(No subject)

[Guest guest]

HI Jane:

Welcome to the group.

I hope you can work something out for your son and school until he

starts to recover so he does not have to spend so much time doing

homework. Actually it is good exposure for him not to do a lot of

homework and be like the others....it is amazing the things we get

our kids to do when they are recovering from OCD. We had goals for

my son, Steve, not to get A's in school to expose him to his

perfectionism etc.

The friends thing is always hard to watch. My son Steve pretty much

lost his friends as he was so busy being ill with OCD. HIs best

friend is his brother, he has other friends but many of them are

adults. He is doing quite well socially, but would have a hard time

fitting in, too nerdy, even if he didn't have OCD. I just hope that

adulthood will help as people will tolerate differnces more readily.

It has certainly brought our family much closer together.

Good luck, take care, aloha, kathy (H)

kathy.hi@...

> Hi,

>

> I'm Jane and I have just joined so bare with me while I learn the

ropes.

>

> This summer my son was diagnosed with OCD, Tourettes and ADHD. His

OCD is

> scrupulosity....ALWAYS is worried about doing the right thing and

he prays

> all the time. In school he is doing OK but the amount of homework

is

> staggering. He spends sometimes 2-3 hours working on it most

nights. He

> needs to burn off energy but wants to do the amount that the other

kids are

> doing.... " it wouldn't be right for me to have to do less. " He is

on Luvox

> now. We see some improvement since the beginning of the summer but

with

> school starting, he is slowly regressing. His ticks are in full

swing and

> the kids will stare at him and say things behind his back, but loud

enough

> for him to hear. Also, so many of his " friends " have dropped him

because he

> acts " weird, and not fun to be around anymore. " This hurts him and

kills me

> to see him so lonesome. I was just wondering if anyone who's child

is like

> this could give me any advice? We have met with his teachers and

they are

> doing what they can.

> Thank you!!!

>

> Jane

[Guest guest]

Angie-It sounds like the Zoloft started to work-maybe she needs to be brought

up to a higher dosage? I don't know levels of that drug. I know it is

normal going from one obsession to the next the following week. By

constantly asking her if she's ok, you're giving her lots of attention and

maybe she is learning if she keeps acting this way, she'll get more and more

attention. OCD is a very controlling disorder. Also, you're also letting her

know you are doubting if she's ok and that may be making her more worried

about herself and she's getting worse. It would not be uncommon for this

stuff to run in the family. I can see little bits of obsessive behavior in

myself from time to time. I would put it by her therapist. I know ours will

help any family members deal with probs that we develop from having a child

with OCD. I would also get OCD-new help for the family or one of the other

books to learn about what family members may be doing to enable the child to

become worse. Hope I helped. I'm just trying to help you on what I've read

and been told by counselors. Good luck! Ellen

[Guest guest]

thanks for your response. I do believe this runs in families, when I think

back on my childhood, I can remember some things I did that were definately

ocd, I don't remember exactly when I stopped, but I remember some pretty

intense bedtime rituals I had for years. s therapist suggested to

her that one of her ways of dealing with her obsessions would be to seek

reasurrance from me, (or a teacher or friend) if she has a concern. I have

always wondered if that is a good idea, it seems contrary to what I have

read, he also encourages her to " boss " her ocd thoughts away, and to name the

ocd thoughts, and " tell " them to leave her alone, etc, but I think she feels

its just easier for her to ask. and sometimes that works, or seems to, but I

feel like it puts alot of pressure on me (and other family members) to make

sure she is ok all the time. I basically like the therapist, and she really

likes him alot, but I am also dealing with the fact that I am running out of

appts for the year, our insurance only covers 20 visits per person per year,

for mental health. period, no exceptions, and I just quit my job 3 weeks

ago, so now we are operating on less over all income, plus paying cobra rates

for our insurance (my hubby is self employed). I was working night shift

(1130p-7a) for the past few years, and couldn't handle it anymore, I really

felt a need to be home with the kids for awhile, (and to sleep like a normal

person!!) but anyway, we really cant afford to pay for visits out of pocket,

so I am rationing the few we have left. Thank goodness she is doing some

better!!!

[Guest guest]

Hi Angie. You must have bought the wrong parenting manual!

I can remember when my 13 y/o son, , began having severe OCD

behaviors a couple years ago, and I was reading/learning everything I

could, I felt " obsessed " myself with OCD! About all I thought

about. And, yes, I watched him too. It's hard not to when you are

just beginning to learn/deal with OCD.

Below is a part about Zoloft from the OCD Foundation website at

http://ocfoundation.org

SERTRALINE

Sertraline [sIR-traw-leen]

— (Zoloft ®) [ZO-loft]

Customary dose range: 50 to 150 milligrams/day.

