behavior modification

[EAMom]

Not really sure.

 

Azith. is immune modulating/anti-inflammatory and is the best ab for getting intracellular strep. It was the ab that worked best for us (Augmentin didn't clear our assymptomatic non-pandas dd, Azith did; Augmentin initially helped PANDAS dd's mood when we were first diagnosed, but didn't do nearly as much for the OCD/other symptoms that the Azith did.) Also, Azith. is super convenient due to the long half-life...once a day at the most, and it's not a big deal if you miss a dose.

 

Perhaps Dr. K. feels he has personally had good results with Augmentin. I also know that certain parts of the country have more problems with Azith. resistance, so perhaps that is affecting his opinion on the matter.

[peglem]

Hello:

 

I am a little confused about the azith versus augmentin? From this web site, I gather that azithromycin is the way to go for Panda children. And Ed Kaplan's article seems to confirm this theory. However, Dr. K told us as well that we needed to use augmentin. Why does he recommend augmentin when so many people seem to have better results with azith???

 

elizabeth

This is my thoughts on the abx issue.

If a child has chronic recurring strep that doesn't seem to be cleared by non-macrolid abx, it indicates that the source of the strep is from biofilms inside the body.

These require zith or other macrolides- zith is the one that has been shown to be a "biofilm buster" in studies done with cystic fibrosis.

 

On the other hand, if the source of the child's strep is external and from re-exposure, other antibiotics should work fine to prevent strep infections.

 

I think my daughter was a biofilm child, so even without external exposure to strep, she was, in effect, reinfecting herself from internal biofilms. Zith was the only antibiotic that worked for her and it took at least a year on zith before she no longer showed behavioral symptoms between her "on zith" days. (she's on a 5 days on, 7days off regimin). I'm loath to switch to another phrophylaxis at this point, but its probably something I should consider, as I believe the biofilms have been cleared.

 

I certainly can't speak for Dr. K, but I think the problem w/ zith is that friendly gut bacteria also form biofilms and those, of course would also be wiped out by zith. Other antibiotics will wipe out the "free" gut buddies in your gut, but if there is an untouched biofilm of good bacteria in your gut, then the gut can quickly be repopulated with good bacteria from the biofilm source.