Re: Functional Medicine and OCD- Please, please, please, do you know about this?

[Guest guest]

HEre are some of the links his therapist sent to me as well:

http://cegant.com/about

http://cegant.com/integrative-medicine/what-treatment-should-i-select-for-a-chro\

nic-medical-or-psychiatric-disorder

http://www.integrativepsychiatry.net/depression.html

http://cegant.com/category/depression-anxiety

http://cegant.com/integrative-medicine/what-treatment-should-i-select-for-a-chro\

nic-medical-or-psychiatric-disorder

>

> I have a question for you all. I have been told by my son's therapist (not his

psychiatrist) that he needs to see a functional medicine doctor (she's an M.D.

as well) and get a lot of amino acids and also antibiotic and antivirals to help

improve his depression, anxiety, and OCD. She insists that he has some sort of

infection that isn't going away in his body (like PANDAS) and that this will

help him get better. She says he's malnourished (he eats like a horse but is

very skinny and also takes vitamins and such) and she thinks that this is why

he's got all these problems.

>

> The thing is is that insurance will not cover any of the supplements and such

and these babies are super expensive and they may not cover the antivirals but

they will cover the antibiotics. THey also barely cover office visits and

they're super expensive. 65 dollars for each 15 minute session, phone call or

email. the blood work could run us in the thousands if it's stuff the insurance

company does not feel necessary, which is perfectly possible.

>

> Anyone ever try this route with any success? Any thoughts on this? Please, I

need some information here. I want to really have an idea if this has worked for

some people or not.

>

> Thank you so much,

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

I'm not aware of evidence for the many drugs and supplements (except in case of

PANDAS), but you might want to be sure he's had a thyroid blood test. And if

he's truly eating way more than it would take to be more than skinny, you might

want to consider blood tests for celiac disease. It's a long shot, but celiac

can sometimes involve mental health symptoms. These would be tests that your

son's pediatrician or family doctor (or possibly his psychiatrist) could discuss

with you.

It's so difficult when someone suggests a new route for relief of symptoms--it's

so tempting to say yes to anything that might work. And people are so

well-meaning when they urge you to try this or that. I'm hoping that your son's

pediatrician or family doc and his psychiatrist are well-informed and that they

are good listeners and willing to consider ideas and that you feel you can trust

them to help you evaluate the various suggestions that come your way. Plus, the

experts from the OC Foundation are the ones who can give you the most

well-informed answer.

> I have a question for you all. I have been told by my son's therapist (not his

psychiatrist) that he needs to see a functional medicine doctor (she's an M.D.

as well) and get a lot of amino acids and also antibiotic and antivirals to help

improve his depression, anxiety, and OCD. She insists that he has some sort of

infection that isn't going away in his body (like PANDAS) and that this will

help him get better. She says he's malnourished (he eats like a horse but is

very skinny and also takes vitamins and such) and she thinks that this is why

he's got all these problems.

>

> The thing is is that insurance will not cover any of the supplements and such

and these babies are super expensive and they may not cover the antivirals but

they will cover the antibiotics. THey also barely cover office visits and

they're super expensive. 65 dollars for each 15 minute session, phone call or

email. the blood work could run us in the thousands if it's stuff the insurance

company does not feel necessary, which is perfectly possible.

>

> Anyone ever try this route with any success? Any thoughts on this? Please, I

need some information here. I want to really have an idea if this has worked for

some people or not.

>

> Thank you so much,

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

, adding my thoughts to 's. If I can recall...I think your son is on

an SSRI and you still had room to go up on dosage?

Also that he may well be PANDAS?

So...just some thoughts at this moment...I would give the current medication a

good trial, dosage and all. Seek out PANDAS testing with bloodwork. I think

in an earlier post you were going to ask about antibiotics to try? Some PANDAS

parents have also mentioned some steroid med for a " test " , a positive reaction

indicates PANDAS possible (?) They will correct me if they read this! (please)

If you look at some PANDAS websites, they may have this info...could be in our

FILES section too, in the PANDAS folder.

Also inositol powder - which is much cheaper online - can be taken with an SSRI

but you'd need a lower dose of it to sort of " boost " the SSRI effect (as opposed

to only trying inositol powder alone, where dose might run higher).

Anyway, you want to trial things one at a time to see what is actually helping.

But I don't think that'd be a problem with antibiotics/other for PANDAS while

trying the SSRI for a good trial period since he's already started it (if no

adverse effects are occurring).

I suggest this as you already started down this path, may as well give it a good

trial to see before stopping too early and venturing towards other options. But

also THERAPY (CBT with ERP) is still helpful if you can find a good therapist

who does CBT with ERP, plus it's the proven treatment that works if your child

is able to participate in it (i.e., severity of OCD). So meds, abx, therapy....

Maybe tell her you'd like to finish this route before dropping it to start

something totally different.

The amino acids and other supplements (which you never know til you try) have

been beneficial for some people with OCD or other " problems " but I'd just pursue

what I suggested above since they are still not fully " trialed, " especially

since the expense is a problem to start her treatment plan. Though if you DO

pursue it at some point, there may be some options for you that are less

expensive in that area. A lot of parents here/other groups have talked about

amino acids and the other and can probably help in that area.

Just some quick thoughts, certainly I'm no expert either!

>

> ,

>

> I'm not aware of evidence for the many drugs and supplements (except in case

of PANDAS), but you might want to be sure he's had a thyroid blood test. And if

he's truly eating way more than it would take to be more than skinny, you might

want to consider blood tests for celiac disease. It's a long shot, but celiac

can sometimes involve mental health symptoms. These would be tests that your

son's pediatrician or family doctor (or possibly his psychiatrist) could discuss

with you.