13-year-old girl w/ocd

[Guest guest]

Hi -

I'm new here. I have a wonderful 13-year-old girl with OCD, possibly

ADHD and auditory processing deficits. On medication(Prozac for the

OCD and mood, Strattera for the ADHD and Clonidine for impulsivity),

she's doing very well in most aspects of her life. Struggles socially

but even that's getting better, slowly but surely.

My question is this. Though her medications are working well, I'd like

to wean her off at least one, maybe two of these medications, mostly

for financial reasons but it makes me nervous to have her on some of

these medications(Strattera, in particular)which are so new that no

studies have been done on their long-term effects. Has anyone had

success in treating OCD in a teenager without meds? If so, how? What

type of therapy worked for you?

[Guest guest]

Welcome. Glad you are here. :-)

Our son is on meds for the second time. He is 16 and takes Celexa.

He was on it for a few years, the first time. We decided to wean him

off to see if he could do without it. He did well for about 8 months,

then relapsed really hard. He was the worst he had ever been. He was

unable to function and had to start back on the meds. He is now on a

higher dose than the first time and it took about a year to get him to

the point that he is stable, yet still has bad days here and there.

Yet, my nephew went off of his meds when he was 14, and has never been

back on them. He has his OCD flare up periodically, usually when he

is under stress, but he is not as severe as our son. And he suffers

only from thoughts, whereas our son suffers from physical rituals too.

My nephew has realized that his thoughts are his OCD and for the most

part is able to just ignore them, based on that. Our son also has GAD

and the thoughts from the OCD and GAD were so overwhelming he couldn't

dismiss them. He needed meds.

Our son started therapy with a qualified therapist this last year, who

is using ERP (exposure and response/ritual prevention) and CBT

(cognitive behavioral therapy). He has shown improvement for the

first time in his life, due to therapy. Our hope is to someday lower

his meds again and hope the therapy will be enough to help him

maintain. . But, it is very individual, and hard to predict.

So, in answer to your question. . .It seems some kids go off meds and

do fine. Others need the meds. And, some never need them to begin

with. I wish I could give you a more black or white answer (the type

OCD would like - lol), but since OCD manifests itself differently is

different people, and with different severity, that is a hard one to

answer. It seems it is trial an error for each of us.

Have you ever lowered her meds a bit to see what her reaction would

be? That might give you a clue to if she would be able to go off.

Just a thought.

Really glad you are here. This is a great group.

BJ

>

> Hi -

>

> I'm new here. I have a wonderful 13-year-old girl with OCD, possibly

> ADHD and auditory processing deficits. On medication(Prozac for the

> OCD and mood, Strattera for the ADHD and Clonidine for impulsivity),

> she's doing very well in most aspects of her life. Struggles socially

> but even that's getting better, slowly but surely.

>

> My question is this. Though her medications are working well, I'd like

> to wean her off at least one, maybe two of these medications, mostly

> for financial reasons but it makes me nervous to have her on some of

> these medications(Strattera, in particular)which are so new that no

> studies have been done on their long-term effects. Has anyone had

> success in treating OCD in a teenager without meds? If so, how? What

> type of therapy worked for you?

>

[Guest guest]

Welcome to the group. This group has a lot of good advice from

veterans who have been dealing with their children's OCD for years.

Everyone here is very supportive. Our 17 yr old son's diagnosis is

pretty recent; only about 5 months ago. But he has had OCD for quite

awhile, it was just very mild before.

From everything I have read in books and online and also from the

experiences from many of the people in this group, the ERP/CBT therapy

that BJ mentioned is more effective in treating OCD than medication.

However, some kids do well on medication alone. I think the most

effective treatment, at least to start off with, is a combination of the

ERP/CBT therapy and medication. Once the therapy is going well, a lot

of kids can be weaned off the medication. But there are no absolutes

here. Every kid responds differently to the medications and to therapy.

Our son is doing both ERP/CBT therapy and taking medication. We have

seen some slight improvement. His OCD is fairly severe, so the therapy

is going to take a lot of time. We feel he will get to the point where

he can manage the OCD eventually, but it is going to take time. Is your

daughter doing any therapy or just on medication?

Glad you joined. Take care.

Connie

[Guest guest]

Hi BJ -

Thanks for the welcome. I'm so glad to find some folks who are dealing

with this.

