Now I have strep

[cobbiemommy]

Been feeling punky for a few days and then developed dizziness when standing or moving my head. I went to the clinic and I had a rapid strep test which came back positive. Physician wrote me a scrip for Omnicef which I started immediately. Do I need to leave the house for a few days so my son won't be affected or just stay far away from him? He is currently taking Augmentin XR 1000 mg 2X daily as well as Minocycline and Clarithromycin for Lyme and Co. Do you think he is covered?

 

Ironically, we just did strep blood work last week and were waiting for the results (I was already having symptoms that I thought was a cold.)

Edited February 21, 2012 by cobbiemommy

[SSS]

Yes. You do need to leave. You need to check into the nicest local hotel you can find, make sure it has a spa and good room service.

;-)

 

Sorry you are feeling lousy! Strep just went around dd's class, but she in on Azith. and Septra, so I am not sweating it. (not really, ha ha.)

Maybe stay away from him the best you can until you have 2-3 days of antibiotics under your belt.

[tpotter]

Yes. You do need to leave. You need to check into the nicest local hotel you can find, make sure it has a spa and good room service.

;-)

 

Sorry you are feeling lousy! Strep just went around dd's class, but she in on Azith. and Septra, so I am not sweating it. (not really, ha ha.)

Maybe stay away from him the best you can until you have 2-3 days of antibiotics under your belt.

 

 

I think we should have the "sick Mommy" convention. Only, I think it should be a nice cruise to nowhere! Then, we'll get waited on, we can lie out in the sun and the spa, and pamper ourselves silly!

 

I've got my fingers crossed that we aren't about to go through the whole thing again, too. DS went to bed earlier this evening saying he feels like he's got strep again...AAAARGH!

[LNN]

If you've been feeling lousy for a few days already, your DS has already been exposed. Doesn't mean you can't use it as an excuse, but...

 

Strep went thru my son's school like wild fire recently. DS complained of not feeling right and then 3 days later woke up with swollen glands. Because he's on zith+rifampin and had a T&A, there wasn't much point in dragging him in for a swab. It's not like the pedi or minute clinic would add more abx if they knew what he was on (tho not telling them did cross my mind). But his throat wasn't that red, he wasn't complaining of a lot of pain, etc. So I at first thought it was a viral thing (did not know strep was rampant yet). Pandas symptoms started to flair and he came home from school early several days, complaining of muscle pain, brain fog. Then some mild OCD showed up. Homework became an ordeal. Then I got an email from his teacher telling me she'd been dx'd with strep. That's when I learned it had been going around school for weeks.

 

So the LLMD added a month of amox as a precaution and I added resveratrol. The resveratrol seemed to take away some of the brain fog and pain. Treating the pyroluria for 5 months really seems to have helped his immune system. We did regular NSAID dosing for 2 weeks. The OCD is mostly gone (it was never much to begin with) and in only three weeks, he's about 90%. I was sad to be hammered over the head with the realization that he still has Pandas (it's easy to start to think it was always just lyme and that maybe Pandas was a mis-diagnosis). But it was good to realize that the 17 pills he takes daily actually helped keep him pretty stable. We went through a wobble, not an explosion. It was a 2-3 when previous flairs were 8's or 10's.

 

So my point is that you should be vigilant but you can also be hopeful that by treating the lyme & co. and doing the integrative support, it's very possible that he can handle strep much better now. Fingers crossed for you.

[aidansmom]

Aidan's brother had strep a couple of weeks ago. Even worse is that the brother told me he thought he had it but I thought it seemed more like a virus so I didn't bring him in right away. When I finally did he was positive. Then it hit me that Aidan's behavior had ramped up and so I decided to bring him in to the pediatrician for a check. The nurse did the swab before the doctor ever came in and it was good they did because they would not have swabed based on clinical presentation. He did not have a red throat nor swollen glands like his brother did. He also has had his tonsils removed. But his rapid also came back positive. Of course it was Friday after 5PM when this was done so we were not sure what the LLMD would recommend. The pediatrician put him on Clindamycin for 10 days. For his Lyme treatment he had been on omnicef, azith and mepron but it was pulsed only on Mon, wed and Fri. For these 10 days we dropped the omnicef (similar to clindamycin) but otherwise continued on his LLMD's treatment plan. They behavior improved after this treatment.

 

I believe there is no way to totally keep them from strep exposure unless we keep them in a bubble. Hopefully one day with treatment and uncovering the different layers of issues that they will be healthy enough and their immune system will be functioning well enough that having strep or being exposed to it will not be as big of a deal.

 

I will be interested to see if Aidan's ASO or Antidnase change after this exposure. (antidnase has been elevated since August - measured every 3-4 weeks) I do question if is possible Aidan has had it longer than that and that his brother finally caught it from him and if strep is a bigger player than what we are treating for now. Hopefully keeping records of behavior/labs/treatment and response to treatment will help us figure out this puzzle.

[JuliaFaith]

Hope all is going well with your son. This month, my ds caught a cold that went thru the entire house. He was over the virus in about 10-14 days like everyone else which was great to see (after 14 months of treatment). He did have a 'flare' (increase in daily symptoms) for another 2 weeks after that and could not figure out why. Then his dad left town, along with him being on Valcyte for a week, and immediately the flare was gone and his was back to baseline (~70%)! So not sure if was his dad's swollen glands b/4 he left or the Valcyte that helped get him out of it - but we will take it! Then I got the swollen glands (no other symptoms) and he continued at baseline. Holding steady and everyone healthy (or back to baseline).

 

This conference is very informative and mentions a bit of what you are talking about:

 

http://betterhealthguy.com/joomla/blog/257-bioresource-2012-conference

 

"PANDAS in kids often turns out to be Bartonella plus Lyme with the Strep riding along like a co-infection."

 

Do like the idea of going to a spa for the week too!

Edited February 22, 2012 by JuliaFaith

[cobbiemommy]

I very much like the idea of a cruise to somewhere warm and tropical. When we get where we are going we could have very handsome Cabana boys or cabana men (whatever) to see to our every whim. To dream...

 

Went to bed at 7:15 last night and hubby took care of them. He also got up early and went to an FFA (Future Farmers of America) breakfast with them. What a doll.

 

The idea of strep as coinfection for the Lyme and Bart makes a lot of sense. DS, 12, is really rebounding while on the steroid taper and the Augmentin XR. I hope this lasts...

 

Cobbie

[sf_mom]

Recently our older son complained of headache, sore throat and stomach ache... I was worried about strep but was riding it out until I got the notice from school that the boy who sits across from him had a confirmed case. We added Omnicef to daily Azithro/Tindamax/Mepron antibiotics and all complaints resolved in 48 hours. I felt his response was fairly typical and there was no notable OCD or TICS with strep exposure and possible infection 'we did not culture him'. Most of our family was also confirmed positive again for mycoplasma this past month!! Its been a heck of a winter of BUGS but I am hopeful the hyper immune response is finally normalizing after 2 1/2 years of Lyme/Pandas treatment for older DS.

 

I highly recommend adding XClear nasal spray at the slightest hint of a cold (often mycoplasma). I understand from LLMD mycoplasma presents itself more like cold with typical congestion or sinus issues and no fever. I had minor congestion in my sinuses (only symptom) and son had a stuff up nose. XClear has Xylitol, Saline, Grapefruit Seed in it and can be purchased at Whole Foods or Pharmica. I believe it really, really helped with both the recent strep exposure and mycoplasma....