New Member - Hello!

[Guest guest]

Hello. I would like to introduce myself to the group. I am , mother of

, 9 years old and OCD. Her symptoms are no more than annoying to the

householed but can be very scary for her. The ones I know of are: crying if

socks bother her toes (this used to be a lot worse I just realized - it was

awful for a while), handwriting sequences, everything has to be in " even "

numbers, so for examples she has to have things said four times, not three

(like " row, row, row [row] your boat " ), not stepping on cracks, having

trouble eating around others because they may be " spitting " accidentally on

her food, not wanting to eat food others have touched except for mom (this

was a real problem with Dad's latest girlfriend who constantly wanted to fix

things for who could not eat them), etc. The worst one lately is that

is now " the burp police. " If she believes anyone has burped (and it can

be the tiniest little eruption!) she starts fussing, covers her face and

leaves the room. She claims she is " kicked out " of the room. She has a " fix "

for it, which is swallowing over and over.

is in cognitive-behavioral therapy, which she claims does not help.

However, I do understand the reasoning behind it and sometimes practice at

home. For instance, her brother will hand her a piece of chocolate (she is a

chocoholic) and she has to eat it. She usually tries to wipe it off, but

does eat it because she loves the chocolate enough to overcome the fear.

Her biggest fear of punishment is that something will kill her beloved cat

if she does not follow her rituals or steps on a crack or whatever. However,

she has a very great sense of humor usually about " my OCD, " and has read the

book " Kissing Doorknobs " with great relief. She is DYING to join an online

group of other children with OCD, but as she is so young I cannot find one.

I am looking for books and so on, as well as your personal experiences of

course, to help her as best I can. Although things are not terrible so far,

I am worried about her future. BTW, I also have two sons who have big

problems. My ex, their father, is a NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder)

and has screwed up these kids big-time - as has going back and forth between

us many times a week. However, these are legal issues that cannot be

resolved (we've been in court, at his instigation, for years and years - we

were divorced just after was born). I have heard of a connection

between children and narcissism and both OCD and bipolar, though, which is

why I mention it. Anyone heard of such a thing? Sounds kind of crazy.

Glad to be here!

--

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[Guest guest]

Hello and welcome. My daughter's OCD (at onset, severe) is also of

the sort that is more distressing to her than problematic for those living

with her. Unfortunately OCD has a way of intensifying and snowballing and

in some cases can end up interfering with all spheres of family life, not to

mention the child's schooling, social activities, etc. Actually given the

number and type of compulsions you describe in your post, I'm surprised you

consider them only annoying.

You mention does CBT but she doesn't think it does any good. Exposure

and Response Prevention is the specific type of CBT that reduces and can

eliminate compulsions such as the ones you describe your daughter as having.

Has her therapist helped her construct a heirarchy and is she working on

compulsions in a step-wise fashion while acclimating to the anxiety this

causes? If not she may not be getting the most important part of CBT for an

OCDer.

The contaminated chocolate exposure is a good one, so long as she is not

doing any (perhaps mental) rituals to reduce her anxiety as she eats the

treat. She may be " fixing " the " contamination " as she neutralizes being

exposed to burps. If she is acclimating to the anxiety, she should be able

to eat increasingly " contaminated " chocolate--with a bite out of it perhaps,

or picked up from the floor--over time.

I'm sorry I don't know of a link between narcissistic personality disorder,

OCD and bipolar disorder though you probably know that having one NBD

increases the likelihood of having others. The typical triad of disorders

is OCD, TS and ADHD.

Kathy R in Indiana

----- Original Message -----

From: " Irland Shields " <kishields@...>

> Hello. I would like to introduce myself to the group. I am , mother

of

> , 9 years old and OCD. Her symptoms are no more than annoying to the

> householed but can be very scary for her.

<snip>

> The worst one lately is that

> is now " the burp police. " If she believes anyone has burped (and it

can

> be the tiniest little eruption!) she starts fussing, covers her face and

> leaves the room. She claims she is " kicked out " of the room. She has a

" fix "

> for it, which is swallowing over and over.

>

> is in cognitive-behavioral therapy, which she claims does not help.

> However, I do understand the reasoning behind it and sometimes practice at

> home. For instance, her brother will hand her a piece of chocolate (she is

a

> chocoholic) and she has to eat it. She usually tries to wipe it off, but

> does eat it because she loves the chocolate enough to overcome the fear.

<snip>

> I have heard of a connection

> between children and narcissism and both OCD and bipolar, though, which is

> why I mention it. Anyone heard of such a thing? Sounds kind of crazy.

[Guest guest]

Welcome Barb, you can learn a lot here.

There IS a " search box " for this group at near the bottom of the message

display area.

You might want to try putting " recipe " in the box and see if there are past

posts that have recipes.

I do put my sprouts in a super blender with water for a drink. Better than

water. You can make it very water with just a clump or two -- or an actual

veggies beverage. Either way is good to me. Add a this or that and you have

a treat or a snack/meal.

I hope you enjoy participating here.

Jerry in Pennsylvania

[Guest guest]

I've noticed some talk about heart palpitations & Synthroid. I've

been Hypo for at least 25yrs & getting minor heart palpitations for up

to 5min 1-3times per year (the last 5-10yrs). I've mainly taken

generic versions of Synthroid, w/ no difference.

Being pregnant, I had an episode last for over an hour. Do any of you

feel it's common to have random palpitations (speeding,

pounding/vibrating up to neck)? The Dr. said it was the Mucinex D I

took (12hr pill I hadn't taken in 10hrs & never had problem before).

Any help is appreciated!