A schoolgirl went from being her usual "happy, confident and bubbly" self to "terrified and screaming" overnight.
Pearl Gallagher, 10, was being treated for a simple case of tonsillitis when she began suffering horrendous panic attacks and fits of anxiety in June 2021. Unbeknown to her, she had been struck down with PANDAS Syndrome, a rare condition which causes sufferers to develop obsessive-compulsive symptoms and dramatic mood swings seemingly out of the blue following a streptococcal infection.
For nine months her family struggled to find an answer to her problems, as doctors believed the St Paschal Baylon Catholic Primary School pupil was suffering from a mental illness. But no matter how many forms of therapy Pearl tried, she remained plagued with anxiety and fear.
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Her mum Francesca, 35, said: "She came downstairs one night about an hour after going to bed and said 'mum, I don't feel right, I feel panicky and scared, I feel really strange', and I had to cuddle her to get her to sleep again. The next morning she woke up and had a massive panic attack over nothing at all.
"This had never happened before. She was never an anxious child. She didn't know what was going on and neither did we.
"It carried on for days, and she was having numerous panic attacks throughout the day. She was screaming, couldn't breathe, she was hallucinating, seeing things in the ceiling of the bedroom. It was really frightening."
They went to Alder Hey Children's Hospital A&E, where Pearl was so distressed she locked herself in a breastfeeding room. When an ECG to test her heart came back normal, doctors suspected she was suffering from a mental health condition and gave Francesca information about psychiatric help.
Francesca said: "We were there 13 hours, and during that time she was so terrified she was banging on the walls and screaming in a terrible state.
"Two days before this, she was completely fine. She never had any mental health issues before. During that week we were in A&E three or four times.
"She was off school for months and months. In September I took her to see our GP, broke down and said 'we can't go on like this'. I hadn't gone to work for six months because she couldn't stay with anyone else. I was having to phone in sick every day to look after her."
Francesca became convinced Pearl's condition was being caused by the epilepsy medication she had been prescribed in April 2021 due to warnings the pills could cause anxiety. It was not until they visited the GP at Belle Vale Neighbourhood Health Centre that PANDAS Syndrome was suggested.
Pearl "ticked all the boxes" for the condition, which can be triggered by a common throat infection or cold. She was placed on a powerful course of antibiotics - and saw a dramatic change.
Francesca said: "One the very last day, Pearl was almost completely back to her normal self and wanted to go to school. She hadn't been in since June. A couple of weeks later she got a water infection and everything came crashing down again. All the symptoms came back, the constant anxiety and panic attacks. Now every time her body gets ill or catches a virus, she reacts in the same way."
Treatment for PANDAS is rarely provided by the NHS, and so the family, who live in Gateacre, had no choice but to seek help from a private clinic in London. Pearl was eventually diagnosed in October 2021, and was placed on long-term antibiotics, which she remains on to this day.
Now back to her usual bubbly self, she hopes to raise money for the PANDAS UK charity by completing a series of challenges, including a Tough Mudder obstacle course, abseiling down Anfield Stadium, and climbing Mt Snowden while dressed as a panda.
Francesca said: "It's been very difficult. There were times I had to call an ambulance she was in such a panic; once there were no ambulances available so the police turned up instead, which really scarred her. She's amazing the way she talks about it, and she's passionate about trying to raise awareness, but she has been through it.
"She's one of a kind and everyone who meets her will say the same. She's so happy, confident and bubbly. She talks like an adult. But this completely knocked her. For two years, she was just a shell of herself. She's finally starting to get a sparkle back now and that's why she's putting so much into this fund-raising now, so other children don't have to suffer for as long as she did.
"PANDAS is described as the brain being on fire, and that's how she used to say she felt. Her brain was on fire, she couldn't switch it off. It was like someone in her head attacking her all the time. It was horrendous and I don't know how we made it through. I was in hospitals and doctors every day begging for help. But we have a very close relationship, me and Pearl, and we're the best of friends. We were in it together, and I had to promise her it would get better - and thank God it did."
Pearl's online fund-raiser for PANS PANDAS UK can be found HERE.
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