Category: PANDAS Stories

“THREE DAYS after antibiotics. The bottom line is that from that moment on, we learned how to deal with each flare making PANDAS an interruption, not a life-threatening event.” May 28th, 2019: My 12 year old daughter Sophia was a straight A student with many friends. She was fully engaged in life, even having her… Continue reading Strep Diagnosis Turns Around ARFID

Written by Sierra Gellhorn A four-year-old boy (my son, Max) developed severe tics within a few days of being diagnosed with his second case of strep throat. He had also begun to exhibit sudden behavioral changes such as severe separation anxiety, insomnia, hyperactivity, and aggression. My son’s PCP agreed with me that it was “very… Continue reading A Scary Strep Onset Calms with Support & Guidance, Mothers Helping Mothers

BBC August 2025 Jamie Ducharme Read full article here

It was early October in 2023 when we first noticed subtle signs that something was not quite right with our then 6-year-old daughter, Emeline. Once a goofy, fun loving and sensitive girl who did well in school, social situations and liked gymnastics was now acting very differently. It started with having a hard time making… Continue reading Determined Action Averts Tragic Consequences, Emeline age 6

Spring of 2021, our 7 year old daughter came home from school acting like a different person. She was shy and fearful all of a sudden. Believing it was a mental health issue, we started working with a therapist. But as the weeks passed, her symptoms—crippling anxiety, obsessive thoughts, and behaviors—grew worse, unimproved by traditional… Continue reading What do you do when the child you love starts to disappear before your eyes?

A Short Film Produced by StoryQ Rooted in Resilience: A Journey of Growth with PANDAS and PANS is a moving short documentary chronicling the lives of three teenagers—Jordana, Trent, and Kendall—over the course of three years (2020 – 2023) as they share their journey of living with and recovering from PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Disorder Associated… Continue reading Rooted in Resilience: A Journey of Growth with PANDAS and PANS

My name is Emma. I have been diagnosed with PANDAS and several tick-borne infections. My journey began abruptly three years ago during what I call my first “episode.”  I was a typical tween hanging out with some friends on a Friday night, when suddenly I developed visual and auditory hallucinations. I was thrown into a… Continue reading Emma’s Story