Do your kids seem to react when others are sick (not strep)?

[dcmom]

Julia is doing really well. She has had a few blips here and there, but her overall trend is improvement. I think being out of school the last two weeks (for holidays) has been helpful.

 

I have noticed/ wondered that possibly some of her blips have coincided with being around others who are sick, not with strep, but maybe colds or whatever...

 

Has anyone noticed this? Does the immune system get activated when in contact with someone who is sick?

 

I do feel she has an increase (sometimes very slight) when her immune system is activated. I wonder what types of things cause our immune systems to activate?

 

Thoughts?

[memom]

I haven't noticed that with my dd17. I have however noticed that stress (no shortage of that as a struggling senior in HS) is a real trigger for worsening symptoms as are allergies, any bacterial or viral illness.

 

Ellie

[thereishope]

My son's main trigger is still strep. He also has viral triggers and seasonal allergies is a trigger. As for exposure only, I'm not sure on that one. I have not had it that someone else in the house that has strep, but not him. Also, when someone else in the house has had a virus, he's usually sick with them. Either right before or after. So, it's hard to say if it's him being exposed to a virus or if he's reacting to himself being/getting sick. That's something I will still have to learn.

 

Stress is also a slight trigger for him. I guess I can say sometimes if it's something that would cause his blood pressure to rise, I see some very slight PANDAS. Not the OCD like that comes with strep, but heightened emotions and some unreasoning. The red face, tears, and slightly bulging eyes.I can still tell it's not typical 6 year old reactions. This trigger is not consistent. I wonder, at times, if it actually could be a learned behavior from me giving in in order to not upset him too much.

 

I have noticed for my son that when a virus was the trigger, it was much worse when he was still recovering from a strep triggered exacerbation. I think it appears that the further we get, in time, from that last strep triggered exacerbation, his viral triggers are weaker and weaker.

 

Boy, I hope my post wasn't confusing. I think it was.

[Suzan]

Julia is doing really well. She has had a few blips here and there, but her overall trend is improvement. I think being out of school the last two weeks (for holidays) has been helpful.

 

I have noticed/ wondered that possibly some of her blips have coincided with being around others who are sick, not with strep, but maybe colds or whatever...

 

Has anyone noticed this? Does the immune system get activated when in contact with someone who is sick?

 

I do feel she has an increase (sometimes very slight) when her immune system is activated. I wonder what types of things cause our immune systems to activate?

 

Thoughts?

 

My dd8 has been struggling ever since I tried to reduce her antibiotics 2 (or so) weeks ago. I have increased it but she is not back to where she was. That said, last night we went to a surprise party at a restaurant for a friend of mine. While there, she let me know that she and her kids had been sick (not sure with what) and were still recovering and that her dd (who we think has PANDAS) was not doing well. I could see my dd failing throughout the evening and by the time we got home she was saying she could hear voices in the house and today she says she can hear things that scare her. It's usually emergency vehicle sirens or voices that say "Let's go" or " Come On" or "Get them". I feel like it is a direct relation to being around this family last night.

 

Susan

[KeithandElizabeth]

This has definitely been our experience. Our son has had several relapses since IVIG and each relapse has occurred after he was exposed to someone else who had a cold or the flu. Interestingly, he did not seem to get sick himself, but his PANDAS symptoms increased.

 

 

Elizabeth

[FallingApart]

I believe we are seeing this exact situation as well. And, like Elizabeth, DD is not sick herself. Just having a blip. How long should we expect the blip to last? It has been about 9 days now. It hasn't been constant. But it seems to go hour by hour. We will think she is getting worse when all the sudden she gets better. Then, when we seem to relax for a minute, BOOM, she loses it again. Until this post and talking with Elizabeth today, I thought we were not going to get better until the next IVIG. But that isn't for 2 more weeks.

 

This current blip coincides with DH getting a cold. But how in the world are we supposed to keep them from being around people with colds, etc?

[momto2pandas]

We absolutely see this. Not the full-blown OCD-like stuff, but enough to set off that "look in the eyes" and significant behavior/mood stuff. For us, it generally lasts less time than episodes triggered by actual infections. Also, there at least two, and probably three, in our family with PANDAS, and only my ds6 reacts to exposure in this way. He seems to be the most sensitive to all kinds of triggers.

 

 

Julia is doing really well. She has had a few blips here and there, but her overall trend is improvement. I think being out of school the last two weeks (for holidays) has been helpful.

 

I have noticed/ wondered that possibly some of her blips have coincided with being around others who are sick, not with strep, but maybe colds or whatever...

 

Has anyone noticed this? Does the immune system get activated when in contact with someone who is sick?

 

I do feel she has an increase (sometimes very slight) when her immune system is activated. I wonder what types of things cause our immune systems to activate?

 

Thoughts?

[Tattoomom]

Yes, I have definitely noticed this!

[peglem]

This is pretty weird, but when my daughter gets other illness, the PANDAS symptoms improve. Maybe because she gets lethargic w/ other illnesses? A couple of years ago she got sick with something flu-like (fever, nausea), and I felt like I was on vacation or something. She'd just lay on the couch and watch tv, like a normal sick person!

[dcmom]

Peg- I have also noticed that during the illness (fever related) Julia doesn't have any issues- it is right as she is better- weird.

 

Thanks for all replies. I was wondering this for a few reasons:

I think I noticed some issues with Julia when my dh had a bad cold. Nothing major, just a little tired, dark circles, etc. Also:

She has done so extremely well on the last two weeks out of school, and she looks great, and is eating great, and so energetic. I am curious to see if that continues, or if being at school (someone is always sick there I imagine) and exposed to so much more is a problem.