I am convinced my 10 yr old son has PANDAS and was wondering if anyone else’s children have had sudden tics happen with a strep infection. He was tic free the beginning of March 2007 and then suddenly has a neck (head shaking) tick quite often. We treated the strep, but the tics remain and wax and wane. A sniffing tic usually happens when he goes to bed. He has been a little moody but no major OCD which I hear is also the result of PANDAS. I just want to know what else I can do. Our neurologist gave us Tenex to reduce the tics, but we are only 1 week into the “ramp up” low dosage, so no change yet. His ASO titer count was 310 when he has the strep (200 being normal) and a month later it has dropped to 271. I am hoping that once the ASO titer count gets back to normal so will he, but maybe the brain needs time to recover. Anyone else with similar experiences?
I have a 5 year old that started to develop tics rapidly, but the severe symptoms developed over a year after a strep infection that we KNOW he had (in fact it became Scarlet Fever). Once it was determined that he may have PANDAS, a titer was performed and found to be in the 1,300 range. He was immediately placed on antibiotic (2 weeks) and within a week of the antibiotic treatment the symptoms lessened, but still remain. Some days much better than others.
Also - his tic symptoms do follow another pattern, which is the level of stress in his life. Recently went through a couple moves, living with an Alzheimer’s grandfather and domineering grandmother. Symptoms went down after antibiotic, but this also coincided with a vacation to the other grandparents that shower him with love and attention and he gets lots of outdoors fun and fresh air. I am still struggling with what is the cause of these symptoms and what to do about them.
Should I have another titer done? We are considering Gluten Free / Dairy Free (actually we have just started this).
I am petrified of how he will be treated by his classmates and teachers in Kindergarten this fall…