medication

March 6, 2000

Hi ,

You can do Life Lift regardless of medications you are taking. You may notice in time that you feel so much better that you may want to cut back the anti-depressants. I hope that will be the case for you. The workout tape number one which is available now is great for all body parts and targets the lower body. so does workout two which will be available in about 2 weeks.

Please let me know if I can help you in any way

Take care, Rashelle

You are welcome to visit us at http://www.angelmagic.com or http://www.lifelift.comjoin our discussion group at LifeLift-subscribeonelist

medication

From: "lisa snowden" <lsnowden@...> Hello,I'm fairly new to this kind of exercise,just recently got myfirst LL tape and would like to ask a couple of questions.First ofall is there any problem with taking anti-depressants and doing LL asfar as losing inches go, will it make a difference in how much oryour rate of loss? I'm really thinking about ordering a actual videosince I now know the technique, my Q is which one would you recommendfor the most excercises for the lower half of the body? Finally Iwould just like to say that I look forward to turning my computer onevery day, it gives me some much needer hope, THANK YOU GALS!!!

Enter Ht: ft.

in.

Enter Wt: lbs.

!!!!!!!Just Keep Breathing!!!!!!!

April 15, 2000

Hi Pat

Luvox did not affect Ellen's OCD at all.The only thing it did was keep her

up all night.

Theresa in SC

Medication

> Does anyone know if it is possiable that luvox can make OCD worse.

> MY son has been taking it for a while now. Its Has never

> really help him with his ocd, but he was on a low dose, In the last 2

> weeks he has was increased to 300mg. He seems to have gotten worse.

> Do you think it can be from the medication? Has anyone ever

> experienced this reaction before? I can't believe his OCD has gotten

> that bad in such a short time.

>

> Pat

>

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October 10, 2000

In a message dated 10/9/00 8:47:17 PM Central Daylight Time,

jlovchik@... writes:

> I am frightened I don't want her on medication, I have resisted it

for

> a

> year, even with pressure from my husband and others. I don't want her

> suffering...i dont want her to be scared anymore...i just want her to be

> better and i feel totally helpless. I can't even comfort my own baby.

Oh, I know how you feel. I really fought medicating my son . The

neurologist finally said to me that he was not sleeping and it is interfering

with his health. We started the medication that day. What a difference in the

child. It didn't change his personality, which is what I think I was afraid

of. Judy is right, if it were diabetes you would not keep the insulin from

her. Society tells us that kids are being overmedicated because parents and

teachers don't want to deal with their kids. Well, there may be a few

instances of that, but kids like ours have a REAL medical problem. It's a

neurobiological disorder that needs treatment. I have rarely heard of OCD

being successfully treated without medication.

You said she isn't sleeping from the worry. This will, if it isn't already,

interfering with her health. You need to give her the tools to get better,

that tool is medication. I know what you are going through, I went through it

for 2 years before I gave in, and I regret those two years that my child

suffered needlessly. Still to this day, I have a tendency to fight med

changes till I see no other option. Please, I can hear your pain over meds in

your writing, I know the fear that you are going through, but really, once

she gets on the right medication, you will have your daughter back. Right

meds, proper therapy, and it will make a world of difference. I promise!

Peggikaye ... Oklahoma

come visit <A

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Me and my stuff</A>

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Page</A>

or look at my first attempt at a homepage at

<A HREF= " http://hometown.aol.com/mom2tazbug/myhomepage/index.html " >The

Eagler Family Zoo</A>

October 30, 2000

Hi Lynn:

The reason (IMO) that the psychiatrists say use meds is because that is

their favorite and most familiar modality of treatment. As you know the

first line treatment for children with mild to moderate OCD is CBT without

meds. Have you checked our your child's CY-BOCS score? That is a measure

of severity. I am not a doc but I would guess that school refusal would

place your child in the moderate to severe range. OUr beloved OCDers are

very good at minimizing things at first as they desperately desire to be

the same as other kids.

