Various Flavors of "Fear of Germs"

[Phasmid]

Just when I start to think there isn't a thing wrong with my ds12 he says something about "germs" which makes me realize he is still not 100%

 

I was making his bed and he stopped me and asked if the sheets had been washed. I told him yes, they had just come from the dryer. Before he let me make the bed, he wanted to know if they had been washed with "detergent, and disinfected." This is perplexing to me, since he doesn't care how dirty his own hands (or underwear!) are, but he is always concerned if his grandmother has "washed her hands."

 

Do you think this is confirmation that he's not quite right? And good thing I have ivig scheduled? Do any of your "non-PANDAS" kids have this concern for cleanliness?

[MomWithOCDSon]

It sounds like contamination OCD to me, though something else could have triggered his concern, too. Like if he heard or saw a news story recently about the whole bed bug debacle? Maybe that set him off?

 

I would see if his concerns continue or maybe even mount. Then you'll know if it was a limited, passing issue or if he's extrapolating the concern about cleanliness to other instances and situations.

[KaraM]

Any cance he's hitting puberty and is worried about something that happened while dreaming?

 

(I have no experience in that area yet, so am not sure how obvious it would be to a parent washing sheets....)

[Megs_Mom]

Just when I start to think there isn't a thing wrong with my ds12 he says something about "germs" which makes me realize he is still not 100%

 

I was making his bed and he stopped me and asked if the sheets had been washed. I told him yes, they had just come from the dryer. Before he let me make the bed, he wanted to know if they had been washed with "detergent, and disinfected." This is perplexing to me, since he doesn't care how dirty his own hands (or underwear!) are, but he is always concerned if his grandmother has "washed her hands."

 

Do you think this is confirmation that he's not quite right? And good thing I have ivig scheduled? Do any of your "non-PANDAS" kids have this concern for cleanliness?

 

Hi Phasmid - I would strongly suggest to you that a "normal" child would not ask for sheets to be washed (maybe ever !!) Especially one that does not even care about his undies.... In any case, when we see this sort of "flair-up" during a few days, we attack it from a few fronts - 2-3 days of Motrin, and ensuring that we are on full abx for 3-5 days. Then we also attack it with ERP, as sometimes it is just an old habit, which they seem to remember. My daughter explains this as "sometimes I am afraid that I will feel afraid again". So she may suddenly have an odd feeling that she needs to do something. But she can beat this up very easily (if not an exacerbation, just an "echo") with ERP.

 

If you have read the book with him "what to do if your brain gets stuck", then just pick a tool from that book. Instead of reassuring about the sheets (or grandma, poor thing!), ask him to let them be "contaminated" and then sleep on them. If he finds that FAR too har, then you might have him sit on a "contaminated sheet" for 2 minutes (or 5, 10, 15) and then be able to change them. If you try to see how serious this concern is, you may learn about more "echo's" of OCD. Personally, we like to beat them all up, as much as possible, so that we can see the real kid. It makes it much easier to see when she is having an issue, if she is not showing echo's of OCD beyond the real treatment of PANDAS.

 

Hope that makes sense!

 

I apologize for not knowing this - but is your son nearly 100% from abx? Is he scheduled soon for IVIG? I'm curious if your doctor feels this is needed despite his reaction to abx? If so, is this because he has an underlying immune issue, or is that your docs general feeling about recommending IVIG? Thanks - hope those questions are not too personal - we remain very interested in how IVIG works vs abx, as we are not yet comfortable in our daughter's remission (I wonder if we ever will be!!!)