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Daughter age 8 diagnosed with OCD and Tourettes


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Hello-good to find a forum here.  In late February, we noticed a number of behaviors (repetitive questions, counting) from my daughter that led us to seek a psychologist who then referred us to a specialist.  By the time we saw the specialist, my daughter was performing a number of rituals (touching certain surfaces with different parts of her body), repeating words a certain number of times, putting her hands up in the air....today there are a few dozen different OCD/tic behaviors.  My husband and I have felt some urgency on this issue because some of these behaviors have been dangerous to her body.  She has taken markers and touch her eye.  She will go to the stove and touch it before knowing whether it is hot.  These are 'forbidden' tics.  Today, nearly mid-May we are not seeing an enormous curb although we are praying we are at the height.  Because she already had ADHD she was on an SSRI and guanfacine.  And this doctor we just engaged may recommend an anti-psychotic.  So we have a functional doctor who did a lot of blood tests (results coming Friday) and we are seeing a holostic doctor who has treated kids before with these conditions in late June.  We're new to this game and overwhelmed.  We just started over the weekend the elimination of gluten and a significant reduction (but I can't say it's a full elimination) of sugar.  We're also moving in the direction of eliminating dairy.  I'm finding it hard to find people who have a dual diagnosis of OCD and Tourettes...and ADHD.  We heard this triad is out there but I'm posting because I'm hoping someone else can share some advice with us.  We are looking at all options.  But I am finding asking what is the underlying cause here?  We've had a tough school year with some bullying and a move across the country.  And our dog died.  Oh yeah and a worldwide pandemic was going on.  And we moved into a new home but symptoms didn't start until about 6 months after we moved here.  But I would value any ideas for where we could begin in terms of tackling underlying causes.  Also, there is so much information that it is difficult to know where to actually begin.

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Hi danielled,

I can't write much now as on way to work, but did want to welcome you, and also encourage you that there is hope!

My son dealt with severe OCD, Tourette Syndrome and ADD (no Hyperactivity) as a child. We were taught about the condition of Tourettic OCD/tics, where OCD behaviors and tics morph - and that understanding helped so much - my son benefited greatly from CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) to help him with this melded OCD/tic situation.

He is now in his 30s and honestly TS/OCD are a very minor factor in his life - whereas they used to predominate.

Prescription meds (especially the antipsychotics eg.Luvox and then Zyprexa) actually made things much much worse for him, and it wasn't till we began a more holistic approach and followed a lot of the excellent natural treatments suggested here that he turned a corner. learning what triggers tics for him was also a vital piece of the puzzle.

I'll be back later and hope you will have had other input.

I do have a lengthy thread discussing the many things we did to help my son - it may give you some pointers. Here's the link:

The Treatments That Have Helped My Son

 

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