Restricting fluids. OCD?

[1tiredmama]

Hi! While I've spent a lot of time of the PITAND forum, I'm new to this one. I'm putting together a long history of psychiatric symptoms, among other physical symptoms, for a future eval for my ds17. He has been symptomatic, at times non-functioning, since he was a toddler. Thank goodness, I kept a lot of paperwork on him over the years, but I am left trying to fill in the gaps. I'm hoping you can help me with one.

 

Ds's main dx's in early childhood were severe bipolar disorder with psychosis and GAD. He was always an anxious little one. I can remember him at two telling his little friend, and even other tots, on the playground to be careful as they climbed on toys, not that it stopped him from climbing. Today, at 17, he has thoughts about falling through the floor. He asks about the construction of the house, worries that his bed will fall through, and gets anxious when too many people stand in one area, like 4 of us in the kitchen or a group on an elevator. Again, he is dealing with it, not avoiding anything.

 

Here's my question: Looking back, and I don't know what started it, ds at age 9 (I think) started restricting fluids. It was a real point of contention at the time because it caused a constant state of mild dehydration. His mouth was always pasty, and his lips were dry and cracked. He started doing this weird thing with his tongue. He would thrust it forward, then lick the goo off of the front of his teeth--he was a mouth-breather. This behavior actually changed the shape of his mouth, resulting in buck teeth over the course of months! I was so angry and frustrated that he wouldn't just drink. He never explained his behavior, but refused to budge. He was easily agitated and argumentative as per the BPD. I eventually took him to an orthodontist. The appliance he needed to fix his palate inhibited the tongue thrust, and the behavior stopped.

 

As for getting him to drink enough, I think the fact that I kept telling him how important it is to drink enough while taking meds, and that one routine blood draw required a second test because of a possible kidney issue put an end to that. Plus, within that year, we found a med cocktail that took care of his mood and his anxiety. All weird behaviors improved.

 

Is this OCD-like behavior? And, how does one distinguish between GAD and OCD, other than from the most obvious cases of OCD? Thank you for your opinion.

[Wombat140]

I think the difference between OCD and GAD is that OCD is restricted to a particular topic, or a few topics, whereas GAD as the name implies is general. Also I don't think GAD usually involves specific compulsions, although of course if someone's worried about something he's going to act generally more cautious about it.

 

The not drinking sounds as if it could have been OCD, but I couldn't say without knowing why he did it (e.g. if it was because he was afraid of something). Will he still not tell you? (If indeed he can remember.)

 

I'm very glad to hear that he's so much better, anyway! Shows that it's possible!

All the best

Wombat140