Urgent - Amoxicillin trigger tics?

[patty]

Hi all,

 

My son got sick yesterday and i took him to see a dr. today and strep was confirmed. The dr. prescribed amoxicillin at 250 mg, 4X a day for the next 10 days.

 

I have never given antibiotic to my son before. I am concern & worry what the amox will do to his tics. Can amoxicillin aggravate his tics? And when is the best time to give him probiotic when he is on antibiotic? I have read it on this forum but i have to run to get his prescription before it closes and need to decide what to do tonite, so i need some answers fast!

 

Thx for all your help!

 

Pat

[dee45]

Hi,

I don't think it will make tics worse it could possibly make them better. How old is your son? Just curious.

 

Deanna

[Caryn]

If he's got strep you've got to do it.

 

Don't worry about the tics.

 

From my experience, and from a corn allergy standpoint, antibiotics could be tic triggers because they most likely contain wheat or corn. I found one antibiotic that was gluten and corn free and we used it successfully for Tigger 1 1/2 yrs ago when he got a double ear infection.

 

So I would say give it and if you see a spike in tics and you know allergies are an issue, then call and ask for another type of antibiotic. We used Amoxil. I wrote a thread on it for future reference because I had to do quite a bit of research on the antibiotics.

 

http://healthy-family.org/forum/index.php/topic,198.0.html

 

Give probiotics four hours after each dose of antibiotics. Give the full course of antibiotics. Eat a healthy diet for at least two weeks after the antibiotics that is sugar free, low starch, and high in probiotics. He should be just fine.

 

I was really freaked out too and so afraid of what might happen but everything turned out just fine. Be sure to get plenty of vitamin D, E, C, and antioxidants too.

[Chemar]

Hi Pat

 

I just replied to your PM too

 

I cant comment on amox as we have never used it...my son has a penicillin allergy

 

as long as your child isnt allergic to pen it will hopefully only attack the strep and not aggravate tics

 

hope he recovers quickly

[patty]

Thx Dee45, Caryn, & Chemar for your quick reply and info.

 

I just picked up the amox and some probiotic by Jarrow.

 

Thx again guys!!

 

And Dee45, my son is 9 and 66 pounds.

 

Pat

[dee45]

Thats funny mine is 9 and 68 pounds just curious !! good luck hope he feels better.

 

Deanna

[flower]

I react the same way w/ Amox. My vocal tics get worse all of a sudden. Seem to do better w/ Clyndamicin (spelling?).

[kim]

Patty,

 

Just wondering how your son is doing on the amox? Also, did you see any behavioral changes or tics prior to starting the antibiotic, that you would attribute to the infection?

If you do see any negative effects might be the dye. I think you can get a color free amox. If your son can handle artificial colors ( mine are not artificial color free, but I'm always trying!) as others have said, you might see good things. Just remember, it can be quite some time after the infection that you see an increase in any adverse behaviors related to the infection. I'm all for trying amox first to clear strep, but it's thought to have lost some of it's effectiveness. I think it's said by some to be around 70%. You might want to have a grown culture to make sure it's gone after you finish. I remember my boys going through 2 rounds of amox then a 3rd antibiotic when 2 rounds of amox didn't clear it. Not good for gut! If I knew then what I know now, I would not have allowed that repeatedly.

 

My youngest son (12)has taken zith once for strep and amox once for strep in the last couple of years. I requested the zith the first time, 2nd time I decided to do amox and see what happened. He seemed to do fine with both. One time, he was SO sick. I had taken him to a walk in care because it was the weekend. About the 3rd time the Dr. harped on the fact that if I would have given him the flu shot, he wouldn't be there, I blew and we got in what I would call a full blown argument about the flu shot. This Dr. seemed to have never heard of thimerosal (not to mention that I believe the efficacy stinks) and insisted that I was an idiot for not knowing that mercury was banned in our state and that you couldn't even buy a mercury thermometer. I kept telling him to go and get a pkg insert from the vax (if it's drawn from multidose vial still contains same amt of thimerosal that it's always had) that they were distributing. Guess he didn't know about those new energy saving light bulbs either or the fact that the sprinkler system directly over his fat head had a goodly amt too. When the mercury heats up, the sprinklers are activated.

Well, my son lost in that whole thing, because we stormed out (the jerk never did get the insert). A nurse followed me into the parking lot and asked if she could ask me what that was all about. She then shared that her kids weren't vaccinated after her son started staring at ceiling lights and had other autistic behaviors after a round of immunizations. I asked her why she was telling me this in a hushed voice. I told he she needed to be talking to THEM (other Dr.s witnessed the end of the exchange...i didn't exactly go out quietly). She said they didn't want to talk about it. I said, " Well I do and you should too." Anyway the next day we went to family Dr. and rapid strep was positive. If the "so called" Dr. would have done that (or I would have resisted the urge to rip him about the flu shot) I would have insisted. Sorry to get so off topic Patty, but I can't discuss strep without that ordeal coming to mind.

 

*ashamed of resorting to name calling, but i think a bit theraputic, so I'm leaving it!

[patty]

Kim,

 

My son did not have any behavior or tic change. Pretty normal. In fact, his tics are few and far in between. However, when he got sick with strep, he had a bad neck pain and it triggered his neck tic, like a neck roll to release tension. After given motrin, it decrease the pain and so did the neck roll.

 

After seeing my son's pediatrician, she prescribed amox. I got it in pills that are dye free and we started last nite. And i spoke to my son's ND this morning, and she told me we can treat it w/o antibiotic but other natural substances that contain antibacterial materials. I will consider that route next time.

 

In the meantime, my son's ND advise to be on probiotic along w/ antibiotics.

 

Did your sons' tics flare up with antibiotics and/or probiotics? If so, does it resolve eventually? I am just worry sick not knowing what will happen!!

 

Also, i am wondering if my son's tics may be due to strep. It has been 3 yrs since he started ticcing. How do i go about figuring this out if he is PANDA?

 

Your help is greatly appreciate it!

 

Pat

[EAMom]

Hi Pat,

a lot of PANDAS kids also have symptoms improve(for us it was mood, eating, sleep, handwriting...not sure about tics) on Motrin (ibuprofen)...I think it decreases the inflammation in the basal ganglia.

 

As far as figuring out if your son is PANDAS...I would be vigalant about throat cultures (do them regularly, esp if there is an increase in tics, even if no signs of sore throat). Also, keep a calender documenting symptoms/severity/response to antibiotics. And, be aware of any exposure to strep...pandas kids can react to strep in the environment even if they don't get a full blown infection. My dd will react (she's on prophylactic abs) when family members get strep. the prophylactic antibiotics help greatly (keep things from getting full blown) but she still reacts.

 

Some people find a 1-2 mo. trial of Azithromycin to be a way to sort out if their child is PANDAS....see how they respond. You can get Azith. pills that are dye free. I like azith. b/c there is a 30% failure rate with amoxicillin. Also, Azith. is anti-inflammatory and immune modulating which is helpful for pandas kids. I would say that judging from the Pandas forum, Azith. is the antibiotic of choice in these kids. Azith. also gets intracellular strep /carriers better than other antibiotics (even clindamycin).

 

I honestly wouldn't be too concerned about antibiotics if needed (coming from a PANDAS parent!)...there are a lot worse things you could give your kid for tics!

 

Some folks find tics decrease while on abs but then increase again once off...then I would re-culture (if you re-culture too soon you may get a false neg though) and/or do a longer trial of a stronger ab (eg azith).