Strep test is positive

[Guest Susanna]

The results just came back from the lab....the throat culture was positive for strep!

 

We're going to go through another round of antibiotics....something stronger this time. I want to give my son a probiotic along with this course of antibiotics. My understanding is that the probiotic needs to be given a few hours after the antibiotic. My question is where can I find the probiotic? Is a cup of yogurt enough? Is it something I can find in a Whole Foods store?

 

My appt with the homeopath isn't until next week and since his primary pediatrician is skeptical about the whole PANDAS issue I don't think I'm even going to approach her about the probiotic.

[Claire]

Susanna,

 

That is GOOD news, yes? Now treatment may solve your child's problem--good luck!

 

Some use yogurt. My doctor says the capsules are good, 2 hours AFTER the antibiotic, so you don't just kill the probioticstarting at 1x a day, then after a 2-3 days with no problems, move to 2x a day.

 

A good mix of acidophilis and bifidis at Whole Foods is fine. Make sure they are ACTIVE or it is worthless. They are in a dairy case.

 

Claire

 

ps, I am going to have to stop even reading for a while. It is too hard for me not to respond! My heart breaks for 7Rose and I will post to her..

[Guest Susanna]

I really appreciate you taking the time to respond, Claire.

 

Just a clarification....one pill after each time the antibiotic is given in a day, then moving to 2 pills each time the antibiotic is given, or just start out giving it one time per day?

 

Susanna

[Claire]

one dosage once a day (read the bottle), and then move to 2 dosages a day. I don't know how to adjust for body weight, my doctor had my son take a full dose, but I am not a doctor of course. Search on Whole Foods for info on probiotics too.

[guligirl]

you're actually kind of lucky in a strange way. i was almost hoping it was PANDAS with my kid - at least it's a diagnosis that can be treated, i think. any health food store will sell a good acidophilus tablet for kids. they don't taste too bad, according to my son. make sure you purchase them from the fridge and keep them in the fridge....

 

best wishes..

[Guest Susanna]

Well we started the antibiotics on Thursday night and started with probiotics on Friday....I'm also pushing the yogurt in addition to the liquid probiotic I went with....my son does fine with chewables but not capsules so I thought the liquid form of the probiotic would be easier....I assumed that as long as it was live cultures the form wouldn't matter...correct assumption? I was a bit overwhelmed picking out a probiotic...there were so many to choose from!

 

In any case I haven't seen any improvement yet with his tics. They've changed over the past week...maybe even gotten a little worse....it's a whole body thing he does and it broke my heart yesterday watching him play t-ball and twitching the whole time he was out on the field or walking up to bat. His teachers have also started to notice it at school. His temperment is definitely worse these days.

 

For those that have had experience with PANDAS, is it possible I WILL see some improvement after a few days of antibiotic use?

 

He did wake up with some sort of rash or hives this morning...mostly in the creases of his arms and his upper back/shoulders....he complains that it's itchy. I was thinking either some sort of heat-type rash or allergic reaction. Any ideas regarding the rash?

 

He is taking Claritin daily for his seasonal allergies...the Claritin helps to keep his asthma at bay during the change of seasons, which seems to be his asthma trigger. We were initially told to discontinue the Claritin use in the ER and were then given Flonaise by the pediatrician. The Flonaise didn't seem to work as well and started my son on his sniffling tic (which isn't that bad these days) The neurologist said we could go back on the Claritin for his allergies, which we did. Anyone have any experience with Claritin use and tics?

 

 

I was so hopeful when the test came back positive for strep thinking that we had found part of the problem and that the antibiotics would reduce the tics. I'm still trying to remain hopeful and am counting the days until our appt with the pediatrician/homeopath so that we can try to get to the underlying cause of these problems.

 

My husband is having a very hard time dealing with this....I guess he feels somewhat helpless in being able to help our son. The only thing that keeps me sane is that I've found this website and am learning so much from your experiences and am pursuing some of the things I have learned here...I've picked up some of the recommended books (i.e Is this Your Child?)....I feel that at least I'm trying to do something rather than just dwell on what I can't do for my son. Thanks for being here.

