Last week, I had my worst flare since everything really went downhill in June. I’m happy to say that the flare is gone now (thanks to more Prednisone and maybe the IVIG), but now that I’m coherent again, I thought I’d share what my PANDAS flares can look like. Please bear in mind that every person reacts differently to this disease, though.
Tag: Encephalitis
PANDAS Goes to College
This week, I’m heading back to college. Is that crazy? Probably, but I’m going to try.
As it is, my main PANDAS symptoms are choreiform movements/tics, physical and mental fatigue, hand tremors, a bit of OCD, and general anxiety. But I have my mind back. My mood is stable, I feel like myself, and I don’t fall asleep every time I sit down for more than ten minutes. I’m a functional human being again.
But the problem is that I have to be more than “functional” to get through college. I’m studying in one of my school’s most demanding programs. If trying to read a chapter of my textbook right now for an online class makes me have to lie down and rest for two hours afterwards, how can I get through a week of classes?
Battle Scars
For much of the summer, my illness was completely invisible, but lately, with one look at me, you know something is going on. If I try to walk around normally, my chorea often makes me look like I’m being electrocuted or like I’m doing some weird dance—but it’s completely involuntary. I have horrible acne from one of my medications. I’ve started to develop a puffy “Prednisone face.” My arm is covered in strange bruises from IVIG and all the blood work I’ve had to get.
IVIG and the Waiting Game…
So I just got back from IVIG, and it really wasn’t that bad. I did it over two days, with the first day lasting about four hours and the second for six. I still have headaches from it, a bit of nausea, and some fatigue, but I don’t really care, because I feel hopeful that the therapy will give me my life back. These temporary side effects are such a small price to pay for my freedom.
Now, I just have to wait for the positive effects to kick in—and hope and pray that they actually do kick in at all. Apparently, for most people, it takes three to six months to see a big improvement, but sometimes you start feeling better in a couple weeks. It can take up to a year for all the PANS/PANDAS symptoms to disappear completely. Occasionally, IVIG doesn’t work at all. But my nurse said to me, “Don’t worry. If you responded really well to steroids, IVIG is going to work.”
I don’t usually show my emotions much, but I broke down and cried as soon as she said that. Could one IVIG really heal me? Yes, it should. The thought that this eight-year ordeal is going to end and the idea that I will know what it’s like to feel good again—well… It’s overwhelming. But I’m ready for it.
A Day in the Life of Recovery
The strange thing about my condition is how suddenly it changed everything about me and my daily experience. Four months ago, though I was sick, you wouldn’t have known it—unless you happened to notice me nodding off in class, day after day, after consistent eight or nine-hour nights of sleep—or if you noticed the ever-increasing amount of dents in my car from suddenly not being able to tell where the edges of my car were. But now, with one look at me trying to walk across a room, it’s extremely obvious that something is going in my brain that I have no control over. Welcome to my new world of PANDAS.
One of the hardest things about recovery is learning to be honest with yourself by being willing to admit how hard everything still is. It’s often difficult for me to explain to my friends and family just how challenging each day can be, so I decided that instead of explaining, I would tell you about what it takes to get through a typical day…