Re: thank you - spitting & chapped face

[Guest guest]

Hi - Wow, your daughter and mine could be twins! Meg spit (spat ) for about 5

months. She is now " spit-free " for about 3 weeks. For her face, we used Carmex

every night, and it would be healed by the next morning, most of the time. We

put it on her lips & all the way up to her nose, down to her chin. We also put

Carmex on her every time we saw her (morning, lunch, afterschool, bedtime).

Spitting was a hard one to break, as it was a habit as well as a compulsion, so

self-reinforcing. We had very good success at reducing this behavior and

changing it (to napkin) through ERP therapy. We also did habit reversal, and

got permission for Meg to chew gum, use lollipops - anything to make spitting

harder. ly, the last hurdle of " not spitting " came at the same time that

she was diagnosed with PANDAS, and got anti-biotics. I somewhat wonder, if this

was a tic as well as a compulsion, as it was so quickly solved in that final

time frame. I do know that she spit to " get rid of germs " at least half of the

time, so compulsion. She also refused to swallow her saliva (thus some

spitting) due to having germs in her mouth. That was very hard. I wondered if

she was producing more at that time - but it all resolved as we got rid of the

spitting.

Best wished to you in your work with your daughter! It can be fixed - I

remember despairing that she would never stop spitting - Meg had so many

compulsions that all seemed to arrive at once, but the spitting was the one that

really bothered me so much as a mom.

Oh, and yes, we do sensory integration (OT) as well - and it is very helpful.

For some reason, when Meg gets PANDAS/OCD, her sensory issues also explode, as

well as handwriting issues, etc. The OT is very helpful - and a ton of fun.

in NC.

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> I just wanted to thank everyone for your replies. It has really been a help to

find other people who understand. I haven't been able to reply for some time

(computer problems ugh!).

>

> We had our intake with the therapist and my daughter has gone for one

appointment. So far so good, it hasn't changed things obviously! But they seemed

to build a rapport and I feel hopeful. Her father and I have both bought copies

of " What to do when your brain gets stuck " and I've also started reading a few

books for parents. She has started school and the spitting has gotten much

worse. Her chin and around her mouth became chapped to the point of scabbing.

She spits into her shirts so they're chronically soaked. We've begun to send

changes of shirts with her. the other kids have begun to notice and a bit of

teasing has begun, which breaks my heart but she has a good attitude about it.

The newest fear is she is afraid to swallow her own saliva. Not sure how to

field that one!! I remind her to swallow and she protests but does eventually.

Her school has been incredibly supportive.

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> Has anyone heard of sensory integration therapy being used as an adjunct to

CBT? -Dana

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