OCD, tics, anxiety - please help me with GP

[coffeandbookstore]

My dd 9 had a virus or what I thought was a virus in autumn last year.
Following it she developed some mild ocd- turning the lights on and off
a number of times for example, but also having bad separation anxiety from me. I hoped a rest over christmas would help and it did a bit but it is now much worse. she has tics where she jerks her body and ocd rituals are now numerous. she gets distressed by them and is exhausted after school each day as a
result of managing school. she melts down every
day after school☹️she is sensitive to noises now and has sensory issues with clothes. she says she feels
sad a lot of the time but doesnt know why. her
sleep is very restless and she sleep talks/ moans all night. prior to this she slept well and was so happy and social.

it is all getting worse so i took her to the gp who was dismissive, said possible autism despite me saying prior to the virus she had 0 symptoms of autism or ocd or
tics. she is changed ☹️i mentioned pans/pandas as
she seems to tick so many boxes but he sais it is not
recognised by the NHS and basicslly told me
off for googling.
he said he will refer to camhs which has an 18 month wait list where we are. I can't wait that long seeing her struggle.
Whaf do i do next? request another gp? feel so lost and worried i will be painted
as over anxious but something is wrong☹️

Sorry maybe this should be under mental health section? I don’t know ☹️

Have a look at PANDAS in kids

https://www.webmd.com/children/what-is-pandas-syndrome

X

I mentioned it to him but he dismissed it saying it’s extremely rare, so rare it’s not recognised by the NHS

Look at OCD UK's
website OP. Ring their helpline. They are fab and will give you lots of advice both about helping her and maybe how to access medical services more quickly if that's possible.

It sounds very, very much like PANS / PANDAS. Your GP was totally incorrect in his commentary on it. I would speak with Pans / PANDAS UK and also look at the work of Dr Tim Ubhi. I also highly recommend the instagram page parentingpandas by a lovely lady called Lucy.

I would also seek a second opinion and ask for blood tests to check for previous strep infection.

I'd try another GP. I have experience of family with OCD and once it's engrained it honestly ruins lives. She needs to be assessed properly, not dismissed.

In the meantime, try to challenge her rituals in small ways if you can. Maybe with distractions? Lots of reassurance and encouragement. It's important you don't go along with her compulsions as it reinforces the OCD (if that's what it is).

CAMHS definitely do recognise Pandas (or should do!). Might not cut the waiting list though

Could you afford to see someone privately- Psychologist with experience in this area?

This is quite a good book for helping explain to her and ideas to try if she's motivated

Not sure why that screenshot won't post - it's called Breaking Free from OCD by Turner and colleagues (National OCD team)

Recently saw some other OCD books for kids. One is "your beautiful brain and OCD", and another is "ruby finds a worry". The latter is more general anxiety