To answer your question, we haven't tried lowering her meds yet. It has

been a 5-year struggle to find the right meds, the right combinations

and the right dosages to address my daughter's issues. Right now,

finally, we're in a good place, and everything seems to be working. I'm

afraid to mess with it, even though I worry about her being on 3

medications and 1 that has no long-term data. Just kind of scary.

She also tends to be really sensitive to medication, a fast metabolizer.

For example, a few weeks ago, I noticed the return of some impulsivity

and we increased her Clonidine by just a 1/4 of a .1 mg.tablet and it

made big difference. Amazing, really.

One thing I don't understand about OCD is this. How could it be that

both medication - which changes things biologically -and therapy - which

changes things emotionally -- work to treat OCD? Is OCD caused by a

chemical imbalance or is it caused by faulty thinking?

L

> >

> > Hi -

> >

> > I'm new here. I have a wonderful 13-year-old girl with OCD, possibly

> > ADHD and auditory processing deficits. On medication(Prozac for the

> > OCD and mood, Strattera for the ADHD and Clonidine for impulsivity),

> > she's doing very well in most aspects of her life. Struggles

socially

> > but even that's getting better, slowly but surely.

> >

> > My question is this. Though her medications are working well, I'd

like

> > to wean her off at least one, maybe two of these medications, mostly

> > for financial reasons but it makes me nervous to have her on some of

> > these medications(Strattera, in particular)which are so new that no

> > studies have been done on their long-term effects. Has anyone had

> > success in treating OCD in a teenager without meds? If so, how? What

> > type of therapy worked for you?

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Connie -

It's nice to be here. Thanks for sharing your situation.

It sounds like your son's OCD increased with adolescence. May I ask

you what sorts of things he was doing when it was mild and then how did

you know it was getting worse? I don't know enough about OCD to know

if ours is mild or severe. I suspect we're on the mild end of the

spectrum.

Right now, medication is all we're doing. The one that made the most

difference initially was the Prozac. Big difference there. She's also

takes Strattera, which seems to help with the physical traits of OCD.

She was actually licking her hands. It was awful. She doesn't do that

anymore thank goodness. But she replaced that with wringing her hands,

which, thankfully, was much more socially acceptable. Now, she's

replaced that with biting her fingernails to death. I'm also dreading

the arrival of Spring here. We live on the coast of South Carolina near

a marsh where the mosquitos reign supreme. They seem to love her and

she cannot seem to stay away from picking at the bites. Her legs are

full of scars, poor thing.

We have not started therapy yet. Her psychiatrist, who we really like,

says that in order for it to be effective, my daughter has to really

want her OCD behavior to stop. I think that's coming. Not sure we're

there quite yet. She's only 13.

L

>

>

> Welcome to the group. This group has a lot of good advice from

> veterans who have been dealing with their children's OCD for years.

> Everyone here is very supportive. Our 17 yr old son's diagnosis is

> pretty recent; only about 5 months ago. But he has had OCD for quite

> awhile, it was just very mild before.

>

> From everything I have read in books and online and also from the

> experiences from many of the people in this group, the ERP/CBT therapy

> that BJ mentioned is more effective in treating OCD than medication.

> However, some kids do well on medication alone. I think the most

> effective treatment, at least to start off with, is a combination of

the

> ERP/CBT therapy and medication. Once the therapy is going well, a lot

> of kids can be weaned off the medication. But there are no absolutes

> here. Every kid responds differently to the medications and to

therapy.

> Our son is doing both ERP/CBT therapy and taking medication. We have

> seen some slight improvement. His OCD is fairly severe, so the therapy

> is going to take a lot of time. We feel he will get to the point where

> he can manage the OCD eventually, but it is going to take time. Is

your

> daughter doing any therapy or just on medication?

>

> Glad you joined. Take care.

>

> Connie

>

[Guest guest]

>> Is OCD caused by a chemical imbalance or is it caused by faulty thinking?

I'm don't really know the answer to that -- maybe both? The chemical imbalance

results in faulty thinking and even after the chemical imbalance is resolved,

the faulty thinking persists? At least that's the way it seems for us.

Kate was never medicated but her OCD comes and goes quite a bit. Right now,

while life is nearly OCD-free, it is difficult to remember how bad it was just a

couple of months ago. But re-reading some emails, it all comes flying back to

me.

