Re: re: new parent needs support

[Guest guest]

Hi Beth,Welcome and thanks for sharing.My name is Beth also and I have a 6

year old granddaughter (I'm raising) with OCD.Came down with Ocd at 4 ,with

underpants problems,she couldn't wear them or sit on her bottom.Now it's all

clothes and socks. She all so doesn't like certain material to touch her bed

or her body. We went through a time when she couldn't get off of the toilet

till her bottom got cold after having a BM.She only does that once in

awhile. We are still trying to work out everything w/ e .Good luck and

thanks for sharing.Beth in IN.

re: new parent needs support

> From: mole91344@...

>

> How wonderful it is to find that I am not alone! Kathy and Robin (or

anyone

> else who can answer)..I have lots of questions. I would appreciate

> any additional insite you can give me...1. We just started seing a

> MFC who " specializes in OCD " . Do you take your children to MFC's or

> Psychologists...at what level does your pediatrician get involved? 2.

> What is E & RP? 3. What is CBT? 4. What sort of medication are your

> children on..does it have side effects? The thought of putting my

> child on medication frightens me. 5. Where do I get the manual by

> Dr. March?

>

> I'm sorry for all the questions...this is all so new to me and I'm

> so scared..I don't want to fail my child. Thanks for being there!

>

> Beth in California

>

> > You may subscribe to the OCD-L by emailing

> listserv@... .

> In the body of your message write:

> subscribe OCD-L your name.

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[Guest guest]

Beth I'm sorry e is on 10mg of Paxil,and sees a Psychologist.Don't be

afraid of the medication. Beth in IN.

re: new parent needs support

> From: mole91344@...

>

> How wonderful it is to find that I am not alone! Kathy and Robin (or

anyone

> else who can answer)..I have lots of questions. I would appreciate

> any additional insite you can give me...1. We just started seing a

> MFC who " specializes in OCD " . Do you take your children to MFC's or

> Psychologists...at what level does your pediatrician get involved? 2.

> What is E & RP? 3. What is CBT? 4. What sort of medication are your

> children on..does it have side effects? The thought of putting my

> child on medication frightens me. 5. Where do I get the manual by

> Dr. March?

>

> I'm sorry for all the questions...this is all so new to me and I'm

> so scared..I don't want to fail my child. Thanks for being there!

>

> Beth in California

>

> > You may subscribe to the OCD-L by emailing

> listserv@... .

> In the body of your message write:

> subscribe OCD-L your name.

> The archives for the OCD and

> Parenting List may be accessed by going to

> .

> Enter your email address and password.

> Click on the highlighted list name and then click on index.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Beth,

> How wonderful it is to find that I am not alone! Kathy and Robin (or

anyone

> else who can answer)..I have lots of questions. I would appreciate

> any additional insite you can give me...1. We just started seing a

> MFC who " specializes in OCD " . Do you take your children to MFC's or

> Psychologists...at what level does your pediatrician get involved?

I don't know what an MFC is, my daughter sees a psychiatrist. My daughter's

pediatrician more or less washes her hands of ocd, is honest to say that she

knows very little about it and prefers that the psychiatrist handle all

things related. The problem is when it's unclear whether my daughter has a

new ocd problem or a medical problem, this has happened several times. (For

example, the urinary obsession I described in my last post looks just like

symptoms of a bladder infection. She was treated for this twice until I

caught on. She's never had a bladder infection to my knowledge.)

2.

> What is E & RP? 3. What is CBT?

E & RP= Exposure and Response Prevention, it is (in my understanding) part of

CBT=Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This comprises the treatment of choice

for ocd, rather than talking therapy, play therapy, etc. I have so far had

no luck in finding a qualified therapist to provide this treatment for my

daughter, in our area she is rejected due to her age. Dr. March is the

author of " OCD in Children and Adolescents " which is a treatment manual

detailing E & RP. I ordered my copy online from Amazon.com but you can also

check a local book store, if they don't have it they can order it for you.

I used this manual to familiarize with the technique, and I have been my

daughter's " therapist " for the last several months. She's had good success

with E & RP.

4. What sort of medication are your

> children on..does it have side effects? The thought of putting my

> child on medication frightens me.

My daughter has been on Prozac, then Luvox, and just today began taking

Zoloft. These are SSRIs (there are others) and yes they do have

side-effects. It was a scary prospect to put my little girl on these

medications and it is of course a personal choice but our daughter was so

miserable with ocd that we felt we should. In each case we switched

medications because of unacceptable side-effects. It can take some time to

figure out what side-effects will lessen, but these types of drugs diminish

obsessions and compulsions and can provide the sufferer with significant

relief. I don't believe my daughter would have been able to attempt E & RP

without their help. Not every child takes medication of course, and the

hope with E & RP is that medication can be reduced or eliminated in time.

Do you know of the OC Foundation's web site? It's at www.ocfoundation.org

and there's lots of information about ocd and spectrum disorders there. If

you're not familiar with it, it's a great place to start educating yourself

about ocd.

Hope this helps,

Kathy R. in Indiana

[Guest guest]

Hi Beth

Where do you live in California?

Here are some links to help you find answers to your questions:

www.ocfoundation.org

www.ocdhelp.org

www.angelfire.com/il/TeenOCD

[On this last link, one of the most informative resources can be found by

going to Dr. Hat's Page. He has written an OCD Primer which is linked from

this page.

Good Luck and Welcome

jim in san diego

[Guest guest]

Dear Beth in CA,

Welcome to the list! I also live in California, in the Bay Area. My

daughter is 6 and was diagnosed with OCD a year ago.

No need to apologize, yours are very good questions. I'll try not to be

repetitious, as I believe it was Kathy R. who has already given you the

basic information.

My daughter takes Prozac, and you would think it was a tough decision,

but it wasn't. Before OCD, we were the type of parents who would barely

give her a Tylenol. But when I saw my child virtually unable to

function in the world, I was willing to do ANYTHING to help her. The

behavioral side effects we have experienced with Prozac are periods of

hyperactiveness. We've been able to minimize these by giving dose

increases very gradually.

She also does CBT, which she began at age 5. The March manual is

excellent. andra's CBT therapist is a psychologist; her meds are

prescribed by a pediatric pharmacologist. Our pediatrician is involved

only to the extent that she referred us to a mental health professional

when we first disclosed andra's " worries. " To close the loop, I

reported the diagnosis back to the pediatrician, and of course she (the

regular pediatrician) also needs to know that andra takes Prozac

when she is prescribing any other type of medicine for us.

Hope this helps. If you live near us, I can give you more specific info

on docs.

Take care, Beth,

Lesli

mole91344@... wrote:

>

> From: mole91344@...

>

> How wonderful it is to find that I am not alone! Kathy and Robin (or anyone

> else who can answer)..I have lots of questions. I would appreciate

> any additional insite you can give me...1. We just started seing a

> MFC who " specializes in OCD " . Do you take your children to MFC's or

> Psychologists...at what level does your pediatrician get involved? 2.

> What is E & RP? 3. What is CBT? 4. What sort of medication are your

> children on..does it have side effects? The thought of putting my

> child on medication frightens me. 5. Where do I get the manual by

> Dr. March?

>

> I'm sorry for all the questions...this is all so new to me and I'm

> so scared..I don't want to fail my child. Thanks for being there!

>

> Beth in California

>

> > You may subscribe to the OCD-L by emailing

> listserv@... .

> In the body of your message write:

> subscribe OCD-L your name.

> The archives for the OCD and

> Parenting List may be accessed by going to

> .

> Enter your email address and password.

> Click on the highlighted list name and then click on index.