Re: The crossroads of OCD, ADHD and SID

[Guest guest]

I try to remember that the anxiety is driving the OCD behaviors. My son has been

dealing with ADHD/Depression/Anxiety/OCD for 10 years. Try to figure out all of

your child's triggers in his environment at home, school, and community.

Communicate ALOT with his school to make sure both of you are being consistent

with how to handle his behaviors.If you don't have a communication book, start

one with the school.Medically, the med. has been helpful for my son to keep down

the anxiety, not so much with the OCD behaviors. He takes Prozac and Adderall

XR.We haven't been able to go high enough with the Prozac to control the OCD b/c

side effects. I don't have exp. with Zoloft. Ideally, you should be able to

call the psyc. nurses with questions whenever you feel the need. That has been

really helpful to me. If you don't feel like you have a support team with your

psychiatrist, then push for that. Always ask the psych. if this is best practice

and research based whenever they offer something. Good luck with all of this.

>

> I'm relatively new here. My 7-year-old was diagnosed this summer with OCD and

ADHD. Since he was born prematurely (7 weeks early along with this twin brother)

I always knew he would need some special services.

>

> Indeed, he did qualify for Early Intervention and special education classes

before he began public school last year. The one service that did not continue

once EI ended at age three was Occupational Therapy for Sensory Integration

Dysfunction. Nobody told me that he needed more of this therapy when EI ended,

so I didn't make any plans for private therapy.

>

> Well, during IEP meetings this year he was screened for Sensory issues and

certainly qualifies for them. I'm relieved he's going to be getting what he

needs at school, and to also learn that some of his behaviors may be

sensory-related.

>

> So, here's my question: How do I know if his behaviors should be attributed to

OCD, ADHD or SID? Are his compulsive behaviors due to OCD anxiety, ADHD

hyperactivity or Sensory disorders? Or all three? Am I using SSRIs to help with

his compulsions when what he may really need is a med for ADHD or perhaps simply

more OT?

>

> Or is there any real way to answer this question? We're all having a difficult

time lately because we were encouraged to try Zoloft almost immediately after

the OCD diagnosis. The lower doses don't do much to decrease the behaviors and

the higher dose has turned him into a mean, aggressive child who exhibits truly

dangerous behavior.

>

> I'm at the point where I don't trust the psychiatrist and have made an

appointment with a new one. I'm tempted to wean him off the Zoloft entirely

until we can get a handle on what's really going on.

>

> So, to repeat...is there any way to really know what's causing the behaviors?

Should I see neurologist or another type of specialist?

>

> Thanks in advance.

>

[Guest guest]

His behaviors seem to change frequently. A few years ago he was hyper-sensitive

to noise and the sound of thunder would set him off. We couldn't go to fireworks

displays or movie theaters because it was just too loud. But those fears or

sensitivities seem to have left him. Over the summer he was touching the TV

screen and touching the ground because he felt like he " had to do it. " I don't

think he could really explain why. When school started, he began doing

somersaults in the classroom. Oh wait...I forgot about the counting. Before he

began the Zoloft, he needed to count and do addition and subtraction in his

head. The only behavior that seemed to go away with the Zoloft was counting.

He sniffs and licks everything, and that's believed to be sensory behavior. He

also needs to do a lot of jumping and climbing to high places. That could either

be vestibular sensory behavior or hyperactivity. He scored poorly on a

functioning memory test, so it was apparent he has attention deficit, but I

don't know how you measure for the hyperactivity part of ADHD.

I'm weaning him off Zoloft now, and we will see a pediatric neurologist and a

new psychiatrist in a couple of weeks. I feel like we need more testing before

we start experimenting with any more medications. Also, he's extremely anxious

about swallowing pills, so we haven't been able to use anything but liquid

Zoloft. I've attempted many ways to get him past this fear, but so far no good.

Re: The crossroads of OCD, ADHD and SID

Can you share a few of his behaviors? My son (now 22) also had sensory issues

growing up, plus OCD started in 6th grade (tho he had minor OCD quirks before

that, just nothing like when it really HIT later). He also needed OT for motor

skills but they worked on a lot of things that also helped with his sensory

issues.

>

> I'm relatively new here. My 7-year-old was diagnosed this summer with OCD and

ADHD. Since he was born prematurely (7 weeks early along with this twin brother)

I always knew he would need some special services.

>

> Indeed, he did qualify for Early Intervention and special education classes

before he began public school last year. The one service that did not continue

once EI ended at age three was Occupational Therapy for Sensory Integration

Dysfunction. Nobody told me that he needed more of this therapy when EI ended,

so I didn't make any plans for private therapy.

>

[Guest guest]

You seem to have a good idea of his sensory and OCD behaviors. Any new behavior

begin after Zoloft started? Sometimes meds can trigger things.

Touching things because he " has to " seems to indicate OCD. The counting too.

The licking, sniffing - Well, you're not the first parent here to mention that.

Some symptoms can be part of several diagnoses, can be hard to pinpoint " which "

is triggering them. Like the licking and sniffing can be stimming behaviors for

someone on the autism spectrum, or maybe belong in the " tic " category for

someone with tics (but not necesarily meaning they have Tourettes). And, as you

said, can be mixed up with the sensory issues. Here's one link about an

approach from the autism perspective in handling:

http://nspt4kids.com/health-topics-conditions/self-stimulatory-behaviors/

That the Zoloft stopped the counting was good. How long was he on it? Usually

more OC behaviors lessen, disappear, the longer they are on the medication. For

those that just lessen, that is where the therapy helps. And if trying therapy

with no meds, that's fine too, use the therapy tools to " boss back " the OCD.

Just some quick thoughts. Keep us updated, will be interested what happens with

further evaluations!

>

> His behaviors seem to change frequently. A few years ago he was

hyper-sensitive to noise and the sound of thunder would set him off. We couldn't

go to fireworks displays or movie theaters because it was just too loud. But

those fears or sensitivities seem to have left him. Over the summer he was

touching the TV screen and touching the ground because he felt like he " had to

do it. " I don't think he could really explain why. When school started, he began

doing somersaults in the classroom. Oh wait...I forgot about the counting.

Before he began the Zoloft, he needed to count and do addition and subtraction

in his head. The only behavior that seemed to go away with the Zoloft