PANDAS or ts/ocd

[Kayanne]

My daughter's case is one in which there was not a sudden and dramatic onset. She just started to have trouble making decisions, was crying a lot (especially in the bathroom), and was telling on herself a lot....and it was about a week or two of this that we started to get frustrated with her, and it wasn't until her teacher approached us about the changes that we really beagn to address what was going on. In the past, we had seen her tell on herself, and have crying fits...so some her behavior was not new....we just hadn't seen it in a while.

 

We cannot specifically pinpoint when her behavior changes started, but it was around the end of March/beginning of April. Her teacher last year felt there was a distinct difference when she returned from Easter break.

 

Truthfully, I had considered her case mild when I read a lot of the stories here, but now I know that her gradual worsening added to that perception. When she finally began to really improve after being on prednisone for nearly four weeks...she came alive again.....and it was then that we realized just how far gone she really was. We became used to her not speaking, and interacting, and when she seemed to have a dramatic overnight improvement, was when it really hit me how bad she was....

 

We have a family history of anxiety, panic disorder, OCD....so her behaviors at first seemed to line up with OCD...Thank God her ped. had heard of a link between strep and OCD....because truthfully, we wouldn't have questioned an OCD diagnosis. My daughter has only been treated with antibiotics and prednisone.....no SSRI's.