnicef, it depends on the weight of the child and whether you are giving it once or twice daily. Antibiotics are dosed by weight in children. Good Luck.

 

Dedee

[michele]

250 mg of omniseph once a day compared to 250 mg of pen v twice a day. It seems strange that 250 mg of omniseph would be that much stronger only once a day. We weighed him and he was 37 lbs before she prescribed the dosage. I think he seems to be ticcing less already and playing so much nicer. I pray this helps.

Michele

 

 

Michele,

 

To answer your question, yes Omnicef and Augmentin are both stronger than plain penicillin. Regarding the dose of Omnicef, it depends on the weight of the child and whether you are giving it once or twice daily. Antibiotics are dosed by weight in children. Good Luck.

 

Dedee

[Dedee]

Michele,

Another thing I remembered about our appointment was that when we were discussing my sons antibiotics, and we were talking about his dose of amoxicillin, I asked if he was on to much as a maintenance dose ( my pediatrician thought it was a little high). Anyway, she said no, that he was on the right dose, and the only thing she might consider was switching him to augmentin, but we would wait and see if he started having any trouble later down the road. I feel good knowing he is doing well on this and there are still several others we can use (Augmentin, Zithromax, Omnicef, etc..) if we need to. I think you just need to use the lowest dose you can (without seeing symptoms) on the medication that works for that particular child. Like you said, you will usually start seeing a difference, within a few days when they are on the proper medication. Then when you stop it, usually within 48 hrs, the symptoms start to slowly return and after the third day they are back full force. When you keep a diary, you see the pattern over and over as you start and stop the antibiotics. That is what was so convincing for us and to Dr. Murphy when we showed her the behavior / medication diary we had kept for over a year. If you do switch back to penicillin after a full course of omnicef and his behavior deteriorates, I would try to get the maintenance antibiotics switched. I don't think you would have any trouble getting that written reccomendation from Dr. Murphy if you called and explained how things had turned out, I am sure she would send a letter out to your physician. Just keep your fingers crossed and hope the best for your son. Let me know how things go. Good Luck.

 

Dedee

[michele]

Dedee,

Can you believe ine immunologist who refused to try anything other then pen v, responded immediately to Dr. Murphy's written recommendation for Augmentin for three weeks during flare ups. I sent him research articles, and emails and he wouldn't budge. He wanted a Dr's word.

 

Michele

 

Michele,

Another thing I remembered about our appointment was that when we were discussing my sons antibiotics, and we were talking about his dose of amoxicillin, I asked if he was on to much as a maintenance dose ( my pediatrician thought it was a little high). Anyway, she said no, that he was on the right dose, and the only thing she might consider was switching him to augmentin, but we would wait and see if he started having any trouble later down the road. I feel good knowing he is doing well on this and there are still several others we can use (Augmentin, Zithromax, Omnicef, etc..) if we need to. I think you just need to use the lowest dose you can (without seeing symptoms) on the medication that works for that particular child. Like you said, you will usually start seeing a difference, within a few days when they are on the proper medication. Then when you stop it, usually within 48 hrs, the symptoms start to slowly return and after the third day they are back full force. When you keep a diary, you see the pattern over and over as you start and stop the antibiotics. That is what was so convincing for us and to Dr. Murphy when we showed her the behavior / medication diary we had kept for over a year. If you do switch back to penicillin after a full course of omnicef and his behavior deteriorates, I would try to get the maintenance antibiotics switched. I don't think you would have any trouble getting that written reccomendation from Dr. Murphy if you called and explained how things had turned out, I am sure she would send a letter out to your physician. Just keep your fingers crossed and hope the best for your son. Let me know how things go. Good Luck.

 

Dedee

[Dedee]

Michele,

 

Oh Yes, I most certainly can believe it. In fact I would have expected it. We also went to a "expert Infectious Disease specialist " with my son, and I was so shocked at the stone wall that I hit. Absolutely no room for discussion. They did a strep culture, some titers, and agreed that he "probably" had PANDAS, but basically refused to give any sort of treatment unless he was strept positive. Well heck, I can get that at any walk in clinic. I put that visit up there with one of the more frustrating Dr's visits we endured. I hope some day that ID gets a clue on how to properly treat PANDAS. I guess when it comes to physician's, it's all about information coming from one doctor to another before they will believe it. Good luck!

 

Dedee