Lexapro and germs

[Guest guest]

I was wondering if anyone out there has had success with using Lexapro

for contamination issues - my 13 year old has had a really bad set

back after the holiday. We thought things were stabilizing and that

she was getting control, she hasn't been on meds since September, but

we are really having a hard time now. In the past week she has been

late (over an hour) to school 2 times, and the other 3 days she hasn't

been able to go at all. She is home now, she said she couldn't face

it, didn't have the strength to get up and start washing her hands and

showering. We put her back on Lexapro because she can't function at

all, she won't touch anything, she won't let anyone near her, she is

convinced that she is dirty from various things (everyday it changes -

always the issues revolve around germs though) Over a 24 hour period

she washed her hands straight for a 2 hour span, and then another 3

hours the next morning. She is completely unreachable when she is in

her routine, we can't stop her. She flooded the bathroom, inches of

water all over the floor, the counter and in the cupboard below the

sink - and she still just kept going. So we realized she needed to go

back on meds, we will see the psychiatrist in a few weeks - and I am

desperately trying to find a therapist who does CBT. Anyone out there

have any suggestions - I want to know some good books to read for kids

with germ issues, any good advice on daily living - how to help her

just get through the day until we get to a therapist. It is so hard.

To see her suffering, to know what she must be going through and for

us to struggle through every day, having to call school again (no one

knows and she doesn't want anyone to know) is really tough.

We have a toddler in the house too - and she sees her sister scrubbing

and washing and I am afraid she will start to model it. The hardest

part is that we were always so close - she was my " snuggle bunny " and

now she treats me like a leper, the other night she was convinced my

hair had touched her arm when I passed and that she was contaminated

because I had walked past an awkward man at the market that she thinks

I bumped into and was contaminated by - then she got his germs...I

don't even remember seeing this person, but in her mind it is all

real. Thank you so much -