Re: OCD and Puberty - Jen

[Guest guest]

Hi, Jen. I just wanted to share our experience with meds too. Our son is on

them for the second time. Both times, they helped him tremendously.

The first time, we saw improvement within a week. I was terrified to put him on

them too, but they turned out to be a HUGE blessing for us.

The second time, he was the worst he's ever been, with his OCD. He was in

complete crisis. I had some tell me that I should hospitalize him, but I felt

that would freak him out and make things worse. So, we put him back on

medication, and searched for months for a good therapist. Eventually we found a

wonderful therapist, but still needed the meds to get the OCD and GAD somewhat

under control before we were even able to even make it to an appointment.

I was also worried about the suicidal thoughts, having experienced them myself

on antidepressants. But, our son did fine. Thank God. And if anything, it

made the OCD better so the depression he was dealing with while trying to cope,

lifted.

I hope you see improvement soon.

BJ

>

> Kathy,

>

> Thank you for your post. I can't tell you how much it means that someone else

has seen an improvement with meds. I am terrified to give them to my daughter

(she has bad thought OCD) due to the suicidal side effects but her psychiatrist

explained to me that her risk could be higher without the meds.

>

> It's good to know that there are others out there who have been through this

sort of thing successfully (although I would not wish it on anyone!). Can I ask

you how long it took for you to see an improvement once meds were

started/increased? I'm sure it must vary depending on the person?

>

> Jen

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Jen,

My son (now 12...almost 13) was diagnosed with OCD at age 8. He had obsessive

thoughts, no compulsions. I waited to put him on meds for about 3 months.

Finally I broke down and had to do it. The first med was Zoloft and if made my

son way too hyper. Then I second guessed my decision to put him on meds. Our

psychiatrist talked me into trying another one...Celexa. It made all the

difference in the world. Within a week, I was getting my child back. My son

even knows he feels much better without meds. The SSRIs (prozac, paxil, celexa,

zoloft, lexapro) do tend to wear off after a year or so and need to be changed.

We have successfully switched to Lexapro now. My son hasn't had any suicidal

issues with them. Sometimes, if kids do have suicidal tendencies with them, the

dose needs to be increased.

I don't want to tell you to put your child on meds. That is an individual

decision and a difficult one. But for us, it has been a blessing.

Good luck,

Becky in ND