Re: my daughter has ocd and ocpd

[Guest guest]

Dear mom about to give up---

((((HUGS)))) to you, and please don't give up. I know you don't

want to give up just by the fact that you wrote. What kind of

symptoms does your daughter exhibit? What medications is she

taking? I'm wondering if maybe the meds are starting to poop out or

might need adjusting? Has she seen her therapist/psychiatrist

recently?

I have a now 13-year-old daughter with OCD (dx since Oct 2002) who

is on Lexapro now. She has made good progress over the last 16

months, but there are days that I, too, am ready to retire/throw in

the towel. Hang in there...so many parents on this list have been

or are where you are...I'm sure you'll get lots of support and

advise.

Blessings-

(Ohio)

[Guest guest]

> Dear mom about to give up---

> ((((HUGS)))) to you, and please don't give up. I know you don't

> want to give up just by the fact that you wrote. What kind of

> symptoms does your daughter exhibit? What medications is she

> taking? I'm wondering if maybe the meds are starting to poop out

or

> might need adjusting? Has she seen her therapist/psychiatrist

> recently?

> I have a now 13-year-old daughter with OCD (dx since Oct 2002) who

> is on Lexapro now. She has made good progress over the last 16

> months, but there are days that I, too, am ready to retire/throw in

> the towel. Hang in there...so many parents on this list have been

> or are where you are...I'm sure you'll get lots of support and

> advise.

> Blessings-

> (Ohio)

thanks for getting back to me. this is the first group I encountered

that actually has given me some hope. Yes, she has seen a therapist.

she is currently seeing her third one. she has been to two

psychiatist who " blew us off " see to look at her one would never know

anything is wrong. but at home it is a terrible nightmare. And I seem

to be in the brunt of it all. She is on luvox, paxil and risperdal

and the wait for a true pediatric psy. is months so in between a

family doc. and a nurologist, we are trying to maintain the drugs.

Yes, I do think an adjustment is needed. I just cannot believe that

with all the millions of people and children suffering from this

illness there are not more support groups like aa or cancer. this

illness is like living with someone who has ahlzimers.

[Guest guest]

Hi and (((hugs))) I'm sorry things are so very rough for you and your

daughter right now. What three meds is she taking, and are you confident in

the prescribing doctor's skill in balancing these meds? What does this

doctor say about the current situation? It may be that one of her meds has

stopped working (SSRIs may do this for unknown reasons), the dose may be too

low, or that a med is unexpectedly worsening the symptoms of her OCD. You

might consider a second assessment and opinion regarding your child's

diagnoses, perhaps at a University-based anxiety clinic, which can often

offer well-trained clinicians and frequently a sliding fee scale. In any

case, given her symptom level, it seems she needs more help from her meds to

be able to function at home as well as at school.

Does she have a therapist, and do Cognitive Behavior Therapy with Exposure

and Response Prevention? This is the one type of therapy that does reduce

and eliminate OCD compulsions, other types do not. Expert therapy plus an

effective SSRI (may be trial and error to find the right one for your

daughter, and the right dose) is perhaps the quickest route to low, stable

symptoms.

If money is getting tight, then it's especially important to thoroughly vet

the doctor and the therapist, to be certain they are capable of providing

the medication expertise and therapy that your daughter needs. Then monitor

results, while it can take months to get meds sorted out, you should see

improvement in symptom level from therapy within a few visits. Three years,

even off and on, is far too long to be seeing a therapist with no better

results than what your daughter has experienced. Many on this list saw

several doctors and therapists before finding the ones who could actually

help and get results, you want to be sure you don't fall into this trap.

It's pretty common for kids to do all they can to hold it together at school

and then come home and let all the accumulated stress of the day go--blow

ups, meltdowns, ugly tirades and behavior. Very often it's Mom (safe

person) who sees the OCD and etc. in all its " glory " . It's also pretty

common for school personnel to think a parent is being overdramatic or

making up that their child suffers from OCD, especially if the child is not

a behavior problem or struggling with grades. I and so many of us here have

been through this or are going through it currently. One thing that has

worked well for us is to have my daughter's psychiatrist speak with the

teacher, guidance counselor, principal or whoever at the school most needs

to hear from a professional, the ways in which OCD affects a young person.

He has usually said basically what I had told the teacher, but it was more

creditable coming from a doctor.

Ineffectively treated, waxing OCD can drive anyone to their wits' end and

beyond. I'm sorry to read that things are so very difficult right now but

the right treatment can turn things around fairly quickly. In the meantime

you must do all you can to take care of yourself, find time for yourself

even if it's just to walk around the block, take 20 minutes to read the

paper, or other things you enjoy. Your daughter may not act appreciative at

this point, but no doubt she is relying heavily on you and you can't help

her if you don't take care of yourself first.

Kathy R. in Indiana

p.s. Symptoms of other diagnoses can fade away once OCD is adequately

treated. Raging OCD can look like all kinds of other problems, but it can

be really hard to get a good idea about this until the OCD is under control

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

> Hi. I am almost at my wits end. my 14 year old has ocd and I also

> think ocpd. she has seen a therapist off and on for the last three

> years but recently, she has become worse with her ocd and attitude

> towards us (her family). she is on three different kinds of meds and

> I am doing every research piece I can about this. Our family is being

> ripped apart because of this illness. she is an honor student and a

> very quite young lady in school. the school officials all think we

> are somewhat making this up. but they don't live with her. we are

> running out of $resources to help her and not sure what else we can

> do. any advise would be helpful.

> mom about to give up

[Guest guest]

Hi:

Many of us can relate all too easily to what you wrote about home

being a terrible nightmare compared to outside the home. That is

part of the cruelty of OCD that it attacks sufferers all the more

stongly when they are most relaxed and in a safe place.

As the daughter of someone with Alzheimers and the mother of a son

with OCD, I do notice some similarities in living with these

disorders. However OCD has a very different prognosis and responds

to good treatment so you can get your life back. Please have lots of

hope that things will get better for your daughter and the whole

family.

Good luck, take car, aloha, Kathy (h)

kathy.hi@...

>

> thanks for getting back to me. this is the first group I

encountered

> that actually has given me some hope. Yes, she has seen a

therapist.

> she is currently seeing her third one. she has been to two

> psychiatist who " blew us off " see to look at her one would never

know

> anything is wrong. but at home it is a terrible nightmare. And I

seem

> to be in the brunt of it all. She is on luvox, paxil and risperdal

> and the wait for a true pediatric psy. is months so in between a

> family doc. and a nurologist, we are trying to maintain the drugs.

> Yes, I do think an adjustment is needed. I just cannot believe that

> with all the millions of people and children suffering from this

> illness there are not more support groups like aa or cancer. this

> illness is like living with someone who has ahlzimers.