Does this sound like it's back?

[ajcire]

My ds has what I would call mild symptoms compared to many of the children I am reading about but that said, it's still a problem. He's been on zithromax 2 times a week for a month and a half now. He also takes 50 mg 5htp a day as well. He's been doing well. Other people have noticed the changes as well... he is not as jumpy, not as nasty, not as oppositional, just much more mellow about things, and the anxiety about sleeping alone stopped... his eye blinking and throat clearing a bit better as well.

 

Yesterday it was like a switch was pulled on him. He had the same nasty tone he used to have with his sister, had a meltdown for me about something that should not have triggered one and at bedtime he started with wanting me to snuggle and reminding me over and over to check on him the way he used to. He also used to always say the opposite of what he knew I said.. if I told his sister not to do something, he told her to.. if I said to go upstairs, he said to go down. He used to do that all the time... then it stopped this past month... and as of yesterday it's back.

 

I know for sure that children in his class just had strep, one girl who sits right at his table at school. I was cringing when I ran into her mother and she told me her daughter had been out sick with strep.. my husband told me to stop worrying because he's on the antibiotic (and because he thinks I am crazy anyway... and doesn't seem to think all the changes in our son are anything more than him being a kid... I think he does know but is in sorta denial about it) ....

 

What do I do? Just ride it out? Unfortunately the dr. who put him on the zithromax is a dr. I only saw one time, and spoke to 2 times on the phone... Should I be on the phone with him or just waiting? Can he get strep and the dose of antibiotics not be enough to get rid of it or will he likely not have strep, just symptoms from exposure?

 

My mom keeps telling me that there is nothing I can do short of putting him in a bubble. I am thinking about it!

[amy s]

My ds has what I would call mild symptoms compared to many of the children I am reading about but that said, it's still a problem. He's been on zithromax 2 times a week for a month and a half now. He also takes 50 mg 5htp a day as well. He's been doing well. Other people have noticed the changes as well... he is not as jumpy, not as nasty, not as oppositional, just much more mellow about things, and the anxiety about sleeping alone stopped... his eye blinking and throat clearing a bit better as well.

 

Yesterday it was like a switch was pulled on him. He had the same nasty tone he used to have with his sister, had a meltdown for me about something that should not have triggered one and at bedtime he started with wanting me to snuggle and reminding me over and over to check on him the way he used to. He also used to always say the opposite of what he knew I said.. if I told his sister not to do something, he told her to.. if I said to go upstairs, he said to go down. He used to do that all the time... then it stopped this past month... and as of yesterday it's back.

 

I know for sure that children in his class just had strep, one girl who sits right at his table at school. I was cringing when I ran into her mother and she told me her daughter had been out sick with strep.. my husband told me to stop worrying because he's on the antibiotic (and because he thinks I am crazy anyway... and doesn't seem to think all the changes in our son are anything more than him being a kid... I think he does know but is in sorta denial about it) ....

 

What do I do? Just ride it out? Unfortunately the dr. who put him on the zithromax is a dr. I only saw one time, and spoke to 2 times on the phone... Should I be on the phone with him or just waiting? Can he get strep and the dose of antibiotics not be enough to get rid of it or will he likely not have strep, just symptoms from exposure?

 

My mom keeps telling me that there is nothing I can do short of putting him in a bubble. I am thinking about it!

 

Hi erica,

Without a doubt YOU KNOW if there is a change in your child, like you said, a switch was pulled. Unfortunately we all too well know that feeling. I don't know if I can answer your questions as to what the best line of action is, but I will tell you what I would do... at least for a couple of days I would ride it out and see if it gets any worse or better. The reason I say that is because perhaps you will start to see other symptoms that might clue you in that it is possibly something other than strep (maybe viral?) causing the change. Also, sometimes I think that when that has happened to my dd, it seems like things might get a little better if she has a chance to get away from the offending carrier (for example if someone in class has strep, then gets treated)...she would sometimes not get worse. Does that make sense? Anyway, YES, from my experience, it is possible, that symptoms can come on from exposure alone....and I've heard from several docs that this is not uncommon in an autoimmune illness. I don't know if he can actually get strep with the antibiotics onboard, but I suspect it is possible too...although doubtful that it would show on culture. Have any doses been missed? I know also that others have had only short term improvements with the various antibiotics that have been tried and so go on to try something else. But I don't know that I'd jump to that just yet. The change was noticed yesterday? I'd vote to wait just a bit longer... If you can. For sure, start looking in siblings and your own throats and maybe think about getting the household strep cultured.

I know what you mean about wanting to put them in a bubble. My child just started back to school recently and this has been my biggest fear. I've seen mild symptom relapse just since dd's going back to school and coming down with minor illnesses and this is AFTER IVIg and on prophylactic dose of Augmentin. In fact I could kick myself. Just this past weekend, I had a 'get away' to visit my sister and her children. My dd did not go. So, since I went to visit my sister, I have felt kind of crummy. I contacted her yesterday and asked if anyone was sick and wouldn't you know that 2 of them have strep. So, I was exposed all last weekend. I have felt rotten, but no fever, no sore throat, etc. My pandas dd, just tonight has huge pupils again and is acting a little 'off' (nothing like before) but boy does it have me in a twit about it all. So I am kind of in the same boat. I'm going to wait a few days and see what happens. Any other changes and I will be on the phone to her pediatrician and I will probably go in myself for a strep check tomorrow morning. Good luck to us all!

