Suggestions needed

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

You just never know where the right solution will come from so I figured I'd put

this out there to the list........

First, the good news.......my son is starting to take little baby steps (and I

mean little!) with his progress at 's. He's still not able to participate

in group therapy or any of the activities, but he's starting to open up more

about his OCD to the psychiatrist. It's confusing for him and he really doesn't

understand it, so it's difficult for him to articulate, but at least he's

opening the door and giving them something to grab onto.

Now for the bad news.......he is continuing to lose weight because of a real

catch-22 situation. His tics are so constant there due to the constant stress

that it's almost the equivalent to him doing aerobics all day long. So he's

burning a ton of calories from his tics and then he can't eat that much for a

few reasons......his stomach has shrunk from the weight loss so he fills up

really quickly and he's afraid to eat too much because then he has a lot of tics

and it makes him nauseous. The other problem is that because the staff is trying

very hard to get him to eat, the whole weight loss/eating thing is now starting

to cause him a lot of anxiety, and it's becoming a vicious cycle for him. He'll

sit down and start eating, then he'll start thinking about it, get anxious and

stop. Totally crazy, I know, but unfortunately a reality! It doesn't take much

for him to fixate on something, which then becomes insurmountable.

I spoke with the dietician there today and it dawned on me that he's probably

drinking a lot of water because of all the " excersize " he's getting from his

tics. She said that he is drinking a fair amount. So I then realized that this

is clearly part of the reason he can't eat that much because he probably fills

up on water a lot. They've included Ensure as part of his meal plan, but even

those are too filling for him. So.....I was asking her if they have any drinks

that he could have instead of water that would provide the electrolytes and

caloric intake, so he's not filling up on empty calories. They have Gatorade,

but he won't drink it because he's chemical-phobic. And Gatorade doesn't really

have that many calories as it's basically pure sugar.

I know there are things like the Vitamin Water, but again, those have empty

calories as well. Wondering of anyone has any suggestions for a drink he could

have instead of water that is a healthy drink, caloric, not too filling, and has

electrolytes? I was thinking of coconut water, but aside from that I'm coming up

empty.

Thanks!