You’re Not Crazy: When Your Gut Tells You Something’s Wrong With Your Child
Children don’t go to sleep one night and wake up as a completely different person the next day.
At least not when they are healthy.
But this DOES happen with children with PANS or PANDAS.
In these conditions, children will literally go to bed calm and happy, never having had a harder day than occasionally being a bit grumpy when they are overtired or a bit nervous when starting a brand-new school. Then they wake up the next day riddled with OCD, tics, and odd behaviors. They will cling to their parents, refuse to go to school, and refuse to eat more than a few foods. They might even rage, start wetting the bed, or forget how to read or write.
Sadly, many parents are dismissed when they see these alarming changes in their kids and seek help from their pediatrician.
“This happens in kids sometimes; it will pass,” is the usual refrain from the doctor in these cases, regardless of the symptom you are concerned about.
Note: Not all PANS cases are clearly overnight onset. We go over this misconception that can lead people down the wrong treatment path here.
So what do you do?
Do you trust that this doctor, who sees hundreds of children every week, knows more about what is happening than you do? Or do you trust your gut and keep digging?
If you are like most parents, you probably look up what the doctor said online. You will likely find many websites that state that the symptoms you are seeing can actually be developmentally normal and transient in healthy kids. But how do you know if this is the case with your child?
Many parents decide to wait and watch. If you are reading this now, you are likely in this place, but still feeling a bit uneasy about what you are seeing and not doing something to help.
Waiting and watching isn’t necessarily wasting time. Use this time to get more information that can help bring clarity and find solutions.
Waiting and watching for a short time can give you more information to make an informed decision about the next right step for your child. It can help you avoid treatments that can have side effects or risk other health concerns that go along with things like antibiotics and steroids.
Many children will improve without any treatment and not have any recurrence of the symptoms, and it is possible that your child will be one of them.
If things don’t pass within a few days, start journaling. Track the symptoms you see, how they are impacting life, and anything you notice about the environment.
Kids in class coughing and sneezing? Note it.
Walked into a store that smelled musty, and tics got worse. Note it.
Got stuck trying to get out of the house for 10 minutes because your child felt like they had to redo something three times before it felt right? Note it.
Take notes about anything you come across in your research that you want more information about. Note labs that other parents mention online or when you talk to them.
These notes are your best friend when it comes to advocating for your child.
Lean on them when you return to the doctor with concerns that things aren’t improving. Pull them out with every specialist you see. Ask for the tests that others mentioned.
When you are in appointments with doctors, work with them with an open mind, and keep listening to your gut. Ask yourself some of these questions:
Is what they are saying making sense?
Do they understand what you are sharing?
Have they seen something like this before?
How well do they understand PANS/PANDAS?
Are they curious and compassionate, looking for an explanation for what you are seeing?
Are they dismissive, surprised, or jumping right to telling you what is going on without first understanding everything you have to share?
Keep in mind – not everyone who thinks their child has PANS is correct. Remember that your ultimate goal is relief for your child, not a specific diagnosis. Getting PANS/PANDAS properly diagnosed will only bring you relief if that is what you are actually dealing with. The good news is that classical homeopathy is very effective for PANS/PANDAS, as well as for conditions that look like PANS/PANDAS but don’t meet the diagnostic criteria. Relief isn’t always diagnosis-dependent.
Don’t Give Up.
For many families, it takes a village to identify and recover from PANS/PANDAS. The first doctor seen is rarely the one to correctly identify what is happening with these children. Many people have to get connected to a doctor with enough experience to be correctly diagnosed. Even after diagnosis, people often see several doctors before finding lasting relief.
Listening to your gut and leaning into your community will help you get the relief you and your child need. Even if your first doctor told you nothing was wrong.
Learn more about PANS/PANDAS and what it looks like at home here.
Learn more about classical homeopathy and how it helps kids here.
