The Challenges Placed Before Us

The only experience with OCD I had ever had was laughing at the silly things that "Monk" would do on television. How far from that we turn when it becomes a reality and your child whom you love more than life itself, becomes plagued with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

We know Alex has always been compulsive and obsessive about things. When he was very little he pestered us with his insessant need to be reassured that there were no bugs or snakes in his covers or under his bed. He would fixate on a particular item or subject and not be able to "let go of it and move on" no matter how many times we told him to. It never dawned on us that this could be something bigger than just a quirky child with ADHD.

Last summer, the devastation hit when Alex turned 11 years old and began washing his hands like a surgeon after touching anything he thought was contaminated and changing his clothing repeatedly because he thought he had "pee germs" on them after using the rest room and sometimes in between. He also began refusing to touch his food and would only eat with a knife and fork. No matter how we pled with him, he couldn't stop and the anxiety....sheer panic....on his face if you tried to stop him was real. OCD was taking over and despite his faith in and love for God, he couldn't say no. It was affecting our home life and his grades in school, since the anxiety challenged his ability to focus.

He was doing odd things at school which made the kids only tease him and alienate him, and washing his hands until cracked an bleeding each day. I lay awake some nights and cried, because my son was still up at midnight doing his ritualistic behavior and could not find peace enough to go to sleep. Mountains of laundry....clothing and bedding each day have consumed me. There isn't an hour that goes by that the washer isn't running. He will run out of clothing and have a panic attack because he feels the need to change because he thinks he is contaminated.

We have been in therapy for the OCD since last December. It helps. We have been on 2 anti-depressants, Paxil and Zoloft, both of which had agressive, violent, and suicidal side-effects.
I have asked the psychiatrist about natural solutions. I watched ABC's PrimeTime special on OCD in children earlier in August. If you have a child with OCD and haven't seen this....it's a must. It helps to know you're not alone! I cried and cried through it seeing some of those kids struggling with the same thing my son does.
http://vp2.abc.go.com/watch/primetime/216354/225738/the-fight-against-ocd
This special told that research has found that OCD is the inability to process glutamic acid in the brain.
I encouraged the psychiatrist to watch it the next day. To this day, he still has not. When I ask about glutamine-blockers as an alternative drug, he just ignored me and began telling me that he wants to change Alex's ADHD meds to Straterra. I came home and did my research and based on what I found, it is not even something we want to try. Besides, the ADHD medicine he is on is the first that has worked this well in the 5 years Alex has been treated for ADHD.

Searching for an alternative....thinking "if the inability to process glutamic acid is the reason that Alex has OCD, and glutamic acid is made from gluten's and monosodium glutenmate, why can't you just eliminate those from his diet and reduce the glutamic acid levels to help or get rid of the OCD?". On the internet again. I like to do my research. I found this page:
http://www.ocdtribe.com/groups/_/id/178

I decided to give this a try. It makes sense and it cannot hurt. So, I have gotten the supplements and I am giving him about half of the adult dose since he is 78 lbs soaking wet. I am also converting us ALL over to a Gluten-Free, MSG- Free, and Low Glutamic Acid diet. We began Monday, August 24th.

In an effort to reach out and help anyone else with childhood OCD and pass this information along, I decided to blog our journey with this new diet. If the diet does not work, I'll be on to the next idea I have. I will not give up. God cannot possibly want anyone to be so miserable and driven by compulsions.

Here are my observations and menu from the last few days to catch up:

Monday, Aug. 24th-
Alex ate Gluten-Free Corn Chex with a tsp. of sugar and Rice Milk for breakfast. Took N-Acetyl Cysteine 500mg, L-Theanine 500mg, and L-Huperzine A 200mg with breakfast.
For lunch I packed him a ham sandwhich with Gluten-Free bread, Frito Corn Chips, Red Grapes, and a couple Gluten- Free Vanilla Creme Cookies.
He took supplements L-Theanine 500mg and L-Huperzine A 200mg when he came home from school.
For Dinner, I prepared an Organic Marinara sauce and Gluten-Free Spaghetti noodles for dinner. I let him sprinkle on a little parmesan cheese. I sliced some Gluten-Free French Rolls up and put a little butter and garlic salt on them and broiled them to make garlic bread. We all liked that meal. :o)

*He was very mellow today. Said he was tired. Ate very well and didn't complain about the food.
We noticed a decrease in the amount of clothing changes and hand washing just this first day. YAY! Hopefully, it will keep up.

Tuesday, Aug. 25th-
Alex ate the same breakfast yesterday with the same supplements.
Same lunch minus the Gluten-Free Cookies.
I added 500mg more N-Acetyl Cysteine to his afternoon supplements.
For dinner, we had Grilled Chicken Breast, Green Beans, and Alex requested Mashed Potatoes (which I think he ate 2 cups of!). I made the mashed potatoes with some butter and rice milk, salt and pepper. We all liked this meal too. :o)

*Not as mellow, but not difficult or wound up either. One shouting match with his sister when they argued over something silly (of course).
He seemed to have reduced hand washing and clothing changing again, until bedtime. He struggled to get to sleep. He kept getting up and washing his hands. I finally gave him a Tylenol PM to help at about 10:30. Wondering if it's the N-Acetyl Cysteine that I increased? I think I will go back to the original dosage tomorrow.