Starting Over?

[Guest guest]

I haven't posted here in a while. I first came to this group a couple of months

after my 7-year-old son was diagnosed with OCD and ADHD. We were having a lot of

trouble getting him to take medication, and made several doctor/therapist

changes over the course of the past nine months.

Upon the advice of one psychiatrist, we attempted to get at his repetitive

behavior issues using therapy alone. It was on a trial basis, to see how he

responded. At first, he seemed to do well, and the therapist did not see any

consistent behaviors from week to week. I noticed he was better at home, as

well, after we were able to provide more stability and structure in the family.

But lately, his behaviors have escalated: he has the " just-so " type of OCD and

will need to put on his clothing several times before he feels it's " right. " It

will also take him quite a while to step into a doorway, get into a car, walk

down the stairs, etc. He can't explain why he needs to do this, and that is

probably part of the reason that therapy itself isn't working.

We're going to go back to the psychiatrist, because we all feel that medication

is what he really needs. In the past, we tried liquid Sertraline (because he

wouldn't swallow a pill), but that didn't seem to work after about three months

on the drug. (Also, when I was on Zoloft/Sertraline, it didn't seem to work for

me and I'd heard there may be genetic factors at play when determining whether

or not a medication will be effective.)

I'm extremely anxious about " making " him take medicine because he has such

trouble taking it. The therapeutic community has suggested that we treat this

behaviorally: if he doesn't take his medicine, he loses privileges. I'm afraid

that's not going to work. I suffer from anxiety, myself, so it's no wonder I'm

freaking out about this new tough love stance we're going to have to take.

Any advice from parents who children are opposed to taking meds? I'm not sure

what the doctor will prescribe. Perhaps Prozac. Anyway, thanks for reading and

for being such a supportive group.

- (Chicago suburbs)