So, at least in our case, it seems that the chemical imbalance happens for

whatever reason and then seems to get pretty much resolved -- not 100% but

certainly 80%! But it takes a bit more time to undo the false things her OCD

was telling her. Certainly this is totally anecdote without one drop of

scientific backgroud but that's what it seems like for us.

Beth

[Guest guest]

*******************

She was actually licking her hands. It was awful. She doesn't do that

anymore thank goodness. But she replaced that with wringing her hands,

which, thankfully, was much more socially acceptable. Now, she's

replaced that with biting her fingernails to death.

**************

My daughter is only 8 and her OCD is mild (so mild that they didn't even

medicate her) but one of the things that took us to the psychologist in the

first place was the hand licking. Fortunately that was one of the first

behaviors to disappear -- she also twriled her hair and some other things. She

has always been a nail biter and that is not improved but she only twirls her

hair when she's stressed now so her teachers know to watch for that and her

other nervous behaviors. Kate is very good at keeping her behaviors hidden but,

when they start to spill out, her teachers are really good at point it out to

her (privately, of course) and assisting her with some calming techniques.

Anyway, I mostly just wanted you to know that my daughter, too, was doing the

hand licking. Ick!

Beth

[Guest guest]

Hi Beth -

Thanks for sharing. It's nice to know that my daughter was not the only

one who did that. It just seemed so odd.

So, therapy is working then for your child? No meds needed? How long

has she been doing the therapy?

>

> *******************

> She was actually licking her hands. It was awful. She doesn't do that

> anymore thank goodness. But she replaced that with wringing her hands,

> which, thankfully, was much more socially acceptable. Now, she's

> replaced that with biting her fingernails to death.

> **************

>

> My daughter is only 8 and her OCD is mild (so mild that they didn't

even medicate her) but one of the things that took us to the

psychologist in the first place was the hand licking. Fortunately that

was one of the first behaviors to disappear -- she also twriled her hair

and some other things. She has always been a nail biter and that is not

improved but she only twirls her hair when she's stressed now so her

teachers know to watch for that and her other nervous behaviors. Kate is

very good at keeping her behaviors hidden but, when they start to spill

out, her teachers are really good at point it out to her (privately, of

course) and assisting her with some calming techniques.

>

> Anyway, I mostly just wanted you to know that my daughter, too, was

doing the hand licking. Ick!

>

> Beth

>

>

[Guest guest]

*************

So, therapy is working then for your child? No meds needed? How long

has she been doing the therapy?

********

Fortunately Kate's OCD is very mild and she was also VERY motivated to get past

the fears she had. We read a book called " What to do When Your Brain Gets

Stuck " (about $10 from Amazon and worth at least 100 times that for us!). This

book really spoke her language so between the psychologist and the book she made

huge strides within just a few weeks. The psychologist was stunned because,

basically, Kate cured herself.

Her biggest fear was of this one boy in her class (contamination issues but very

focused). The psych told her " to get past your fear of him you need to get

closer to him. " The book taught her to teach the OCD to " wait " or to " do

without " for things like changing clothes multiple times a day, washing hand

over and over, etc. We, as parents, also have a lot of influence at her age so

when we set limits (changing clothes only one time, etc) she stuck by them.

She found that the anxiety decreased without doing the rituals and they rituals

disappeared.

She is still dealing with some thoughts that make her anxious but they aren't

constant by any means. More just run-of-the-mill anxiety with a little OCD

sprinkled in it seems like.

Anyway, she was just diagosed about six weeks ago maybe but has had the same

issues for over a year. It is so nice to have our little girl back! Hope your

daughter comes through this as quickly and easily as ours has!

Beth

[Guest guest]

> > >

> > > Hi -

> > >

> > > I'm new here. I have a wonderful 13-year-old girl with OCD, possibly

> > > ADHD and auditory processing deficits. On medication(Prozac for the

> > > OCD and mood, Strattera for the ADHD and Clonidine for impulsivity),

> > > she's doing very well in most aspects of her life. Struggles

> socially

> > > but even that's getting better, slowly but surely.

> > >

> > > My question is this. Though her medications are working well, I'd

> like

> > > to wean her off at least one, maybe two of these medications, mostly

> > > for financial reasons but it makes me nervous to have her on some of

> > > these medications(Strattera, in particular)which are so new that no

> > > studies have been done on their long-term effects. Has anyone had

> > > success in treating OCD in a teenager without meds? If so, how? What

> > > type of therapy worked for you?

