OCD thoughts, please help!

[JosyJoy]

Hi, after the probiotic company switched its band, my son's OCD became severe. He used to have the ultimate probiotic with 60B. Since beginning of this year, he tried many different kinds of probiotic and inositol, but none actually help! He has repeated OCD thoughts, like calling people "fat", "stupid", cracking knucles etc. He kept confessing to me about his thoughts and the words he has spoken daily, but not able to stop doing it. He finished his homework a lot slower then before. Wonder off and can't focus easily. Any ideas or recommendation will greatly appreciated.

[MomWithOCDSon]

Josyjoy -- It sounds to me as though there might be more than OCD going on here. You've posted here on the OCD forum, but the verbal compulsions sound as though they may be tics, and you mention probiotics, but not what has led you to give your son these on a regular basis.

 

Are you familiar with PANDAS/PANs, or have you been on that forum previously? With both OCD and tic-like manifestations, I would consider the possibility that your son might have PANDAS or PANs.

 

Also, mostly via exchanges on the PANDAS forum here (you can perform a search for "probiotics" there), it seems kids react differently to different strains; some kids do well with saccharomyces boulardi, for instance, and some do not. Any chance you can find (maybe on-line) a full list of the strains in the previous version of your brand and compare it to the current list? Perhaps there's a new strain or two in the more recent version that is not beneficial to your son. PANDAS is associated with strep, and there are strep-based probiotic bacterium that are included in some brands; doctors are not in concensus as to whether or not strep in a probiotic supplement is detrimental to kids with PANDAs, but, just to be on the safe side, many PANDAs families avoid them nonetheless.

 

If you can share more of your son's history (when his OCD first appeared, any other notable events, illnesses, etc.), perhaps we can give some more specific feedback.

 

Good luck!

[LoganSanders]

I seem to be having some OCD problems too, though I haven't be diagnosed or anything, so, how do I really know I'm not overthinking it?

[MomWithOCDSon]

Logan --

 

Like most things, OCD manifests along a scale, from maybe a slightly exaggerated "nagging thought" that you're having trouble shaking, to far more intrusive obsessions and compulsions that interfere with your daily functionality.

 

You can find the Yale-Bocs test on-line, a quick questionnaire designed specifically to measure OCD and its severity. If you're on the fence, my guess is that you would likely score in the "sub-clinical" range, but some people have higher tolerances and don't realize how dramatic some of the presentations have become.

 

https://psychology-tools.com/yale-brown-obsessive-compulsive-scale/

 

Best,

Nancy