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DS12 Turning 13!


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Tomorrow is DS12's birthday, and now I'm going to have to get in the habit of correctly identifying him as a teenager!

 

Honestly, if you'd asked me this past October if we would be looking toward tomorrow with anything other than trepidation, I couldn't have said that we were. But thanks to this forum and all the resources here, along with "Saving Sammy" and Beth Maloney, and our open-minded pediatrician, we can actually look forward tomorrow for fun, laughs, and congratulations to our smart, witty, kind, generous and increasingly happy young man!

 

He's been on abx since October 13, 2009, with two, 10-day breaks off of the abx early on in the treatment, until we finally got a clue and recognized for certain that he needed to stay on them to continue to improve. He's continued on a moderate dose of Luvox, as well, mostly because he'd begun that before we found PANDAS, and we didn't want to change too many variables at once. On October 20th, we switched from CBT to ERP and have continued the exposure therapy relative to OCD behaviors like contamination fears and avoidance of activities (namely school and homework) that triggered his anxiety. December 1, the doctor added Intuniv, a non-stimulant ADHD medication, to the mix. Since then, these meds have remained stagnant and the only additions or "tweaking" has been with respect to probiotics and other supplements. The latest additions, thanks to some experience and advice offered here on the forum, are curcumin and quercitin.

 

DS13's progress has been wonderful since starting the abx, and we are very encouraged that we have found the "magic key" to his full recovery. He's gone from being an absolute sleepless, home-bound mess to going to school full-time (including his advanced classes), participating in outside activities (like swimming, the movies, restaurant meals) and sleeping like a baby every night, waking in the morning with a great positive attitude! He is night and day from the boy last September, and we couldn't be more proud to see him enter his teenage years!

 

That's not to say he doesn't still have his moments, particularly when it comes to homework stress and decision-making. But he continues to gain ground in terms of regaining his composure more quickly and with less outside intervention. He's taking charge of his life again.

 

Thanks again to all of you for all the experience and advice you've provided us in this odyssey that is PANDAS. We continue to learn and try new ideas and look forward to the day when the medical community fully acknowledges and sets a treatment protocol so that all our kids can be made healthy and KEPT healthy!

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MomWithOCDSon,

 

So glad things are going well!!! Interesting and exciting that Sammy was not just a fluke. It makes a good point to anyone who has given up on Augmentin that you really don't know if it will work until you have tried the extended release version. Good luck on continued improvement. Alex

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AWESOME news, Mom!!!

 

Our son's on a similar healing path with the Saving Sammy dose and is also 13. Ain't it great to just deal with the normal headaches of raising a teenager and not the PANDAS migraines?

 

(Okay, maybe not great... but pretty good. ;-)

 

Hope your son's teenage years herald a bright, PANDAS-free future!

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Tomorrow is DS12's birthday, and now I'm going to have to get in the habit of correctly identifying him as a teenager!

 

Honestly, if you'd asked me this past October if we would be looking toward tomorrow with anything other than trepidation, I couldn't have said that we were. But thanks to this forum and all the resources here, along with "Saving Sammy" and Beth Maloney, and our open-minded pediatrician, we can actually look forward tomorrow for fun, laughs, and congratulations to our smart, witty, kind, generous and increasingly happy young man!

 

He's been on abx since October 13, 2009, with two, 10-day breaks off of the abx early on in the treatment, until we finally got a clue and recognized for certain that he needed to stay on them to continue to improve. He's continued on a moderate dose of Luvox, as well, mostly because he'd begun that before we found PANDAS, and we didn't want to change too many variables at once. On October 20th, we switched from CBT to ERP and have continued the exposure therapy relative to OCD behaviors like contamination fears and avoidance of activities (namely school and homework) that triggered his anxiety. December 1, the doctor added Intuniv, a non-stimulant ADHD medication, to the mix. Since then, these meds have remained stagnant and the only additions or "tweaking" has been with respect to probiotics and other supplements. The latest additions, thanks to some experience and advice offered here on the forum, are curcumin and quercitin.

 

DS13's progress has been wonderful since starting the abx, and we are very encouraged that we have found the "magic key" to his full recovery. He's gone from being an absolute sleepless, home-bound mess to going to school full-time (including his advanced classes), participating in outside activities (like swimming, the movies, restaurant meals) and sleeping like a baby every night, waking in the morning with a great positive attitude! He is night and day from the boy last September, and we couldn't be more proud to see him enter his teenage years!

 

That's not to say he doesn't still have his moments, particularly when it comes to homework stress and decision-making. But he continues to gain ground in terms of regaining his composure more quickly and with less outside intervention. He's taking charge of his life again.

 

Thanks again to all of you for all the experience and advice you've provided us in this odyssey that is PANDAS. We continue to learn and try new ideas and look forward to the day when the medical community fully acknowledges and sets a treatment protocol so that all our kids can be made healthy and KEPT healthy!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

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happy birthday to your son and so glad to hear things are going so well.

 

and for you mom - congratulations for you on your past 13 years and the recent success you have found with pandas treatment. your accomplishments in the past 13 years have been no small feats!

 

do you know who Marianne Williamson is? she's a speaker, philosopher, new-age type guru. i find her very wise. when i was reading your post, something in your words made me think of her. i thought of something she said about when we get involved in something for seemingly certain reasons and then in the end, we realize our purposes and goals were not really those reasons at all but something with much more value. i tried to find it in a book, but couldn't. it's not totally appropo but made me think of it. i think it was along the lines of that all you have been through and done in working to heal your son has added to your life in ways, although you never would have chosen, that enhance who you are as a person.

 

i did find this quote for you though - "inspiration rearranges our energies. it sources within us a new power and direction. we no longer feel like we're trying to carry a football to the finish line, clutching it to our chest and surrounded by hostile forces. we feel instead as though angels are pushing us from behind and making straight our path as we go."

 

i wish for you and your son continued angels making straight your path!

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Thanks, Smarty, yes I have heard of Marianne Williamson, though I don't have any of her books. I really appreciate the angels reference, though; actually gave me chills! ^_^

 

Thanks again, and all the best to you and everyone else here for the good wishes and support. We'll continue to try and return those gifts in kind. :)

 

happy birthday to your son and so glad to hear things are going so well.

 

and for you mom - congratulations for you on your past 13 years and the recent success you have found with pandas treatment. your accomplishments in the past 13 years have been no small feats!

 

do you know who Marianne Williamson is? she's a speaker, philosopher, new-age type guru. i find her very wise. when i was reading your post, something in your words made me think of her. i thought of something she said about when we get involved in something for seemingly certain reasons and then in the end, we realize our purposes and goals were not really those reasons at all but something with much more value. i tried to find it in a book, but couldn't. it's not totally appropo but made me think of it. i think it was along the lines of that all you have been through and done in working to heal your son has added to your life in ways, although you never would have chosen, that enhance who you are as a person.

 

i did find this quote for you though - "inspiration rearranges our energies. it sources within us a new power and direction. we no longer feel like we're trying to carry a football to the finish line, clutching it to our chest and surrounded by hostile forces. we feel instead as though angels are pushing us from behind and making straight our path as we go."

 

i wish for you and your son continued angels making straight your path!

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