Odor sensitivity?

[Guest guest]

My ds has this new " thing " -- we were walking today and he was literally gagging

from a smell which I found mildly aversive. I hadn't been aware of it before,

but dh said he was doing it yesterday too. I think it's somehow an OCD thing --

something he's thinking about the smells that make it bother him so much. Has

anybody else had this happen with their kids, and did they get over it? We have

to change the way we give meds here too, because I usually give it to him at

breakfast and he's been leaving them on his plate because he doesn't want to

take them right when I give them to him and then he forgets them. Thanks for

any input -- I've been gone for awhile because my computer was on the blink and

dh decided to get a new one instead of getting more memory for the old one.

Christie

[Guest guest]

Hi Christie, I think this could be an OCD obsession that the bad odor was

contamination that was getting into the body, or bringing some triggering

thing to mind which could prompt anxiety. An example might be, smelling

bathroom smells and obsessing that actual excrement was getting inside. Or

it could be just the hypersensitivity to odors, tastes and etc. that so many

of our kids seem to have, especially before OCD is well treated.

Yes my child has had this problem with odors, also tastes, textures and

sound and it did fade to a low level after some time on an effective SSRI.

Though we didn't do this with smells, we did have success acclimating to

clothing textures with CBT/ERP. I have noticed the sensory stuff sometimes

comes back to a degree when she's sick with a cold, for example. Since many

people think having a cold affects their sense of smell and taste, I'm not

sure what to make of this. Maybe she has the " normal " alteration of smell

and taste from having the cold, and this triggers the old issues? In any

case it is as if these days the problem can't get going again, and peters

out after a few days.

Does your son have issues with taking the meds? Could he be " forgetting on

purpose " ? If not, I found getting into a routine really helps. In our

family, we have breakfast and then come the meds, before dd leaves the

table.

Take care,

Kathy R. in Indiana

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

> My ds has this new " thing " -- we were walking today and he was literally

gagging from a smell which I found mildly aversive. I hadn't been aware of

it before, but dh said he was doing it yesterday too. I think it's somehow

an OCD thing -- something he's thinking about the smells that make it bother

him so much. Has anybody else had this happen with their kids, and did they

get over it? We have to change the way we give meds here too, because I

usually give it to him at breakfast and he's been leaving them on his plate

because he doesn't want to take them right when I give them to him and then

he forgets them. Thanks for any input -- I've been gone for awhile because

my computer was on the blink and dh decided to get a new one instead of

getting more memory for the old one. Christie

[Guest guest]

Thanks everybody for your answers to my odor sensitivity query. I hadn't

thought of it as an SI problem although we've dealt with the sock seams

issues in the past and now it's mostly noise that bothers him. I guess I

have to ask him what he thinks about it next time.

I don't think ds is skipping his meds on purpose -- I think it's a

combination of not wanting to be interrupted while he's eating, my ADHD in

having to give it to him when he's eating because that's my cue to give it,

and his ADHD in forgetting to take it if he doesn't take it right when I

give it to him. We're going to the doctor on June 25, and I'm going to try

to be sure to get him to take his meds each and every day between now and

then to see if he really needs an increase in his meds or if it's just

missed doses that are fouling us up. Christie