thanks for words/seasonal/virus theory

[Guest guest]

I want to thank everyone for their words of encouragement. It

pulled me out of a serious depression. It gave the the courage to

look at not-so-positive posts, and I can read them without panicing

for once.

My daughter is 8 and every fall she would become " weird " . We used

to think it was Halloween or just that she was having a tough time

adjusting to school. She always got passed it and I remember

thinking in January I could breath again. This year it started as

it always did. She was stressed over starting school but not

extreme. Then the usual throat infection hit in early October.

Since then it was downhill. She was getting stomach aches and

worrying about the weirdest things. She said Halloween triggered

some fears. Her GI doc gave her Reglan to prevent the stomach aches

and motion sickness. It helped for that, but within a week she had

some kind of psychotic attack. " My brain hurts! " She became

irrational and at times she was almost certifiable. We had a

battery of tests run, especially for strep. Everything turned up

normal and she was negative for strep. She's been on low dose

Zoloft for two weeks and my husband, being a physician, insisted she

take an antibiotic for ten days anyway. She is almost back to

normal. Every so often during the day, a thought pops into her head

and she fights it down. It is most noticeable at night, when

fighting back the thoughts seems more of a struggle. However, she

doesn't hoard as much anymore, and she starts putting things in her

mouth toward evening or when she's stressed.

So what was that all about? Was the flare-up seasonal induced? Did

the sore throat trigger an autoimmune response? My husband believes

that the PANDAS study at the NIH might reveal a whole new organism

that might be triggering this. If it's bacterial, then the

antibiotic may have helped. If it's viral, then I don't know.

Also, I suspect something with the Reglan as well. It's dopamine

actually -- did it worsen an already existing imbalance? Also, one

the side-effects of Reglan can be anxiety. Maybe that brought it

over the edge.

In any event, we find ourselves in an unwanted battle. I am very

grateful that my daughter responded as well as she did to the

Zoloft. I'm curious to see if it can decrease her obsessive

thoughts even further when it's at full force in a few weeks. In

addition, she recieves CBT from a local therapist and will be seeing

Dr. Chanske next week.

I hope my post helped someone out there as much the posts I received

helped me. I'll keep you all " posted " !

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I am bipolar and my daughter has OCD with some bipolar attributes.

We also get the fall crash-both of us. Me with depression and her

with OCD and depression--all seratonin related. She and I haven't

picked up one virus this year either. I also have MS which causes

autoimmune flare ups with weather changes. For many people with

autoimmune diseases, weather changes instigate disease activity. I

don't think it is the virus theory, personally--if the basis is

autoimmune. It could be part of it, but I think it's the light

change and season change.

By the way, reglan is a big no no in bipolar circles because it can

cause depression (which in children can look like anxiety and

irritability--depending on the child).

My daughter has a cycle with OCD which looks like three months on and

three months off. The three months off is also no picnic, but not as

bad. Medication for OCD doesn't stave off this cycle. To some

degree, I suspect that an underlying mood disorder, even if mild is

responsible for this cycling in OCD. After all, anxiety and

depression are both seratonin issues and OCD is treated with

antidepressants. The use of an antidepressant can kick up an

underlying mood disorder (which a great deal of people have) even if

it is a very mild mood disorder--it might be rearing its ugly head

just enough to cause a shift in how OCD is being demonstrated by the

child. There are times when my daughter is on too much

antidepressant without a mood stabilizing agent such as risperdal to

counter the activating effects that the OCD actually appears WORSE

because of the increased agitation from the antidepressant. But this

also shifts with season due to her own personal flucutations of

seratonin.

All of this is so frustrating because it reaks so much havoc in our

lives and doesn't have a clear cause and effect relationship. It's

enough to drive you crazy. Oh never mind, I am crazy, I forget

sometimes (ha!).

Stephany

mom to

age 7

ocd, luvox risperdal

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

I mentioned a while ago that my daughter's psychiatrist spoke with

the people from NIMH who are working on the PANDAS angle not long ago. They

are actively (and apparently with some success) working to identify both

bacterial and viral causes of PANDAS-like OCD. I agree with your husband - I

think they are going to discover something big one of these days. Anyone who

reads this list has heard lots of stories of kids with seasonal or

viral-caused OCD flare-ups. I'm hoping they discover a bacterial agent at

work, because if it's viral, well... that won't be particularly helpful, will

it? Every fall we try really hard to keep my daughter extra healthy, but as

her OCD flares up, her food aversions take off and she won't even swallow (or

chew) a vitamin pill. So it becomes a vicious cycle.

Best wishes to you and your family. Glad the feedback gave you some

encouragement.

[Guest guest]

> Hi,

>

> I am bipolar and my daughter has OCD with some bipolar

attributes.

> > By the way, reglan is a big no no in bipolar circles because it

can

> cause depression (which in children can look like anxiety and

> irritability--depending on the child).

>

That's interesting what you said about Reglan. No doctor will give

me a positive answer on it's effect on my daughter. I don't think

she has bipolar. Prior to this, her symptoms have always been that

she becomes obsessed with an idea; she gets anxious; and she was a

pack-rat. The extreme anxiety episode was exactly one week on the

Reglan. Suddenly, the OCD became extreme too. While Reglan

explained the anxiety episode, I feel it was the cause of the OCD

flare-up too, altho there is no literature on it. It can't just be

a mere coincidence. As for your seasonal flare-up, did you buy that

special light for your home? My husband has it in the den. It

helps him through the winter.