Posted by Ellie, mother of 17 year old OCD sufferer on May 8, 2002:
I have recently come across information that causes us to believe our son came by his OCD via strep infections. Who woulda thought? Apparently the research on this is 10-15 years old, max. We have been told by Paul's family doctor and the diagnosing psychiatrist that Paul'ls OCD is a result of spinal meningitis at age 8 1/2 months, because of the strep that was identified as having carried the meningitis bacteria into his system. Just recently we have been reading about PANDAS... "Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Strep", and have to assume this is the category or origin that applies to Paul. At 8 1/2 years he had a strep inspired bone infection with another 10 day hospitalization and surgery. In retropect (his OCD manifested most strongly back in Nov. '01) he has probably had something serious going on since early childhood, but nothing we or therapists could diagnose. Just before this fall when handwashing and a lot of tic disorder manifestations became visible, Paul had another sore throat that lasted a while. We don't go to doctors much, and don't have any insurance, so we treated him with zinc tabs and an antioxident. Now I am feeling horribly guilty suspecting it was strep again. From what I've read, the autoimmune response to strep in SOME pediatric cases can cause lesions in the basal ganglion. And obviously our child has a history of life-threatening responses to strep. The NIMH is running studies on PANDAS cases right now, unfortunately we are too far away to send Paul to participate. Have any on the board been told their OCD is a PANDAS? Anyone try antibiotics because of the PANDAS connection? Is that protocol useful after the obvious strep symptom has subsided? Any links to recommend? Thanks for any help. Ellie