Hi. I'm new here and am hoping maybe someone can give me some new direction to go in. I'll give a little background on our family. My husband (husband) and I have been married for 10 years. We have two children-darling daughter (daughter) who is almost 7 and in first grade, and darling son (DS) who is almost 4 and in pre-school. Neither husband nor I personally have any history of mental illness or behavior/conduct issues, but husband's 4 siblings have all been dianosed and treated for many different issues--bi-polar, depression, anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), ADD, substance abuse. Our 7 year old daughter has always been high-spirited and active. She reached all of her mile-stones as a baby just as she should. She has always been an independent thinker and has always been determined to acheive her agenda. Academically, she does well in school and is very bright. She has always seemed wise beyond her years, being in tune to and cathing onto things most children her age would not. One of her best traits has always been taht she's very sompassionate and caring about other people and their feelings.
Because of her high activity level, I have spoken to our fmaily doctor about her possibly being ADD, and he has always felt she is not. (He also has two children himself who are ADD and says she does not exhibit the typical symptoms.) Neither of her pre-school teachers felt she exhibited any signs of that either. She was strong willed, but not to a point that they were concerned.
But as she's gotten older, she has become more of a challenge with me, and finally this summer, I called our family physician. He suggested we see a therapist. My daughter began individual therapy as well as our family beginning family therapy. After a bit, the therapist said she definitely saw ODD behaviors in my daughter. I read the book The Oppositional Defiant Child, and I swear it was written for my daughter! I was glad to be able to relate to something but was not really seeing a differnece in her behavior. When school began, her teacher informed me that there were no behavior issues at all--everything was perfect. Her behavior was the same at home--still no improvement. About a month or so into school the teacher informed me of some obsessive behaviors she was seeing--pencils constantly needed to be sharp, hands always needing to be washed, etc. I also saw a change in behavior at this time--fear of germs, excessive hand washing, fear of bones in her food, fear of her teeth breaking, fear that too much wax was in her ears, etc. At this time, the therapist wanted a full psychiatric consult done with a psychiatrist. It was also around this time the teacher saw lots of hyperactivity.
The psychiatrist, after reading the evaluations of husband, myself, the teacher, adn the therapist, and after looking at husband's family's history, said he thougth anxiety was the issue. He prescribed Celexa and said it would take a full 6 weeks to reach therapudic levels in her. We saw the insomnia for a short time and the increase in hyper-activity for a short time (both about a week) that he also warned us of. But those returned to the pre-medication state, and we've been 6 weeks on the medications and no improvement what-so-ever. Actually, her behavior has gotten worse. She is completley defiant with me, has become defiant in school, completely disregarding rules, has been caught stealing at school in the lunchroom and from classmates three times in 2 weeks, and then denies it, and is just terrorizing our household. I've also seen that spark of compassion/caring for other just got out. She blames everyone else for her behaviors, does not take responsibilty for anything she does, doesn't care if she physically or emotionally hurts other people, and consequences just don't matter. She's gone on a downward spiral now for about the past month or so that I can't seem to stop. We see the therapist tonight and the family doctor friday. Anyone ever have similar symptoms, and what types of tests/doctors did you consult with. I don't know where to turn at this point...are there other doctors who can help, other tests I shoudl be asking to have run on her...anything anyone has would be of great help!
Because of her high activity level, I have spoken to our fmaily doctor about her possibly being ADD, and he has always felt she is not. (He also has two children himself who are ADD and says she does not exhibit the typical symptoms.) Neither of her pre-school teachers felt she exhibited any signs of that either. She was strong willed, but not to a point that they were concerned.
But as she's gotten older, she has become more of a challenge with me, and finally this summer, I called our family physician. He suggested we see a therapist. My daughter began individual therapy as well as our family beginning family therapy. After a bit, the therapist said she definitely saw ODD behaviors in my daughter. I read the book The Oppositional Defiant Child, and I swear it was written for my daughter! I was glad to be able to relate to something but was not really seeing a differnece in her behavior. When school began, her teacher informed me that there were no behavior issues at all--everything was perfect. Her behavior was the same at home--still no improvement. About a month or so into school the teacher informed me of some obsessive behaviors she was seeing--pencils constantly needed to be sharp, hands always needing to be washed, etc. I also saw a change in behavior at this time--fear of germs, excessive hand washing, fear of bones in her food, fear of her teeth breaking, fear that too much wax was in her ears, etc. At this time, the therapist wanted a full psychiatric consult done with a psychiatrist. It was also around this time the teacher saw lots of hyperactivity.
The psychiatrist, after reading the evaluations of husband, myself, the teacher, adn the therapist, and after looking at husband's family's history, said he thougth anxiety was the issue. He prescribed Celexa and said it would take a full 6 weeks to reach therapudic levels in her. We saw the insomnia for a short time and the increase in hyper-activity for a short time (both about a week) that he also warned us of. But those returned to the pre-medication state, and we've been 6 weeks on the medications and no improvement what-so-ever. Actually, her behavior has gotten worse. She is completley defiant with me, has become defiant in school, completely disregarding rules, has been caught stealing at school in the lunchroom and from classmates three times in 2 weeks, and then denies it, and is just terrorizing our household. I've also seen that spark of compassion/caring for other just got out. She blames everyone else for her behaviors, does not take responsibilty for anything she does, doesn't care if she physically or emotionally hurts other people, and consequences just don't matter. She's gone on a downward spiral now for about the past month or so that I can't seem to stop. We see the therapist tonight and the family doctor friday. Anyone ever have similar symptoms, and what types of tests/doctors did you consult with. I don't know where to turn at this point...are there other doctors who can help, other tests I shoudl be asking to have run on her...anything anyone has would be of great help!