Dr. Kiki Chang on Treating PANS/PANDAS Inflammation

Dr. Kiki Chang is a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist who co-founded the Stanford PANS Clinic in 2012 and directed Stanford’s Pediatric Bipolar Disorders Program for nearly two decades. In this episode, hosts Krystal Vivian and Angela Henry, LCSW, talk with him about how patients referred f…

"I'm Still In Here": Cat and Brandi on Late Onset PANDAS

PANS/PANDAS is usually diagnosed in young children, and it usually arrives with OCD or tics. Cat and Brandi's stories don't follow that script. Both were teenagers when symptoms took hold, both watched their bodies and personalities change in ways their doctors couldn't explain, and both spent year…

PANDAS Doesn't Stop at 18: Three Young Adults on Diagnosis and Advocacy

The P in PANS/PANDAS stands for pediatric, and that single word shapes how patients get treated long after childhood. Meet Kirk, Emily and Lily from the National PANS/PANDAS Youth Alliance. They talk with us about what it's like to live with a condition most doctors still associate only with small …

Why Kids Hide Their OCD Thoughts for Years: Lynn and Brady's Story

OCD and tics are two of the most common ways PANS/PANDAS shows up, and neither one tends to look the way parents expect. In this episode, teens Lynn and Brady describe what it actually felt like growing up with PANDAS: the fear of shiny objects, being called names by classmates who don't understand…

When Autism and PANDAS Overlap: Madi's Story

Autism and PANS/PANDAS share enough symptoms that separating them can be nearly impossible. In this episode, meet Madi, a 15-year-old freshman and horseback rider who can tell you exactly what her favorite horse will do for a handful of feed. She also experiences both autism and PANDAS. It wasn't u…

Diagnosed at 17 And Managing PANDAS in College: Abby's Story

What is it like to have PANDAS in college? Abby is a freshman in Minnesota, twelve hours from home, playing Division II volleyball and working toward vet school. She's also managing a PANS/PANDAS diagnosis she didn't receive until her junior year of high school, which meant most of her life was spe…

A Light in the Fog: Parents Share Their PANS/PANDAS Stories of Hope

When you're in the darkest moments of your PANS/PANDAS journey—when your child is a shell of themselves, when every day feels like surviving an impossible storm—it's hard to imagine that things will ever get better. But they can. And they do. For the final episode of Season 1, hosts Krystal Vivian…

School Refusal and Doctor Refusal: Understanding PANS/PANDAS Behaviors

Your child is screaming in the car, refusing to go to school. Or they're hiding under their bed, terrified of another doctor's appointment. You know something is deeply wrong, but from the outside, it just looks like defiance. Welcome to one of the most misunderstood aspects of PANS/PANDAS: refusal…

Siblings, Schools, and Friends: Navigating PANS/PANDAS Conversations With Kids

One of the hardest parts of a PANS/PANDAS diagnosis isn't just getting the diagnosis—it's figuring out how to talk about it. How do you explain to your child that their brain is under attack by their own immune system? What do you tell siblings who've been walking on eggshells for months? And how m…

How Mold Testing Changed Everything for One PANS/PANDAS Family

What do you do when you've tried everything—antibiotics, therapy, multiple specialists—and your children are still struggling? For Tricia, the answer came from an unexpected place: her own home. In this episode, we sit down with Tricia, a teacher and mom of two kids with PANDAS, whose five-year di…