9 yr old son w/ OCD

February 7, 2006

I'm new to this board. My son is 9 and his OCD is at it's worst. Our

DR. said that the winter months, December - February, are tough on OCD

patients because of the shorter days and that less sunlight is absorbed

by through the skin & eyes which helps increase seratonin, which in

turn also helps worrying. Also, my son just got over strep throat and

we were told that this strep infection is a major cause in the spike of

his OCD symptoms. We were shocked. Has anyone ever heard of this?

My son has an overwhelming fear & obsession with vomitting...especially

in public. His anxiety gets so bad that it has actually happened at

home, restaurants, and most recently at school. Does anyone have any

advice on what I can do to help him feel more confident in school? HAs

anyone experienced anything like this with their child> It's so bad

sometimes, that he just doesn't or can't eat! And this is only one of

his isues!

Thanks for listening

Jen

February 7, 2006

Hi Jen,

Welcome. Has your son ever had a blood test to check his strep

titers for PANDAS?(Pediatric Autoimmune Neuro Psychiatric Disorder

associated with Strepptocol (sp?) infections) - its OCD that's

caused when your strep antibodies (after a strep infection) attack

the basal ganglia of the brain.

My 10 year old daughter had a sudden onset of OCD symptoms when she

was 9 after suffering from a strep infection. She had several blood

tests over a period of months, and each time her strep titers were

increasing, and she was diagnosed with PANDAS OCD. Her doctor

prescribed a 3 week course of antibiotics, and she slowly started to

feel better.

She is prone to throat/ear infections, so her psychiatrist has her

on a low dose antibiotic thoughtout the school year. He tells us

that even being exposed to the strep virus can cause an exacerbation

of OCD symptoms.

My daughter went through a fear of vomiting at restaurants too, and

we didn't eat out for quite a while. We started bringing food in

from her favourite restaurants, and then we started having her come

with me to pick up the food. Then, we went to restaurants for only

a short time - maybe for desserts or appetizers. We also brought

along one of her friends and that seemed to take her mind off

vomiting....Just some ideas.

I hope some of this helps. Take care, nne

>

> I'm new to this board. My son is 9 and his OCD is at it's worst.

Our

> DR. said that the winter months, December - February, are tough on

OCD

> patients because of the shorter days and that less sunlight is

absorbed

> by through the skin & eyes which helps increase seratonin, which

in

> turn also helps worrying. Also, my son just got over strep throat

and

> we were told that this strep infection is a major cause in the

spike of

> his OCD symptoms. We were shocked. Has anyone ever heard of

this?

> My son has an overwhelming fear & obsession with

vomitting...especially

> in public. His anxiety gets so bad that it has actually happened

at

> home, restaurants, and most recently at school. Does anyone have

any

> advice on what I can do to help him feel more confident in

school? HAs

> anyone experienced anything like this with their child> It's so

bad

> sometimes, that he just doesn't or can't eat! And this is only

one of

> his isues!

> Thanks for listening

> Jen

>

February 7, 2006

> >

> > I'm new to this board. My son is 9 and his OCD is at it's

worst.

> Our

> > DR. said that the winter months, December - February, are tough

on

> OCD

> > patients because of the shorter days and that less sunlight is

> absorbed

> > by through the skin & eyes which helps increase seratonin, which

> in

> > turn also helps worrying. Also, my son just got over strep

throat

> and

> > we were told that this strep infection is a major cause in the

> spike of

> > his OCD symptoms. We were shocked. Has anyone ever heard of

> this?

> > My son has an overwhelming fear & obsession with

> vomitting...especially

> > in public. His anxiety gets so bad that it has actually happened

> at

> > home, restaurants, and most recently at school. Does anyone have

> any

> > advice on what I can do to help him feel more confident in

> school? HAs

> > anyone experienced anything like this with their child> It's so

> bad

> > sometimes, that he just doesn't or can't eat! And this is only

> one of

> > his isues!

> > Thanks for listening

> > Jen

> >

>Thanks for the advice nne. We just took a regular strep

culture yesterday to be sure, and it was negative. Can strep titers

still be elevated if the culture is negative? Our GP didn't even

know about the OCd/Strep connection. Do I discuss this with him or

the Psychiatrist where he gets his meds?

I will try the advice about eating, restaurants.ect...I thought we

were alone in this. Thanks so very much!

February 7, 2006

If your son had a neg. strep throat culture, that just means he doesn't have

infection in his throat, the most common site. However kids can get skin,

sinus, ear, rectum etc. strep infections. Needless to say a throat swab

test will not pick up these!

A blood test is required to detect elevated strep titers. Elevated titers

just indicate a kid whose had a recent strep infection. Rising titers

indicate increasing immune activation and perhaps continuing strep infection

*somewhere*.

My child is a PANDAS child. She's had documented strep infections with no

physical symptoms, just the abruptly worse OCD.

Antibiotics (always necessary when there is a strep infection--strep is a

nasty, dangerous bug aside from PANDAS) *may* shorten and lessen a PANDAS

OCD episode. Many of our PANDAS kids take preventive AB therapy similar to

that prescribed to kids with rheumatic fever/heart (yet another

post-strep-infection complication.) Not all doctors have heard of strep/OCD

connection, and not all believe in it or will treat it. It is still

considered a theory, not an established medical fact. Doctors today are

under a lot of pressure to curtail antibiotic overuse and may not be

comfortable prescribing them to a child with OCD on a " let's see " basis.

Kathy R. in Indiana

----- Original Message -----

From: " jenniferleighmom " <jenniferleighmom@...>

>>Thanks for the advice nne. We just took a regular strep

> culture yesterday to be sure, and it was negative. Can strep titers

> still be elevated if the culture is negative? Our GP didn't even

> know about the OCd/Strep connection. Do I discuss this with him or

> the Psychiatrist where he gets his meds?

> I will try the advice about eating, restaurants.ect...I thought we

> were alone in this. Thanks so very much!

February 7, 2006

Hello Jen! I'm also new to this group. I have a 9 year old son with OCD and

tics. I was told that 9-11 years old are very hard years for OCD. My sons

symptoms seem to be getting worst this year. I wonder if this is true for

others? I'm not even sure why? Wierd thing is he seems to do alot better when

were outside in the sun and nature. Maybe , I'll try starting the day with a

nice walk on the beach. I don't know the scientific research on this. All I know

is I too feel better in the summer Are you in California? Good luck and keep

smiling! Danalee

jenniferleighmom <jenniferleighmom@...> wrote: I'm new to this board. My

son is 9 and his OCD is at it's worst. Our