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Strep exposure while on antibiotic


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It has been awhile since I lasted posted.... I have been on the site often but quite honestly between all the worry and care for the 2with PANDAS I think my brain is fried! and I couldnt organize my thoughts enough to make an intelligent post.... but after yet another call from school about strep in the class/school I will try my best....

 

DD7 has been on zith 500mg and augmentin 1000mg for approx 1 1/2 months... she has been on zith since Feb 13th.... as I posted before most of the OCD had dimished or been minimized... But she still had frequent meltdowns and rages... they are pretty much a daily occurance and often more than 1x per day. she is very volatile - I tiold my husband she is like a can of soda that gets shook up all day (at school) and then explodes as soon as she in the car or home. her just right ocd is still strong - . she also still has bedtime fears -wont sleep in own bed and still cant sleep without the melatonin. We tried to switch her to the time release melatonin and she wasnt falling asleep at all so we went back to 5mg tabs...

 

DS10 had big exasperation in November and we got it under control in Jan - ominicef brough him back to about 85-90% and then we were giving amox daily per infectious disesase dr... He went on zith 3 week course and then profalctic dose 2xs per week. We are seeing his handwriting go downhill - also trouble spelling... even 'easy words like sweep.... and contactions, possessives and plural possesives - which they are learning now are a big problem! his math ablility is holding steady so far but we have seen some buckles last week (I pray that it is not a sign of what is to come :) Also he can no longer sit still... super hyper again.... always has to be moving - even if watching a show has to be banging a ball on wall (which drives me crazy!) or hitting (not hard) the couch or pillow.... high tacticle cravings- moving hands on walls.... he is on allergy medicine too... so maybe they are playing a part

 

so.... here are some questions spinning in my head...

The school nurse calls me when there is a case of reported strep.... Over the past 4 weeks I have gotten a call every week - mutiple times in a week - there have no reported cases in my sons class (4th grade) but 3rd and 5th... and every weeks there are cases in my daughters.

 

Both of my kids are on antibiotics - Gabrielle daily - jordan 2x's per week.... would they still have a response to the strep even while on antibiotics? I am considering asking to bump Jordan back up to full zith...

 

Also - with both of them being on meds is it possible that the die off is causing the reaction... or with Gabrielle shouldnt that be contradicted being on both zith and augmentin....

 

We started pursing IVIG for them as well... I beleive that it may be our only chance of getting back to a so called normal life.

 

any advice or thoughts are appreciated!

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IMO they could react to just being around strep, but I would take the very cautious position it it were my children and increase the antibiotics, even if just for 2 weeks.

I want to make sure I have this right. Your 10 year old (Jordan) is on how much Zithromax 2x/week? Did you see a big improvement when he was on zithromax daily for 3 weeks? I would definitely increase his zithromax back to daily. How much does he weigh? If he is over about 70 # you may want to consider giving 500mg to begin. He could have strep with taking zith only 2x/week.

 

Your 7 year old (Gabrielle) is on how much zithromax per day and what is her weight?

 

Colleen

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IMO they could react to just being around strep, but I would take the very cautious position it it were my children and increase the antibiotics, even if just for 2 weeks.

I want to make sure I have this right. Your 10 year old (Jordan) is on how much Zithromax 2x/week? Did you see a big improvement when he was on zithromax daily for 3 weeks? I would definitely increase his zithromax back to daily. How much does he weigh? If he is over about 70 # you may want to consider giving 500mg to begin. He could have strep with taking zith only 2x/week.

 

Your 7 year old (Gabrielle) is on how much zithromax per day and what is her weight?

 

Colleen

Jordan is 110lbs 5ft tall- it is 250mg 2xs per week - when he went on daily zith he was already in pretty good place- dr t wanted to see if it would improve him more... when we first started dosing it actually made things slightly worse for approx a week- then he went back to approx 85-90% to baseline...

 

Gabrielle is 71pounds just over 4feet tall - she is on 500 mg per day and 1000mg augmentin

 

Thanks!

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YES.

 

My poor dd reacts to kids in her class with strep. I usually know a day or two prior because of her increased irritibility and "just right" ocd, then I get the email that so and so was diagnosed with strep, and she is usually better with in a day. She is on daily full dose zithromax.

 

We recently had the situation where over 10 kids in her class had strep, and the whole other 1st grade class. I believe strep is still rampant in her class. We finally decided to do a steroid burst because she wasn't calming down after a week of this exposure. The burst is coming to an end, a friend in class was dianosed with strep on Friday, and Julia has been more irritable since. I have kept her out of school for at least 2 mos of time throughout the year. I will probably keep her home tomorrow. The ONLY thing I have found to help, is getting away from the exposure- which means staying home from school for a week (sorry).

 

A question about the melatonin. I tried it once on my kids and it worked great. I am too afraid to use it because it has a warning for those with autoimmune disorders. It seems it definately interacts with immune system- have you talked to a doc that recommended/approved it. I would love to use it, but am so afraid of stirring ANYTHING up.

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Yes, for 110 lb. child who gets exposed to strep, 2x/week zithromax is not enough. My 3 oldest are on daily zith and they weigh 55lb., 80 lb. and 125 lb. I can't even drop my 55 lb. son to anything lower than 250/day or he has a flareup (he is constantly exposed to strep at school- it is everywehere!).

 

None of my kids would do well on only 2x/week zithromax, especially if they are around a lot of strep. Can you increase him to 500mg for maybe a week, then drop back down to 250/day? Point out to your dr how well he did on daily zithromax.

 

Why is your daughter on much higher doses?

 

Colleen

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dcmom- thanks for the input on your daughter - I had a feeling that she was reacting to it... and I am sure it doesnt help that we have 5 kids (inluding her) that have been on and off sick all winter... after I posted I started thinking about her 1yr old brother- he has frequent ear infections - that from what I learned on this forum are caused by strep virus... (if my memory is still intact!) so she could be reacting to him too!

 

We did the consult with a PANDAS Dr- I asked him about the melatonin and the warning and he said it would be OK to keep taking it... it is a Godsend in our house I honestly dont know how we survived without it.... many nights up past midnight... if full meltdown mode....

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Colleen-

Thanks for the information- I will put in another call to the Dr to see if we can get more meds... I have no problem making the changes as long as I can keep getting the antibitoics for them :)

 

Dr T put Gabrielle on the higher doses when we tired to drop her to 2xs per week and everything OCD, urinary frequency, screeching tic, dangerous behaviors, etc.... came racing back.... when she went on the higher does of both antibitocs everything except some just right ocd and rages/meltdowns seem to havine diminished....

 

It is such a balancing act! Trying to get them on the right medicines and then stay away from strep .... and everything else going around!

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I agree with Colleen on dosing.

 

And yes...our dd has reacted to strep (family members) exposure despite being on antibiotics (at the time 250mg/day azith. for a 50ish pound kid).

 

I always think of it like a peanut allergy...where an allergic kid could react to peanuts in the environment (touching or airborne) even if they aren't actually eating the peanuts.

Edited by EAMom
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I agree with everyone else about exposure.

 

As for dd7 and her behavior after school, my son was like that. He didn't act up in the classroom, but once he got home, he was short fuse. We learned to give him an hour of deprogramming time where we just let him be, No questions about school, how he was, nothing, If he wanted to be alone in his room, we let him.

 

Do you give your kids Omega 3's? That helps the brain and may also help with your son's handwriting and other school issues.

 

If your kids can take Ibuprofen, it may be time to give that.

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