My 9 year old sexual thoughts

[BethM]

I don't even know where to start. My 9 year old son has had OCD sexual thoughts that started this past summer but would make him uncomfortable that he thought something like that. Therapist said it was part of OCD. He also was having very bad separation anxiety.On july 2nd we put him on zoloft... It made him very uninhibited, noncaring, hyper, we stopped it July 28th. Keep in mind he had a soar throat on June 18th tested for strep but came up negative. He calmed a little after stopping zoloft but still had impulse control issues and the Zoloft seemed to make his OCD so much worse/not sure OCD was worse cause Zoloft or maybe pandas? Two weeks ago we started Anafranil cause the ocd made him almost nonfunctional as well as extreme separation anxiety at school. His impulse control issues are very disturbing. He tries to grab and touch my husband and I. He tries to grab our boobs and private areas and is hyper bouncing off the walls, thinks its funny that we don't like it and no matter what we do he seems to not be able to control himself. We have taken away everything tv video games you name it it's gone! This is a boy who use to be a rule follower and had the biggest guilt if he did anything wrong. He also seems more aggressive with friends. Playing sports he is over the top, taunting his friends and it's just a game in front of our house with the neighbors. He hit an older kid in the stomach with the ball and the kid left. My son was never this way. He told me the other day at school he had an urge to push a kid hard for no reason but he didn't act on it. Can the Anafranil be making these urges/sexual things/defiant behavior worse? It seems that it's helping the OCD a little and the separation anxiety but all this other stuff is getting worse.

 

My question is does any of this sound like pandas? Sometimes I think it does and other times I don't. He also can't focus like he use to. School use to be easy now it's harder cause OCD gets in the way, he also seems to be not remembering things and just seems fuzzy and not focused. It seems like our son's personality is so different than before. I miss my sweet boy.

 

Also can Anafranil cause some of this or make it worse? He was not like this before the Zoloft/July or could Pandas do this to him? He is just not our normal son. These sexual impulses/aggressive/non listening/ADHD behaviors have gotten so much worse! Almost unmanageable.

 

Anyone have any experience or advice? My husband and I don't know what to do. We go tomorrow to the psychiatrist.

 

Sorry this is soooo long!

[otksmama]

Im pretty new to the pandas world myself, but it sounds like pandas to me. When things escalate quickly to a "level ten" as I like to call it, and your child just isn't the same, it is likely the case. I'm not sure if this is a new psych you're seeing tomorrow, but our experience with a psychiatrist was awful. They are in the prescribing business. The one we saw had no clue what he was talking about when I asked about pandas, then he blurted out 4-5 DSM IV diagnoses my son could qualify for. And then he mentioned, if I wanted to treat any of those with medications, he would be happy to help. I just don't accept that a previously high functioning child can suddenly qualify for several psychiatric conditions within weeks' time.

I empathize with missing your child. I am in the same shoes currently. I felt much better once we got the diagnosis though, you're not left wondering what the heck just happened anymore.

There are things to try and/or pursue...antibiotics, steroids, ivig, homeopathy, diet changes and supplementation, etc.

First thing I did was give Ibuprofen three times a day. It made him a bit more functional. Is thought to get at the inflammation a bit. But this is certainly not a long term solution.

Pandas is unmanageable at first. It hits like a truck. And you're left wondering why your child can't respond to any disciplinary efforts at all. Keep asking questions...

[JoyBop]

We have so been there and done that! Believe it or not my 4 year old was the one with the sexual thoughts. She was a chronic masturbator and was obsessed with everyone else's private parts. And she knew even at that you g age that this was not OK but couldn't help herself. My 8 year old had the obsessive "bloody murder" thoughts as he called them where he saw bloody dismembered bodies. Both are a silent but awful form of OCD.

 

My son was on Prozac before we knew about pandas and it made him one hundred times worse and he had the most bizarre and impulsive behavior. He acted like an animal, literally, running on all 4s like a jaguar ready to attack us. He also hit his dad and I at night, unprovoked and with odd grimmacing faces.