[ajcire]

Thanks! I hope that your exposure to the strep doesn't turn into anything more. Last night he had no issues going to sleep, phew. I was kinda anticipating a long drawn out bedtime ritual. I hope you are right... I was worried that it was sorta all or nothing with this stuff... like if I started seeing signs that it meant it was here and in him and to just brace myself. My son is 6 and I just started having him keep a journal. I snuck a peek at it this morning and saw that yesterday he wrote, "I was not talking nice to my sister and got sent to my room". It broke my heart but was glad that he did know what he did... usually he gets defensive and he thinks he did nothing wrong.

 

My mom and husband keep reminding me that he is still a 6 year old and some of the things he does is just what a 6 year old does but like you said, I know. I am his mother and I can see the difference between his normal 6 year old behaviors versus the other.

 

I wish I could get my husband to get this. I think he sorta does because if he didn't believe it at all he would not have agreed to the antibiotics without a fight. It is so much easier to accept when you can physically see there is a problem. It doesn't help that the one dr. appt I chose to take him to was the one where my pediatrician told me I was crazy.

 

My mom keeps asking me... if this is pandas... then what? Does it just go away eventually. I keep reading and reading and reading but I can't figure out the answer to that question.

 

I feel almost guilty coming here with my frustrations when I see some of you having such bigger things going on. It's just hard because there is nobody in real life here who has a clue what I am talking about.

 

 

My ds has what I would call mild symptoms compared to many of the children I am reading about but that said, it's still a problem. He's been on zithromax 2 times a week for a month and a half now. He also takes 50 mg 5htp a day as well. He's been doing well. Other people have noticed the changes as well... he is not as jumpy, not as nasty, not as oppositional, just much more mellow about things, and the anxiety about sleeping alone stopped... his eye blinking and throat clearing a bit better as well.

 

Yesterday it was like a switch was pulled on him. He had the same nasty tone he used to have with his sister, had a meltdown for me about something that should not have triggered one and at bedtime he started with wanting me to snuggle and reminding me over and over to check on him the way he used to. He also used to always say the opposite of what he knew I said.. if I told his sister not to do something, he told her to.. if I said to go upstairs, he said to go down. He used to do that all the time... then it stopped this past month... and as of yesterday it's back.

 

I know for sure that children in his class just had strep, one girl who sits right at his table at school. I was cringing when I ran into her mother and she told me her daughter had been out sick with strep.. my husband told me to stop worrying because he's on the antibiotic (and because he thinks I am crazy anyway... and doesn't seem to think all the changes in our son are anything more than him being a kid... I think he does know but is in sorta denial about it) ....

 

What do I do? Just ride it out? Unfortunately the dr. who put him on the zithromax is a dr. I only saw one time, and spoke to 2 times on the phone... Should I be on the phone with him or just waiting? Can he get strep and the dose of antibiotics not be enough to get rid of it or will he likely not have strep, just symptoms from exposure?

 

My mom keeps telling me that there is nothing I can do short of putting him in a bubble. I am thinking about it!

 

Hi erica,

Without a doubt YOU KNOW if there is a change in your child, like you said, a switch was pulled. Unfortunately we all too well know that feeling. I don't know if I can answer your questions as to what the best line of action is, but I will tell you what I would do... at least for a couple of days I would ride it out and see if it gets any worse or better. The reason I say that is because perhaps you will start to see other symptoms that might clue you in that it is possibly something other than strep (maybe viral?) causing the change. Also, sometimes I think that when that has happened to my dd, it seems like things might get a little better if she has a chance to get away from the offending carrier (for example if someone in class has strep, then gets treated)...she would sometimes not get worse. Does that make sense? Anyway, YES, from my experience, it is possible, that symptoms can come on from exposure alone....and I've heard from several docs that this is not uncommon in an autoimmune illness. I don't know if he can actually get strep with the antibiotics onboard, but I suspect it is possible too...although doubtful that it would show on culture. Have any doses been missed? I know also that others have had only short term improvements with the various antibiotics that have been tried and so go on to try something else. But I don't know that I'd jump to that just yet. The change was noticed yesterday? I'd vote to wait just a bit longer... If you can. For sure, start looking in siblings and your own throats and maybe think about getting the household strep cultured.

I know what you mean about wanting to put them in a bubble. My child just started back to school recently and this has been my biggest fear. I've seen mild symptom relapse just since dd's going back to school and coming down with minor illnesses and this is AFTER IVIg and on prophylactic dose of Augmentin. In fact I could kick myself. Just this past weekend, I had a 'get away' to visit my sister and her children. My dd did not go. So, since I went to visit my sister, I have felt kind of crummy. I contacted her yesterday and asked if anyone was sick and wouldn't you know that 2 of them have strep. So, I was exposed all last weekend. I have felt rotten, but no fever, no sore throat, etc. My pandas dd, just tonight has huge pupils again and is acting a little 'off' (nothing like before) but boy does it have me in a twit about it all. So I am kind of in the same boat. I'm going to wait a few days and see what happens. Any other changes and I will be on the phone to her pediatrician and I will probably go in myself for a strep check tomorrow morning. Good luck to us all!