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Our son also licks his hands and twists them up to the point that his

fingers were hurting.

This is something we've never brought up in therapy. Maybe it's time to.

Skin picking it also a common thing, although that is one our son

doesn't do, I've heard others in here comment that their child does.

BJ

> >

> > *******************

> > She was actually licking her hands. It was awful. She doesn't do that

> > anymore thank goodness. But she replaced that with wringing her hands,

> > which, thankfully, was much more socially acceptable. Now, she's

> > replaced that with biting her fingernails to death.

> > **************

> >

> > My daughter is only 8 and her OCD is mild (so mild that they didn't

> even medicate her) but one of the things that took us to the

> psychologist in the first place was the hand licking. Fortunately that

> was one of the first behaviors to disappear -- she also twriled her hair

> and some other things. She has always been a nail biter and that is not

> improved but she only twirls her hair when she's stressed now so her

> teachers know to watch for that and her other nervous behaviors. Kate is

> very good at keeping her behaviors hidden but, when they start to spill

> out, her teachers are really good at point it out to her (privately, of

> course) and assisting her with some calming techniques.

> >

> > Anyway, I mostly just wanted you to know that my daughter, too, was

> doing the hand licking. Ick!

> >

> > Beth

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Wow BJ, good wording, it does make sense! :-)

Just wanted to add a bit. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter. As BJ

said, the SSRIs used for OCD affect serotonin. And really, the

experts know this helps OCD but don't - last I read - know " why. "

But other neurotransmitters (examples, dopamine or GABA) probably are

mixed up with OCD also, it's just the " how and why and which ones "

that still isn't known/understood.

What triggers OCD isn't the same for all people either. OCD can tend

to run in families. The " behaviors/quirks " seem to in ours, but

nothing has ever gotten so severe or out-of-control as with my son

, so he has the " disorder. " So whatever turns that

OCD " thing/switch " to *on* sure got turned on all the way with

, LOL. Poor guy, and all our kids.

And I still find it interesting that some people with OCD will have

the checking or contamination with it, others only have bad thoughts

or maybe have to have things in their place or...well, it's

interesting how " different " OCD can be for people (and then I wonder

WHY -- that's got to be a clue! LOL!) and had some behaviors

I still haven't seen in a book or read here.

>

> <<<One thing I don't understand about OCD is this. How could it be

> that both medication - which changes things biologically -and

therapy

> - which changes things emotionally -- work to treat OCD? Is OCD

caused

> by a chemical imbalance or is it caused by faulty thinking?>>>

>

> The short answer is, sort of both. The brain is functioning

> differently, in a way that causes faulty, repetitive thinking.

[Guest guest]

L,

Just wanted to say welcome! My DD is on 2 different meds and very

stable. My opinion on trying to go med free is what she was like

without them? My DD was so severe that I don't want to mess with

anything right now. I'm enjoying the respite from this awful disease,

as is she. However, if you have a good therapist who knows ERP, she may

do fine. Everyone here on this board is in a very different situation

with meds only, meds and therapy, therapy only.

Dina

[Guest guest]

<<<It sounds like your son's OCD increased with adolescence. May I

ask

you what sorts of things he was doing when it was mild and then how did

you know it was getting worse? I don't know enough about OCD to know

if ours is mild or severe. I suspect we're on the mild end of the

spectrum.>>>

Actually, we didn't know our son had OCD until this past fall,

right after school started. He was having severe anxiety and panic

attacks. He was hiding a lot of his symptoms, but eventually I started

noticing things. Like excessive hand washing, long showers, doing loads

of laundry when we weren't home. He was going thru shampoos, body

washes, liquid hand soaps, my detergent like crazy (still does). He had

already been seeing a psychiatrist for the anxiety. I mentioned these

things to the pdoc who confirmed OCD. After researching OCD myself, I

could look back and see that our son had symptoms when he was younger.

When our son was in 5th grade, he was doing some checking rituals.