 

Antibiotics helped tremendously! He had to go off Prozac ASAP bc it made everything worse and even suicidal. After the abx kicked in we have started him on Zoloft. First at 12.5 and just recently doubled to 25 mg. these mess can be somewhat activating and add agitation to the mix.

 

To answer your question YES this sounds just like our kids PANDAS. There are other causes such as Lyme or mycoplasma. Also you should have the strep nlood titres checked. Abx can help but in our case has not been a 100% cure. DS is also on intunive and Clonadine to help with impulsivity and hyperactivity. Things are probably 70-80% better and we are fighting through the eat with CBT and meds. Dd is currently at 1000% after tonsillectomy

 

I recommend you see a dr who is familiar with pandas and see if you can get at least 6 weeks of abx.

[pr40]

here is another yes, both ds5 and dd9 had overly sexualized behaviors, fixations with private parts etc. all of your kid's symptoms sound to me too like PANDAS. in your place, I would discontinue all psychotroipic drugs and give the regular PANDAS treatment two years. That's what we told ourselves. If in two years, we don't see significant improvement, we will think of trying the more usual treatment.

now, a year later, on abx, with meythlation supplements, restrictive diet, exercise, we are all much better.

[nicklemama]

It sounds exactly like PANDAS. My son was doing these things at age 5. Treatment has drastically improved him, not cured him. He's now 9.

[rowingmom]

Our daughter did not have unwanted thoughts, or really too much OCD. Her problems have mostly been vocal/motor ticcing and pain/fatigue. I just wanted you to take a look at the signiture lines under each poster's reply. Many of these parents have found infections (other than strep), methylation mutations and food sensitivities which contributed to their children's problems. Please test for strep, but if negative and titers are low, keep looking. You have found a wonderful forum here.

[MomWithOCDSon]

Yes, it sounds like PANDAS. When there are SO many things running around in a comorbid mish-mash (OCD, defiance, ADHD, brain fog, impulsivity, etc.), PANDAS/PANS is certainly something to pursue, and pursue heavily. Despite what many psychs will tell you about how OCD, ADHD, etc. are frequently comorbid, they're missing the bigger picture, IMHO . . . that the comorbidity is due to an underlying medical condition, and not because it's "natural" or to be expected in some way.

 

Prior to a fairly long course of treatment, my DS, too, suffered from fuzzy thinking, brain fog, forgetfulness, etc. He actually, at one point, compared himself to his grandpa (who had Alzheimer's), saying that he felt like grandpa because he couldn't remember anything, especially short-term. And yes, it made this one stellar student into a bit of a mess academically for a while.

 

And also, yes, the anafranil could definitely be causing some issues; it actually drove my DS nuts, though he was given a prescription for this before we discovered PANDAS. I would get in touch with the prescribing doc and start weaning him down from his current dosage; it may be that this drug will not work for him at all, or it may be that a lower dose will continue to help the OCD a bit without causing the hyperactivity you're currently seeing.

 

I can tell you that, at age 12, my DS sounds a lot like yours. So I truly do think you're on the right path with PANDAS/PANS.

[pchelle]

My daughter has the same type of thoughts when she was about that same age. (16 now) We had to put all of her Barbie dolls away because she thought they were "doing sex". She was always confessing bad thoughts about things that I couldn't believe she knew anything about. It would all stop as soon as the strep was out of her system. She still remembers all of the crazy thoughts that would take over her brain. You are doing all the right things...hang in there!!

[Pennmom]

pchelle, did your daughter fully recover? How long did it take the strep to leave her system? How long was she on antibiotics? Thanks!

 

[C_deangelis]

25 years old now, diagnosed with PANDAS at 7 (maybe even a little younger) but I  had intense intrusive sexual thoughts, everything you described sounds like PANDAS. Just want to validate!

[4Nikki]

Internet. They have more savvy with technology than we think they do. Exposure is a stimulate., but they need a physical release. If Sports is available it can help. His mind needs to be active. Replace the behavior with something else to change the urges.