The best treatment is a combination of meds and CBT (including E & RP) for

OCD. You are right meds are complicating, but frankly so is CBT,

particularly at first. It is much harder to find a competent and

experienced CBT therapist for OCD than to find a reasonably competent

psychiatrist to prescribe anti-OCD medications. It takes much more skill

and determination on the parents' and OCD sufferer's parts to succeed at

CBT than to succeed at taking meds. This is my personal opinion and I

welcome the input of other parents who are experienced with both, but that

is my take after going through OCD treatments for over three years now.

Xanax is a fast acting anti-anxiety medication and you are right to wonder

about taking two meds. I suggest you ask the doc about this one. Steve's

psychiatrist prescribed Klonopin for anxiety for Steve and frankly I did

not even fill the prescription. On the other hand I would hate to see the

day dawn when he was not going to take his SSRI. Not to be too dramatic,

but OCD or rather the MDD than often accompanies it, is potentially as

fatal as diabetes.

I used to be the kind of mom who would deliberate for hours before giving

my kids Tylenol and who fights very hard to stop the dentist giving them

X-rays. I was even written up by one ENT as a high risk for denying my son

needed medical treatment when I questioned his replacing my son's ear

tubes. Now I am a great believer that Steve needs to take his SSRI to help

control his depression. What has helped me is to focus on what Steve

really needs and not to place my values and ideas as paramount.

Good luck with these difficult decisions. Take care, aloha, Kathy (H)

kathyh@...

At 11:22 PM 10/30/2000 EST, you wrote:

>I know most of you have your children on medication and you may think I am

>wrong or stubborn or something for fighting against it for a year with Kim

>but I do know that none of you made your decisions lightly and a part of you

>all understands my hesitation.

>

>Tonight we went to the pychiatrist. I knew before we got there what he

would

>recommend. I am on the defensive. My husband, also in the medical

>profession, uses drugs as a first defense against many, many diseases. I

>knew and have known for a year what his feeling and opinion on this was. I

>also, as my husband pointed out to me, have lived through some horrible

times

>with my brother and have a low opinion of the current state of medicine. I

>think I was pretty skeptical before my brother died...doctor phobic...but I

>have gotten worse. On the other hand, my hesitation and reluctance does not

>only come from bad feelings. I have educated myself and my arguements

>against medications are very valid. I know the arguement about if she was a

>diabetic..yet this isn't that black and white. She isn't at risk of death

as

>a diabetic would be, yet she is at risk of pain. I don't want her to be in

>pain short term or long term...but it is the long term that worries me

tons.

>I have always seen improvement with her as we struggled to get things back

>under control. It is because of that improvement that i have hesitated and

>refused medications till this point. The doctors use a certain criteria to

>suggest medications. School avoidance seems to be high on their list. Kim

>thus far has struggled to go in the past few weeks but was successful 3 days

>last week and is very positive about tomorrow. She tells everyone she loves

>school and I know she is trying hard to go each day. As much as I want her

>in school, I worry more about lack of sleep and feeling down about herself

>than her problems with school. So far the doctors don't want to address any

>of her other compulsions or fears..only her avoidance of school.

>

>Ok, now that i have rambled enough, let me try to get to the point. Kim has

>tested positive for strep. She is starting antibiotics tomorrow for 10

days.

> The pyschiatrist wants her to start on prozac and xanax tomorrow also. I

>told him I would think about it. I haven't heard anyone mention Xanax on

>this list. I really would like to get some feedback. At this point I don't

>want to start everything at once. This makes no sense to me. I don't see

>why after a year I shouldnt allow 10 more days and see if by some chance the

>antibiotics help..i know..a long shot....Everyone on this list seems to have

>so many problems with these drugs...nothing is easy...i don't know what to

do

> All the books I have read and anything on the OC foundation website has

>said...Try the CBT and ERP and if you don't see a response add medication.

I

>don't understand then why the pychiatrists say to do the medication first

>thing.

>

>I am sorry for rambling....typing is my therapy, otherwise I curl up and cry.

>

>Thanks for listening,

>Lynn

>

October 31, 2000

HI Lynn,

I have a few of your posts I have been meaning to respond to, and hopefully I

can help.