[Claire]

Theoretically, if it were pandas, the symptom can improve as the strep goes away. Sometimes it takes 4-5 days. What antibiotic are you using? My son wasn't responsive to one they gave him, in spite of claims that strep doesn't acquire resistance. But PANDAS symptoms don't always disappear with treatment. The more often they have strep and the longer it goes untreated, the more likely the symptoms stay. Even so, there is still hope for the antibiotics, and great hope for other methods should the antibiotics alone not work.

 

The arm rashes are definitely worth asking your doctor about. Maybe a reaction to the antibiotic. However yeast can cause rashes too, and perhaps the antibiotics triggered yeast issues in spite of your probiotic use. Too hard to tell of course.

 

I am sorry you are having a tough time right now! I remembering worrying while we figured out the cause and resolved our son's tics. It was a tough time. If you stick with this, you will help your child!

 

Claire

[Heather]

Susanna,

 

I am truly hoping that the antiboitics will work for you by killing the strep antibodies and I do know that in many children the antibiotic works in lessening the tics. However, my son was diagnosed with strep in October when his tics became worse and we were prescribed an antibiotic. By Day 8 on the antibiotic his tics were worse than ever. I had to take him for drives at night to get him to sleep as his whole body was heaving with a loud snort every 2 seconds. That is when I started madly researching the natural alternatives.

 

What I have later concluded after using the natural supplements is that my son had a bad case of intestinal yeast and the antibiotic was worsening the condition. Once we started using Threelac for the yeast (about a week after the antibiotic) his tics lessened within 2 weeks to more manageable. As we know, each case is very unique so I am not saying this is your son's problem. I just want you to be aware of our situation so that if his tics don't improve, don't worry, because there are other alternatives to help.

 

Since treating my son for intestinal yeast before Christmas, we then started a detox for heavy metals around mid January. Since then his tics have been minimal and have even been gone at times. This weekend they are virtually gone and I feel that he continues to improve each week. We have had a couple of minor episodes of tics coming back but both occasions were when he had a virus. I believe my son's tics are definitely viral related. We also do the no TV thing (upon Claire's advice) and that has made a substantial improvment as well.

Our goal is to get to the point were he can once again tolerate the triggering foods as well as the TV. I do believe we are heading in that direction.

 

My daughter (dealing with other issues: not tics) also had rashes under her arms that were itchy and the naturopath assumed it was yeast (as Claire mentioned, yeast can cause rashes).

 

Good luck to you and I hope that the antibiotic will solve your problem. Keep us posted.

 

Heather

[Guest Susanna]

Thanks for the words of encouragement Claire and Heather. I know I'll eventually get to the bottom of this.

 

When he initially had strep in early March he was prescribed Amoxicillen. This time around he was given Duricef...as far as I know this is the first time he's taken Duricef.

 

Susanna

[Guest Guest_efgh]

Susanna,

 

Ronnas is our PANDAS expert and she should be able to give more information with her rich experience and knowledge on this.

 

By the way, do you think your son's tics have a genetic base? Does any one else have tics or tics related problems in your family. As Chemar says, I too have heard of a lot of cases (TS) being genetic. That is what my family pediatrician too mentioned.

 

goodluck to you in your search.

[Guest Susanna]

As far as I know, no one in either my family or my husband's has been diagnosed with TS. As a child I had some minor tics (facial, shoulder shrugging)...and I think I still do. My husband is convinced he had/has ADHD and we suspect my older son is borderline ADHD as well. We never thought ADHD with my younger son, who now has the tics, but upon doing some reading up on ADD/ADHD he may also have a "touch" of it.

 

I'm focusing on my younger son's tics first as that seems to be the bigger problem at the moment. I'm hoping if we find the underlying cause of the tics we'll also be addressing his ADHD issues, and then I plan on working on my older son's ADHD issues as well. It isn't really a factor in school...my older son does well (although not up to potential), but we had to leave church early yesterday because he was having such a hard time staying somewhat still....but that's a whole other post!

[Claire]

Susanna,

 

The bottom line is that when a child has strep, especially one with tics, they are considered 'at risk' for PANDAS and need to be treated. I believe that any child with strep should be treated (this is the norm) though one practioner disagreed with me, saying that it would go away on its own and only a percentage develop

complications'. (e.g. rheumatic fever, etc...). I was shocked to hear that they were willing to play the odds game.

