Re: Two children with OCD--NAIL PICKING, Marlene ?

[Guest guest]

,

 

Is your daughter on any other medications? As I mentioned, I'm wondering if

anxiety meds will help this particular issue in general.

 

 

>

> From: Kim Bowman <kabowman2yahoo (DOT) com>

> Subject: Two children with OCD

> To: @ yahoogroups. com

> Date: Monday, September 28, 2009, 5:19 AM

>

>

>

> Thanks for the words Barb! Our daughter was diagnosed three years

> ago at 16. She definately is both compulsive and obsessive. She has

> been on the same medication for three years and it appears to help

> with the compulsion to wash so much. She is still very focused on

> germs but not to the same degree. She also takes a mood stabalizer

> for anxiety and ups and downs.

>

> Our son who is eight was just diagnosed in the last year. He was

> diagnosed with CAPD, Central Auditiory Processing Disorder at 6. He

> had moderate to severe speech delays as a toddler. Then became

> apparant he was ADHD in Kindergarten, did I spell that write?

> When I changed from Pediatrition who was managing the situation to

> a psychiatrist and described Seth intense fears- being alone, all

> bugs, dying, his family dying ect...she looked at me and said no

> doubt OCD. He takes lexapro and it has helped significantly! He

> will go outside on his own, go to the bathroom alone and talks alot

> less about dying.

>

> He does however pick his nails and cuticles frequently. He peels

> the skin so far down it bleeds. Definatley a compulsion.. .does

> anyone else have this issue? Also,he is very impulsive and

> aggitated after school and sometimes in the morning when he gets

> up. I guess he holds it together all day long and then comes home

> to let it all out. I worry about how much back talk and yelling to

> allow?

>

> Thanks for listening?

>

>

[Guest guest]

Yes, she is on zoloft and tenex. The tenex is for tics. Zoloft has

worked wonders for ocd and anxiety. She has been on these meds for 6

years, and was a basket case when we first started them, so the nail

picking is a manageable issue for us at this point. So, I guess it

didn't help with this particular issue, but has helped with so many

larger ones, we are happy with the results. Before meds, she also

went through all sorts of itching issues, and would pick her lips

until they bled. We haven't had any of these things since the meds.

marlene

> ,

>

> Is your daughter on any other medications? As I mentioned, I'm

> wondering if anxiety meds will help this particular issue in general.

>

>

>

>

> >

> > From: Kim Bowman <kabowman2yahoo (DOT) com>

> > Subject: Two children with OCD

> > To: @ yahoogroups. com

> > Date: Monday, September 28, 2009, 5:19 AM

> >

> >

> >

> > Thanks for the words Barb! Our daughter was diagnosed three years

> > ago at 16. She definately is both compulsive and obsessive. She has

> > been on the same medication for three years and it appears to help

> > with the compulsion to wash so much. She is still very focused on

> > germs but not to the same degree. She also takes a mood stabalizer

> > for anxiety and ups and downs.

> >

> > Our son who is eight was just diagnosed in the last year. He was

> > diagnosed with CAPD, Central Auditiory Processing Disorder at 6. He

> > had moderate to severe speech delays as a toddler. Then became

> > apparant he was ADHD in Kindergarten, did I spell that write?

> > When I changed from Pediatrition who was managing the situation to

> > a psychiatrist and described Seth intense fears- being alone, all

> > bugs, dying, his family dying ect...she looked at me and said no

> > doubt OCD. He takes lexapro and it has helped significantly! He

> > will go outside on his own, go to the bathroom alone and talks alot

> > less about dying.

> >

> > He does however pick his nails and cuticles frequently. He peels

> > the skin so far down it bleeds. Definatley a compulsion.. .does

> > anyone else have this issue? Also,he is very impulsive and

> > aggitated after school and sometimes in the morning when he gets

> > up. I guess he holds it together all day long and then comes home

> > to let it all out. I worry about how much back talk and yelling to

> > allow?

> >

> > Thanks for listening?

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Interesting, since I also mentioned my daughter has terrible itching issues with

no apparent cause...and for the first two years we lived up here in a northern

" cold winter " state, she spent all winter with a huge red ring around her mouth

from licking and making it chapped. Now we arm her with chapstick every day of

the winter, and I think she finally didn't like the way it made her look like a

clown, so she started relying on the chapstick and looked MUCH better last

winter! (plus that stuff hurts!) But now she has a chapstick fetish, and has to

apply it over and over before bed with the anxiety " monster " is after her...poor

things.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'm curious to see what our psychiatrist will

recommend, it seems like so many options are used by our kids out there!

 

> >

> > From: Kim Bowman <kabowman2yahoo (DOT) com>

> > Subject: Two children with OCD

> > To: @ yahoogroups. com

> > Date: Monday, September 28, 2009, 5:19 AM

> >

> >

> >

> > Thanks for the words Barb! Our daughter was diagnosed three years

> > ago at 16. She definately is both compulsive and obsessive. She has

> > been on the same medication for three years and it appears to help

> > with the compulsion to wash so much. She is still very focused on

> > germs but not to the same degree. She also takes a mood stabalizer

> > for anxiety and ups and downs.

