Re: Don't know where to go from here - Carol

[Guest guest]

Hello Carol and welcome to the group (as an official poster).

I felt I had to respond to your post. I am glad that your child is

better and that homeopathy was part of your answer. CBT IS the best

treatment for OCD. The problem is that not all children are able to

do CBT until the intensity of the OCD, or anxiety or depression or

whatever else is on board is reduced, and even then it is not

possible or does not work for some, for many reasons.

I was one who exhausted all possible natural remedies I could find,

as well as CBT, before starting our son on medication. The fact is

that every situation is different, every individual is different in

terms of what the answers will be. While medications indeed have

their downside, and they are rarely " the " answer, for many they are

part of the answer, and for some multiple medications are necessary

in order to remain stable.

I guess what I am trying to say is that you are lucky you were able

to stay out of the medication roller coaster. Not all of us are able

to do so. We reached the point that I would have given our son

arsenic if I had thought it would work, still would...

Again, I am glad you found your answers and your that your child is

well.

Barb

>

> Hi Donna,

> OCD is a roller coaster ride - I joined this group sometime ago but

> have never really participated in it as I have been on the ride.

> Oprah had someone on regarding ocd a week or so ago, my sister saw

the

> show - the doctor interviewed said that if your doctor doesnt

mention

> 'Cognitive Behavioral Therapy' regarding ocd run don't walk out of

the

> office. I hear your reluctance regarding medications - it seems to

me

> that no matter what the issue is these days the rush is to drugs and

> they all have side effects, and most times those are worse on

> children. When we entered the world of OCD last labor day, diagnosed

> by 3 separate specialists with SEVERE OCD I immediately started

> reading books and decided that we would exhaust every avenue before

> drugs were considered. If they became our only salvation - so be it.

> Believe me things were very difficult, anger seems to go hand in

hand

> - it has to be a horrid thing to live with - anger seems like a

> reasonable response to me although it is very hard to deal with.

> Luckily we live right outside of Boston. We saw several specialists,

> two at the Mass General, both suggested drugs. Luckily I had heard

> about the Boston University Anxiety Clinic, but that turned out to

be

> a 3 month wait just to be interviewed, which seemed like an

eternity.

> In the meantime having no other options but drugs and a feeling of

> flying by the seat of our pants I sought out a homeopath, who worked

> with my 14 year old while we waited to hear from BU. We definitely

> found progress out of hell with the homeopath and eventually were

> accepted into the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at BU in February -

it

> took about 12-15 weeks of weekly therapy but the kid is back - ocd

> still lingers but what this therapy does is give her the tools to

> handle the thoughts, and those thoughts can be diminished. This

> therapy is a lifelong cure/lesson - drugs are forever and when you

> come off the drugs - back comes the ocd. If your interested in the

> books I have read I will gladly provide the names as I did seek out

> two other therapists in the meantime claiming to do CBT, but having

> had a pretty good handle on what CBT was myself through reading, I

> figured out pretty darn quick they weren't for us. When we began

> treatment at BU, it was right out of the book and it does work -

THANK

> GOD. I almost didnt reply as I am not familiar with the condition

> your son had early on but if it is unrelated to ocd other than the

> fact you believe it was a contributing factor - I would trust your

gut

> - its your gut that knows what is right and look into CBT. Maybe in

> some cases drugs are the only answer but personally we chose to

> exhaust other avenues and we do not need drugs. I think one other

> response to your question remarked that you don't know what the

drugs

> are contributing to the behavior. I myself would have big questions

> for a doctor willing to drug a child with 3 different drugs.

> Best of luck.

> Carol

>