Re: 7 Year Old Son - Signs of OCD?

[Guest guest]

Hi Julee and welcome to our list.

You could be seeing early signs of OCD, but only a professional who has been

trained to diagnose and treat OCD can tell you for sure.

Have you checked in your area to see if there is a psychologist who

specialized in OCD in pediatric patients? It may be best not to wait too long

is some of these symptoms you describe are intefering with his daily life and

social activities. Often, kids can be treated by Cognitive Behavior Therapy and

Exposure Response prevention without medication. My son Tommy needed both, but

he began treatment at age 7.

Joye in Southeastern PA

huyones@... wrote:

My son is 7 years old and for the past year and especially more

recently he

has been doing odd things.

At first he did this mouth stretching thing, then he started doing a body

shaking, twitching thing and now he will blink his eyes and move his lips.

He does this throughout the day. He has also started doing a touching thing.

If he touches you with one hand he touches you with the other, if he bumps

something with one foot, he bumps it with the other foot. He ' s learned to

do this slyly so that most people don ' t notice, but I see him do this all

the time. We've asked him why he has to touch with the other side and he

says if he doesn't he will " feel weird. "

I watched him eat his lunch one day. It was quite an experience. He was

watching TV and eating a hamburger and French fries. It was a constant thing

that seems like it would make one tired. I watched him hold his hamburger

with one hand and then move it to the other. The big thing was the french

fries. He would put it in his mouth with one hand and then I would seem him

leave it in his mouth and then finish up with the other hand. If he did not

do this he would put it in with both hands.

I've asked him questions and there doesn't seem to be a fear anywhere. Just

an, I feel like I need to do it or I will feel weird. A couple of times my

husband has stopped him from doing the second thing and he got anxious and

couldn't move on until he did it.

Are these beginning signs of OCD?

My current plan is to just watch him and see how things progress... It seems

like he would do well with skills from CBT.

I'm also curious as to how much changing his diet and schedule will help.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Julee Huy

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 10/9/2006 3:08:02 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

huyones@... writes:

Are these beginning signs of OCD?

My current plan is to just watch him and see how things progress... It seems

like he would do well with skills from CBT.

I'm also curious as to how much changing his diet and schedule will help.

Julee

Sure sounds like OCD. Don't wait. It doesn't go away or get better - find

someone qualified to help your son. OCD has nothing to do with diet or

schedules - changing these won't do anything. In fact, if you disrupt his life

too much & it stresses him out, it might actually make things worse. Your best

bet is to find professional help.

Have you been on the _www.OCFoundation.org_ (http://www.OCFoundation.org)

website? If not, it's full of information and resources - go and click around

on the site.

Welcome to the group.

LT

[Guest guest]

Julee,

This definitely sounds like OCD to me.

Yes, I would definitely get him started in therapy.

Hugs and Welcome

Judy

[Guest guest]

Hi Julee,

Sounds like OCD with the evening up. Sometimes there has to be

a " just right " feeling, something doesn't feel " complete " until you

even up, etc. I think a key point was when he got anxious when dad

stopped him, and also that he couldn't move on until he completed it.

My son, 17, began with OCD around age 11.5. Those first months he

also did some facial stretching/contorting. Would even put an arm up

in the air sometimes. My son didn't have the " evening up " to do but

when he would touch something - and it didn't matter what part of the

body touched it - he had to stay there and sort of move it in ways

until it was " complete " or " just right " ; I called this

getting " stuck " as he just could not let go/stop touching until he

got that feeling he needed. However, he did also have a feeling that

something bad would happen to him if he didn't do these things. So

he said he had the " something bad would happen " feeling and he needed

the " just right " feeling with everything.

The facial stuff stopped at some point. However, the touching and a

few other things (repeating things until it was " right " for example)

went on quite a while. A lot of the early things went away after a

few weeks. Seemed sometimes like something new was always popping

up, some things going away.

You're right, some CBT and ERP should help. You can try on your own

but an experienced therapist who treats kids w/OCD might move things

along faster. (Said by a mom who couldn't find a therapist!)

>

> My son is 7 years old and for the past year and especially more

recently he

> has been doing odd things.

>

>

>

> At first he did this mouth stretching thing, then he started doing

a body

> shaking, twitching thing and now he will blink his eyes and move

his lips.

