another connection made today- an AHA moment

[lboll]

Today I was reading through Buster's FAQ's on PANDAS and was shocked to read that an OCD symptom is worrying about cheating on tests, etc.

 

I joined this forum because my son, age 10, is autistic but has many of the symptoms of PANDAS, but when I read the part about the cheating on tests, etc. I realized that my daughter has been suffering from this for years.

 

Approximately 2 1/2 years ago she was coming home daily convinced she was cheating at school. She would cry all the time and was insistent on the fact she was cheating even though we all knew she wasn't. The final straw was when we left a store one day and she was convinced she had stolen something. I quickly called a counselor as I thought that this might be stemming from the fact that she was dealing with a brother with severe autism. She also developed a strange little tic where she shrugged her shoulders over and over.

 

Now that I think about it, she had had a strep infection shortly before it all started.

 

I told her about this today and she said, "Oh my gosh, I'm not a freak after all!" She gets these tics once a year or so, so now I know what to look for.

 

This also reaffirms my thinking that my son's autism is more than it appears. And, I will continue to pursue this route.

 

Thanks to you all for your posts. They help me so much, you can't imagine.

[Joan Pandas Mom]

Today I was reading through Buster's FAQ's on PANDAS and was shocked to read that an OCD symptom is worrying about cheating on tests, etc.

 

I joined this forum because my son, age 10, is autistic but has many of the symptoms of PANDAS, but when I read the part about the cheating on tests, etc. I realized that my daughter has been suffering from this for years.

 

Approximately 2 1/2 years ago she was coming home daily convinced she was cheating at school. She would cry all the time and was insistent on the fact she was cheating even though we all knew she wasn't. The final straw was when we left a store one day and she was convinced she had stolen something. I quickly called a counselor as I thought that this might be stemming from the fact that she was dealing with a brother with severe autism. She also developed a strange little tic where she shrugged her shoulders over and over.

 

Now that I think about it, she had had a strep infection shortly before it all started.

 

I told her about this today and she said, "Oh my gosh, I'm not a freak after all!" She gets these tics once a year or so, so now I know what to look for.

 

This also reaffirms my thinking that my son's autism is more than it appears. And, I will continue to pursue this route.

 

Thanks to you all for your posts. They help me so much, you can't imagine.

[Joan Pandas Mom]

We had that too for a while. My son would not allow us to help him with his homework then too. He thought that was cheating.

 

Today I was reading through Buster's FAQ's on PANDAS and was shocked to read that an OCD symptom is worrying about cheating on tests, etc.

 

I joined this forum because my son, age 10, is autistic but has many of the symptoms of PANDAS, but when I read the part about the cheating on tests, etc. I realized that my daughter has been suffering from this for years.

 

Approximately 2 1/2 years ago she was coming home daily convinced she was cheating at school. She would cry all the time and was insistent on the fact she was cheating even though we all knew she wasn't. The final straw was when we left a store one day and she was convinced she had stolen something. I quickly called a counselor as I thought that this might be stemming from the fact that she was dealing with a brother with severe autism. She also developed a strange little tic where she shrugged her shoulders over and over.

 

Now that I think about it, she had had a strep infection shortly before it all started.

 

I told her about this today and she said, "Oh my gosh, I'm not a freak after all!" She gets these tics once a year or so, so now I know what to look for.

 

This also reaffirms my thinking that my son's autism is more than it appears. And, I will continue to pursue this route.

 

Thanks to you all for your posts. They help me so much, you can't imagine.

[lboll]

Yes, that would happen here as well. No help with homework. Her teacher moved her desk and put up a folder so my daughter would not think she was cheating, but that made it worse. My daughter said she was somehow able to see everyone's paper in the whole class in that new spot in the room. Sigh.

 

I still see her getting her tics on and off. Sometimes it's a long blink, while other times it's that shrugging of the shoulders. If I see her getting the tics, do I get her tested for strep? I guess that would be my indication that somethings going on there.

[Suzan]

I'm glad you had that moment of seeing it and that it has made her feel better about herself! My dd felt that way too when she found out about pandas and new she was not crazy and that everything she was going through was real. Have you had her titers run to see if they are elevated? It's a place to start anyway although it didn't help us as my girls don't mount a titer response to strep.

 

My dd8 does not do the same cheating worry but she talks about other people cheating a lot. She talks a lot about rules that other people can break and how horrible it is and tries to ensure she does not break any of the rules. This goes for smoking, drinking, stealing, drugs, speeding.... too bad it doesn't seem to apply to talking when you aren't supposed to in class or leaving your junk around the house

 

She does have the homework issue, wanting to do it herself but wanting my help. I often hear "I want to do it myself, help me, no, don't help me, help me". I wonder now if it has to do with a cheating concept. I'll have to look into that.

 

Good luck with it all!!

 

Susan

[thereishope]

It seems more people see that their PANDAS child had PANDAS tendencies quite earlier than they realize or that another sibling had PANDAS tendencies, in hindsight. Does she continue to have the cheating fear or does that come and go? Here's alist of OCD tendencies that parents on this forum have witnessed. It may be worth reading them and see if anything else is currently going on.

