Fear of Bugs

[Suzan]

As usual, thanks for the support, suggestions and a place to just come and tell others who understand about this crazy stuff.

 

DD6 is afraid right now of bugs since her sister freaked her out about black widows last night. She says that she feels like the world is covered in bugs and no matter where she goes there are going to be scary spiders, crickets, any kind of bug coming to get her. She was really out of control about it this morning. I gave her a little bit of melatonin, some magnesium CALM and some L-Theanine (all calming stuff I give dd7 for her hyperactivity out of control stuff). She is a lot better now and has stopped talking about bugs and is playing pretty well with her sister.

 

I have her on 1/2 dose of antibiotic. I'm thinking of upping it back to the 250 mg while she's getting over this cold. I know it won't help her with the virus but is it believed that zith could help with brain protection I think, right? Why am I having trouble grasping all this? This is so difficult to see them going through this and knowing why.

 

Susan

[thereishope]

I can't help with the med question, but the fear of bugs may be related to OCD. It's common for a child to be "exposed" to something then run with it. OCD is very manipulative. I broke my toe a few weeks ago and since then my son is convinced and worried that he's broken a bone every time he trips, falls, gets hit, etc. If it's a bad fall, I will reassure him once his bone isn't broken. But only one time. If it's obvious he could have not broken a bone because he simply did a little trip. I tell him I'm not answering him. He only tripped.

 

I agree, this is all so confusing. I feel I have to dissect everything he does or says. But you can't attack every issue at once either. That will overload them. Just follow you Mommy instinct. It will follow you in the right direction.

 

Is she convinced bugs on her? That's not OCD, but my son had that twice during a PANDAS epsiode. That is a scary thing to experince as a parent. My son would stand there screaming, "There's bugs on me. Get them off!" And there wouln't be a bug in the room.

[Suzan]

I can't help with the med question, but the fear of bugs may be related to OCD. It's common for a child to be "exposed" to something then run with it. OCD is very manipulative. I broke my toe a few weeks ago and since then my son is convinced and worried that he's broken a bone every time he trips, falls, gets hit, etc. If it's a bad fall, I will reassure him once his bone isn't broken. But only one time. If it's obvious he could have not broken a bone because he simply did a little trip. I tell him I'm not answering him. He only tripped.

 

I agree, this is all so confusing. I feel I have to dissect everything he does or says. But you can't attack every issue at once either. That will overload them. Just follow you Mommy instinct. It will follow you in the right direction.

 

Is she convinced bugs on her? That's not OCD, but my son had that twice during a PANDAS epsiode. That is a scary thing to experince as a parent. My son would stand there screaming, "There's bugs on me. Get them off!" And there wouln't be a bug in the room.

 

Oh that is scary, luckily she only is concerned about where they are, could they come, why do they exist, can they kill her..... my other daughter did that once as a younger child (3 yrs maybe?) where she thought the bugs were on her and I was totally freaked out.

 

I guess it's time for me to learn more about OCD and how to handle these episodes since now I'm understanding what they are more about now.

 

Susan

 

Susan

[ShaesMom]

Hey Susan,

 

Shae is going through something similar right now. Her fear of bugs seems to kick in around bed time and causes her to have nightmares. I think she is having dreams that they are crawling all over her because she has told me she has to kick her covers off during one of these dreams. She also has an exagerrated fear of spiders. I've had to pull the car over twice because a spider the size of an ant was in the backseat.

 

Sam