Neurofeedback & PANS/Lyme

Our son, who has PANS/Lyme, was having difficulty at school and at home. He was very defiant, shut down, inappropriate and just unpleasant to be around. After treating fairly successfully for PANS/Lyme, he caught another virus, which set off another flare resulting in severe sound sensitivity and OCD in the form of a spitting compulsion. Public places, such as restaurants, movie theaters, and even school, were just too loud and overwhelming for him. If you can imagine, his spitting was so extreme that he had to carry a cup in the car to spit into in order to accommodate any travel. Some children with PANS also want to spit into a cup to hoard their spit; that was not the case in our son.

Neurofeedback was not on our radar as a possible therapy at that point. We began noticing in the Facebook groups that parents were discussing the positive impact that Neurofeedback had on their kids with PANDAS/PANS and Lyme. After discussing Neurofeedback with a local neurofeedback practioner one evening, we decided to try it for our son.  We scheduled a QEEG brain map and review, which documented the areas in his brain that were impacted. We were fortunate that this practioner is PANS and Lyme literate and can identify Lyme on the QEEG brain map, as well as understand the challenges in parenting a child with PANS/PANDAS. In fact, she not only treats those with Lyme and PANS/PANDAS, but is a leader in the field and mentors other psychologists and neurofeedback providers. She then developed a protocol to address our son’s needs, and he began neurofeedback on an aggressive schedule of 3 sessions per week. To our surprise, he didn’t fight going to neurofeedback, as he often did with other therapies, because he got to watch movies of his choice during each 30 minute session while his brainwaves were subtly being rerouted to their most effective path. As we learned, this “exercise for the brain” helps to change his brain wave patterns to optimal functioning through a process of subconscious reinforcement. We were skeptical that it could help, but we were also desperate, and at the point of the “let’s throw this at the wall and see what sticks” approach to therapies. I had no expectations for neurofeedback, but was still hopeful.  

Within two weeks, we noticed a material difference. His entire attitude was more positive. After 20 sessions, we scheduled another QEEG brain map and review. This showed a 46% improvement in brain function, which even the practitioner said was remarkable. We changed his schedule to 2 neurofeedback sessions per week, and the progress continued over many sessions, to the point that it was noticeable to anyone who had spent time with our son. He was and continues to be more engaged, makes better eye contact, and his sense of humor is on full display. He is also more affectionate, less defiant, better able to articulate his emotions, happier, and more willing to try something new. Thankfully, his extreme sound sensitivity and spitting compulsion disappeared. Follow-up QEEGs have provided us with a tangible record of his improvement.

While results from neurofeedback tend to be relatively straightforward in treating conditions such as ADHD, autism, traumatic brain injury, and addiction, it is a little more challenging with Lyme/PANS, because the spirochetes move. For this reason, we periodically schedule a neurofeedback session to maintain his gains that we have maintained for more than two years. We thank our neurofeedback for bringing our son back to us.  

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