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How to deal with frequent bathroom visits


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Ian's latest OCD issue is feeling like he has to use the bathroom all the time. I know this is common. But how do you deal with it? It is driving me nuts and using a ton of paper. I know he can't help it, but does anyone have any tips to help? I am trying to limit him to only going once an hour......

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My son did this all last school year (he was in 3rd grade). We put him on a behavior plan with the teacher and school social worker where he was only allowed to go 3 x a day then reduced it bi-weekly. He had to bring a folder home that the teacher and he filled out along with a ranking of his anxiety every day. He also had a "bus buddy" that would walk with him to the bus - he was very anxious about riding it b/c he thought he wouldnt make it home. If he had a lot of anxiety he was allowed to leave the room when he needed to go and speak with the social worker. he also was given a special chair (which the other kids thought was cool) so it gave him something else to focus on.

 

We started him on zoloft this year just before school and the frequency issue is gone and no anxiety....we had a spitting issue this year but quickly corrected it within a week by doing the daily reporting again....

 

Good luck I know it can be so frustrating!!

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My son did this all last school year (he was in 3rd grade). We put him on a behavior plan with the teacher and school social worker where he was only allowed to go 3 x a day then reduced it bi-weekly. He had to bring a folder home that the teacher and he filled out along with a ranking of his anxiety every day. He also had a "bus buddy" that would walk with him to the bus - he was very anxious about riding it b/c he thought he wouldnt make it home. If he had a lot of anxiety he was allowed to leave the room when he needed to go and speak with the social worker. he also was given a special chair (which the other kids thought was cool) so it gave him something else to focus on.

 

We started him on zoloft this year just before school and the frequency issue is gone and no anxiety....we had a spitting issue this year but quickly corrected it within a week by doing the daily reporting again....

 

Good luck I know it can be so frustrating!!

 

We used a similar tactic and it stopped (when he was in 3rd grade also). First, teacher wrote down every time one day that he wanted to go to the bathroom to let him "see" how often he was wanting to go to the bathroom. Talked to him about normal frequency of others, peers etc.Ours was a #1 thing not a #2 thing so no paper was involved (thankfully) for a boy:)Teacher then limited it to once per hour then every 2-3 hours and it seemed to work. He did not do this at home- or he just went on his own and I was not aware of it?? I was not even aware it was really a problem at school until like a routine IEP meeting and they discussed it with me and what they had done to fix it!

 

I then had some problems on car trips (during an exacerbation) wanting to stop to urinate too frequently. I had a 24 hour urine container and told him if he had to go - he could go in that- while in the car- just pee in the bucket-he never had an ounce to give so he stopped asking to go. He had intermittent problems in 4th grade and they did same plan and it stopped.My DS11 started on Prozac this summer and we have not had this issue again either.

 

Behavior managmement plans can be effective for some of this OCD behavior. Hope that helps!

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Yep the same thing here for my dd 7

last year but I just let her go because it is her brain

telling her to go.. but most of the time she just had a "thought" that she had to go but she really did not have to go..

but we were already going back to Dr.k for IVIG #2 anyway and within about 1 day the bathroom problem was GONE..

It was driving me crazy also but then I just let it go because it was stressing her out even more..

Tracie

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I am thinking of getting him checked for a UTI, but he is on azythromicin, so I doubt he has a UTI. Poor thing was in the bathroom just CRYING about 10 minutes ago because he felt like he had to go so badly but he couldn't. Then he finally did and was relieved. I was trying to keep him to once an hour but it is clearly stressing to him, so I think I ma just going to let him deal with it and see how it goes this week. We just 4 weeks post IVIG #4. There are no tics and no tantrums or mood issues now, but the OCD ramped way up this week with this newest symptom. If it continues, after we get him checked for an UTI, I will try the behavioral route. Thanks for the ideas!!

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When DS was 4, he was in OT therapy. The therapist requested that we try the Wilbarger brushing protocol. Basically, you rub the kid's arms, legs, and back with a brush that looks like a mushroom brush (very inexpensive- costs a couple of bucks). Then you briefly do joint compression. DS was in OT for dysgraphia, and brushing did not help, so we stopped.

 

I never thought much of it again (DS is now 13). But a couple of days ago, I saw a brief article mentioning research into saliva cortisol levels and wilbarger brushing. A couple of other articles referenced anxiety and OCD being tied to cortisol and there was one article that mentioned frequent restroom trips sometimes resulting when cortisol is high. The brushing research indicated that cortisol was lower after brushing.

 

I am just wondering if you got yourself a brush and tried to squeeze in brushing a couple of times a day (if your DS is willing) what it could hurt to give it a try. If you told him that, with brushing, some people release less of the stress hormone that makes them feel the urge to rush to the restroom, would he give it a try? It would cost practically nothing and take less than 10 minutes a day. Honestly, I may be grasping at straws here, but it popped into my head as I was reading your post and I thought it couldn't hurt to share. I am so sorry he is experiencing the urge to use the restroom frequently. I hope you find a way to lessen that unpleasant feeling for him. Best, Suzanne

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Imk-

 

This is a major issue for my younger dd when pandas flares.

The biggest help for us has been medical intervention: pex and/or steroids.

ERP is also another huge help, esp once medical intervention has started.

 

My daughter's issues are a bit different. Sometimes she goes frequently, but never gets upset about not going. ERP is all about facing the fear. We have yet to do this completely with this issue- For dd her issue is that she worries (ocd) that she is not dry after using the potty. She has to check and recheck (an re wipe). Her fear is basically of the discomfort of being wet. Her exposure is to put some water on her panties and keep it there. This is purposefully doing what she is so afraid of. The process would be to do it longer each time, until it doesn't bother her at all. At the same time we work on reducing the rituals (not re checking, or re using the potty).

 

For us, we have found that reducing the rituals is not enough- exposure to the fear has been key for us.

 

We have found that when medical intervention helps, sometimes therapy is needed to get rid of the last of the ocd.

 

We have tested for uti's- but it has always been clearly pandas. Bathroom/ urinary issues are a major pandas symtpom. But- its pretty easy to test for uti- so rule it out if you need to for peace of mind....

 

Good luck!

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Thanks! I think we will rule it out just because it is the first time for this issue. But he is totally into the wet feeling and feeling like he has to wipe a lot after #2. So he does have the bathroom issues, just not the urgency until now. But I will try to work on some of that exposing him more when he is a bit calmer. he is so worked up over it now you can't reason with him.

 

 

Imk-

 

This is a major issue for my younger dd when pandas flares.

The biggest help for us has been medical intervention: pex and/or steroids.

ERP is also another huge help, esp once medical intervention has started.

 

My daughter's issues are a bit different. Sometimes she goes frequently, but never gets upset about not going. ERP is all about facing the fear. We have yet to do this completely with this issue- For dd her issue is that she worries (ocd) that she is not dry after using the potty. She has to check and recheck (an re wipe). Her fear is basically of the discomfort of being wet. Her exposure is to put some water on her panties and keep it there. This is purposefully doing what she is so afraid of. The process would be to do it longer each time, until it doesn't bother her at all. At the same time we work on reducing the rituals (not re checking, or re using the potty).

 

For us, we have found that reducing the rituals is not enough- exposure to the fear has been key for us.

 

We have found that when medical intervention helps, sometimes therapy is needed to get rid of the last of the ocd.

 

We have tested for uti's- but it has always been clearly pandas. Bathroom/ urinary issues are a major pandas symtpom. But- its pretty easy to test for uti- so rule it out if you need to for peace of mind....

 

Good luck!

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