Help! 18 yo son suddenly paralyzed w/ocd

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Schizophrenia was my first thought, too. The thing which immediately struck me, though, was that he started off thinking about doing marijuana, then started hearing voices. An extremely uncommon side effect of cannabis is that it can, in those with a predisposition, provoke schizophrenia. The amount required varies, but it can happen with the first encounter with the drug. The effects are permanent and irreversible, although it can be treated in the same way someone who would "normally" get schizophrenia. I do wonder whether a friend or aquiantance might have had some of the drug and given him the opportunity to try it. It's a possibility.

You need to get him to a psychiatrist. If there's no one near by, just keep working outward 'til you find someone, and if that means driving a few hours to one of the major cities, that's just how it is - this isn't something you should leave untreated, and that really sucks, I'm sorry.

Definitely sounds like Schizophrenia. I agree with the poster above that said that he needs help before he starts believing the auditory delusions. NOW!

AlsMom,

You just described my son.

My son is 16, diagnosed Asperger's. About a year ago (around end of 9th, beginning of 10th grade), everything went downhill in a big way and really fast. His OCD's became outrageous. He rubs his ear until it's raw, and he blows wind as if blowing out candles all day long. School work has pretty much stopped. Concerns about bathroom germs and food contamination have made living around him very difficult. I could go on....

Anyway, we have tested several drugs. I should add, my son has a very low drug tolerance, so normal doses seem to always be too much for him.

We started out with Risperdal. It does seem to provide a small amount of "stability." He only takes 0.5mg per day. Higher doses just made him sleep all the time.

Lexapro: High doses for him (40mg) caused him to have "bad" thoughts. He also became very aggressive. At lower doses, there was some affect, but not enough. We are presently trying 10mg, which typically would be too small to make any difference. For my son, it may be just right. Please note that the normal doses published for Lexapro are for treating depression - not OCD's. Consequently, OCD's and pervasive personality disorders typically require higher doses. Again, this is not the case with my son.

Abilify: Damn expensive! No affect for my son. Only side effects.

If you stop the Lexapro, it is necessary that you reduce the dose slowly over time. Otherwise, expect some pretty heavy depression. Even when doing the slow reduction, expect to see some mood swings. With all of these, changes in dose is like moving a spring. It takes a few days to settle down.

Most of all, find a psychologist who specializes in pervasive personality disorders. He or she can direct you to a good psychiatrist and help monitor the effectiveness of any medications. I would suggest this as first and foremost.

After a six hour struggle to get dressed yesterday - I threw in the towel. Packed him up to head off to the emergency room. On the way in, I thought, give the county psych office one more shot - I was and am very concerned that bringing him into a clinical hospital environment would scare the crap out of him - and terrified that they would want to keep him there as an inpatient. So - long story short - county psych shared concerns about the hospital keeping him there and freaking him out, so a whole new batch of phone calls and possible contacts sit on my plate today. In the interim - backing off the 10 mg of Lexapro from the 20 mg he's taken for the last 10 days or so - I'm thinking we should pull him off of it alltogether - slowly - of course. And we've added 80 mg of an antipsychotic - "GEODON" (ziprasidone HCI ). He took one 40 mg before dinner - seemed ok - and passed out on the couch. I don't know if it's the drug, the relief from the chaos in his head / lack of sleep or what - but the boy was OUT. Seems pleasant enough this am - no hangover-ish kinda stuff. Any one with experience w/ this stuff? Prescribed for ..... schitzophrenia.... and bi-polar phychosis.

Climber - wow. You, too, hunh? Has anyone been able to explain what the hell happened to your son? I can't even get congecture from anyone I've spoken with. My personal guess is hormones. But that kinda makes more sense in your son - 16 years old. Al started shaving at 16 - once a week - but he had facial hair. And his voice had dropped before that. Why now - what could trigger such a huge change? I don't even know if his reaction has anything to do with AS. Or is this a typical AS (if there is such a thing) pattern? Let me know how your son progresses. He's got what - 2 more years of high school to get through - ouch.

Hearing voices is not OCD, and this warrants a psych evaluation right away. I'm in no position to guess what might be going on, but I would worry about the medication and/or a possible co-diagnosis with the AS. I hope he's able to feel better soon, I can imagine that would really create some anxiousness.

I would agree with what Mikomi says. I'm in no position to try to even guess what is wrong with your son. Please, find someone who can give him a proper psychological evaluation.

