We’re very sorry you’re dealing with the regressions from brain inflammation associated with PANS.
It can be so difficult to navigate, but we are here to help and you can find a path to healing!
Briefly, for anyone wondering if their child has PANS, here’s some general info:
This post is focused on PANS treatments (not diagnosis)
PANS is linked to inflammation in the basal ganglia region of the brain.
This inflammation is triggered by antibodies produced in response to (most typically) a viral or bacterial infection.
The immune and nervous systems become dysregulated, resulting in ongoing inflammation.
PANS often follows a relapsing-remitting pattern, with flares tied to infections.
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In this post, we will show you how we stopped the reoccurring flares, for good!
Brief Summary: A nervous system break & the KPV peptide are the best path to healing.
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Disclaimer: This post is not medical advice. It is based on 15 years of experience and also moderating a group of ~60k parents treating PANS and more.
I am not an Amazon affiliate & the post is not sponsored, links are for your convenience only. 🤍
For personalized help:
Please consider our digital mind AI Tool, it has been helping hundreds of families heal PANS
Check it out here:
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Update! A New PANS protocol video 📺 is here
Please see the Chapters or Timestamps to skip to sections you want to see
Also- Here is a 1 page pdf summary of our Protocol you can download (for clickable links):
Our Story
My daughter, Caroline has had several major PANS flares throughout her life and many minor flares.
Each time, they caused severe regressions including losing significant amounts of language.
I’ve been blogging about our PANS protocols since 2011 when I wrote about how we successfully removed antibiotics!
At that time, other parents also found symptom relief with our Goldenseal based protocol. The problem was, it didn’t prevent her future flares.
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Now, in 2025, we now have more effective natural options that include small molecules and peptides.
They target microbes AND biofilms with extreme precision and as a bonus reduce inflammation and restore our immune system. 🧬
See our post Why Peptides are the New Go-To for Fighting Infections for more.
Also, we know more about how nervous system dysregulation is behind the autoimmunity which keeps us always on edge about the next flare.
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We’ve learned a two-prong approach:
- Calming the nervous system
- Treating with supplements to target inflammation, pathogens and immune function
Is needed to eliminate the threat of reoccurring flares.
The first part, too much stress, I didn’t consider enough during each of her major episodes.
Every time they occurred, my daughter was in school.
Afterward, she would take 1-2 years to recover.
I would homeschool her, then when she was back in school, she’d have another major episode within months.
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I always thought getting sick from kids at school was the culprit.
But when she isn’t exposed to the stress of school, therapy sessions or other overwhelming situations, she can get sick and end a minor post viral flare within a week.
Or more recently, not have one at all.
I know many other families with similar stories.
We have to ask ourselves, if the stress of (fill in your blank) is ruining their health, is it worth it?
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Remember too, we’re measuring stress by THEIR yardstick, not our own.
Just because we think something shouldn’t be stressful, doesn’t mean it’s not to them.
What are your child’s stressors?
The removal of them will lead you to reducing their PANS symptoms. I promise.
How to heal a PANS flare
There are main categories to treat and they are all dependent on one another.
- Nervous System Re-regulation: Aids all of the below —
- Reducing Brain Inflammation: Improves all symptoms.
- You may also find relief by supporting mitochondria damaged from oxidative stress caused by inflammation.
- Immune System Re-regulation: Stops the autoantibodies from attacking the brain and prevents future flares 🍃
- Antimicrobial support: needed interim because OCD and Tics can result from even low amounts of bacteria until the nervous and immune systems are back on track. (eg. SIBO or a loose tooth)
Take your time with the below list and review information from other linked pages too.
Even though PANS is very stressful, try stay calm and believe you can do this!
Our kids pick up on our emotions more than we know, so the more steady you are, the faster they can heal.
You may not need all below categories, but at minimum #1 is essential. 🤍
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1. Nervous System Vacation (NSV)
We need to reduce stress to zero 🍃
I can’t stress this enough 😌 no stress to the child, no activities, no arguments – they need a calm nervous system and deep brain rest to quiet the inflammation and allow it to heal just as you would a broken leg.
People talk about ‘nervous system work’ and ‘brain retraining’ as the way out of cell danger response & a dysregulated state.
To me that always sounded like way too much ‘work.’ Just give us a pill and we will take it!
But pills are not nearly as effective for someone with a body stuck in fight-or-flight.
So, let’s rebrand the concept, call it a Nervous System Vacation and make it easy and fun!
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We made a YouTube video for you 📺
In it, I outline the steps we’ve taken to restore calm at our home, including a simplified brain ‘retraining lite!”
It’s led to more healing than I ever imagined possible – for both of us!
You can learn more about nervous system regulation (geared toward adults) in the Primal trust free e-book, it’s very valuable on its own (without buying the program).
