Connor5
05-14-2004, 01:37 PM
I really need help from those of you who are suffering from this awful disorder. My 11 year old son was recently diagnosed with OCD. He has constant thoughts running through his head so he doesn't even hear his teacher. When he drinks..he touches the glass to the countertop 8 times before he can drink. I finally called his pediatrician and she put him on 25 mg of zoloft. It has helped him a little. She wants to increase the dosage. I read about children and these medications and I worry so much. Do any of you know what mg he would be safe on? He only weighs about 70 lbs.
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hayley0610
05-15-2004, 11:20 PM
i read your post and saw something i hadnt realized for myself! i have always been the same way all my life!! i cant keep my mind on anything and people always put it down to me being a problem child. but what it was was my mind racing, none stop thinking. i mean ive always been me so i dont know whats a normal amount of thoughts or not although ive learned lately i do think too much!! i can watch a movie and 3 weeks later watch it again and not remember half of it cause i was thinking about life whilst watching it. i dont think i have any advice except to not let him be ruled as a problem child(if he has been told that)just be patient and remember its not his fault...not saying u have done that, just if anyone else in life says it.
Connor5
05-15-2004, 11:26 PM
Thanks for your reply. My son isn't a problem child. He is actually very sweet and kind. His teachers love him. He has never had a disipline problem. The problem we have is that he is in another world. The constant thoughts. Are you on any meds? The zoloft seems to help him. But I do worry about these meds on such a young child.
hayley0610
05-16-2004, 12:10 AM
yes ive been on zoloft before and it worked wonders but the casing it was in did not go well with my stomach so i stopped it, now im on celexa. the problem is i didnt take meds when i was a child, i didnt have ocd as far as what u said about how many times he needs to put a cup down. but i did have the other things u mentioned. as a mom myself i can understand ur worry and if u think this is helping him well in my opnion stick with it. what i have come to realize is even though i havent had it, therapy should be an option at his early age. i feel like my mind is set at this point but with the right help when i was younger it may have helped. my family has a huge history of ocd and depression so now i know where it came from!! my mom had therapy when she was about my age now,32,and she said it helped her so much. i think combined with both things it will help him. i think hitting the nail on the head to start with would help, meaning finding out whats made him become this way. even though i know mines half genetic, i can now pinpoint in my life whats making me do the ocd things and what has happened in my life to feel the need to keep doing them. i hope u didnt take any offense to my assumption he was a problem child, its just the 2 usually go hand in hand because people assume the unassertiveness comes from being lazy or uninterested, its good to know he is a good child. so this is the advice i can give you. i wouldnt stop the meds but meds arent always the answer for the rest of our lives we need to find the root, im not sure where u live or your financial situation but its something id look at.a therapist will tell him how to start stopping these thoughts so it can at least be controlled.
Connor5
05-16-2004, 12:14 AM
Hayley..all of your advice is so helpful. We have been talking to a psycologist and it helps somewhat. It is also $110.00 per hour which our insurance won't cover. That is frustrating. We live in the Las Vegas area. Where do you live?
hayley0610
05-16-2004, 12:20 AM
i live in edmonton, canada, so our health care system is different here!i understand the cost. i have never been as an adult and i know for as much help as i need i couldnt afford it lol! actually i am able to keep it under control i believe right now alot of it is getting over the winter blues and worrying too much, but i do try! i also was diagnosed as having adhd as a child so im sure theres a relation to this problem now and remember EVERYONE has little silly obssessive thoughts! even my husband who is so mentally stable has them! just tonight we went shopping and he went to grab something off the shelf he put the first one back and grabbed a different one i asked why he said he didnt like the first one he picked!! so to some points it is normal. Does this rule your sons life or is it just a few things he does?
seminolechic
07-13-2004, 10:35 AM
I Started Zoloft When I Was 5 And It Helped For About Six Years. I Never Had Any Side Effects But Was On Like 150 Mlg At One Point. I Just Recently Started Prozac And Am About The Same Age As Your Son. If The Zoloft Does Not Help I Would Recomend Trying The Prozac. A Regular Counseler Who Also Has Ocd Would Might Help Him But Dont Force Him To Go Or Else He Wont Get Anything Out Of It And It Will Be A Waste Of Time And Money. The Best Thing You Can Do For Him Is Listen And Let Him Do His Routines If It Makes Him Feel Better.
Jennifer272
07-15-2004, 02:12 AM
HI, I just wanted to reply. I am now 26 but have had ocd ever since I can remember. My thoughts as a child were not normal thoughts. They were very hard to talk about. Therapy is a great idea. I was on luvox at age 18 which is stronger than zoloft. I know that it is a different age than your son. I now take zoloft and it takes a good 12 weeks to see tha full benefits. Doctors perscribe as much as 200mg in adults so he is on a low dosage. If I were you I would go to a psychiatrist for these perscriptions rather than a pediatrition. Psychiatrists will help him much more because they deal with ocd every day. I was young just like your son with ocd and I had no idea that life could be so much better untill I started meds. After the meds I could see things more clearly. I never knew how abnormal my mental state was untill I started getting better. I use to touch things a certain number of times because I thought if I didn't someone might die. It is so hard to explain but people with ocd ruminate and have unnessisary feelings of guilt and sadness, the brain randomly fires the wrong chemicals. When I was a child I thought I was responsable for everyone around me that I had some control over everything, and I am sure that is how your son feels. He will feel so much better when a psychiatrist tells him he is not alone and there are thousands of people that think just like him. Once he understands what is going on in his brain and with the meds he will feel so much better! Please do me one favor, please do not get frustrated with him or tell him to just get over it or to pick himself up from his boot straps. My dad did that, my mom was very understanding. People with ocd can't just quit their ocd, they feel tremendous amounts of anxiety and doing those rituals like puttting the glass down 8 times is helping him relieve the anxiety for now untill he starts to feel better. I hope this helps! Keep in touch.