PANDAS

I am getting back to blogging! Yay! So, over the winter, (since I last blogged,) the craziest thing happened. A friend of mine who is also on facebook posted this article:

http://bodyecology.com/articles/are-you-or-your-child-at-risk-how-to-protect-against-this-serious-strep-related-illness#.UZayDMo7irj
Of course her posting this was not the crazy thing...

This happened about the same time that Eli's behavior was starting to spiral out of control a bit. The weather is always hard on these kids with autism in the dead of winter, but this was something more. He had some negative behaviors that were not normal for him, and he also often seemed out of control of his body and also expressed it verbally when I asked him why he would not stop. I figured it might be time for another "yeast protocol" round with his doctor's anti-fungal prescription and extra strict diet for about a month. (Yeast build up is a problem that crops up with him sometimes, even though we are careful. The yeast protocol gets things under control again.) However, the PANDAS article was in the back of my mind and gave me the extra motivation to take him in.

To my surprise, when we went in, he was diagnosed with strep. I was completely floored. He was at the tail end of having strep and I didn't even know. His doctor explained why his disrespectful, out-of-control behavior was caused by the infection. I recalled Eli mentioning a sore throat, but he is not so good at drinking his liquids, so I just got him a drink of water. He mentioned it twice and did not bring it up again so I thought we had fixed the problem. Apparently, though, our real problem was PANDAS, caused by a case of strep.

I am so, so, so, so grateful that I was on the lookout  and we got him the help that he needed. (Anti-Biotics, Pro-Biotics, and Yeast Protocol.) We got our sweet boy back. I can't imagine what may have happened if I had been unaware. This problem can happen to anyone, really. Be aware and tell your friends.