> He does this throughout the day. He has also started doing a

[Guest guest]

Julee welcome and I agree with the consensus - get help sooner than

later - good luck - we're here

PS only because I mentioned this to another new mom thought I'd ask if

it came on suddenly and if you checked out a PANDAS connection

also we're seeing if allergies may be exacerbating the OCD in my

daughter but changing diet etc won't just take it away either so I'd

get CBT/ERP asap - take care

eileen

Quoting jtlt@...:

>

> In a message dated 10/9/2006 3:08:02 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

> huyones@... writes:

>

> Are these beginning signs of OCD?

>

> My current plan is to just watch him and see how things progress... It seems

> like he would do well with skills from CBT.

>

>

>

> I'm also curious as to how much changing his diet and schedule will help.

>

>

> Julee

>

> Sure sounds like OCD. Don't wait. It doesn't go away or get better - find

> someone qualified to help your son. OCD has nothing to do with diet or

> schedules - changing these won't do anything. In fact, if you

> disrupt his life

> too much & it stresses him out, it might actually make things worse.

> Your best

> bet is to find professional help.

>

> Have you been on the _www.OCFoundation.org_ (http://www.OCFoundation.org)

> website? If not, it's full of information and resources - go and

> click around

> on the site.

>

> Welcome to the group.

> LT

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Julee. I'm pretty new to this too, and without an OCD diagnosis

for my daughter, but I had to tell you how familiar your story

sounds. My 7-year-old does the SAME things with tapping and making

things " feel " balanced. Watching her eat is a spectacle too -- with

the switching hands, using both hands, and counting bites. Just as

you mentioned, it's nothing anyone else would notice, but I see it

every day. Oh, and she began with what seemed more like tics too --

blinking, throat clearing, mouth twitching. The pediatrician

originally suggested Tourette's, but the idea was dismissed when we

discovered that she had control over her actions.

I can't tell you anything about a diagnosis from our experience, but

I wanted to let you know that I'm seeing the same things in my

daughter, and you're certainly not alone. It was once explained to

me in a phone consultation with a psychiatrist that the tapping,

etc. don't need to be tied into a bad thought to be OCD. The

obsession is needing to feel balanced or " just right " , the

compulsion is to tap or balance things to ease the resulting

anxiety. I was also told that the reaction to not being able to

complete the sequence is important. If it causes your child stress,

as you described, than it's a problem.

Although I have been told that diet will not help OCD my daughter's

former therapist suggested that dietary intollerances can often mask

themselves in many psychological ways. We never followed an

elimination diet as she suggested, but I did make some improvements

in her diet and keep a food journal. While I did notice that food

impacted her moods I didn't find that it had any affect on her

tapping or symmetry issues.

Best of luck to you and welcome.

Becky

>

> My son is 7 years old and for the past year and especially more

recently he

> has been doing odd things.

>

>

>

> At first he did this mouth stretching thing, then he started doing

a body

> shaking, twitching thing and now he will blink his eyes and move

his lips.

> He does this throughout the day. He has also started doing a

touching thing.

>

>

>

>

> If he touches you with one hand he touches you with the other, if

he bumps

> something with one foot, he bumps it with the other foot. He ' s

learned to

> do this slyly so that most people don ' t notice, but I see him do

this all

> the time. We've asked him why he has to touch with the other side

and he

> says if he doesn't he will " feel weird. "

>

> I watched him eat his lunch one day. It was quite an experience.

He was

> watching TV and eating a hamburger and French fries. It was a

constant thing

> that seems like it would make one tired. I watched him hold his

hamburger

> with one hand and then move it to the other. The big thing was the

french

> fries. He would put it in his mouth with one hand and then I would

seem him

> leave it in his mouth and then finish up with the other hand. If

he did not

> do this he would put it in with both hands.

>

> I've asked him questions and there doesn't seem to be a fear

anywhere. Just

> an, I feel like I need to do it or I will feel weird. A couple of

times my

> husband has stopped him from doing the second thing and he got

anxious and

> couldn't move on until he did it.

>

> Are these beginning signs of OCD?

>

> My current plan is to just watch him and see how things

progress... It seems

> like he would do well with skills from CBT.

>

>

>

> I'm also curious as to how much changing his diet and schedule

will help.

>

>

>

>

>

> Any advice would be much appreciated!

>

>

>

> Julee Huy

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sounds like OCD to me. Welcome. :0)

Sharon

7 Year Old Son - Signs of OCD?

My son is 7 years old and for the past year and especially more recently he

has been doing odd things.

At first he did this mouth stretching thing, then he started doing a body

shaking, twitching thing and now he will blink his eyes and move his lips.

He does this throughout the day. He has also started doing a touching thing.