Sertraline is also a selective SRI medication, similar in many ways

to fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, and paroxetine. Like each of the

medications in this class, sertraline acts specifically on serotonin,

and has little if any effects on other brain chemicals. Like

clomipramine and fluvoxamine, sertraline has been used in studies

specifically designed to research its safety and effectiveness in

children with OCD. Sertraline has just received FDA approval for use

in childhood OCD.

*********

So it seems she might be taking the " lowest " dose of Zoloft and

perhaps a gradual increase in dosage might help. Ask her doctor.

Is the child psychologist doing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and also

Exposure & Response Prevention? These two treatment/therapies are

the ones recommended for treating OCD.

When 's " severe " OCD began 2 years ago and I was reading up on

it, I realized he'd had more OCD behaviors when he was younger than I

thought. At the time I didn't realize that all those DAILY

questions, reassurance kind, could be OCD-related. ( " how long will

it take to heal? " " will this give me cancer? " " what's this spot? " on

his skin...)

I have 2 other sons, and yes, got a lot more attention at

this time. Maybe you can reassure the others, that this isn't an

everlasting thing, it's that more attention is needed now due to

appointments, learning/reading about OCD, talking/reading to

about OCD (have you done this? there are some kids books), that at

any rate you WILL make time for the others, maybe just not on a daily

basis right now.

I had to help with his homework for TWO years, and, yes, his

twin complained as I didn't have time to help him, and I was

exhausted and/or fed up with OCD myself. But we muddled through it.

I will say that today OCD is no longer as BIG a problem as it was the

past two years, so take hope!

Gotta go, keep us posted on how things are going!

> Hi, my name is Angie, and I am new here. I have 4 children, 3

girls, ages

> 16, 8 and 7 and one son age 13. My 8 year old, , started

displaying

> symptoms of ocd last May (actually, after I realized what was going

on, she

> was displaying some mild symptoms for a few months before) one day

I realized

> I had answered the will this hurt me if I touch it, or is this food

ok to

> eat, question about 50 times in one day and immediatly called our

insurance

> company, who referred us to a child psychologist. after 3 months

of therepy

> we were getting worse instead of better, and each week it seemed

the

> obsession changed, she has had contamination issues, mostly with

food, but

> also, worries if she touches something and then puts her hand in

her mouth,

> will she be ok. At one point, she watched a babies switched at

birth kind of

> movie, and for a week was hysterical because she was convinced that

she had

> been switched at birth and wasn't ours. She also needs to confess

anything

> she has done wrong (sometimes, it was months ago she did it) and

gets

> hysterical if I am not available to her. She is now on 50 mg a day

of

> zoloft, which even though isnt a high dose, has started (after 9

weeks) to

> make a big difference, she actually has days where she doesn't

have any

> worries. BUT then she has days where it seems all she does is

worry, and I

> panic. Is it going to get worse, has the medicine stopped working,

how bad

> can it get! I am starting to think I need therapy myself because I

am

> constantly obsessing about her obsessing. How do others deal with

this, or

> am I truly becoming obsessive myself. I have to stop myself from

watching

> her constantly, and asking her if she is ok, and now the other kids

are

> getting anoyed with how much time I devote to her. This was NOT

in the

> parenting manual!!!!!!!

>

> thanks

> angie

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Thanks for the info on Zoloft. We are seeing the Psychiatrist monitoring her

medication next week, and I am expecting we will increase her to 75mg. She

only started in mid august, and they said they like to give it a full 10

weeks before making any changes to monitor side effects, etc. We have been

lucky in that aspect, she had some upset stomach and trouble sleeping at

first, but switching to giving it to her in the am after breakfast helped

alot. I still think her appetite isnt what it used to be, she is on the tall

thin side anyway, but we are working with that too, it seems she is really

hungry early in the day and late in the day, so without making too big a deal

of it (I want to avoid eating issues) I just give her an extra large

breakfast, and let her have a bigger than normal bedtime snack and she seems

fine. The zoloft does seem to have helped, especially with the panic

attacks she seemed to be having, especially if I wasn't available to reassure

her, and she doesn't seem to have as many of the " need to confess moments " I

actually think its been several weeks since one of those. She still has

contamination issues on a daily basis- just now its once or twice a day

instead of 30 times a day. I do feel like we have to be careful of what we

expose her to, she caught the end of a nightmare on elm street movie at a

friends house (their older brother was watching it) and spent two days

worrying and obsessing about freddie!!

Thanks

Angie

[Guest guest]

Hi Angie and welcome to the list. I think it's pretty normal for a

parent to get a bit obsessive about their child's obsessing or

showing OCD symptoms :-) Especially in the beginning when trying to

get the med balanced and getting to know about the disorder. I used

to ask my little girl (just turned five at the time) " Are you having

the thoughts now? Now? Now?? I made us both nuts I think.

If the Zoloft seems to be helping, you might hold a bit longer at the

current dose and see if the ups and downs level out. Otherwise your

daughter may need to titer up to a higher dose to get her symptoms

under control. Once decent control is achieved you won't see such

variation in symptom level day-to-day--though even with good med

control, OCD continues to wax and wane in response to stressors and

in large part due to nothing anyone really knows for sure. (I am not

a doctor, only another Mom who has been doing the OCD and med thing

for four years.)