 

My son got fears with strep (3 different times) and the antibiotics cleared them. However, I am still convinced that multiple rounds of antibiotics causes issues with yeast, and problems associated with that.

 

Claire

[Guest Susanna]

Claire

 

I definitely plan on continuing with a course of antibiotics, and then having him tested again for Strep. After speaking with the pediatrician they've now changed his antibiotic to Augmentin because of the rash, although now I'm starting to wonder if it was really related to the first antibiotic because the rash was better yesterday.

 

My problem is getting the probiotic into him. He gets his antibiotic usually at 8am and 8pm. I know you are supposed to wait a few hours before giving the probiotic...the problem is that in the am he's at school by that time and in the pm he's asleep, and he DEFINITELY needs his sleep...his tics are MUCH worse when he's tired. I've been sending him to school with a drinkable yogurt packed into his lunchbox, and give him the probiotic after school. Although not ideal I assume he's still getting some benefit from the probiotic???

 

Also, the blood tests to recheck the copper levels came back. Although lower than before they are still elevated. I think the pediatrician is baffled as she's referring me back to the neuro who ordered the first set of blood tests. I plan on giving him a call today and see if he can shed any insight into any of this.

 

My son's tics seem to change daily. It's still a whole body thing but they seem more "extreme"...not quite sure how else to describe them..they used to orginate from the stomach/core before...these days it's seems to originate or end in the leg or side, causing them to be more noticeable. I don't think the frequency has changed all that much. When does one consider tics as getting "worse"? Are they more frequent? More noticeable? Additional tics? I guess I'm just trying to gauge if the antibiotics are having any effect...positive or negative. So if his tics are mroe noticeable to others, although not really any more frequent, are they worse???

 

Sorry for these epistles that I write that are full of questions...just trying to find answers and a direction for my little guy....thanks!

[Guest Kathy]

My 10 year old son's tic started last September. It is a neck shoulder twitch. At first he said the tag in his shirt was bothering him. I took him to the Dr. (not ours, a sub). She said not to worry. When I took him in for his flu shot I mentioned to his Dr. about the tic. She sent us right away to the Neurologist. He did an EEG, MRI and blood work. All was fine except the Strep DNA test. It was over 1300. Months later still that high. The Dr. put him on Fluphentimine (not sure on spelling). It is one MG. He is up to 3 MG. They do help the tic but the tics get worse and better at any time. The Dr. said he can twitch all he wants at home because home should alway be a safe haven. He said it is basically a social issue. Kids in school have noticed it. They first thought he had Rheumatic Fever and then Sydemms Corhea (sp?) Now they say he has PANDAS. He is on a five year profalatic antibiotic. The tics are a little worse. Only when he is nervous or excited which is most of the time. It is very hard to watch him. I wish I could just hold him and hug it out of him. He is lucky so far that no one at school makes fun of him. That would kill me. The teacher said some kids ask him why he does it and he says he doesn't know. I hate having my 10 year old medicated. From birth the poor kid was sick. Luckily he is active and takes it well.

[Heather]

Kathy,

 

When you say he has been sick from birth it makes me wonder if he has yeast/heavy metal issues which cause many disorders and illnesses. They have a dramatic affect on the immune system and can cause all kinds of neurological disorders. It breaks my heart to hear you say that you want to hug it out of him as that is exactly the way I felt when my son was at his worst. I just wanted to hug him and love him and make it go away and I felt so helpless. I have never experienced such a feeling of despair in my life.

 

Anyway, my son was also diagnosed with PANDAS. Somewhere else I read about the 5 year prophylatic (sp?) and it seems like an awfully long time to be on antibiotics when the antibiotic may actually be the root cause of the problem causing more overgrowth of yeast playing havoc on the immune system.

 

I hope you will take some time to read some of the posts on here.

 

From what I read in Dr. McCandless's book and other articles, the viral titers remain high because there is a malfunctioning immune system. Viruses that should stay suppressed in the body become active. My son was on an antiviral drop and also natural supplements to help get rid of metals and intestinal yeast. His tics are barely noticeable at this point.

 

Keep in touch.

 

 

Heather