11 yr old with sudden severe anxiety/OCD- help!

amother

Mon, Aug 05 2019, 9:10 am

Thanks.

I do not know of any s-xual abuse, but obviously, that doesn't mean it didn't happen in day camp or something. The issues did seem to begin right after camp started.

He is overweight, but people have called him fat before and that never started him off dieting, even though he was upset. I think this started from overhearing that high blood sugar can cause frequent urination, which has been a major major issue for him the past few days.

I am not sure if our pediatrician here, or the one in the city, believes in PANDAS. I guess I'll call and ask, but I still want to get him to a psychologist ASAP. (There seems to be one psychologist in our area and no psychiatrists, so we'll have to make do with that until we get home.)

amother

Oak

Mon, Aug 05 2019, 2:45 pm

My sons first symptoms of severe pandas was frequent urination (going to toilet every 5 minutes literally), panic attacks and severe food restrictions. He tested positive for strep after sudden worsening of all symptoms.He had anxiety his whole life...
If you say he has tics, that is not a symptom of anorexia...
Also, untreated lyme can cause psych symptoms (including anorexia)..
Please do bloodwork for strep and other infections including lyme and coinfections.
My sons above symptoms have vastly improved over the last year after prophylactic antibiotics (we had to try a few different ones), one ivig so far and steroids...
He is eating most foods now that he used to eat, frequent urination is thing of past, etc...bh..we are not completely healed yet unfortunately but the difference is amazing.

amother

Mon, Aug 05 2019, 2:52 pm

amother [ Oak ] wrote:

You are describing my son exactly. I tried getting him to wait to go to the bathroom for 15 minutes since his last trip there, and he couldn't do it. He goes every 5 minutes, and has extreme anxiety that he is having accidents in between his frequent bathroom trips. He has never really had anxiety before, but he did have some compulsive behaviors. I'm trying to get him an appointment with the psychologist, and I need to speak to his pediatricians, both in the city and in the country.

amother

Mon, Aug 05 2019, 7:22 pm

B"H we just got the bloodwork done and the doctor agreed that it is very likely PANDAS. I am still waiting for a call back from the psychologist regarding an appointment, but at least I feel like something is being done now.

amother

Khaki

Mon, Aug 05 2019, 7:55 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Boruch Hashem

amother

Forestgreen

Mon, Aug 05 2019, 7:58 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Just so you're aware, it's often very helpful to use traditional therapy with a psychologist in conjunction with whatever treatment you do for the underlying pandas.

amother

Oak

Mon, Aug 05 2019, 8:26 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Frequent urination ISNT an anxiety symptom or a sign of UTI...it is a sign of untreated strep and the subsequent brain inflammation...with proper antibiotics that was his first symptom to leave. No psychologist or psych meds helped, we tried...we had him tested for uti and diabetes at that time as well...only the strep was positive...

amother

Mon, Aug 05 2019, 8:55 pm

Ds has been tested for a UTI and strep twice in the past month, and we also tested his blood sugar. All was normal.

Anxiety might cause frequent urination, but in ds's case, the frequent urination has led to severe anxiety about having accidents. He was actually changing his underwear every few minutes, because he thought it was wet every time. Once I started checking for him, I showed him it was dry every time. He cried through most of Shabbos because of his imagined accidents. The poor kid was in major distress.

amother

Mon, Aug 05 2019, 10:07 pm

Um... thank you? He hasn't had any vaccinations recently, and don't think I'm about to start blaming the fact that he was vaccinated for possibly having strep in his blood. But I suppose anti-vaxxers will blame anything on shots.

amother

Tue, Aug 06 2019, 1:36 pm

I just want to thank everyone who chimed in on this thread. The doctor got back some of the blood results, and it tells him enough that he is starting ds on antibiotics today to fight PANDAS. May the medicine help him return to his normal state, together with the other support we are trying to get for him.

top mom

Tue, Aug 06 2019, 1:38 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Davening for a quick and easy recovery for your dear son