Comparison of treatment approaches
We believe both are required for complete lasting healing. 🤍
2. Anti-Anxiety / Calming Supplements
If you have anyone in your house who needs extra help ‘packing their bags’ for a nervous system vacation, you may want to consider the Selank peptide.
For us, and many others, this nasal spray works better than any other anti anxiety supplement or med.
It calms the nervous system, anxiety, even panic & rage with zero side effects – watch our video for a deep dive into how it helps so effectively and quickly (less than 10 minutes).
If your child can’t use a nasal spray that’s addressed in the video.
N-Acetyl-Selank-Amidate (you want the right form of this one!)
Other anti-anxiety supplements to calm and reduce stress are:
• CBD – we like Harmony CBD (organic) • Day Chill (DHHB) • St John’s Wort • Magnesium Glycinate • L-Theanine • 5 HTP • Herbal Blends (lemon balm etc..)
3. Remove inflammatory foods
This step will help lower body-wide inflammation and in turn, brain inflammation.
A helpful list is here: Anti Inflammatory Diet
We are also gluten, soy, dairy and mostly sugar free.
4. Key Supplement Options
To keep things simple, this list is limited to the most effective from our years of experience, not all options.
You can choose one or more from any category but in every case, the peptides outperform all others and can be all you need.
- Inflammation Choices (also calm MCAS)
- Peptide: KPV (best)
- Supplements: Specialized Pro Resolving Mediators, better: NAD+ nasal spray
- Herbs: CBD, Curcumin
- Med: Ibuprofen – short term only (KPV has been reported to be even better by some group members)
- Immune System Regulation
- Peptides: KPV – can add Thymogen for acute infections (see below)
- Supplements: Vitamin D3, Elite IgG (in theory it helps, we have not seen huge benefits)
- Antimicrobials
- Peptide: KPV (best: both yeast and bacteria)
- Herbal: Goldenseal / Berberine
- Rx: Antibiotics – active infections only
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If you’re new to using peptides, so were we about a year and a half ago! 🧬 Here’s some basic info:
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Note: If your child tests positive for bacteria such as Strep or Lyme, antibiotics are the first step but ongoing support is best achieved with peptides or herbs.
Also note, KPV can make antibiotics and herbs work better because it can penetrate and destroy biofilms.
FAQ: Is the KPV peptide really the only supplement I may need from the above?
It can be and for many it has been!
It’s excellent for treating inflammation, bacteria, yeast, mast cells and is also a moderate immune regulator.
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Read our KPV post here
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The post is a must read if you’re going to use it because it explains – among other things – why it’s critical to go low and frequent with KPV micro dosing.
There is also a spray option, it can be harder to control the dosing – it’s explained more in the post.
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Here’s a recent comment about KPV made by a group member:
FAQ: What about the Thymogen Peptide & when should we use that?
It can be very helpful during an acute infection for additional immune support / modulation.
With KPV, it can help prevent a flare from happening. We have seen it work (see below).
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We use 1/4 cap 2x a day ONLY during acute infections.
You can learn about Thymogen in my Peptide Review post (link is to applicable section).
You can also use it at other times but if your child reacts poorly to immune stimulators when they’re healthy (like we do), I would not.
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Tips! Sometimes Integrative Peptides has samples and will send one if you buy something else – so you could ask for a Thymogen sample when you purchase KPV.
People have reported they requested a sample by typing the request in the comments field.
5. Additional issues to consider
• Aggression
If dealing with rage or aggression – consider a trial of Saw Palmetto. 2x a day
Here’s our most recent post (including video) for all the info you need on how it’s incredibly effective at reducing aggression for kids who can’t detox androgens.
Please know: Saw palmetto is not a PANS treatment, but there could be two separate issues going on for your child and ruling this out is important.
It works fast, same day, so you will know easily if it’s needed or not.
If it doesn’t help, it’s a clue that PANS itself is the cause of the behaviors, not androgens.
• Fatigue / Low Energy / Cognitive support
You may want to add mitochondia support because the oxidative stress from brain inflammation is very damaging to our mitochondria.
You will likely see great improvements overall, including in cognition.
Options (links go to my blog posts on each – Choose 1-2 not all):
- NAD+ for the WIN! (also anti inflammatory)
- Red light therapy: Techniques you haven’t tried yet (also anti inflammatory)
- Vitamin B12: Your Body is Ghosting Vitamin B12 — Win back cognition & stamina, for good!
- PQQ: The little known nutrient that’s growing my daughter new mitochondria (good but least effective of this list)
Note: The brain peptide, CogniPep can help for speech and cognitive issues too. (Not directly related to PANS, but worth mentioning here).