As for my own son, he's never complained of hearing voices, but everything else you mention is very similar. Most striking is the abrupt change in behavior at about the same age.

I did ask the psychiatrist why. His answer was, "We don't know." As he put it, psychological science isn't good enough to answer that question yet. He did mention that it is not unheard of and that the behaviors can and will vary in severity and duration. Your son, unfortunately, seems to be far worse off than mine.

I don't know if my son will finish high school. As it stands, that's not looking too promising. Ironically, he was in the top of his class until all this happened.

Regardless, AlsMom, you have to find a way to reduce your stress. I've just recently come to realize, after six years, that my son's challenges are ruining two lives. I've given up my career, I given up my climbing, it's caused friction amongst my family, and I've lost a couple of friends over it. No one outside of the autistic community will ever understand what it's like to raise an autistic child.

I will continue to do all I can to help my son, but I have to accept the fact that I cannot "fix" him. I will try to make him as comfortable in society as I can, and prepare for his future as best I can. But, it might not turn out great. Most importantly, I make sure he understands that it is not his fault. He is his responsibility, but he cannot help being autistic.

I think it is very important that you find an outlet. You have to find a way to improve YOUR outlook and prevent your own deterioration. So while you look for help for your son, take some time to look for some fun for yourself.

I wish you the best of luck.

"He did homework for 7 hours every night...."

What do you mean by this? Is this a typo? 7 hours of homework each night sounds extremely excessive. I wonder if he's having a nervous break down? What child could endure such mental exhaustion? Did he want to do this? Did you encourage it? Not sure I understand.

Also, was he on any medication before this occurence? Sometimes, yes, medication causes strange things to happen.

Also, are you sure he isn't doing drugs? He is at the age when kids, all kids, experiment especially if they're being coaxed, or trying to fit in.



equinn

7 Hours of homework is - wrong, dangerous and anti-social.

There are other ways to learn - the world should be your university.

Watch TV, fiction and non-fiction, read books, play games, socialize with people, dream, play sports.

These are all learning experiences and IMHO it would be more valuable to have 90-120 minutes of homework (for a senior student) plus some of these experiences to go with it.

Regardless of whether or not you think its psychosis, you need to see a neurologist.

I had some psychologist/therapist tell my parents I was schizoprenic. But all of the behaviors that led to that "diagnosis" were the result of the seizures I was having. Not one pyschologist even considered i might be having seizures, even though I had a history of them (though I wouldn't be surprised if my mom hid that fact from them since she seemed to think being psychotic was much better than being epileptic).

In fact after my seizure at the emergency room where I walked around punching the doctors and accusing them of torturing me, I heard my mom tell my dad I was acting the same way as when I was last put in the mental health institute

I'm sorry--don't mean to offend you, but I've never heard of this type of seizure where you start hauling off and punching doctors because you think they are torturing you. It does sound like paranoia though--again, please don't take offense.

I've heard one too many times about the person who blanks out and then beats someone to a bloody pulp or worse, kills. This sounds like a dangerous sociopath or psychotic episode--plain and simple.

[quote="equinn"]"He did homework for 7 hours every night...."

What do you mean by this? Is this a typo? 7 hours of homework each night sounds extremely excessive. I wonder if he's having a nervous break down? What child could endure such mental exhaustion? Did he want to do this? Did you encourage it? Not sure I understand.
Oh no - not a typo. He's been like that for years. What takes his class mates 30 min takes Alex 3 hours. To say he was a perfectioninst would be a mild understatement. His IEP's always allowed him to take short cuts on long assignments as well as have more time to complete - he never wanted to take the short cuts. Very stubburn. But with the extended times, he always pulled A's and a B once in awhile. We'd beg him to stop - the teachers and I would try to put time limitations on his work - whatever he completed in the time frame was all he would be graded on - no demerrits for the incomplete part. But he'd never turn in the incomplete work - holding on to it in hopes of completing it later - then he'd get super stressed out - we'd end up pulling out all the 1/2 done work and turning it into his resource teacher - usually before the end of the grading period. Then the whole thing would start over.

Also, was he on any medication before this occurence? Sometimes, yes, medication causes strange things to happen.

Never. Nothing, before a month ago.

Also, are you sure he isn't doing drugs? He is at the age when kids, all kids, experiment especially if they're being coaxed, or trying to fit in.