 

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...ic=6153&hl=

 

What treatment have you've pursued so far for your son for PANDAS? If you have a doctor that is willing to work with you right now, bring your daughter in too. If she could be evaulated and eventually dx with PANDAS, she may be put on a prohylactic antibiotic to try to prevent another strep infection. Just because she recovered rather smoohtly the last few times, unfortunately, it does not mean it will be the case every time.

 

Does she get symtpoms of strep?

[MomWithOCDSon]

We've lived with this for so long, I can't remember when it wasn't a part of our lives . . . guilt about "was that cheating?" "Don't help me, that's cheating!" We call it "OCD Guilt."

 

There is an ironic upside to this: teachers that know our son know that he is virtually incapable of actually cheating, so if/when he has trouble completing a quiz in the classroom, they'll let him bring it home to complete it, confident that he's not going to help himself to his book, the internet or his parents to help him answer the questions.

 

For your daughter, in addition to exploring PANDAS treatment, I would suggest some cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) that will help her think through these concerns, recognize the more readily for the OCD behaviors that they are, and be less stressed by them. It has helped our son over the years.

[GatsMom]

I'm glad you had that moment of seeing it and that it has made her feel better about herself! My dd felt that way too when she found out about pandas and new she was not crazy and that everything she was going through was real. Have you had her titers run to see if they are elevated? It's a place to start anyway although it didn't help us as my girls don't mount a titer response to strep.

 

My dd8 does not do the same cheating worry but she talks about other people cheating a lot. She talks a lot about rules that other people can break and how horrible it is and tries to ensure she does not break any of the rules. This goes for smoking, drinking, stealing, drugs, speeding.... too bad it doesn't seem to apply to talking when you aren't supposed to in class or leaving your junk around the house

 

She does have the homework issue, wanting to do it herself but wanting my help. I often hear "I want to do it myself, help me, no, don't help me, help me". I wonder now if it has to do with a cheating concept. I'll have to look into that.

 

Good luck with it all!!

 

Susan

 

My ds16 has always been like this, particularly with some of the decisions teens make at this age (smoking, drinking, sex, etc). While I'm glad his mindsets keep him away from bad decisions, I hate thinking it's because the ocd won't allow him to come to the decision based on his own intelligence. We've always wondered why he was so over the top vehement about such things. Thanks for bringing this AHA moment to the forum. It is true, the more information that I read, the more it's clear mine has never fully recovered from his last episode 3 yrs ago AND that his very high functioning sister (22) had a big episode herself at age 11. We were nowhere close to seeing it for what it was and a psychologist quickly diagnosed her ocd yet a few months later, it passed and never returned to that degree again. Thank Heaven for this forum and these doctors.

[lboll]

It seems more people see that their PANDAS child had PANDAS tendencies quite earlier than they realize or that another sibling had PANDAS tendencies, in hindsight. Does she continue to have the cheating fear or does that come and go? Here's alist of OCD tendencies that parents on this forum have witnessed. It may be worth reading them and see if anything else is currently going on.

 

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...ic=6153&hl=

 

What treatment have you've pursued so far for your son for PANDAS? If you have a doctor that is willing to work with you right now, bring your daughter in too. If she could be evaulated and eventually dx with PANDAS, she may be put on a prohylactic antibiotic to try to prevent another strep infection. Just because she recovered rather smoohtly the last few times, unfortunately, it does not mean it will be the case every time.

 

Does she get symtpoms of strep?

 

 

Vickie,

My daughter gets strep about 2 times a year. Her tonsils are HUGE and seem like a breeding ground for bacteria. Her latest issue was an infection of some sort (though I never had the doctor test her for strep, which in hindsight wasn't smart). She had laryngitis and she was about to perform in a big play at school. Well, the doctor told her not to talk to save her voice. Well, she took that seriously and it got to the point where she was so paranoid about speaking that she quit all together and we weren't sure if she'd actually perform in the play. She kept saying, "I don't want to lose my voice for life". "I don't want to have to get surgery".

 

My doctor is now on vacation and I won't be able to get another doctor (here in China) to understand, so I'll have to wait until he gets back to work with us on her.

 

So for we're on Zith for my son, but I think the dosage is too low. We are going to consult with a PANDAS doctor by phone in the next 2 weeks, so I will make sure to mention all of this then.

[lboll]

We've lived with this for so long, I can't remember when it wasn't a part of our lives . . . guilt about "was that cheating?" "Don't help me, that's cheating!" We call it "OCD Guilt."

 

There is an ironic upside to this: teachers that know our son know that he is virtually incapable of actually cheating, so if/when he has trouble completing a quiz in the classroom, they'll let him bring it home to complete it, confident that he's not going to help himself to his book, the internet or his parents to help him answer the questions.

 

For your daughter, in addition to exploring PANDAS treatment, I would suggest some cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) that will help her think through these concerns, recognize the more readily for the OCD behaviors that they are, and be less stressed by them. It has helped our son over the years.

 

 

Thank you for the CBT idea. We had worked on that a few years ago, but more in the ways of dealing with worries and stress. Now, we will need to focus on the OCD tendencies.