Re: son now has anorexia

[Guest guest]

Cheryl,

I dont have an answer, though Im sure one of the others might. I cant

imagine how very

frightening this must be to you. My daughter age 18 continues to struggle

with the weight

gain, I find it scarry what ocd can come up with sometimes. Some very big

<<Hugs>>>>

to both you and your son. Hang in, their has to be a professional out there

that deals with these types of ocd thoughts. My thought is. is it truley

Anorexia or weight loss related to the thoughts and rituals. My thoughts are

with

you. LoriT in NJ

[Guest guest]

Cheryl,

I dont have an answer, though Im sure one of the others might. I cant

imagine how very

frightening this must be to you. My daughter age 18 continues to struggle

with the weight

gain, I find it scarry what ocd can come up with sometimes. Some very big

<<Hugs>>>>

to both you and your son. Hang in, their has to be a professional out there

that deals with these types of ocd thoughts. My thought is. is it truley

Anorexia or weight loss related to the thoughts and rituals. My thoughts are

with

you. LoriT in NJ

[Guest guest]

Cheryl,

I dont have an answer, though Im sure one of the others might. I cant

imagine how very

frightening this must be to you. My daughter age 18 continues to struggle

with the weight

gain, I find it scarry what ocd can come up with sometimes. Some very big

<<Hugs>>>>

to both you and your son. Hang in, their has to be a professional out there

that deals with these types of ocd thoughts. My thought is. is it truley

Anorexia or weight loss related to the thoughts and rituals. My thoughts are

with

you. LoriT in NJ

[Guest guest]

Dear Cheryl,

I'd high-tail it to UCLA for an evaluation and ask them to refer you to

an OCD specialist. It's true that many kids with OCD develop anorexia or other

eating disorders, and you should be able to find someone who is experienced in

treating both. But it may take some driving. You shouldn't have to go to UCLA

repeatedly if they can do a full evaluation and then refer you to someone.

I'd call them ASAP and ask what to do, since it could take a while to get an

appt. You could also call Stanford since they do OCD research and have a whole

inpatient program devoted to it. My daughter's child psychiatrist trained at

Stanford and spent a lot of time working with kids with eating disorders. If you

can't find anyone at all, let me know and I'll see if she can give me a name.

My 12 year old daughter has been bordering on being diagnosed with an

eating disorder for a year or so now. She also weighs herself continually

(although we threw out the scale, they have one at school and in the locker room

of

her gymnastics team - figure that one out...) and monitors her body in mirrors

24/7. She also occasionally restricts her eating and overexercises. But it

comes and goes - these last couple of weeks I haven't noticed it much. Her

psychiatrist and psychologist have been great about this though. They take it

very

seriously. One thing I learned from them is that discussing it openly is vital.

I worried a LOT about whether I should say someone when she didn't eat, what

to say, what to answer when she asked questions about her weight, etc. Her

psychologist talked to her about how she is at high risk of developing an eating

disorder, which one (Not Otherwise Specified or Bulemia would be the current

guesses), why, how she needs to deal with it, etc. Just facing it openly seemed

to help her a lot. She has always been interested in this stuff though and is

open to talking about it with her doctors (not with me, particularly). Your

son may be a much tougher nut to crack, especially if he is really anorexic

since he will not believe that he isn't fat. But I'd tell him that he has an

eating disorder, which is common in kids with OCD, and that he needs treatment

for

it just as he did for his OCD.

I can't imagine the worries you must have right now. It's scary. The big

thing is not to let anyone put you off and to get the help you need. I think

it's probably really important to find someone versed in both OCD and anorexia,

since it may affect the treatment.

Hugs to you,

in NV