ASPIRE Blog

What is the cost of not treating PANS/ PANDAS promptly & appropriately? We recently sat down with Susan Swedo, MD, to discuss a critical topic: the cost of inaction when […]

Melamed, Isaac, et al.“IVIG Response in Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome Correlates with Reduction in Pro-inflammatory Monocytes and Neuropsychiatric Measures.”Frontiers in Immunology, vol. 15, 2024, p. 1383973, https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1383973. Accessed 3 Oct. […]

California Legislative Action Please follow this page and ASPIRE’s social media for updates – Facebook and Instagram. Please contact CALPANS with questions regarding California legislative efforts and ways you can get involved today. […]

  Bennett was a typically developing 7-year-old boy when he started second grade, the first year back to school full time after COVID-19, without masks. That December, he came down […]

Hi! My name is Skylar, and I was diagnosed with PANS in October 2023 after struggling with it for around 10 years.   I was 7 or 8 years old […]

Therapists need to be aware of when inflammatory disorders can masquerade as psychiatric conditions Therapy Today – September, 2024 – Lucy McDonald is a counselor at the Children’s e-Hospital, a […]

This is the journey of Emily, who is now 16. She began experiencing PANS symptoms in 2020 during the height of COVID-19; before that, Emily was a typical kid and did all the things that girls her age do.  Emily is now a high school junior and doing well.  However, her path to recovery was filled with despair and uncertainty. 

Tran, Michael; Amador, Alcides; and Camacho Bermudez, Sofia, “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Other Specified Anxiety Disorder in an 8-Year-Old Post-respiratory Infection: A Case Report” (2024). Research Colloquium. 91.https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/colloquium/2024/posters/91 Conclusions: This […]

Pol-Fuster J., Fernández de la Cruz L., Beucke J., Hesselmark E., Crowley J.J., de Schipper E., Brikell I., Chang Z., D’Onofrio B.M., Larsson H., Lichtenstein P., Kuja-Halkola, R. & Mataix-Cols […]

The battle with PANDAS is no joke, but there is hope. Throughout my journey, my mantra has been Never Ever Give Up. I am a fighter, a warrior, like all those with PANS/PANDAS. I have found fun ways to help me throughout my journey. For every infusion, I decorate my infusion center room with yellow butterflies, my port and IV, stuffed animals, and a wreath I made after one of my surgeries. I also wear one of my Brave Gowns and bring things to paint as well. I have also learned that you can revamp IVIG bottles into painted masterpieces or sculptures, which has been really fun, too.

When my daughter was young, she washed her hands a lot. We might have poked what we thought was gentle fun at her, saying she was “a little bit OCD”. Later, she began to disclose “bad thoughts”, which I assumed were the typical products of a child’s imagination. I told her we all had thoughts like that, and if we ignored them, they went away.

Bleibach A, Sørensen CB, Skov L, Christensen KB, Debes NM. Reliability and validity of a newly developed PANDAS/PANS questionnaire. Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2024 Sep;52:109-130. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpn.2024.07.008. Epub 2024 Jul […]