Antibiotics for strep?

[GraceUnderPressure]

Tomorrow I am going to see what I can do to get my kids tested for strep to see if we have an active infection going. I am going to see if I can get a 2wk course of augmentin or zithromax for my 18yo, even if the rapid strep test comes up negative, because that would last us until the appt. with Dr. Rao in Dallas.

 

(1) Is that a bad idea? Will it mess up our test results?

(Not sure that we have a choice really - since we all started getting sick, my 18yo has been ticcing worse than we have ever seen him & we are getting really worried - we need to do SOMETHING)

 

(2) It sounds like I should try to get augmentin, but what strength & dosing regimen should be tried for an 18yo who weighs 136lbs. (He was 155lbs two yrs ago )

 

~Grace

[mkur]

My ds19 weighs approx 150 and takes Augmentin 875 twice a day per Dr B. This is the same dose the ER doctor gave him for infection - so you should have no trouble getting this dose. Bring your "crazy mom folders" and "Saving Sammy" book to the doctors. Show him the 1000mg twice a day recommended amount and the ER doctor will be happy to give you the 875mg dose x 10 days - the normal dose.

 

Reg augmentin has 125mg of CLV which is more than the Augmentin ER provides, CLV is mentioned in other posts which can have extra benefits.

 

Good luck

[GraceUnderPressure]

mkur,

 

Thank you for that info! How long has your ds been getting treated? Is he responding well? We are so worried that my 18yo has been so long without treatment (if it turns out that this is his problem as we haven't been tested yet) that he might not get better.

 

~Grace

[mkur]

How long has your ds been getting treated?

Is he responding well?

I hate to inform you this but we're in the same boat as you. DS got sick when he was 7 - Nov 1997 and has never been treated for pandas. Saw Dr B beginning of June. He is the healthiest physically he has been in a long time. Mentally he is coming back but is NO way near 100%. He can play videogames again and is sleeping thr the night. We did the neuro and psy thing and now we are trying the immunology method. We're going to do IVIG waiting for Igenex lab results and insurance pre-approval.

 

How long has Dr Rea been treating pandas? I took ds there in 1998 and they were no help and expensive.

My son and another girl from OK were too hyper so they quit testing for allergies because we were upsetting the older patients. This saved me a lot of money but I needed and wanted help.

 

Edit:I'm looking at the names and they are not the same. We went to the Environmental Health Center.

Edited August 30, 2010 by mkur

[GraceUnderPressure]

Whew, I'm so relieved that we're talking about different doctors!

 

What are your ds's issues? Ours is Tourette's (OCD-based tics).

 

How long did it take for you to see any signs of improvement when the antibiotics were started? At this point, we've been declining since the end of February so ANY improvement would be major for us.

[RNmom]

My ds14 is 165 lbs and 5'5" tall. He is on 3,000 mg Augmentin XR daily (takes 1,000 mgm every 8 hours). He has been on this since he had PEX in July and we have no plans to decrease this dose or discontinue antibiotics. (We do give probiotics - the ones NOT cultured with strep!)

 

I liked the post from today about milk thistle protecting against liver damage. That is a concern with long term Augmentin. You can bet we will be starting that today!

Edited August 30, 2010 by RNmom

[mkur]

What are your ds's issues?

How long did it take for you to see any signs of improvement when the antibiotics were started?

 

My son is labeled TS/OCD/ADHD but he is not a big ticcer.

 

Initial symptoms:

TS: spitting and twirling

OCD: sharp pencil, sticky brain, what's right/wrong, mom mom mom mom, not flexible

ADHD: can't sit still, talking&talking and no listening, lack of impulse control, unable to focus

Freq urination

[Headaches/seizures/panic_attacks/movement_disorder]

 

Improvement is difficult for us to measure because of the [Headaches/seizures/panic_attacks/movement_disorder] issue. This is what we are trying to fix. The freq and intensity has increased and he cannot do school, drive or hold a job when he has them. They really set him back - mentally and physically.

 

My ds started abx in feb because of severe acne. I explained pandas to derm and he put ds on a diff abx each month until we could see Dr_B in june. Physical health improved immediately. His seizures have not been breaking thr as frequently either.

 

Ibuprofen has made a big difference. Boy do I wish I go turn back the clock. Such an easy fix.

 

Good luck

[laure]

My ds14 is 165 lbs and 5'5" tall. He is on 3,000 mg Augmentin XR daily (takes 1,000 mgm every 8 hours). He has been on this since he had PEX in July and we have no plans to decrease this dose or discontinue antibiotics. (We do give probiotics - the ones NOT cultured with strep!)

 

I liked the post from today about milk thistle protecting against liver damage. That is a concern with long term Augmentin. You can bet we will be starting that today!

 

 

What are the probiotics to use? And not to use? What are the dangers if you don't use probiotics?

[GraceUnderPressure]

Laure,

 

My understanding is that you want to avoid any probiotic with a strep species in it. Strep thermophilus is a very common probiotic and is almost always, if not always, found in yogurt that you buy at the store as well as commonly in combination probiotics.

 

We are using Dr. Mercola's Complete Probiotics (mercola.com) Hopefully someone else can recommend some other kinds you can consider.

 

The danger is that as the antibiotics kill off microbes in the gut, good as well as bad, the more aggressive, disease-causing strains that are not as susceptible to that antibiotic will take over & create new problems. Clostridia overgrowth from taking Augmentin is a classic example - it can lead to an acutely inflamed gut (a nice way of saying diarrhea, nausea & vomiting) that can progress to chronic GI disease if left untreated.

 

I have been trying to combat yeast issues in my kids off & on for years, & now two of them have signs of some clostridia overgrowth though it has not reached pathological levels at this point. I believe the probiotics helped save us from that. We're now taking a probiotic called saccharomyces boulardii which is a yeast species that actually "eats" clostridia to help keep it at bay.

 

HTH!

~Grace