Re: Things We Do for our Kids (or Velamints Revisited)

[Guest guest]

LOL the Velamints must have some sort of artificial sugar in them to cause

that reaction. And you are lucky, " that reaction " and the specter of the

flu in the house would have just given many OCD kids that much more to

obsess about!

Congrats to you and your son for your success (and determination :-) It's

almost magic isn't it when a child's anxiety falls about something that had

seemed impossibly fixed. With more exposures I'm confident he'll no longer

be bothered with eating sounds.

Take care,

Kathy R. in Indiana

----- Original Message -----

From: <comtesse_de_provence@...>

> I'm never going to eat another Velamint again in my

> life!

>

> The other night we started our first level 7/8 anxiety

> (sometimes 10!) exposure. Since my son has a problem

> with the sound of other people eating we're starting

> with hard candy (which my son has an easier time with

> because it's not actually " food " ). Anyhow, the first

> night after consuming 1 entire container of those

> wonderful chocolate Velamints I did feel a little

> queasy in the stomach. Then, about an hour later, I

> had one of those " I have to get to the bathroom

> quick! " moments. Following that I had about 7 or 8 or

> those moments within the next few of hours. At the

> time, being kind of dense, I figured I must be coming

> down with a stomach flu and warned my kids that they

> may come down with similar symptoms.

>

> Well... day 2 (or rather night 2). Although I had

> planned to buy some other type of hard candy, I had

> run out of time and didn't get a chance. So... having

> a second box of Velamints handy (it was actually my

> daughter's box), I figured one more night of Velamints

> would be okay since keeping up with exposures is more

> important. So that night we did another grueling hour

> of exposure (that almost resembled something more like

> an exorcism than an exposure), and I went through a

> second box of Velamints, and got to spend another

> evening running to the potty. :-(

>

> Yes, sometimes it takes me awhile, but I finally did

> realize it wasn't a stomach flu, it was the Velamints.

>

> On a positive note, last night the exposure went

> remarkably well. I picked up some packets of gum and

> hard Lifesavers (truly lifesavers in my case!)

> yesterday. In the evening I asked my son if he wanted

> to try hard candy, gum or food. He picked gum (what a

> relief for me!!!).

>

> Anyhow, after two nights of completely nightmarish

> exposures (1 full hour of avoidance; crying, flailing,

> grimacing, throwing pillows everywhere, saying

> gibberish, telling me he hated me and wished he was

> dead, pretending to hit me, etc.... and no reduction

> in anxiety even after 1 hour!). The third night was

> MUCH better. He started off getting himself as

> comfortable as possible and saying " I can do this, I

> can do this... " practiced deep breathing and I could

> see he was working hard to force himself to relax. He

> told me his starting # was 7 and then 30 min later he

> was able to get down to a 4!!! We still did a full

> hour of exposure and halfway through I used the

> Lifesaver candy to get other sounds in. At times he

> would come over to me and put his ear near my mouth

> for a few moments to listen more closely to the sound.

> WOW!!!! I wanted to run down the street yelling and

> whooping " He did it!!!! "

>

> Of course, after the exposure he still couldn't

> tolerate anyone eating, and had to go hide in his room

> and listen to his sound machine. And still constantly

> asks, " Is anyone eating? " so he can run out of the

> room. But I feel like I can see a tiny crack of light

> at the end of the tunnel. There's some hope. I'm

> jazzed!!!

[Guest guest]

Thanks Kathy! It IS magical. Although I know it's

going to take time and a lot of hard work. We

definitely have a lot more ahead. Also, I'm guessing

you can never take OCD for granted. I think ERP may

need to be a way of life. This is something I'm trying

to teach my son.

Tess

--- Kathy <kathylr@...> wrote:

> LOL the Velamints must have some sort of artificial

> sugar in them to cause

> that reaction. And you are lucky, " that reaction "

> and the specter of the

> flu in the house would have just given many OCD kids

> that much more to

> obsess about!

>

> Congrats to you and your son for your success (and

> determination :-) It's

> almost magic isn't it when a child's anxiety falls

> about something that had

> seemed impossibly fixed. With more exposures I'm

> confident he'll no longer

> be bothered with eating sounds.

>

> Take care,

> Kathy R. in Indiana

>

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: <comtesse_de_provence@...>

>

> > I'm never going to eat another Velamint again in

> my

> > life!

