10 year old daughter with ocd. Has anyone given ocd meds to child?

[joellis75]

My 10 year old daughter has ocd. It started age 4 but took 3 years or so for diagnosis. I have had ocd since childhood and been medicated for 20 years. Please, before you say it....this isnt a learned behaviour as I have no overt compulsions anymore. Certainly, noone would know about my ocd, particularly not the kids! She has had cbt to no avail. I am pretty sure that I want her to be able to take meds, but psychs are insisting that nothing is licenced for under 16's? Does anyone have experience?

I don't have any advice about meds but have you tried looking at wheat and gluten as a potential cause? There are some interesting articles on the web about a possible link between OCD and wheat (the same is true for adults and children). From our own experience we have seen a pattern between the amount of wheat our daughter eats and her general behavior (she's not OCD). She also craves wheat products and won't eat much else, and this has also improved since we have cut it right down. Just something to look into, and of course if you decide to go wheat free do take the advice of a doctor/nutritionist to ensure the diet is still balanced.

If the OCD symptoms are causing her anxiety and making life difficult, there are medications which are used with children. I think CBT can be difficult for children and young teens to engage with, and medication helps alongside. www.ocduk.org/medication. If you are with Camhs, its the psychiatrist who prescribes and given your own understand of OCD I hope they listen .There are side effects but my DD suffered severe depression alongside other symptoms at 14, so the meds did help her for a while engage in coping strategies. good luck.

Hi MrMum15. I havent heard of this but I will have a good look into it! Thanks.

Thanks anthropology. She has been transferred back to camhs with a view to seeing the psychiatrist. I will keep my fingers crossed. So sorry to hear about your familys experience, and glad your daughter got some relief from the meds.

My DS is on Prozac for Obsessive Compulsive Behaviour - which is along the lines of, but not the same as OCD. We noticed the deterioration when the drugs were stopped by mistake last year.
He was on a gluten free diet when his OCB started.