First the 504 question, and since I am a fellow NYer, perhaps my experience

will be helpful. So many parents hate this 'labeling' issue by the schools,

and worry it will follow them forever. Actually, in our neck of the woods,

having an IEP or 504 has become a strange status signal. They are finding

high school parents seeking this accomodation so that their kids can have

extra time on their SAT's, thus increasing the scores. There are some

strange people around.

Having just moved from elementary to middle school, I can tell you the 504

does not even automatically follow our children there, and our permission

must be granted, or all records remain confidential.

Also, I feel as if 's 504 had been a miracle. Even when she was doing

well, my meetings with the school ensured her great teachers, ensured some of

the 'special' teachers and psychologists knew her, and kept an eye out for

her, with her best interests always in their hearts. When she became truly

troubled, they had grown to know her as a lovable, compassionate child, and

were her staunch defenders and were inspired to do their best to help.

As far as Xanax, I too wonder why more kids don't take either this, or

Buspar, which is a less addictive, longer term anti-anxiety med. I have been

taking this personally for the past few months, and have found it to work

well in order to keep myself calm, and to stop me from spiraling 's

anxiety out of control. is now off her SSRI's altogether, and I

think alot of her problem remains extreme anxiety. I think I may suggest to

the doctor that we try this--I can't see how short term it could hurt. Xanax

is extremely addicting from what I understand, so it is not a good choice for

long term care, and I don't see the point in starting two meds at once-- how

would you know which one was effective?

My opinion on trying CBT first alone? I found the counting compulsions very

habit forming, and CBT takes a while, so whatever you can do to lower the OCD

first, and then lower the meds, is my recommendation. One of 's

compulsions was to say " not perfect " 6 times whenever she read or heard the

word 'perfect', and you have no idea how many times that word is used in a

day until you have lived with this. This went on for about a year, and

finally stopped in July. It is 3 months later, I do not have OCD, and I

still cringe every time I hear the word, and substitute 'ideal' in my

conversation, to which my daughter always says''its okay Mom, it can be

perfect " . As I said, these compulsions can be habit-forming, which makes

them even harder to get rid of.

All for now, again, please let me know, on or off list, if there is anything

I can do in your search for good help. Not that I've found any, but I would

be happy to listen and provide suggestions. What hasn't worked for

may work for Kim.

Ellen

October 31, 2000

Ellen,

Your info on the 504 plan is incredibly helfpul. I got the impression that

the pychiatrist didn't want me to get it yet. I think he thinks I am using

it as an excuse not to push Kim into school. It is complicated because he is

an old friend. He said, the school is cooperating with you now and I know

you, you won't let them ever stop and you will make sure you get what you

need from them for . And although that may be accurate about me, I

am tired...i want help. I am sending him part of your letter so maybe he

will better understand where I am coming from. I am so tired of everyone

resisting me...why is it I am called a skeptic when I go with my instincts

about my own child, yet they aren't skeptics when they all second guess me

and question every decision i make??? Ok guess I have moved from tears to

anger tonight...all the stages of mourning?

On a more positive note..i try...We did get out trick or treating tonight, a

big improvement over last year when she coudln't leave the house. She says

shes not eating anything she got (doesnt trust those strangers candy) but she

still had fun.

oh, back to stress...haha, i feel manic here in my writings....my other

daughter, who is 14 had a horrible day and called me crying..then her

guidance counselor called and said her friends were worried that she was

depressed and that could lead to suicide. Ali, said they are all crazy..i

was just upset about this boy not paying attention to me......We talked for

awhile..i have been very busy with Kim and I feel like shes slipping through

the cracks around here lately. My gut tells me her problems are normal

teenage stuff, but because of everything going on around here I tend to worry

more and read things into everything. I am thankful she talks to me a lot

and I will pay closer attention now. I asked her if she wanted to go speak

to someone about any of this and she said..Mom I am happy, i just had a

rotten day...

all i know is that i am very tired .......

Lynn

October 31, 2000