Need opinions, had to stop Cal/Mag for my son

[Dedee]

This is sort of a long story, but I will try to shorten it as much as possible. In March my son (who has PANDAS), had a bad fall off of his bicycle and broke both bones in his right arm. He was taken to surgery that night for repair. About a week later, they noticed on X-Ray that one bone was shifting significantly back out of place, so they took him back to surger next day and pinned the bone. That stayed for a month and after his external pins were removed we thought all was good. Ha - not to be. A few days later he lost the use of two fingers in that hand. So he went back to surgery for tendon repair. The orthopedic doc believed it was damage from the accident that caused the tendon rupture. Well then a week after that surgery, he still could not move those fingers and had lost movement of his wrist as well. So off we went to a hand specialist who recommended another surgery for a bone fragment that had calcified and was causing tendon rupture in the hand. That was done last week and we were told that he had significant amounts of scar tissue in that hand and that a bone fragment had traveled then grew new bone around it causing a large bone spur that was limiting his motion. Ok, so they supposedly have all that fixed now and hi is doing PT / OT every day. There is great concern for more scar tissue and such so I took him off of his cal / mag supplements to try to avoid that issue. Problem is now all of the sudden he can't sleep. I mean hardly at all. When he finally does fall asleep he then wakes up every several hours and has trouble going back to sleep. I tried the timed released melatonin that a doc had recommended, but that helps very little. Last nignt I gave him a benadryl, but that was a joke. Did nothing.

 

I know he has a terrible amount of anxiety over all of this. He is very concerned that he will never have complete use of that hand again. I am sure he lay's there at night thinking about it all over and over. He needs constant re-assurance that all is going to be fine. I just wondered if anyone had any ideas of something I could use to replace the positives of cal / mag, without causing increased bone tissue growth. Hopefully this will only be necessary for a few more months but the poor guy is miserable. His other meds are: multivitamin, amoxicillin, & fish oil.

 

Sorry this is so lenghty. It has been a long three months. I appreciate any advice / opinions.

 

Dedee

[Greyhound]

Do you think it would be possible that you could give just magnesium?

 

I've heard bone spurs can be an excess of calcium/imbalance of calc/mag. Don't know how true that is.

[Chemar]

so sorry to hear all this ((((Dedee))))

 

perhaps just giving the Natural Calm ionic magnesium each evening may help with both sleep and anxiety?

(the one without calcium)

 

the lowest price I have found on it is at iHerb. They charge for the large tub what my health store locally charges for half the size!!

http://www.iherb.com/ProductsList.aspx?c=1&cid=885

[lurker]

Dedee,

 

I could be very wrong about this, but I think transdermal magnesium (epsom salt bath) would be an option.

 

Cheri?

[Chemar]

yep epsom salts tubs would probably be a good way to get some magnesium in and it is often recommended for sprains etc plus the relaxing effect would also be good

[Dedee]

Well hello, I didn't even think of the epson salt bath. Obviously it has been a while since he was using those to help with his tics. He has been mostly tic free since starting his antibiotics last year, so we haven't changed any of his meds around in a long time. I did notice the other day that he is starting to repeat words and phrases sometimes which the neurologist says is a type of tic that most people don't recognize. But he has been under a tremendous amount of stress so I would expect to see something. Thank you all so much for your input. Sometimes the brain goes dead from dealing with so many other issues involved. It's great to know I can count on everyoe here for great advice and comfort. Thanks for your words of encouragement!

 

Dedee

[kim]

Deedee,

 

I'm just wondering if the scenerio that the Dr. is giving you makes sense to you? I don't mean that in a snide way at all, I'm just wondering if they are SURE that it was a calcified bone fragment that they removed. Was that fragment at the end of the bone? If so, I'm assuming the break was not at the end of the bone right? So this fragment traveled and then reattached? Has anyone acted like the amt of scar tissue or the situtation with the bone spur is an unusual situation?

I'm sorry for all of the questions here, but your post really caught my attention.

 

Opps, one more question. Did your son take any other antibiotic during this whole thing, I'm thinking specifically of any Fluoroquinolones?

 

http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/...oquinolones.jsp

 

This is something I have been reading about in relationship to my sons bony growth (tendon rupture possibility) thinking that I was glad that I decided not to give him Cipro when it was prescribed for a staph infection. After checking with a pharmacist, I decided to just go with the bactrum that he was given originally.

[Dedee]

Kim,

Thanks for your concern. Actually the break was very close to the end of the bone (wrist) and the bone fragment was evident since the beginning. Most times they don't cause any problem. With children though, because they are constantly building new bone it isn't unusual for this to happen. I have read of several other cases online. Also, the hand specialist we saw at Vanderbilt said he has seen it before several times, not real common, but it does happen. Of course, it would have to happen to my child. My son has been on Amoxicillin for a little over a year for his PANDAS symptoms. He hasn't needed any other antibiotics since then. I think he is handling it all pretty well except for this sleeping issue. Whew, it is really a problem. Just hoping it resolves soon. Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

Dedee

[kim]

Dedee,

 

Thanks for taking the time to explain that!

 

My husband slipped on a ladder, his foot went thru the rungs and snapped both bones in his lower leg a few years ago. I remember seeing a bone fragment on the x ray that looked like a mini dagger. Those breaks are no fun. I'm so sorry you and your son have been going through all of that.

 

I don't know how you feel about a supplement like 5HTP, but it sure did make my oldest son sleepy and many seem to feel that it helps a lot with anxiety. I have the NOW brand capsules, 100 mgs. I like the capsules that you can pull apart and start with a sprinkle and work up, to make sure that it won't cause unwanted effects.

If the sleep issues continue to cause problems, may be worth a try? If you decide to try it, I would suggest you give it during the day at first so you can see what it's doing. I gave a sprinkle several times a day to be safe, then moved to about 1/2 of the capsule, again during the day. I don't think we ever used a whole capsule (he is adult size). I was using it to see if it would help head shaking. It did help a little as it was calming, but them main effect was drowsyness.

[Dedee]

That is good to know. He has never taken it but I have considered it in the past. Looks like I am going to need to try something soon. No one is getting much sleep at my house. Thanks for the info.

 

Dedee