Re: Two children with OCD--NAIL PICKING

[Guest guest]

My daughter who is 9, diagnosed with OCD and GAD and likely Asperger's, does the

same thing...picks her nails and cuticles until they bleed. Now she has started

picking and chewing on her toe nails! (at least I only let her do it AFTER she's

showered). We have tried different things such as painting her nails and

promising her a manicure if she can go a week or two without picking, but it

didn't work and she isn't really motivated by girlie things much.

 

So every night we have to help her trim off all the little pieces of skin, put

bandaids on the ouchy fingers, and when she started this we were able to put

little gloves on her to make her stop messing with them so she could sleep. Now

she won't usually allow the gloves, because she can't scratch (she also seems to

be very itchy all over, without any outward signs of rash, but she has been

labeled a " sensory seeker " by the occupational therapist so we do a " brushing

massage " therapy on her when it peeks).

 

If we don't help her calm these nail issues at bedtime, her anxiety will go

sky-high and she will fuss for hours. We did start Melatonin last week, and that

helps to make her so sleepy she can't give in to the anxiety for long.

Last night, for example, I started reading to her at bedtime about an hour after

the Melatonin...she started fussing about the usual things--had to go pee again,

tummy aching, hiney itching, etc.--but I just downplayed each one and kept

reading...she feel blissfully asleep!  :-)

 

Any one else with ideas on the nail issue, tho, as obviously we have not come

close to conquering that one...and it's not just biting, it's peeling too, so

applying some icky tasting stuff won't work either. We hope to get meds this

Friday at her first psychiatrist visit, that will hopefully help her anxiety in

general.  

 

 

--

Subject: Two children with OCD

To:

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, . I have a 12 year old daughter with ocd. We have

serious nail picking issues. Oddly enough, I never put it together

with the ocd. She is at the point right now, with one toe, that it

is very infected and her pediatrician put her on an antibiotic. She

still keeps picking it and it's not really getting better. I don't

have any advice on how to stop it, though, just wanted to let you

know that others are dealing with the same stuff. We've tried band-

aids and wearing socks, neither which have helped for any length of

time. We recently switched to melatonin after years of using

benadryl for sleep. I don't think the melatonin is working as well

for us, but I hope to stick with it, since it has got to be better

for you than benadryl. If anyone has any great suggestions for the

nail picking, I would also be interested in hearing them.

thanks,

> My daughter who is 9, diagnosed with OCD and GAD and likely

> Asperger's, does the same thing...picks her nails and cuticles

> until they bleed. Now she has started picking and chewing on her

> toe nails! (at least I only let her do it AFTER she's showered). We

> have tried different things such as painting her nails and

> promising her a manicure if she can go a week or two without

> picking, but it didn't work and she isn't really motivated by

> girlie things much.

>

> So every night we have to help her trim off all the little pieces

> of skin, put bandaids on the ouchy fingers, and when she started

> this we were able to put little gloves on her to make her stop

> messing with them so she could sleep. Now she won't usually allow

> the gloves, because she can't scratch (she also seems to be very

> itchy all over, without any outward signs of rash, but she has been

> labeled a " sensory seeker " by the occupational therapist so we do a

> " brushing massage " therapy on her when it peeks).

>

> If we don't help her calm these nail issues at bedtime, her anxiety

> will go sky-high and she will fuss for hours. We did start

> Melatonin last week, and that helps to make her so sleepy she can't

> give in to the anxiety for long. Last night, for example, I started

> reading to her at bedtime about an hour after the Melatonin...she

> started fussing about the usual things--had to go pee again, tummy

> aching, hiney itching, etc.--but I just downplayed each one and

> kept reading...she feel blissfully asleep! :-)

>

> Any one else with ideas on the nail issue, tho, as obviously we

> have not come close to conquering that one...and it's not just

> biting, it's peeling too, so applying some icky tasting stuff won't

> work either. We hope to get meds this Friday at her first

> psychiatrist visit, that will hopefully help her anxiety in general.

>

>

>

> --

>

>

> Subject: Two children with OCD

> To:

> 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]

My13 yo son with OCD picks and bites his nails till they bleed and hurt, but it

doesn't seem to bother him and he doesnt get upset about it. My 6 year old with

no known dx also does it- habit?- he does not seem like an OCD kid at all at

this point tho is highly sensory seeking and super active and impulsive. I have

no thoughts of suggesstions, just confirming that others do it too I guess.