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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We medicating DS first.  It didn't work well and the side effects became intolerable. [/quote]

The above quote is from the 5th post in the thread.  It clearly mentions side effects.  [/quote]
Sorry, but it makes no mention of which side effects her child suffered, only that they were intolerable.[/quote]

I was this PP and did not go into detail as it wasn't relevant to the main point, which was ERP was what really worked in our case.

I am not anti-med.  I think medication can have adverse effects on one individual that few others experience.

If the details help the discussion here they are:  Our DS was on Prozac for about a year and a half.  We did not see any immediate improvements.  Over the months, though, the OCD gradually improved.  This was before we knew he had PANDAS.  It is pretty typical for PANDAS to diminish over time, and that might have been what we were seeing rather than the Prozac helping.  The side effects at that time were weight gain and feeling hot all the time.  This led to an obsession with having a fan on all the time and running around the house in just underwear even in the dead of winter.  While not what we would have wanted, this was tolerable in exchange for a lessening of OCD.

Then DS got strep again and a renewed PANDAS outbreak.  The Prozac offered absolutely no defense against this new outbreak.  The psychiatrist upped the Prozac dosage.  Almost instantly, DS had incessant itching and scratched himself hard all over his arms and legs, drawing blood.  Then he would scratch the scabs and ended with scores and scores of scars all over his legs and arms.  He looked like Damian the Leper.  The first day of summer camp, they called me to say he could not swim because of his skin disease. Still no relief at all from the OCD.

Given the ineffectiveness of the Prozac and the extreme unpleasantness it was causing for him, we decided to wean off the meds and go full force into ERP therapy.  We did this for about a year and half and saw lasting near total reduction in the OCD symptoms.  It took about that long for all skin lesions to heal.

Itchiness is a relatively rare side effect of SSRIs.  The psychiatrist insisted it was self-injurious behavior that "was part of his condition."  It wasn't; it was the Prozac. But I do not believe our experience is generalizable to all using SSRIs.  For us, Prozac simply didn't work and the side effects were intolerable.  It would have been nice had it worked as taking a pill is much easier than schlepping your kids to ERP twice a week with a 45 minute commute each way, plus having to do "homework" every night with me exposing him to the triggers that cause such anxiety.  So great for the mother-son bond!

Everyone has to decide which is the least worst option in terms of costs and benefits in the context of what one's child is suffering and the general family situation.

[/quote]

Yes, yes, we all know about PANDAS.  Moreover,  I also wouldn't be continuing using a med that had no effect, so I'm not sure what you are trying to demonstrate in terms of knowledge.  Please stop assuming that everyone who resorts to meds is uninformed.  It's arrogant.

The worst side effects we had were those present in NOT using meds:  depression, isolation, debilitating panic, no life despite years of therapies, EEG's,  blood tests, etc.  Please stop assuming we jumped to this decision.  In essence, you are trying to shame other parents with the suggestion that we hastily opted for an easy way out.  Such judgment is not only ignorant, it has no place on this board.  [/quote]

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