• During the next acute infection – preventing a flare
Supporting the nervous and immune systems are the absolute best way to prevent another flare.
Until your child is out of nervous system dysregulation —
Anything that can cause inflammation has the potential to trigger a subsequent PANS symptom flare.
Examples are: mast cell reactions to allergens, foods, mold or toxins, chronic viruses or bacteria (Lyme)
This is why an effective anti-inflammatory and mast cell supplement like KPV can be game changing.
Prevention Treatments – during acute infections
- The nervous system vacation is never more important than when recovering from an infection (viral or bacterial) or being exposed to anything that can cause a flare.
- Please don’t rush to restart school or activities. There should be no stress at least until the threat of another flare is over.
- Supplements (in addition to KPV)
- The Thymogen Peptide, as mentioned above, is excellent to help your child’s immune system fight infections and heal.
- See notes below for how it helped my daughter avoid a flare.
- If you don’t have Thymogen:
- Elite IgG (less efffective)
- Oil of Oregano is a good antiviral
- For exposure to bacteria that doesn’t require an antibiotic but can flare PANS (eg. SIBO or a loose tooth):
- KPV is the best option
- Goldenseal 3x per day is also good – can use both!
- The Thymogen Peptide, as mentioned above, is excellent to help your child’s immune system fight infections and heal.
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Did you know —
Antivirals and antibiotics aren’t needed after an acute condition has passed.
• We need to keep our focus on getting the immune and nervous systems back on track.
• The virus or bacteria that caused brain inflammation and dysregulation is not an ongoing issue (unless it’s not an acute exposure, like mold)
Because of this, staying on medications long term is not the solution.
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It’s been proven that any inflammation can trigger another flare. (eg. food sensitivities)
Escaping the autoimmune cascade (by re-regulating body systems) is the way to prevent future flares.
If we don’t, we are constantly living in threat of the next flare.
• Sleep 😴
Sleeping can be extremely difficult in the midst of a PANS flare but we all know it’s essential for healing.
We have to try our best!
Step #1 (NSV, above) should help immensely
For more, we like:
- Supplements from Step #2 — PLUS as needed consider the below:
- Melatonin Tip! If you need to reset circadian rhythm, a low dose (0.1-0.5mg) approx 4 hours before bedtime helps my daughter a lot!
- CBD requires higher dosing for sedative effects
- If you are desperate for a sleep med, low dose (6mg) Doxepin can be very effective
- Good sleep hygiene and a soothing bedtime routine are always suggested before trying meds.
We do not use:
• Probiotics (can cause tics and flares in a majority of our kids, this includes Sacc B)
See my vintage post: Probiotics | An unexpected cause of my daughter’s autoimmune issues
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• Anticholinergics (Benadryl) – an inflamed brain needs choline
Can add: Optimal PC for additional choline
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• Quercetin is a COMT inhibitor. Because many of our kids have slow COMT function, it can be one to research before using.
In Summary
I would not recommend rushing to several doctors searching for a diagnosis, it’s too stressful on the child and yourself.
I have made this mistake.
Assuming it came on suddenly and there is no acute infection or ongoing exposures, the triggering event has passed.
The short-term treatments are the same
We must reduce brain inflammation
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Have confidence you can, and you will!
FAQ – My child’s doctor says ________.
I received one of the nicest compliments in a group this week when someone asked about PANS and I shared a link to this protocol post.
I’m so grateful for the trust people have placed in us, for the last 15 years.
I don’t propose to have all the answers, but I have learned a lot from many, many parents!
Heartfelt thank you to everyone who’s been along on our journey! 🤍
2/2024 – This protocol recently worked within days to stop a post-viral PANS flare that included eye tics, irritability, obsessions, aggression, rage and skill regression. I was worried!
We used goldenseal and Elite IgG.
This was before we had the KPV peptide – if we had it, I doubt the flare would have occurred at all. 😌
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12/31/2024 – Caroline was sick with a bad cold after Christmas. We used KPV, Thymogen and remained very calm (no stress).
SUCCESS!!
It was the first illness she has ever had that resulted in zero post viral flare of symptoms. I’m still amazed!
Healing is possible!
Final Notes:
• This post is for dealing with flares post acute infections.
• If your child has ongoing exposures such as: mold, toxins, allergens, chronic viruses or bacteria (Lyme), they can be separate from acute PANS flares and treating them may be needed.
• Having said that, simply calming the nervous system can result in healing you never thought possible!
• For instance, people who have used brain retraining (covered in the 7 hacks for calm video) have significantly healed from mold illness, even before moving out of their environment.
I’ll put the video again below! 🤍
Thank you so much for being here – we will be rooting for you and your family!
Kelly Steffens
Ashley Thurman
rebecca ferguson
RK Administration
RECOVERING KIDS 