So I go to a website all about it and it IS Abigail!!! This is what Abigail has been doing for the last year - so I read more and more and the more I read the more I realise this is what Abigail has - and it all makes sense now!
And when you read what kind of child gets PANDAS and what kind of parents these children have!!! Well it just totally makes sense. Poor Abby Banana! But it feels so much better to have a label and know there are things we can do to help her get better and so tomorrow I can phone the health centre and make an appointment for her and get her some help!
If you'd like to read more about PANDAS you can go to:
intramural.nimh.nih.gov/pdn/web.htm
www.webpediatrics.com/pandasclinicalcases.html
Abby's main symptoms are physical - opening her mouth wide constantly and uncontrollably is her main one now and I know she finds this difficult. She also licks the corner of her mouth until it's sore, but it started last year with screwing up her nose tight. She also shakes quite badly a lot of the time - her hands - I thought this was inherited from my Mom but perhaps not after all! Perhaps this is part of the PANDAS
Physical symptoms of PANDAS frequently include tics and a significant deterioration in fine motor skills. Tics can be isolated or may come in multiples and in bursts. They can be especially noticeable when child is tired, irritated, or left alone. Common tics include eye blinking, tapping, facial grimacing (motor tics), or coughing, throat clearing, uttering words for no apparent reason (vocal tics). Less frequently child can have unexplainable purposeless motions with all four extremities that look like a weird dance (St. Vitus dance was an early description of this symptom). Interestingly enough, despite of obvious shaking of hands child is able to use fork and spoon without spilling food. One of the hallmark symptoms is obvious deterioration in writing and drawing.
Abby will sometimes get obsessive fears over things like tornadoes - which used to annoy me but now I realise she has this condition I will take more time to be patient! I certainly didn't realise it was a part of her condition! Half the time I thought it was just attention seeking! Of course now I feel terrible! She really would get obsessive over them!
Obsessive-compulsive symptoms can vary greatly. Obsession with mechanical devices (i.e. fans), running in circles in a predictable manner, hoarding of trash or other useless objects, death thoughts, unusual fears (fear of natural disasters, fear of not being able to fall asleep, etc.), repetition of obscene words or phrases, repetition of certain physical (hand washing, clothing change, clicking lights certain number of times, etc.) or mental activities (incessant praying or repeating certain words or mantra), insistence on certain order of things, hair plucking, unfounded fears of enclosed spaces (agoraphobia), germs, being contaminated by body fluids (urine, saliva) are some of the common symptoms. Use of obscenities (within or out of the contest of discussion) is a common symptom. When asked why, children usually state that "something" is making them say these words.
(5) PANDAS is more likely to occur in certain "phenotype" of children:
In children with a history of early speech development, and who (usually) (prior to the illness) excel in school, particularly in math and sciences.
In children who normally exhibit certain amount of obsessions with order, punctuality, preciseness, school work, etc., before the illness.
Parents of children with PANDAS are more likely to be either highly educated or extremely enterprising. Even more likely is that the mother of a child with PANDAS is highly intelligent, has a history of being good in math and with computers (computer-savvy), and normally exhibits certain amount of obsession with punctuallity and order.
