Possible Herpes connection to OCD?

January 25, 2012

I am well aware of the PANDAS-OCD connection and have explored that possibility

with my son (15.5), who also has pretty severe Tourette's syndrome. He tested

negative for the initial " titer " so we didn't pursue any further. Also because

he didn't really have a sudden onset of symptoms or any obvious strep, which is

typically the case with PANDAS.

He did test positive for chronic Lyme, and we had him on abx for 4-5 months,

however it's impossible to know one way or another if the abx really helped.

Initially his tics seemed to go down quite a bit, but that only lasted for a

week and then they crept right back up. His OCD also was not very apparent

during that time, which was about 4-5 months ago.

We had him to Dr. Bransfield in NJ who specializes in neuropsychiatric Lyme and

he did not feel that in my son's case his symptoms were Lyme-induced.

I'm wondering if anyone has happened to hear of a possible Herpes/OCD

connection? Reason being is that when my son was 3 he developed herpes on the

bottom of one foot. I know, really bizarre, but it stayed confined just to the

bottom of his foot (thank God!). He started an eye-blinking tic at age 2 and had

the chicken pox vaccine prior to that, probably around 16-18 months old.

Okay, so herpes and Chicken Pox are in the same family. First the vaccine, then

then the eye-blinking tic, then the herpes outbreak. Everything laid fairly low

over the years until he hit puberty a year and a half ago, then all hell broke

lose with his tics going into orbit and getting very severe. At that point,

there was no mistaking it for anything other than Tourette's.

The OCD was not very apparent initially, however looking back there were signs

as young as age 2 when he became obsessed with thinking that anytime anyone

laughed (even out in public) they were laughing at him, and he'd go hysterical

crying. Later on, maybe around age 9-10 he became obsessed thinking he had every

illness under the sun and was dying. This lasted about 6-8 months, then passed.

Fast forward to present. Past 3-4 months the OCD has become increasingly

apparent and progressing almost on a daily basis. In his case, it's not a lot o

ritualistic stuff (although there are a few things) but more the obsessional

thoughts, doesn't want to hear certain words, and major bathroom avoidance

(doesn't want to take a shower, brush his teeth, etc.)

He's currently on the wait list for 's, which can't come soon enough, but

regardless of when he goes and how long he is there, I still want to explore

other possibilities including the Herpes connection. Just not sure how or where

to begin finding info on that. I've searched online and can not seem to find

anything. If anyone has suggestions on where to look or has experience with

this, please let me know.

Thanks!

D

Recommended Posts