bottom scratching

[michele]

My son is still scratching his behind a week after the Vermox treatment for possible worms. I am wondering if we could be dealing with something else. I called two Dr's today and got nowhere. Have others here ever seen an obsessive nervous habit with grabbing their behind? I am wondering could this be yeast? I gave him Nystatin today and flax oil. I am confused if this is connected to the PANDAS OCD or not related. Dr. said his immune system is over active and getting a bottom irritation/sores would be similar to what an immune deficiant person would get. She said she has never seen yeast in the bottom of a kid with an overactive immune system. She said his picking at it probably has caused it to get more irritated. Has anyone else here ever experienced this? How has it been successfully treated?

Michele

[dut]

Hello.. yeh my dd gets this at the start of episodes. It goes away after the abx kick in.. so I don't think it's yeast in our case. She did also get a case of what I think was guttate psoriasis on her bottom last time around. My only other thought was maybe it's part of the sensory defensiveness issues but my gut tells me it's strep that is hiding out in her anal tract.. but we just haven't been able to pin it down. If you get an answer I'd love to know.....

[bronxmom2]

My son's bottom was itchy for three months last year, it culminuate in strep throat and antibiotics cleared it up. (This was before I knew about PANDAS, and at the time I just thought it was coincidence.) But I think your son is ON antibiotics, right?

I also feel it was strep hiding in his digestive tract.

 

Why can't the doctor do a skin strep test on the anus?

 

Can your son tell you why he's scratching it? I mean, if its a tic or something, won't he say he doesn't know why he's doing it? But if it's itchy, it's itchy-- for a reason!

[kim]

Michelle,

 

Did you try an antibiotic cream on his behind yet? I really wish you would give that a try. If he is itchy, IT'S MISERABLE.

Did you see this remark from another thread?

 

You might want to run out and grab some Neosporin (unless someone knows of a reason that you shouldn't). If it works on his itchy bottom, might give you a clue. There is also a prescription cream of nystatin and triamcin acetonide that works wonderfully.

 

 

Dut, my heart skipped a little beat when I read that you suspected guttate psoriasis. Doc's are so accepting of anti biotics when it comes to that. Derm seemed almost excited to think that I had an infection prior to my breakout. If guttate and PANDAS could be connected, seems like it could go along way in getting PANDAS kids help and furthering research too. Did your daughter's rash stay confined to that one area? Does she or anyone in the family have any other forms of psoriasis or dermatitis?

[colleenrn]

Michele,

I think it could be perianal strep. I know the doctor said it was not red enough, but it could still be strep. They can swab his anus and culture it just like they do a throat culture. If it turned out to be perianal strep, they would almost have to give you Zithromax.

It it were worms, it would be better by now.

Colleen

[dut]

Kim - my mom had a very bad case of yeast initiated dermatits a couple of years ago.. brought on in part by stress after a bereavement. I can still see a of dd's little left.. almost shadow of what was there. No one in the family has run of the mill psoriasis as far as I know... I'll keep watch and post if it comes on again.

[pmoreno]

several weeks ago I thought Gaby had worms because of the constant itching (especially at night). The area around her anus was slightly red -irritated looking- but not enough for the doctor to think it was strep. They tried her on the vermox but it didn't change anything. I even checked for the worms (with the tape test and also with a flashlight at night) I didn't see anything that looked like worms, but who knows. After the worst of that it slowed down, but she frequently will complain of the itching again on and off, but not with the intensity as she did at that time. I still think it might be yeast. I gave her lemon water quite a bit for a while and also 2-3 drops of grafefruit seed extract in her fishoil. As I say, its better but not all the way gone. The doctor also thought it might be a small internal hemorrhoid. The usually has one or two stools a day and he thought that this could irritate it. He recommended a little dab of 1% hydrocortisone for a while to see if it would clear up. I tried it a couple of days, but you know you can't use that stuff long term because it thins the skin. Pat

[EAMom]

Pat....IMO your doc should have cultured Gabby even if it "didn't look like strep." It's very easy to do a skin swab/culture of the perirectal area. What is the harm of doing the test just to make sure?

 

Neither of my girls ever "looked like they had strep" when they've had positive throat cultures! Obiviously, you can't always tell by "looking" if it is strep (throat or skin)...geeesh....isn't that the whole point of doing the culture?

[pmoreno]

Pat....IMO your doc should have cultured Gabby even if it "didn't look like strep." It's very easy to do a skin swab/culture of the perirectal area. What is the harm of doing the test just to make sure?

 

Neither of my girls ever "looked like they had strep" when they've had positive throat cultures! Obiviously, you can't always tell by "looking" if it is strep (throat or skin)...geeesh....isn't that the whole point of doing the culture?

 

She still c/o itching on & off although not as bad as before - I haven't had any previous experience with strep in that area - does it eventually go away even if untreated? Are the effects like having it in the throat? (I mean if untreated can it cause rheumatic fever? I may have to take her back in. I know they think i'm nuts anyway.

[EAMom]

I don't know if skin strep can cause rheumatic fever but I'm pretty sure it can cause PANDAS symptoms. My dd had both positive throat and perianal (skin) cultures last March when she had her big 5mo. PANDAS/anorexia nervosa episode. I would think skin strep alone could cause symptoms since these kids react to strep in the environment, even if others have it.

[colleenrn]

FYI for anyone who may have a child with perianal strep:

 

This study shows that Ceftin (cefuroximine) is much more effective with perianal strep- much better than penicillin.

 

http://www.druglib.com/abstract/me/meury-s...r_20081200.html

 

Strep on the skin, whether it is perianal or impetigo, can cause PANDAS symtoms. If you are exposed to impetigo, you can get strep throat. If a child ever has impetigo, I would be extremely suspicious that they could also have strep throat. Perianal strep is often misdiagnosed as a yeast infection. If a yeast infection does not go away pretty quickly with treatment, suspect strep and do cultures. The skin can be cultured just like the throat.

 

Colleen