PANDAS: would you treat with traditional meds or holistic?

amother

Fri, Jun 05 2020, 12:30 am

For PANDAS/brain inflammation, would you recommend traditional medications such as antibiotics and other medications like SSRIs for the OCD? or would you recommend a holistic approach where the Dr is an M.D. psychiatrist but practices holistically now? Does PANDAS generally need out of the box treatment?

Just some background: my son is currently on an SSRI in addition to other medication for the OCD but it's not working well and I'm now pursuing checking if it's related to PANDAS since he had an episode when he was much younger. (I don't recall the treatment at the time, either it went away on it's own or we did only antibiotics. He had strep titers after presenting OCD suddenly even though we weren't aware of any recent strep infections.)

Thank you

amother

Azure

Fri, Jun 05 2020, 2:27 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

If its pandas, psychiatric meds might not work.
2 of my kids have pandas. After my husband had a strep, one if my kid had a terrible ocd episode. Morein motrin motrin. It was gone bh.
When my first kid was first diagnosed w pandas, we first tried abx. It helped with her behavior a bit, but didn't do anything for her tics. Then we tried the diet/vinamin/homeopathic route. Bh it really helped. She had a relapse recently but bh is on the mend.....
Rs to your son!

amother

Wheat

Fri, Jun 05 2020, 3:40 am

My child was diagnosed as a child with ocd and looking back he had many pandas symptoms but I didn’t know better, years later someone pushed me to get him bloodwork by a pandas doctor and see if it’s due to pandas. I have another child who had pandas and that child had other types of symptoms. Bh I went , his his ASO was higher than not
And his AntiDnab which is also a panda marker was in the high 800 plus and is supposed to be much much lower. So we are trying the course of antibiotics now. We are on it for 3 months. They tested blood and numbers went down but still high and he’s still having symptoms. Doctor said give another month and then we’ll revisit the blood work. Hatzlacha finding the right cute for your child. Pandas isn’t clear cut for treatment, everyone tries different things to see if they can help... maybe try the homeopathic and see and if not go with the meds, as long as your followed by a pandas literate specialist. Hatzlacha!

amother

Emerald

Fri, Jun 05 2020, 4:05 am

Pandas needs a 3 pronged approach. Whether u do it traditionally or holistically, u need these components:
1. Treat underlying trigger/infection (strep, lyme, mycoplasma etc) with antibiotics (regular or natural)
2. Lower the brain inflammation that happened from infection and caused symptoms with anti inflammatories (motrin, or natural anti inflammatory like turmeric etc)
3. Address the faulty immune response that caused body to attack brain through immune modulating treatment (ivig, steroids or more natural LDN)

You get better healing when thoroughly addressing all three.

amother

Sapphire

Fri, Jun 05 2020, 4:31 pm

My son has been showing signs of pandas and I've actually asked here on imamother for any advice on how to treat it. We've chosen the alternative route after much deliberation and no backing from my pediatrician even after bloodwork and numbers were higher then normal. What can I say, hodu lashem! He's on the vitamins for 2 weeks, and my son is a changed child! Pm me if you want further details.

amother

Babypink

Fri, Jun 05 2020, 5:04 pm

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

ur anon. she cant pm u

amother

Magenta

Sat, Jun 06 2020, 9:43 pm

We went to Dr. Susan Schulman in boro park. She bh really helped us. My son developed a bad stutter. He was on zithromax for a good few months.. Now has been a year since hes off the meds but he gets turmeric for the inflammation. Bh working great.

amother

Sat, Jun 06 2020, 11:06 pm

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

Can you post which State you are in if you are located in the US? I want to know if it's relevant to ask which Dr you saw for the alternative recommendations.

Your post gives me so much hope! I'm so happy to hear things are better for you!

amother

Sapphire

Thu, Jun 11 2020, 9:13 am

We are working with a nutritionist that works for Supreme health in monsey. She has many success stories for those dealing with pandas and follow her regimen. My sons on the vitamins for almost 3 weeks and b"h we see tremendous improvement! Don't forget, his numbers were high and my pediatrician did not want to treat it! I'm so happy we went this route. A mother knows her child best.

amother

Linen

Thu, Jun 11 2020, 9:45 am

My child started exhibiting weird ocd symptoms. I thought it was precipitated by lockdown. Took him to Ped said I should find psychologist. Tested him for strep and overnight was positive even though zero symptoms. As the week has progressed on antibiotics the ocd symptoms have mysteriously disappeared as mysteriously as they started. Wasn't a big believer in pandas and now I dont know what to think. I'm so lost and confused.

amother

White

Thu, Jun 11 2020, 10:30 am

As a mom of (more than one) pandas child, no one path works for all. Ultimately, when you find something that is working for your child, diligently follow through. But dont frustrate is someone else's golden cure isnt yours.

amother

Aquamarine

Thu, Jun 11 2020, 2:48 pm

amother [ Linen ] wrote:

please beg your pediatrician for more antibiotics while you figure out a longer term solution

amother

Aquamarine

Thu, Jun 11 2020, 2:53 pm

amother [ Emerald ] wrote:

This is an excellent breakdown of what needs to be addressed with pandas, each of these components can be treated either allopathically or holistically. I would add a fourth step, address what caused the faulty immune response, namely, gut health.