We would notice him opening and closing his drawer in his bathroom to

check to see if things had moved out of place. He was very particular

about the things he kept on his dresser. Always noticed if something

was moved, regardless of how little it was moved. We suspected OCD at

the time and mentioned it to our family doctor. The checking that we

noticed only took him a few minutes here and there. It wasn't taking a

lot of his time during the day. So, our family doctor didn't think it

was OCD, but mentioned to keep an eye on him and let him know if it

starting taking more of his time or if we noticed other things. Not

knowing much about OCD at the time, we accepted this. The checking did

not get any worse, but there was another symptom that we did not realize

was OCD. He was doing excessive apologizing. Usually at night right

before bedtime. None of these things caused him severe anxiety, only

mild anxiety. The rituals didn't interfere with his day-to-day living.

Those symptoms only lasted a year or so and then were gone.

Now, though, his OCD has a big impact on his day-to-day living. He

is not in school. He is doing a homebound program thru our school

district. His therapist had him fill out a YBOCS (Yale-Brown Obsessive

Compulsive Scale) questionare. According to the YBOCS, his is

high-moderate to severe. So, the pdoc is still experimenting with his

medication. And he is doing weekly ERP/CBT. Once school is out, his

therapist wants him to do the ERP/CBT more frequently. It is true that

for the therapy to be effective, they have to want to do the therapy and

want to be better.

Good to hear that the medication is helping your daughter. I think

your daughter will eventually get to the point where she won't want to

have the OCD symptoms and will want to be better. However, some people

whose symptoms are mild enough, do choose to just manage it on their

own.

Take care

Connie

[Guest guest]

>

>

> <<<It sounds like your son's OCD increased with adolescence. May I

> ask

> you what sorts of things he was doing when it was mild and then

how did

> you know it was getting worse? I don't know enough about OCD to know

> if ours is mild or severe. I suspect we're on the mild end of the

> spectrum.>>>

>

> Actually, we didn't know our son had OCD until this past fall,

> right after school started. He was having severe anxiety and panic

> attacks. He was hiding a lot of his symptoms, but eventually I started

> noticing things. Like excessive hand washing, long showers, doing loads

> of laundry when we weren't home. He was going thru shampoos, body

> washes, liquid hand soaps, my detergent like crazy (still does). He had

> already been seeing a psychiatrist for the anxiety. I mentioned these

> things to the pdoc who confirmed OCD. After researching OCD myself, I

> could look back and see that our son had symptoms when he was younger.

>

Hi all,

After reading your posts for that past few days, I am finally have the

courage to jump in! My name is Dianne. My 9 year old daughter has

ADHD and anxiety-related problems, including OCD. Excuse my

long-windedness, but I will try to tell our story as concisely as

possible. Last fall, after eliminating physical explanations for her

ailments, we finally consulted a psychologist anxiety. She always

felt like she couldn't breath and was constantly clearing her throat.

Also, she was having huge meltdowns. After a few visits, the

psychologist suspected ADHD and we did some tests (WISC intelligence,

etc.)which showed difficulties in tasks that require attention. She

exhibited many behaviors typical of ADHD at home, but not at school.

Teachers did not recognize any major problems, although she struggles

somewhat in her core subjects. At school, she is the model student.

But the minute she passed the door at home, she was a mess. The

psychologist explained that this is common for girls and that the ADHD

often expresses itself through anxiety.

Throughout the months of trying to pinpoint the problems, she started

showing (more obvious)signs of OCD. She became excessively concerned

with germs and contamination, washing her hands until they are raw,

and constantly asking " is it ok if... " . Bedtime is the hardest, where

she tries to keep her bed from contamination by showering every night,

and keeping everyone from touching her bed. She also insists on

wearing socks to sleep that can't touch the floor. Lately, she has

become concerned that our cats will give us rabies.

Back to ADHD, the doctor and psychologist feel that if we can get the

ADHD under control with meds, it might help with the anxiety-related

issues, so after trying a few meds, we settled on Strattera. She has

been on a stable dose for 4 weeks now, and we are finally seeing

improvements in her behavior. Things have calmed down in the last

week. I am almost afraid to say that things are better, to let down

my guard. We have been through such an exhausting time, mixed with

concern and discouragement from the horrendous meltdowns and the fear

of watching OC behaviors getting worse. We felt like hostages in our

own home.

I am grateful that her behaviors are mostly saved for home, but feel

like our struggles are misunderstood because no one else sees the

extent of what is going on. WE get a lot of comments like " she seems

fine to me " .

Fortunately, things seem to be under control for now and my heart goes

out to all of you who struggle with severe symptoms.

