Depending on where you are on the PANS/PANDAS journey, which can be long and challenging, “meeting your panda where they are at in all realms” is still the best daily advice, especially with the ups and downs of physical and mental health needs. Be mindful of the daily habits and schedules you keep. What can they handle? Taking it slower and going faster if you can is so much better than speeding first and bottoming out.

Kids love metaphors and activating their creative brains can sometimes take out the limbic-brain emotional assault (from infections and the attacking immune system). Instead of constant symptom checking, I am thinking of it like a journey and I check in with my panda on what the terrain is like. There are going to be days that may feel like we’re stuck in the bamboo but breathing is progress, in our book. My teens have liked this metaphor on their okay days and rolled their eyes on the harder days, so then I have to pivot and again meet them where they are at.

It is attunement/mis-attunement, re-assessing and trying again: purely nervous system work. Match the energy and then gently re-direct. (This is really hard!) #pans #pandas #mentalhealth #lyme #dailylife