My son is 7 with stressed induced ocd- school is a major trigger. He started lexapro in January. i thought this school year would be different with him being medicated... WRONG!!!!! He is back to the meltdowns. Every night no matter what we do to prevent them...

We even made an emergency appt with his psychitrist who increased the dosage which did nothing at all...

My hubby had surgery Friday and is to refrain from any lifting for a few weeks, his neltdown was so bad Sunday, hubby picked him up and carried him upstairs kicking and screaming, (suffice it to say we now have issues there). Last night he was taunting my husband- who INTENTIONALLY fought within himself to stay totally calm and not argue, my son tanted him to provoke a reaction/fight. I, myself was not so calm when it got turned over to me. He was screaming with such rage- the look in his eyes was pure evil... then he started name calling, THEN he started swearing the REALLY BAD words (I have no idea where he even heard them) and I slapped him in the face (I do NOT believe in hitting) but it brought him back to reality- not that it was justified- I KNOW IT WAS WRONG TO DO- and when he calmed down I apologized for the slap (and for the record it wasnt hard, I think it hurt me (emotionally) more than anything- anyway I did apologize and said I didnt mean to hit him but that he was wrong and that I do not ever want to hear that again.

I go into the office one day a week, working the other days at home. When I hink about coming home I look forward to seeing my daughter because I know she will make me laugh and smother me with hugs and kisses. Then I think about my son and the feeling of dread overwhelms me because I know I will go home to an argument. This is so unmaternal I do not feel worthy to be a parent. It's a relief to take him to school, but when its time to pick him up- dread. The stress has triggered severe migraines in me too- so I am getting to the point where I can not function normally because of the pain for teh 1st day of them-

Nothing I say, nothing I do prevents his freak out and meltdown- how am I going to cope when he is a teen? :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Once again I am at my wits end and do not know what to do- our next appt is the end of September... maybe I need to be medicated to deal with him... I just do not know what to do anymore. I needed to vent last night and this site was down:( :( :(

Thank you for listening...

I can so relate to this. My middle child was the difficult one. She's 23 now, and though we wouldn't want to live together, we enjoy long chats on the phone about philosophy, sociology, psychology, and fashion. She knows that when she's in a state that would be too much for any of her friends to handle that she can call me.
The apologizing is rewarded in the end.

So you understand being the 'worlds worst mother' and all the torture? Nice to know I am not alone...

Babyboy, you know you aren't the world's worst mother; just human. You also know this isn't OCD behaviour. It is difficult waiting for the right diagnosis and the right meds, especially for young children.

Let me ask this... He has been on the Lexapro since late January... how long do they (the doctors) wait to decide whether or not a medication is working or needs to be changed?

That seems like long enough to evaluate its merits. And that seems like a fair question to ask the doc.

BTW, even though I shudder to think of the kind of mother I've been, on my birthday recently my now-grown daughters all gave me thoughtful presents with cards with touching notes in them. Perhaps I managed to teach them to forgive.

That is sweet- I only hope he knows how much I love him

hey BB..you love him, you also love your daughter..don't ever feel bad for doing the best you can..
hugs xxx

Raging like that sounds more like childhood onset bipolar to me.

Sounds really frustrating, my feelings from reading your post are lexipro is wrong for your child. I tried lexipro and and had similar reactions. Being an adult I was able to make a choice not to take that med. just my thoughts

SSRI medication is known to have severe adverse side affects.This is especially true with people who do not posses a problem with seratonin. Everyone is very differnent and trial and error seems to be the norm.
If you havent done so heres a start...

http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/InfoSheets/patient/escitalopramPT.htm

So... if the doctor agrees to change the med... how does that work? Taper off Lexapro then be off it for a few weeks THEN start a new med? OR is there a sort of transitional drug to take? Or is it just switched?

What did the doctor diagonis him with? I'd definately stop the Lexapro immediately. What do his teachers at school say? Does he act the same way there?


I know this might upset or frustrate you, but have you tried to talk to him? Just calmly wait (I know that is very hard) and ask him what is wrong, what is bothering him, and how you can help, or how would he like you to help?

The calmly waiting and listening to him meltdown will be the hardest part.

Also, when he is not in the middle of a meltdown, ask him if he remebers the last one, and ask if he can tell you why he acted that way, what upset him so badly? And what can you do to help him next time?

I do this with my son when he has a meltdown. It's been working, but oh my goddness, sitting there quietly and watching him meltdown and not meltdown myself is extremely difficult, but it is getting easier.

He will finally calm down enough to tell me what has upset him, and usually it is something so small and stupid, so I try to explain to him how to better deal with it next time. Many times I just have to tell him, that I didn't know I forgot something or dropped something or fixed something he does not like, and next time just please tell me, there is no need to cry and freak out, I'll be happy to correct whatever it is, but I cannot correct it if I don't know about it. A lot of times his meltdown is because I forgot to get something I told him I would get, like refill his drink, or fix him something for dinner he dosen't want. Well I don't know what he wants until he tells me, so I ask him to give me a chance first before totally going crazy.

Stress induced ocd- yes little stupid thing set him off. The meltdowns are too much to handle. The really severe ones (pre lexapro) he wouldnt remember. There is NO talking to him (much less reasoning) when he is in a meltdown. He is very unreasonable. In HIS mind, he does no wrong- I am the bad guy because "you don't love me" "you wish you never had me" When I ask why he would even say that- he says that I yell at him for no reason. I asked for an example- he referred to the previous day... he literally wrapped his arms around his 2 year old sisters neck and picked her up that way! Yes I did yell at him for that, who wouldnt? He didnt see anything wrong with that. He made a comment that he knows things that he does are wrong but he tells himself that they are ok to justify it.

As far as his teachers, first of all he acts TOTALLY different at school- he does things like tapping his pencil, knees etc. but thats it. His current teacher says he is a perfectionist. A survey was sent to school by his doctor and there wasnt anything alarming on it for that. He does act silly sometimes, but that is compare to his classmates which are 1 1/2-2 years older than he is, so...