The best advice I can give you is to find a good Cognitive Behavior

Therapist experienced in treating OCD in kids using Exposure and

Response Prevention techniques. This type of therapy is the only one

that reduces and eliminates OCD symptoms, others (talk therapy, play

therapy, etc.) do not. Depending on where you live, finding this

type of therapist may be difficult, they are scarce but a good one is

worth the effort of seeking him/her out. CBT with ERP has been at

least as effective as the best SSRI my child has taken in reducing

her symptoms to a livable level and getting our family off of the

waxing and waning roller coaster.

Best of luck, and again welcome!

Kathy R. in Indiana

> Hi, my name is Angie, and I am new here. I have 4 children, 3

girls, ages

> 16, 8 and 7 and one son age 13. My 8 year old, , started

displaying

> symptoms of ocd last May (actually, after I realized what was going

on, she

> was displaying some mild symptoms for a few months before) one day

I realized

> I had answered the will this hurt me if I touch it, or is this food

ok to

> eat, question about 50 times in one day and immediatly called our

insurance

> company, who referred us to a child psychologist. after 3 months

of therepy

> we were getting worse instead of better, and each week it seemed

the

> obsession changed, she has had contamination issues, mostly with

food, but

> also, worries if she touches something and then puts her hand in

her mouth,

> will she be ok. At one point, she watched a babies switched at

birth kind of

> movie, and for a week was hysterical because she was convinced that

she had

> been switched at birth and wasn't ours. She also needs to confess

anything

> she has done wrong (sometimes, it was months ago she did it) and

gets

> hysterical if I am not available to her. She is now on 50 mg a day

of

> zoloft, which even though isnt a high dose, has started (after 9

weeks) to

> make a big difference, she actually has days where she doesn't

have any

> worries. BUT then she has days where it seems all she does is

worry, and I

> panic. Is it going to get worse, has the medicine stopped working,

how bad

> can it get! I am starting to think I need therapy myself because I

am

> constantly obsessing about her obsessing. How do others deal with

this, or

> am I truly becoming obsessive myself. I have to stop myself from

watching

> her constantly, and asking her if she is ok, and now the other kids

are

> getting anoyed with how much time I devote to her. This was NOT

in the

> parenting manual!!!!!!!

[Guest guest]

Kathy,

Thanks for your response. I am trying hard not to hover over her constantly.

I am sometimes having trouble knowing which behaviours are connected with her

ocd, and which aren't. THis past weekend she went to a birthday party where

each child was to bring a donation of some type for our local animal shelter

instead of a gift for the bday girl (making all of us who dont do this and

let our child get presents look awfully shallow!) and they then took the

gifts to the shelter, and took a tour. came home wanting to get a

puppy she saw. Pretty normal. Except when I said no (we already have 1 dog,

4 cats, 2 hamsters, 2 fish and 5 hermit crabs) she became hysterical because

she believed that the dog and her were " best friends " and she was letting the

dog down since he looked her in the eye and loved her, so now it was up to

her to rescue the dog. She cried for 3 hours at first, and off and on all

weekend, she seems somewhat over it now, but it seemed like an over reaction

to me, and I have no idea if its connected to her ocd, or just a " normal "

over reaction.

Any ideas?

thanks

angie

[Guest guest]

Angie - actually that sounds like ME and I'm not OCD!! I could get

sooo attached to things like that dog and feel sooo

bad/depressed/teary and whatever if I'd been told " no. " And yes,

I've always been an emotional person. Now I wouldn't have thrown any

tantrum, but the tears woulda been with me for, well, yeah, 3 hours

or so....

So maybe it's not OCD!

> Kathy,

> Thanks for your response. I am trying hard not to hover over her

constantly.

> I am sometimes having trouble knowing which behaviours are

connected with her

> ocd, and which aren't. THis past weekend she went to a birthday

party where

> each child was to bring a donation of some type for our local

animal shelter

> instead of a gift for the bday girl (making all of us who dont do

this and

> let our child get presents look awfully shallow!) and they then

took the

> gifts to the shelter, and took a tour. came home wanting

to get a

> puppy she saw. Pretty normal. Except when I said no (we already

have 1 dog,

> 4 cats, 2 hamsters, 2 fish and 5 hermit crabs) she became

hysterical because

> she believed that the dog and her were " best friends " and she was

letting the

> dog down since he looked her in the eye and loved her, so now it

was up to

> her to rescue the dog. She cried for 3 hours at first, and off and

on all

> weekend, she seems somewhat over it now, but it seemed like an over

reaction

> to me, and I have no idea if its connected to her ocd, or just

a " normal "

> over reaction.

> Any ideas?

>

> thanks

> angie

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I whant to post my sons story on your website but in havent been able

to . what do i do?