If he touches you with one hand he touches you with the other, if he bumps

something with one foot, he bumps it with the other foot. He ' s learned to

do this slyly so that most people don ' t notice, but I see him do this all

the time. We've asked him why he has to touch with the other side and he

says if he doesn't he will " feel weird. "

I watched him eat his lunch one day. It was quite an experience. He was

watching TV and eating a hamburger and French fries. It was a constant thing

that seems like it would make one tired. I watched him hold his hamburger

with one hand and then move it to the other. The big thing was the french

fries. He would put it in his mouth with one hand and then I would seem him

leave it in his mouth and then finish up with the other hand. If he did not

do this he would put it in with both hands.

I've asked him questions and there doesn't seem to be a fear anywhere. Just

an, I feel like I need to do it or I will feel weird. A couple of times my

husband has stopped him from doing the second thing and he got anxious and

couldn't move on until he did it.

Are these beginning signs of OCD?

My current plan is to just watch him and see how things progress... It seems

like he would do well with skills from CBT.

I'm also curious as to how much changing his diet and schedule will help.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Julee Huy

[Guest guest]

's touching wasn't always intentional due to some anxiety.

He might absently touch something and then was " stuck " or he might

need to pick up a pencil but would be " stuck " until he got the right

feeling. Try to get him " unstuck " before ready, and there was the

anxiety! He *had* to finish.

quick thoughts,

> But, I do not know that the touching my son does is caused by

anxiety or if

> the touching of one thing causes anxiety to touch another.

>

> -Julee

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> In a message dated 10/9/2006 11:53:09 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

> beckymdc (DOT) <mailto:beckymdc%40> com writes:

>

> Although I have been told that diet will not help OCD my

daughter's

> former therapist suggested that dietary intollerances can often

mask

> themselves in many psychological ways.

>

> Yes, this is true. I was under the impression that usually these

food

> related reactions were more with behavioral issues like bad

tempers,

> sleepiness,

> memory loss or confusion, etc. Do they also cause physical

reactions such as

>

> the counting/touching, etc??

> LT

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, Julee

Just off the top of my head, it sounds like it could be OCD. It also sounds a

lot like Tourette's. Does he have any vocal tics, which can include things like

sniffling, grunting, throat clearing, etc? My 14yo son has Tourette's and my

11yo has OCD, so I get to see both on a daily basis. It might really be worth

having him evaluated by a neurologist and/or psychiatrist. Good luck figuring

all of this out.

P.

huyones@... wrote:

My son is 7 years old and for the past year and especially more

recently he

has been doing odd things.

At first he did this mouth stretching thing, then he started doing a body

shaking, twitching thing and now he will blink his eyes and move his lips.

He does this throughout the day. He has also started doing a touching thing.

If he touches you with one hand he touches you with the other, if he bumps

something with one foot, he bumps it with the other foot. He ' s learned to

do this slyly so that most people don ' t notice, but I see him do this all

the time. We've asked him why he has to touch with the other side and he

says if he doesn't he will " feel weird. "

I watched him eat his lunch one day. It was quite an experience. He was

watching TV and eating a hamburger and French fries. It was a constant thing

that seems like it would make one tired. I watched him hold his hamburger

with one hand and then move it to the other. The big thing was the french

fries. He would put it in his mouth with one hand and then I would seem him

leave it in his mouth and then finish up with the other hand. If he did not

do this he would put it in with both hands.

I've asked him questions and there doesn't seem to be a fear anywhere. Just

an, I feel like I need to do it or I will feel weird. A couple of times my

husband has stopped him from doing the second thing and he got anxious and

couldn't move on until he did it.

Are these beginning signs of OCD?

My current plan is to just watch him and see how things progress... It seems

like he would do well with skills from CBT.

I'm also curious as to how much changing his diet and schedule will help.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Julee Huy

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[Guest guest]

>

I was under the impression that usually these food

> related reactions were more with behavioral issues like bad

tempers, sleepiness,

> memory loss or confusion, etc. Do they also cause physical

reactions such as

> the counting/touching, etc??

The therapist suggested changes in diet to help with a host of issues

for my daughter including temper tantrums, depression, and anxiety

(panic attacks). She provided me with resources that suggested that

some children experience anxiety and tics (among many other things)

as a side affect of allergies and food intollerances. The therapist

feels that many kids are misdiagnosed, and patients should first try

finding environmental/dietary answers. I guess it only makes sense

to try. I know that some parents have found help for their kids by

adding supplements like fish oil, so maybe some could find success by

eliminating things as well.

Becky