So I went to see a PANDAS specialist this week, and I’ve finally been diagnosed with PANDAS. My doctor was wonderful and finally took my symptoms seriously. She even said my mysterious illness from 2006-2007 may have been Rheumatic Fever. And unfortunately, she told me I’m not just having tics, but also chorea, which could explain my strange falls when I walk. The best words my doctor said were, “You’re going to get better.”
Tag: Sleep
Takin’ Roids
I’m no doctor, but recent developments have shown I almost certainly have PANDAS or PANS.
A standard way to see if symptoms are autoimmune-related is to do a steroid burst for five days. The theory is that if inflammation is the culprit, the symptoms will improve with the steroids. Continue reading “Takin’ Roids”
“You’re Just Tired”
So I tried Xyrem for a week, and I did sleep like a baby. It was actually wonderful—I would wake up in the morning feeling completely rested and not feeling like I needed twenty more hours of sleep. I hadn’t felt that way for eight years. But it upset my stomach so badly that I lost even more weight because I was unable to eat anything. I’m down to a hundred pounds. I was around 111 before this summer…
My doctor is just plain flummoxed by my strange reactions to meds, so he made me stop everything over the weekend—even my anti-depressant. As would be expected, I felt horrible in every way. But one of the worst parts was what someone said to me about how I would be off my meds: Continue reading ““You’re Just Tired””