I guess my fear is that her OCD will get worse, so I am desperate to

get her help now, so she can have tools to help herself in the future.

From what I understand, and from reading your posts, this is

something that will likely resurface her whole life. Her psychologist

does CBT and we have been reading " Talking back to OCD " by Marsh.

I am hoping to stay away from additional meds, at least for now.

I am looking forward to participating in discussions, and all words or

encouragement are welcome! ;-) I am nervous about hitting that " send "

button, but here goes... Cheers! Di

[Guest guest]

**********************

I am grateful that her behaviors are mostly saved for home, but feel

like our struggles are misunderstood because no one else sees the

extent of what is going on. WE get a lot of comments like " she seems

fine to me " .

*************

Welcome, Di! I think you will find that a lot of us get those " she seems fine

to me " comments. It is apparently fairly common for OCD sufferers to suffer in

silence (at least at school!) and then let it all out where they feel safest (at

home). That is how my daughter's OCD is.

She is 8 (in 2nd grade) and was diagnosed officially in February although she

has had definite OC behaviors and " signs " of OCD for at least 18 months. Hers

is quite mild and has been largely controlled through therapy but she was also

very motivated to be done with some of the more bothersome OCD issues. Now she

is dealing with some other issues which may or may not be OCD -- she says they

are not but I have my doubts. We will be exploring these further with her

therapist!

You'll get a lot of help and hope here!

[Guest guest]

Hi Dianne, welcome!

Glad you are seeing some improvements!! We are all a bit cautious

when improvements happen, just don't trust that OCD!

We've had discussions a lot about how OCD shows up 24 hrs at home and

then not at all or much at school or in community. At least that

anyone else notices. But, yes, my son might repeatedly have to

sit/get up at home before he could settle, but just sit down " once "

at school, etc. And if someone was over at our house - just fine why

they were there, but OCD comes charging back after they're gone.

Aren't we parents " lucky " ?? SIGH. (LOL, I sometimes desperately

would ask, " why can't you pretend they're still here, just do

whatever it is you do when they're here that makes you NOT do OCD

stuff...)

I've read ADHD can present differently in girls/women. How is she

with homework?

You're right about the " tools " to fight OCD. Once they learn them

through therapy and have applied them successfully, that's something

they can keep using through the years. I think/hope that for those

who can't " yet " participate in therapy, that talking about, educating

them on what they should be doing to fight back OC behaviors would

help. (LOL, being as for a while with my son, I just kept

saying, " what we SHOULD be doing.... " )

Well, again, welcome and so glad you found us. This group has really

helped me keep sane over the years!

>> Hi all,

>

> After reading your posts for that past few days, I am finally have

the

> courage to jump in! My name is Dianne. My 9 year old daughter has

> ADHD and anxiety-related problems, including OCD. Excuse my

> long-windedness, but I will try to tell our story as concisely as

> possible. Last fall, after eliminating physical explanations for

her

> ailments, we finally consulted a psychologist anxiety. She always

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Diane and welcome.

I just found your post, but must head off to bed, but wanted to say

good for you for sending this post, I know how hard that first one

can be. You will find many here who will understand and be

supportive.

I know just what you mean about others saying your daughter

seems " just fine " when at home you are living a nightmare that no one

sees. This seems to be common for ocd, it is often hidden. I often

felt people thought I was making it up, or at least the severity of

it, still do sometimes, even with our doctors.

" We have been through such an exhausting time, mixed with

>concern and discouragement from the horrendous meltdowns and the fear

> of watching OC behaviors getting worse. We felt like hostages in

our own home. " This describes it so well Diane!!! I have felt this

too.

I'm glad you have had some stability for a few weeks, and hope it

continues for you. It is very exhausting, and when you get that

break it is such a relief. It's good that her psych does CBT, this

will help your daughter learn how to manage this disorder. It sounds

like you are on track with treatment, it will just be a matter of

time.

BIG HUG to you!!!

Barb

Ontario, Canada

son 16, ocd, ld

[Guest guest]

Dianne. I'm so glad you hit the send button. :-)

Oh boy, I know the feeling of worrying about letting your guard down.

I hope you are seeing an improvement that lasts.

Many in here have shared that not many outside this site understand

what it is like to live with OCD. And trying to explain it to others

has seldom been successful, for us. I sometimes think it is something

you have to experience, to truly get.

