My little princess
In the early part of 2012 we started to notice some quirky behavior from our then 6 year old. Specifically hoarding of anything and everything. Trash, empty toilet paper rolls, etc. We also noticed a sudden fear of anything to do with soap/foam. Started with the foam snow fall at Disney World the previous November where she screamed hysterically. She would flip out at brushing her teeth, washing her hands and taking a shower or bath.
We were referred to a psychologist that spring right around her 7th birthday. We started with CBT. By the time she started therapy her phobias and hoarding had progressed to anxiety about nearly everything (insects, decision making including seemingly simple things like what to drink with dinner, etc.). She rarely smiled and a beautiful smile it is. She complained of being extremely bored at school and teachers said she was not focusing and making mistakes on work she can do perfectly fine. She is advanced in reading and math. After about 6 months of CBT she was referred to a psychiatrist who started her on a low dose of Certraline. Over the course of a few months she was gradually increased to a dose of 100 mg per day. This was helping a lot. The hoarding subsided and OCD tendancies subsided. Eventually we saw a reduction in some of the anxiety.
However, the soap/teeth brushing, etc was still a problem. She would outright lie to us daily about brushing teeth and washing. We could smell bad breath and not clean hair. As she has gotten older we have tried to give her privacy in the bathroom, but sometimes we need to step in and take over. When I try to wash her hair properly she will cry and sometimes shake. I have done my best to find the least foamy toothpastes and shampoos, etc. This is still one of the major issues we are dealing with.
She had been doing karate since she was 3 and we noticed over the past year she seemed to have lost the desire to do it, but she didn't want to quit. Finally this spring she told us she didn't like it anymore b/c she was bored with the coursework but that she kept at it b/c she though we wanted her to get her black belt (she was about a year from black belt). We told her we wanted a happy child and that the black belt would be nice but didn't matter. We pulled her out of karate and suddenly we had our daughter back. Smiling and happy. No depressed dark circles under her eyes, etc. The psychiatrist wanted to wean her off meds since she had been on them for over 1 year and with the improvements we were excited. She has now been off of them for a couple of months.
A new set of issues has arisen. The first was that we noticed if she saw something on tv or heard us upset about something, she would start to have panic attacks about it. She would describe her head spinnning, nausea, etc. We would have to find something funny to take her mind off of whatever topic upset her. Keep in mind we have a money pit house that does cause stress and my mother lives with us and she is having some issues of her own that we are trying to keep away from my daughters ears.
In the last week or so, the latest development is insomnia. We put her to bed and she will come out every 15 to 20 minutes complaining she can't sleep. It gets us upset b/c this will go on for sometimes 2 hours. She often doesn't listen to us and leaves a light on and can't sleep. She cries if we ask her if something is causing this and says she doesn't know. She also has an excuse every time it is bed time (sudden upset stomach, hungry, or just a worry that she won't fall asleep before she has even tried). I personally feel it is linked to the anxiety, but I am not sure.
The general anxiety is still there, though maybe not quite as bad as it was in 2012. I have thought about forcing her to hand wash dishes in the soap but worry that may just make it worse.
She has a follow up psych appointment in 2 weeks. I had originally hoped this would be her last, but now I don't think so.
We so want our little girl back. We miss her smiles and don't want her to feel so much stress at 9 years old.I also worry about her a few years from now when she hits middle school/high school and real stress and social issues arise.
It is certainly rubbing off on me and my husband. . I am having trouble focusing at work and sleeping. I had lost close to 30 pounds between January and May of 2012 and now after 2 plus years of worry, I have put it all back along with an extra 15 to 20. I don't even eat that bad and I do try to exercise a few nights a week, so I can only attribute it to my stress level. I am sure my stress and my weight gain are not helping anyone either!
There is really a lot more to this (I could probably write a book if I said everything that has happened in these 2 1/2 years) but this constant worry about her and dealing with it properly is getting to me and my husband pretty bad. My 5 year old is a sensitive kid and he picks up on her anxiety on certain things.
We were referred to a psychologist that spring right around her 7th birthday. We started with CBT. By the time she started therapy her phobias and hoarding had progressed to anxiety about nearly everything (insects, decision making including seemingly simple things like what to drink with dinner, etc.). She rarely smiled and a beautiful smile it is. She complained of being extremely bored at school and teachers said she was not focusing and making mistakes on work she can do perfectly fine. She is advanced in reading and math. After about 6 months of CBT she was referred to a psychiatrist who started her on a low dose of Certraline. Over the course of a few months she was gradually increased to a dose of 100 mg per day. This was helping a lot. The hoarding subsided and OCD tendancies subsided. Eventually we saw a reduction in some of the anxiety.
However, the soap/teeth brushing, etc was still a problem. She would outright lie to us daily about brushing teeth and washing. We could smell bad breath and not clean hair. As she has gotten older we have tried to give her privacy in the bathroom, but sometimes we need to step in and take over. When I try to wash her hair properly she will cry and sometimes shake. I have done my best to find the least foamy toothpastes and shampoos, etc. This is still one of the major issues we are dealing with.
She had been doing karate since she was 3 and we noticed over the past year she seemed to have lost the desire to do it, but she didn't want to quit. Finally this spring she told us she didn't like it anymore b/c she was bored with the coursework but that she kept at it b/c she though we wanted her to get her black belt (she was about a year from black belt). We told her we wanted a happy child and that the black belt would be nice but didn't matter. We pulled her out of karate and suddenly we had our daughter back. Smiling and happy. No depressed dark circles under her eyes, etc. The psychiatrist wanted to wean her off meds since she had been on them for over 1 year and with the improvements we were excited. She has now been off of them for a couple of months.
A new set of issues has arisen. The first was that we noticed if she saw something on tv or heard us upset about something, she would start to have panic attacks about it. She would describe her head spinnning, nausea, etc. We would have to find something funny to take her mind off of whatever topic upset her. Keep in mind we have a money pit house that does cause stress and my mother lives with us and she is having some issues of her own that we are trying to keep away from my daughters ears.
In the last week or so, the latest development is insomnia. We put her to bed and she will come out every 15 to 20 minutes complaining she can't sleep. It gets us upset b/c this will go on for sometimes 2 hours. She often doesn't listen to us and leaves a light on and can't sleep. She cries if we ask her if something is causing this and says she doesn't know. She also has an excuse every time it is bed time (sudden upset stomach, hungry, or just a worry that she won't fall asleep before she has even tried). I personally feel it is linked to the anxiety, but I am not sure.
The general anxiety is still there, though maybe not quite as bad as it was in 2012. I have thought about forcing her to hand wash dishes in the soap but worry that may just make it worse.
She has a follow up psych appointment in 2 weeks. I had originally hoped this would be her last, but now I don't think so.
We so want our little girl back. We miss her smiles and don't want her to feel so much stress at 9 years old.I also worry about her a few years from now when she hits middle school/high school and real stress and social issues arise.
It is certainly rubbing off on me and my husband. . I am having trouble focusing at work and sleeping. I had lost close to 30 pounds between January and May of 2012 and now after 2 plus years of worry, I have put it all back along with an extra 15 to 20. I don't even eat that bad and I do try to exercise a few nights a week, so I can only attribute it to my stress level. I am sure my stress and my weight gain are not helping anyone either!
There is really a lot more to this (I could probably write a book if I said everything that has happened in these 2 1/2 years) but this constant worry about her and dealing with it properly is getting to me and my husband pretty bad. My 5 year old is a sensitive kid and he picks up on her anxiety on certain things.
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