Colleen re son Jake and medication

[Guest guest]

Hi Colleen,

Starting CBT without meds is a starting point, and a good one, to see

if your child can make progress this way. Many do, from what I

understand. It depends on the severity of the OCD, and any

comorbidities.

Medication does not " cure " the OCD, but just helps turn down the

volume on the intensity of it so that the person can do the actual

treatment which is CBT. Medication can be a whole challenge in

itself, with need to go through many trials and sometimes

combinations to find an adequate " fix " . As you see on this site

alone, there is a large variety of situations. However, and here's

the rub, sometimes a person still can't do CBT, even with medication.

It is a process, and a seemingly unending one, as the OCD will switch

from one thing/form to another. But the basic treatment remains the

same, ie CBT with or without medication. The biggest hurdle, from

what I see/hear from others is WILL and INSIGHT, both of which are

influenced by age, comorbitidies and other factors.

Your son is young enough at 10 that he is still under your

influence. He is headed into adolescence/teen years which is a whole

other thing (where we are...). The more you can sort out now the

better, as far as I'm concerned.

Your son did have results with CBT and without medication, you and he

have that to hold onto. It just may be that the OCD has increased

it's " war " on your child and that he may need more assistance to

do " battle " , ie medication, or not. You will figure it out as you go

and with your doctors assistance, they and you obviously are the ones

who know your situation best. It's more a matter of what your son can

tolerate... To put it starkly, some of our kids simply would not

make it without the assistance of medication.

It is tough, and these decisions are difficult. Our son is also very

drug sensitive and the medications can add other complications, but

our son reports that he would not be able to contain the OCD, or his

anger at all without medication, and we feel this too. Our son has

started back to CBT and is making slow progress in developing

insight, a starting place... without medication CBT was not

possible. For us this is the deciding factor.

You know what is right for your son. It's just good to stay open to

options, sometimes a good option is not one we are comfortable with.

I understand, as do many others, no one wants to medicate their child

unless absolutely necessary.

Barb

>

> Wow. This is scary to read. We were assured by my son's treatment

team that he could be treated with CBT/ERP and without meds. The doc

and therapists in the program told us that it has worked for other

kids and could work for Jake too. Now you have me worried.

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> Are anyone else's kids with the intrusive thougts being treated

successfully WITHOUT meds???~Colleen

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> colleenstearns@...; @...: jachster@...: Wed, 9

Jan 2008 15:04:34 -0500Subject: son jake

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> Hi Colleen,I hope i have the right person. i was so surprised to

hear your son isn't on meds. we are the most anti-med people i know,

but i can't imagine not having our dd on meds. There must be a way to

hospitalize him and try different meds safely to see what would

happen. He may find something that puts his mind to rest. my parents

did not see my brothers problems until he was over 18 and having

serious problems. he was never on meds in order to develop more

normally. he struggled for years with bad thoughts and inappropriate

sexual thoughts. it was only after he was 18 and in college that his

behavior got out of control, he jumped out of a window in my parents

house and lucky for him landed on an awning and only broke his arm.

He was taken to the mental hospital for a short stay. unfortunately,

my parent did nothing to get some kind of legal control over him. my

brother is a musical genius and incredibly bright. I can only wonder

what his life might have been like if he had had medication with

treatment early on when he first started struggling.i wish to this

day that my parents had acted earlier and found him the right meds.

by the time he was over 18 i wish they had become his legal guardians

so they could have insisted on treatment and or the long term

risperdal that they put under the skin it lasts for 3 months.His

condition has worsened and he lives on the streets and in a park, he

is so smart that he knows that if he doesn't talk to the " crisis team "

that we have sent out to take him into treatment that they cannot

bring him in. if he won't talk they can't evaluate him. He is too

paranoid now to get the help he needs. If in the future he has to

seek help from a hospital i can only pray that some social worker

will try to get him some help. He lives many states away and I cannot

monitor him.Take action now to properly medicate and get treatment

while you have legal control.**************Start the year off right.

Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-

exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489[Non-text portions of this message

have been removed]

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