Simply exhausted and ready to lose it.

[lmkmip67]

We are cycling down on Ian's prozac because while in the beginning it seemed to help his OCD some, it stopped and I didn't notice a difference. His mood while coming off of it is terrible. He is mouthy, disrespectful, swears, etc. I get that a lot of this disorder is impulsive and they don't think first before doing things. But I can not things that he is doing go, either. Today he was going to the bathroom and told me he peed on his shorts and the floor, on purpose, "But just a little, mom." He is 10. He has no bathroom issues otherwise. I admit I got very upset. I can't have him doing things like that. His punishment was to scrub the whole bathroom floor with a sponge and bucket of water. I am trying to stop taking away fun things and fit the punishment to the crime. But the things he does are so frequent, I am exhausted. I need to learn how to handle these issues better and to drive home some sort of lesson in there. He has to learn to fight the impulsive thoughts and OCD. He is making a lot of progress with his therapist he has been going to for the last year. I also understand it takes a lot longer for our kids to make the connection between behavior and consequences. But sometimes I feel like he will lose all his privileges and have nothing (no hockey, games or playdates) But then I don't want that for him, either. He feels so down on himself for these things as well, but I also can not let them go. His impulses are truly out of control. I don't want to go into what medication, treatment, etc. WE are treating and trying to find what works for us still. But during these episodes, I need to find better ways to handle it, and appropriate consequences. I try to pump him as much as I can. I admit lately I have been tired and my patience is gone. He is exhausting to me. I love him so much, but I am tired. I yelled and said a lot yesterday I feel bad about (nothing really disturbing, I don't spank etc). Just thinks I feel bad about. He told me he felt like he is always yelled at, and yesterday he was. An example is I was looking in my rear view mirror at a piece of fuzz in my hair or something. He says, "Stop it mom, stop trying to be cute. Your not pretty at all!" He gets very irritated easily by actions, people singing to the radio, even me shaking my foot if we are just sitting on the sofa, and will say "Stop it!" all the time. I know it is a part of all of this. He lost saying after to play in the arcade with his friends after his hockey game last night for being rude to me in the car. Appropriate? I don't know. Today he had to scrub the bathroom floor (it is a small bathroom). But every day he is doing something like this and getting a consequence. It is exhausting...I am so tired. Sorry for the novel. I just needed to get it out. I keep having his therapist (she is totally on the bandwagon for PANDAS, but also thinks we need to treat symptoms) telling me he has to be on ADHD meds. He tried a couple and they were not right. One the dose was wrong, the other he was allergic to. But he is already on two antibiotics and prozac. So many meds. THanks for listening.

 

An exhausted Lisa

[trintiybella]

OMG. this is my child and it was worse weaning off prozac!!!! Give it time. My child would freak if I looked at my hair and said "stop looking at yourself, actually screamed...your ugly, and stop showing off!" She said I looked like a ghost, or I looked like a dead animal. She hallucinated. What helped a lot here with that horrible symptoms was...Vitamin D3 and probiotics. Hope this helps. The other things you mention are very much like my child too. It is not them. It always helps me when I thing about how much worse it must be for them, then me. I can't imagine how much they are suffering. I am here for you if you have any more questions about my experience. Good luck

[lmkmip67]

Oh my goodness, that makes me feel a lot better, actually. Not that your DD is struggling with this, I wish no child had to. But that someone has similar issues. When treatment isn't working, at times I worry my kid is truly bipolar or something, and even question what we are dealing with. I will certainly look into the D3 and more probiotics. He takes one already, but maybe something else would be better. He is under 5mg of prozac now (was only on 10 anyway) be he is truly seeing effects from going down. We are going down tiny amounts at a time, too. but then our kids are not typical, certainly.I will send you a PM. Thank you!!!

[smartyjones]

have you ever checked out the program 'social thinking'? you can google it. there are some therapists that use it or you can buy the books yourself. I borrowed some of the textbooks to learn it and then have some of the cartoon books that I've used with my sons.

 

obviously, I don't know your son or your situation. . . in our lives, there were situations that ds really just did not get the social implications and 'hidden rules' and had trouble with proper perspective, mainly b/c he was so involved in his own experience, he did not have any cognitive function going to the other people in the situation. like, telling you you are not pretty at all - that sounds to me not so much like he is trying to hurt you or be mean, but he is so involved in his own irritation, your thoughts and feelings do not even enter into it at all. not that he wanted to cause a problem, but it's literally all about him and his thoughts.

 

this is a really good program that goes back to a very simple level to teach that we live in a world with other people and we must interact with them on some level. it shows in a way that is easy for kids to get, the advantages to them to learn how to better interact with other people.

 

for my kids, when we've worked a model like this, it has allowed something to click in their brains that we couldn't seem to reach otherwise.

 

good luck!!

[lmkmip67]

Oh, thank you for the idea! I will google that! It sounds very promising and I do think you are totally right. I do understand where he is at. I still have to try to teach, but I will check out that social thinking idea.