Often home is a safe place where our kids can let down their guard and

be themselves. I know our son is always better at hiding his OCD when

he is away from home. Many, including family members, don't get to

see what we do at home.

The March book is a good one. We tried using it on our own, but

I found that our son did better with a therapist, who uses the March

protocol. It was hard to find a qualified therapist. . In fact it

took us months, but was well worth it.

It sounds like you are on the right track, Dianne.

Keep coming in. This is a great, welcoming place, where many will

understand what you are going through. It's also a great place to

share information of things tried that works. You will find the

encouragement and support you need.

Hugs,

BJ

> >

> >

> > <<<It sounds like your son's OCD increased with adolescence.

May I

> > ask

> > you what sorts of things he was doing when it was mild and then

> how did

> > you know it was getting worse? I don't know enough about OCD to know

> > if ours is mild or severe. I suspect we're on the mild end of the

> > spectrum.>>>

> >

> > Actually, we didn't know our son had OCD until this past fall,

> > right after school started. He was having severe anxiety and panic

> > attacks. He was hiding a lot of his symptoms, but eventually I

started

> > noticing things. Like excessive hand washing, long showers, doing

loads

> > of laundry when we weren't home. He was going thru shampoos, body

> > washes, liquid hand soaps, my detergent like crazy (still does).

He had

> > already been seeing a psychiatrist for the anxiety. I mentioned these

> > things to the pdoc who confirmed OCD. After researching OCD myself, I

> > could look back and see that our son had symptoms when he was younger.

> >

> Hi all,

>

> After reading your posts for that past few days, I am finally have the

> courage to jump in! My name is Dianne. My 9 year old daughter has

> ADHD and anxiety-related problems, including OCD. Excuse my

> long-windedness, but I will try to tell our story as concisely as

> possible. Last fall, after eliminating physical explanations for her

> ailments, we finally consulted a psychologist anxiety. She always

> felt like she couldn't breath and was constantly clearing her throat.

> Also, she was having huge meltdowns. After a few visits, the

> psychologist suspected ADHD and we did some tests (WISC intelligence,

> etc.)which showed difficulties in tasks that require attention. She

> exhibited many behaviors typical of ADHD at home, but not at school.

> Teachers did not recognize any major problems, although she struggles

> somewhat in her core subjects. At school, she is the model student.

> But the minute she passed the door at home, she was a mess. The

> psychologist explained that this is common for girls and that the ADHD

> often expresses itself through anxiety.

>

> Throughout the months of trying to pinpoint the problems, she started

> showing (more obvious)signs of OCD. She became excessively concerned

> with germs and contamination, washing her hands until they are raw,

> and constantly asking " is it ok if... " . Bedtime is the hardest, where

> she tries to keep her bed from contamination by showering every night,

> and keeping everyone from touching her bed. She also insists on

> wearing socks to sleep that can't touch the floor. Lately, she has

> become concerned that our cats will give us rabies.

>

> Back to ADHD, the doctor and psychologist feel that if we can get the

> ADHD under control with meds, it might help with the anxiety-related

> issues, so after trying a few meds, we settled on Strattera. She has

> been on a stable dose for 4 weeks now, and we are finally seeing

> improvements in her behavior. Things have calmed down in the last

> week. I am almost afraid to say that things are better, to let down

> my guard. We have been through such an exhausting time, mixed with

> concern and discouragement from the horrendous meltdowns and the fear

> of watching OC behaviors getting worse. We felt like hostages in our

> own home.

>

> I am grateful that her behaviors are mostly saved for home, but feel

> like our struggles are misunderstood because no one else sees the

> extent of what is going on. WE get a lot of comments like " she seems

> fine to me " .

>

> Fortunately, things seem to be under control for now and my heart goes

> out to all of you who struggle with severe symptoms.

>

> I guess my fear is that her OCD will get worse, so I am desperate to

> get her help now, so she can have tools to help herself in the future.

> From what I understand, and from reading your posts, this is

> something that will likely resurface her whole life. Her psychologist

> does CBT and we have been reading " Talking back to OCD " by Marsh.

> I am hoping to stay away from additional meds, at least for now.

>

> I am looking forward to participating in discussions, and all words or

> encouragement are welcome! ;-) I am nervous about hitting that " send "

> button, but here goes... Cheers! Di

>