> >

> > The other night we started our first level 7/8

> anxiety

> > (sometimes 10!) exposure. Since my son has a

> problem

> > with the sound of other people eating we're

> starting

> > with hard candy (which my son has an easier time

> with

> > because it's not actually " food " ). Anyhow, the

> first

> > night after consuming 1 entire container of those

> > wonderful chocolate Velamints I did feel a little

> > queasy in the stomach. Then, about an hour later,

> I

> > had one of those " I have to get to the bathroom

> > quick! " moments. Following that I had about 7 or 8

> or

> > those moments within the next few of hours. At the

> > time, being kind of dense, I figured I must be

> coming

> > down with a stomach flu and warned my kids that

> they

> > may come down with similar symptoms.

> >

> > Well... day 2 (or rather night 2). Although I had

> > planned to buy some other type of hard candy, I

> had

> > run out of time and didn't get a chance. So...

> having

> > a second box of Velamints handy (it was actually

> my

> > daughter's box), I figured one more night of

> Velamints

> > would be okay since keeping up with exposures is

> more

> > important. So that night we did another grueling

> hour

> > of exposure (that almost resembled something more

> like

> > an exorcism than an exposure), and I went through

> a

> > second box of Velamints, and got to spend another

> > evening running to the potty. :-(

> >

> > Yes, sometimes it takes me awhile, but I finally

> did

> > realize it wasn't a stomach flu, it was the

> Velamints.

> >

> > On a positive note, last night the exposure went

> > remarkably well. I picked up some packets of gum

> and

> > hard Lifesavers (truly lifesavers in my case!)

> > yesterday. In the evening I asked my son if he

> wanted

> > to try hard candy, gum or food. He picked gum

> (what a

> > relief for me!!!).

> >

> > Anyhow, after two nights of completely nightmarish

> > exposures (1 full hour of avoidance; crying,

> flailing,

> > grimacing, throwing pillows everywhere, saying

> > gibberish, telling me he hated me and wished he

> was

> > dead, pretending to hit me, etc.... and no

> reduction

> > in anxiety even after 1 hour!). The third night

> was

> > MUCH better. He started off getting himself as

> > comfortable as possible and saying " I can do this,

> I

> > can do this... " practiced deep breathing and I

> could

> > see he was working hard to force himself to relax.

> He

> > told me his starting # was 7 and then 30 min later

> he

> > was able to get down to a 4!!! We still did a

> full

> > hour of exposure and halfway through I used the

> > Lifesaver candy to get other sounds in. At times

> he

> > would come over to me and put his ear near my

> mouth

> > for a few moments to listen more closely to the

> sound.

> > WOW!!!! I wanted to run down the street yelling

> and

> > whooping " He did it!!!! "

> >

> > Of course, after the exposure he still couldn't

> > tolerate anyone eating, and had to go hide in his

> room

> > and listen to his sound machine. And still

> constantly

> > asks, " Is anyone eating? " so he can run out of the

> > room. But I feel like I can see a tiny crack of

> light

> > at the end of the tunnel. There's some hope. I'm

> > jazzed!!!

>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Well - sorry you had to go through that but thanks for the laugh

today! And hooray for your son for trying so hard to get through the

exposures, and for so long a time! And cheers for you for being such

a great mom to endure chewing and lipsmacking all that candy so

noisily!

I think I see that light too. Keep us updated.

>

> I'm never going to eat another Velamint again in my

> life!

>

> The other night we started our first level 7/8 anxiety

> (sometimes 10!) exposure. Since my son has a problem

> with the sound of other people eating we're starting

[Guest guest]

Ellen,

Tonight wasn't as successful. It was 50 minutes of

exposure torture at level 8/9 (10 minutes at about

5/6). Oh well... That has to be expected. As they say,

" two steps forward, one step back. "

That light is still there, but it may take awhile to

reach it.

--- <@...> wrote:

> Well - sorry you had to go through that but thanks

> for the laugh

> today! And hooray for your son for trying so hard

> to get through the

> exposures, and for so long a time! And cheers for

> you for being such

> a great mom to endure chewing and lipsmacking all

> that candy so

> noisily!

>

> I think I see that light too. Keep us updated.

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I am not sure which sweetner is in Velamints, but there is one that is

an ingredient in a medication that is used to induce diarrhea. It is

in some diabetic candies. I can't even eat one piece. LOL!

Bonnie

PS in the future and for accidental ingestion, some kaopectate or

pepto bismol should help

[Guest guest]

THAT is so funny!!!! And to think I unknowingly ate a

whole container of them.

LOL!

--- rnmomo2 <rnmomo2@...> wrote:

> I am not sure which sweetner is in Velamints, but

> there is one that is

> an ingredient in a medication that is used to induce

> diarrhea. It is

> in some diabetic candies. I can't even eat one

> piece. LOL!

>

> Bonnie

>

> PS in the future and for accidental ingestion, some

> kaopectate or

> pepto bismol should help

>

>

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________