need advice or just to vent

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone. just need to let off some issues and get some words

of wisdom. Our 6 yr old was diagnosed about 7 months ago w/OCD (saw

early signs around the age of 4) - has sensory issues as well -

currently no meds - her therapist however reccommends them EVERY time

we go - my husband is very much against them and I'm on the fence - I

have mental illness in my family and I suffer from anxiety issues

myself and just recently started taking paxil (hasn't started working

for me yet) - her ocd symptoms are pretty constant - but can vary in

intensity - mostly intrusive/bad thoughts - not that many rituals -

at least that I can see or she tells me about - pretty sure theres a

lot more going on mentally thought but she just can't explain it all

to us due to her age - however she is very articulate - anyways- her

therapists states she could be classified as moderate to severe ocd

and would really benefit from meds - cbt isn't really effective for

her - at least not yet - but i really think it hasnt been too

effective because she just doesn't " get it " - we have tried MANY ways

of explaining ocd to her and how it effects her thinking she seems

very confused about what it really is and is pretty argumentative

when we tell her " thats the ocd talking " - we have the book " what to

do when the brain gets stuck.. " haven't finished w/it yet though -

taking things VERY slow - to try and make a long story short - we all

including her doc thought she had a clear understanding of her ocd

and the therapy and so we were progressing w/her homework etc - well

we completely overwhelmed her and she wigged out and was just so

stressed out she couldn't really function - well since we told her we

were going to " start over " with explaining things and trying to work

out the " hiccups " she's relaxed ALOT - again " issues " are still there

just not to the same intensity...so I guess here's my need - has

anyone else with younger children (current or otherwise) struggled

with these issues of not really " getting it " and wondering if you

should try meds or wait and see if she " gets it " soon and can really

tackle the behavior therapy head on? her doc is giving her next week

off from working on her OCD homework during her spring vaca so we'll

see how that goes. she is VERY excited about the whole idea. thank

you all for reading this and I welcome ANY and ALL suggestions and or

stories that you can relate!! thanks again!

Terri