> >

> > Our son who is eight was just diagnosed in the last year. He was

> > diagnosed with CAPD, Central Auditiory Processing Disorder at 6. He

> > had moderate to severe speech delays as a toddler. Then became

> > apparant he was ADHD in Kindergarten, did I spell that write?

> > When I changed from Pediatrition who was managing the situation to

> > a psychiatrist and described Seth intense fears- being alone, all

> > bugs, dying, his family dying ect...she looked at me and said no

> > doubt OCD. He takes lexapro and it has helped significantly! He

> > will go outside on his own, go to the bathroom alone and talks alot

> > less about dying.

> >

> > He does however pick his nails and cuticles frequently. He peels

> > the skin so far down it bleeds. Definatley a compulsion.. .does

> > anyone else have this issue? Also,he is very impulsive and

> > aggitated after school and sometimes in the morning when he gets

> > up. I guess he holds it together all day long and then comes home

> > to let it all out. I worry about how much back talk and yelling to

> > allow?

> >

> > Thanks for listening?

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi - it sounds like you have already done a great job of reducing

anxiety through medication. That is really wonderful. What many people find,

is that a combination of ERP therapy and medication is the right mix. ERP

therapy (Exposure & Ritual Prevention) is the longest lasting treatment for OCD,

and many studies find it to be the most effective. Plus, frankly, it develops

tools for kids that are just really good tools to have for life, even beyond

OCD.

It can be difficult to find a really good therapist - but so worth the effort.

You can also read one of the books, and try to develop your own plan with her,

depending on her current state of being willing to work with you, vs doing

better with a therapist. Our daughter did well w home therapy until the latest

bout, which was just way way too complex for me to help her with alone. Do you

have those book recos? A good one to start with is Dr. March's.

Anyway, a sample plan might be to write down, over a week or so, every single

time that she has the urge to pick. Then rank those using a fear thermometer.

Then set up a reward program that really means something to her. And plan

rewards for effort & for success. Then find the easiest smallest thing to work

on. For example, maybe she only picks occassionally during dinner, and think

she could not do it then. Then start with just 15 minutes - see if she can not

pick for 15 min during the easiest time of day (we had to start literally with

ONE minute, so it was slow going at first). Then sincerely celebrate any

success and any effort. Every few days, build up a little more. Basically,

they are trying to stand the anxiety without doing the compulsion. They build

up strength over time. A professional will have all kinds of " tricks of the

trade " and different ways to try to succeed. We found it well worth the money

and time.

Also, keep in mind that " picking " also becomes a habit over time, not just a

compulsion. This makes dealing with it even harder (our daughter did not pick,

but wiped her face until it was raw, and spit until her clothes were soaked and

her face was raw with chapping up to her nose & down to her chin). Anyway,

there are good habit reversal books out there that you can also use. We would

try to do something that is incompatible with spitting - such as chewing gum.

When you are trying the easy time of day, you might teach her finger knitting,

and you can do knitting contests. Or teach her the flute or piano. Buy clay &

a wheel & make pots. Anything to use her fingers, so they cannot be picking.

It is also a good reward at first, to get to spend time with you. You might

even look into a class at a community college. Anything that they would enjoy.

Eventually, you will get it down to just the compulsion, and that will be the

hardest part.

But as with ANY compulsion, it can be helped, with time & energy & courage &

compassion. It is not easy - far from it. But it can be done. And should her

meds ever not work well for her, she will have the tools to deal with whatever

OCD may try to throw at her.

All my best - in NC

>

[Guest guest]

, how much Zoloft is she taking? We've got a skin picking issue as well.

My daughter started by picking her ears until they are infected. This has not

stopped. We promised to let her have pierced ears if she would let it heal. No

go. She says they " itch. "

During a pediatrician visit for a UTI (also caused by an OCD behavior), we

discovered she's also picking her belly button. It looks pretty gross, too. I

finally pieced the lip sore to picking, too. I caught her doing it a couple of

days ago.

Her psychiatrist suggested giving her hands something else to do. She made a

couple of bead animals which are smooth but sensory since they can be

manipulated. We attached them to her belt loops with a key ring. One for each

hand. She is determined to pick her skin. When she has down time, she picks. She

and I have very few positive interactions because it seems I always have

medicine to give her or some kind of " direction. " She feels quite powerless and

I feel quite frustrated. I wonder if it is a way for her to exert control over

her circumstances. But it's still OCD, I'm certain.

My daughter is taking Effexor in the morning along with 1.25 Abilify. She's

also taking Luvox in the evening which I think will be changed to Effexor at the

next psychiatrist appt.

And yet the picking continues...