Re: Digest Number 2443

[Guest guest]

:

Your post literally brought tears to my eyes. It brought back a day when I

became hysterical, telling I couldn't help him anymore and I was going

to have to hospitalize him (talk about adding anxiety to my already worry

ridden 6 year old!). When I told this to his therapist, the response was " you

shouldn't have said that to him " - well, duh! He completely missed the point -

which was how bad off was and how scared and desperate I felt for him and

me and our family, which was falling apart.. at this point was

diagnosed as " generalized anxiety disorder " , not OCD. I had carved myself a

large

place on the " Worst Mother of the Century " plaque.

Shortly thereafter, our pdoc diagnosed him with PANDAS/OCD, which finally

allowed me to understand what had been happening to my poor son for so many

years

was NOT MY FAULT!!! The true turning point for him and us was 2 fold -

getting rid of the lingering strep infection he'd had for so long, and finding a

therapist who know what he was doing. I cannot stress this last part enough. I

get so angry when I read about what your social worker is saying!! After

's OCD diagnosis, I found this list, which gave me the courage to find a

new

therapist. I must have called over 25 offices asking the same questions that

Kathy R. and suggested " Do you do ERP and CBT for OCD? " Most had no

idea what I was talking about. Then I hit paydirt, with a young guy who

answered my question like this, " yes, yes and yes. Come in tomorrow and we'll

get

started " . He asked nothing about our family, our parenting, our past - just got

down to business. It was the beginning of getting our life back.

I completely understand and know what you are going through- " WHY WON " T

ANYONE HELP ME? I CAN " T DO THIS ANYMORE! " (At least that was my despair - I hope

I'm not projecting ). I urge you to channel your despair into anger and use

that anger energy to demand better from the professionals. You are paying them

- they work for you! If you feel his meds aren't working well enough, demand

an appt. NOW to discuss this with the pdoc. BTW, how much Celexa is he on?

is on Celexa too, and we tried to take him off it this summer with bad

results. We started titrating him back up, with lingering problems, but I was

amazed that when we increased it just .5 ml more, he seemed to just cross the

line into better mental health. Who knows, maybe just a slight increase could

help your son too?

I also encourage you to do something each day to try and take care of

yourself. The oxygen theory. I went into therapy myself for a while to get some

support for the depression I underwent as a result of coping with 's

behaviors. It did help. That and 5HTP made a big difference for me. Kept me

from

dreading the day, and feeling like I'd just sunk deeper into a bottomless black

hole every time something with would flare up.

Sending you a big cyber HUG!!! - in MI

P.S. Guess what came home from school with in his pockets yesterday?

ROCKS!!!

[Guest guest]

-

I read your post and saw that you live in MI. I also do. You mentioned that

your therapist does ERP and CBT for OCD. Would you mind letting me know

where it is you go for therapy? My daughter(12) is also in therapy for OCD,

but they don't do the ERP or CBT, so we have gone through four years of

therapy with virtually no results. Any help would be appreciated.

Donna

>From: RHelinski@...

>Reply-To:

>To:

>Subject: Re: Digest Number 2443

>Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 10:27:40 EDT

>

>:

>

>Your post literally brought tears to my eyes. It brought back a day when I

>became hysterical, telling I couldn't help him anymore and I was

>going

>to have to hospitalize him (talk about adding anxiety to my already worry

>ridden 6 year old!). When I told this to his therapist, the response was

> " you

>shouldn't have said that to him " - well, duh! He completely missed the

>point -

>which was how bad off was and how scared and desperate I felt for

>him and

>me and our family, which was falling apart.. at this point was

>diagnosed as " generalized anxiety disorder " , not OCD. I had carved myself

>a large

>place on the " Worst Mother of the Century " plaque.

>

>Shortly thereafter, our pdoc diagnosed him with PANDAS/OCD, which finally

>allowed me to understand what had been happening to my poor son for so many

>years

>was NOT MY FAULT!!! The true turning point for him and us was 2 fold -

>getting rid of the lingering strep infection he'd had for so long, and

>finding a

>therapist who know what he was doing. I cannot stress this last part

>enough. I

>get so angry when I read about what your social worker is saying!! After

>'s OCD diagnosis, I found this list, which gave me the courage to

>find a new

>therapist. I must have called over 25 offices asking the same questions

>that

>Kathy R. and suggested " Do you do ERP and CBT for OCD? " Most had no

>idea what I was talking about. Then I hit paydirt, with a young guy who

>answered my question like this, " yes, yes and yes. Come in tomorrow and

>we'll get

>started " . He asked nothing about our family, our parenting, our past -

>just got

>down to business. It was the beginning of getting our life back.

>

>I completely understand and know what you are going through- " WHY WON " T

>ANYONE HELP ME? I CAN " T DO THIS ANYMORE! " (At least that was my despair - I

>hope

>I'm not projecting ). I urge you to channel your despair into anger and

>use

>that anger energy to demand better from the professionals. You are paying

>them

>- they work for you! If you feel his meds aren't working well enough,

>demand

>an appt. NOW to discuss this with the pdoc. BTW, how much Celexa is he on?

> is on Celexa too, and we tried to take him off it this summer with

>bad

>results. We started titrating him back up, with lingering problems, but I

>was

>amazed that when we increased it just .5 ml more, he seemed to just cross

>the

>line into better mental health. Who knows, maybe just a slight increase

>could

>help your son too?

>

>I also encourage you to do something each day to try and take care of

>yourself. The oxygen theory. I went into therapy myself for a while to get

>some

>support for the depression I underwent as a result of coping with 's

>behaviors. It did help. That and 5HTP made a big difference for me. Kept

>me from

>dreading the day, and feeling like I'd just sunk deeper into a bottomless

>black

>hole every time something with would flare up.

>

>Sending you a big cyber HUG!!! - in MI

>

>P.S. Guess what came home from school with in his pockets

>yesterday?

> ROCKS!!!

>

>

>

>

>

>

>