PANDAS or PANS Consults
A note from Gabrielle Anderson about PANDAS/Lyme...
"For seven years I was fortunate to be in private practice with a Lyme Literate Doctor who referred many of her patients to me for mental and emotional support. I was not prepared for the significant degree of mental health symptoms that those with Lyme and PANDAS experienced. I witnessed intelligent, high functioning adults panic over small things and isolate from social situations. Otherwise bright children were hallucinating and too anxious to attend school. I realized rather quickly that I did not understand the level of symptomology and I needed help sorting it all out.
Journal article after journal article opened my eyes to a new world of information. I distinctly remember the night that changed my life forever. I was lying on the couch reading a book about Lyme Disease when I suddenly became overwhelmed with emotion. Story after story brought more and more awareness to my own recent health history. Within a month I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme, Babesia, and Bartonella but not before I gave them gestationally to my children and sexually to my husband. Not only did my children suffer from these diseases, but my daughter also had PANDAS as another layer of complication.
PANDAS and Lyme at work PANDAS and Lyme at home. It was no wonder I began to specialize in this area. I know first hand the trauma inflicted on parents and children and have learned ways to fight and cope and would love to share this with you.
Now, a handful of years after my own battle with Lyme and co, I continue to offer support to clients and the community with consults, individual therapy and support groups."
"For seven years I was fortunate to be in private practice with a Lyme Literate Doctor who referred many of her patients to me for mental and emotional support. I was not prepared for the significant degree of mental health symptoms that those with Lyme and PANDAS experienced. I witnessed intelligent, high functioning adults panic over small things and isolate from social situations. Otherwise bright children were hallucinating and too anxious to attend school. I realized rather quickly that I did not understand the level of symptomology and I needed help sorting it all out.
Journal article after journal article opened my eyes to a new world of information. I distinctly remember the night that changed my life forever. I was lying on the couch reading a book about Lyme Disease when I suddenly became overwhelmed with emotion. Story after story brought more and more awareness to my own recent health history. Within a month I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme, Babesia, and Bartonella but not before I gave them gestationally to my children and sexually to my husband. Not only did my children suffer from these diseases, but my daughter also had PANDAS as another layer of complication.
PANDAS and Lyme at work PANDAS and Lyme at home. It was no wonder I began to specialize in this area. I know first hand the trauma inflicted on parents and children and have learned ways to fight and cope and would love to share this with you.
Now, a handful of years after my own battle with Lyme and co, I continue to offer support to clients and the community with consults, individual therapy and support groups."
What is the Value of a PANDAS/PANS Consult?
I offer 75 minute consults to parents of a child with PANDAS/PANS. During this consult, I ask questions about the child's physical health, emotional health, sleep hygiene, social challenges, food challenges, etc. and then we talk about ideas and strategies to help. Sometimes parents come when a specialist has not yet been established and other times parents come in the middle of the diagnosis. Together we determine the next steps to take to help your child.
Control Inflammation
Many young children with neuro lyme or PANDAS experience encephalitis or brain inflammation and/or an impact onto the brain. Antibodies created to kill infection, become misguided and sometimes end up impacting the brain instead. Saying this out loud sounds really scary, but when you are living with diseases like these, managing the inflammation and outside exposure becomes a normal thing. I am not a physician, but as a therapist and a mom, I could tell when my son's brain was been influenced (Lyme and Bartonella) and when it wasn't. During these times, it was as if his brain was on fire.
Learning ways to help the body help itself is important. I have taken many trainings involving natural alternatives to help the body and love to share the information. Foods, supplements and essential oils are examples of wonderful tools that can help reduce systemic inflammation and control symptoms. Having natural tools to take to your doctor can be an empowering first step to finding emotional balance again.
True story. I saw a little girl a couple of years ago with neuro-lyme. She was complaining of hallucinations, which made me suspect that she was experiencing encephalitis. I suggested that mom talk to her naturopath doctor about natural ways to control inflammation. The doctor recommended beets, ginger/turmeric supplements and green smoothies, luckily this little girl was a good sport. Within 2 days the hallucinations stopped AND they were able to control them with specific diet changes! This intrigued me to start steering my CEU trainings in a more natural food and essential oils based direction so that I could coach other parents and help empower them to find a safe path out of such a dark dark time. I have found that balancing diet with essential oils and other supplements and vitamins can be incredibly helpful.
Learning ways to help the body help itself is important. I have taken many trainings involving natural alternatives to help the body and love to share the information. Foods, supplements and essential oils are examples of wonderful tools that can help reduce systemic inflammation and control symptoms. Having natural tools to take to your doctor can be an empowering first step to finding emotional balance again.
True story. I saw a little girl a couple of years ago with neuro-lyme. She was complaining of hallucinations, which made me suspect that she was experiencing encephalitis. I suggested that mom talk to her naturopath doctor about natural ways to control inflammation. The doctor recommended beets, ginger/turmeric supplements and green smoothies, luckily this little girl was a good sport. Within 2 days the hallucinations stopped AND they were able to control them with specific diet changes! This intrigued me to start steering my CEU trainings in a more natural food and essential oils based direction so that I could coach other parents and help empower them to find a safe path out of such a dark dark time. I have found that balancing diet with essential oils and other supplements and vitamins can be incredibly helpful.
Protect and Nourish the Brain
When the brain is under attack, it makes logical sense that it will need nourishing and will also need help repairing. Although I am NOT a medical physician and this is NOT intended to replace medical advice, I have found research to support that there are ways one can naturally help support the brain and other systems during times of illness. Taking a hard look at diet, supplementation and even essential oils can put yet another tool in the PANDAS/PANS toolbox. Sometimes adding Omega 3 can be helpful, or maybe taking a look at the benefits of Frankincense or Cedarwood and Bergamot are better. Having options to research and investigate and discuss with your physician can be truly empowering.
The Health of the Gut Impacts our Mental and Emotional Health
Our gut houses about 60 to 70% of our immune system AND greatly impacts our emotional health. The Enteric Nervous System is located in our gut and is known as the second brain. This system communicates with our Central Nervous System and helps explain why stress and emotional distress can impact our digestive systems directly. With our gut housing up to 95% of our Serotonin and 50% of our Dopamine AND understanding the gut's role in our immune system, it seems like a good idea to keep it balanced and healthy. How do we do that? Again, many of the first steps are by eating healthy foods and supplementing with healthy items such as probiotics and food enzymes whenever necessary.