Al has never really had any desire to try to fit in. He's very anti-drug. My kids are both poster kids for no drugs - been trying to get me to quit smoking for years. Me myself - yup, experimented as a kid - talked to the kids about the realities of drugs - they aren't prudes - just really smart.



equinn[/quote]

I just wanted to say that there are some types of OCD where the person experiences "bad thoughts" which some people may describe as hearing voices - they aren't "hearing" the voice literally (as in an auditory hallucination) but it is a voice in their head, like a mental monologue.

Sometimes we don't have the language to accurately express our sensory experiences so have to use a close approximation. For someone with these thoughts, "hearing voices" may be the closest way to describe it. For example, I have Auditory Processing Disorder, where I can hear sounds, but cannot always correctly organise those sounds into words and sentances. For years I just described it as "I can't hear properly" which was interpreted as me saying "I'm partically deaf" when actually my hearing is fine - but I didn't have any other sensory experience to compare it to, deafness was the onyl thing that I could explain it by.

ANyway, I digress. SO yes, there are people with bad OCD that have "bad thoughts" as a manifestation of their OCD such as "if I leave this room I will kill someone", or "I will cut my hands off if I go in the kitchen" for example. The person is extremely unlikely to act on those thoughts, but there is such an extreme fear for them that they will that they have massive panic attacks and often become housebound.

It is like telling someone "Don't think about a pink hippo". As soon as you try to not think about it, you are thinking about it! The person with the bad thoughts often can't not think about them, so they are in a permanent state of fear.

I hope both you and your son find some relief soon

Robin

I'm with you - but he's just not interested in people. He hangs out with us - socializes fine with us and our friends/family. And will be polite - but disinterested when approached by anyone else - esp. his peers. Much better with adults.

First off, I had one of the best neurologists in the country. And he was head of my areas Epilepsy Foundation. Since I put his medical expertise ahead of yours, you can't offend me by not believing. Second, I had the typical convulsing seizure, twice in the hours before this one. The second time I ended up unconcious and not breathing from it. - which is why I was at the hospital in the first place.

My seizures occurred in my right front temporal lobes. Any seizure that occurs in that area can result in ther person seeing, smelling, or hearing things that aren't there, as well as experiencing "de ja vu" or feeling that everything common place is completely unusual/strange. Some people who have seizures in the temporal lobes hallucinate, while others have distorted perceptions of what is going on around them - ie thinking something is much larger or much smaller than it is, or not realizing the risk of something. This can potentially lead to seriously injury - you might be standing somewhere high, looking over a railing and thinking, "Oh the ground is only one step down. I might as well just hop the railing instead of walking back over there." I remember hearing my parents speak with a doctor about my potentially having a brain tumor, though at the time I wasn't "awake" or able to speak with them/sit up. While I listened to the conversation I was thinking, "Whats wrong with them, its only a brain tumor. thats nothing to worry about" At 14, I was old enough to realize how very serious a brain tumor was, and had I been "awake," I likely would have been terrified

My most recent ones were complex partial. This type of seizure alters your concious but does not result in your falling to the floor. Though onlookers will often have difficulty believing you aren't fully aware of your actions, when you wake up from it, you'll either remember nothing, or will remember things in a distorted way. Ie I remember being in the hospital, but I'm quite certain I wasn't laid onto a metal table under a huge bright white, so that three male doctors could insert a huge two-handed drill into me, just to laugh about the pain they were causing. However, if it weren'f for the fact that I know A) I would have been seriously damaged had they done that and B) there is no way they could have gotten away with that in the hospital, I'd swear to god it actually happened.

While your in a complex partial seizure, you might undress, wander around searching for something, play with legos, spend 8 minutes repeatedly taking the cap of a marker and putting it back on again, attempt to cook (you'll probably end up doing something stupid like putting the pasta in the garbage and the box in the pot though) etc. In one of the seizures I had when I was younger I was searching for a sock that i accused my sister of stealing. In between trying to put said sock on top of my shoe, I was hitting her, demanding she give me back my sock. I have no memory whatsoever of that, and only know about it because my parents and sister have told me it happened. Just as i only know I was punching the doctors because I asked why I was tied to the bed when I woke up in the hospital. However, with my memmory of what happened, I can entirely believe I was walking around hitting the doctors - after all they were very painfully torturing me, and I wanted them to stop.

"ANyway, I digress. SO yes, there are people with bad OCD that have "bad thoughts" as a manifestation of their OCD such as "if I leave this room I will kill someone", or "I will cut my hands off if I go in the kitchen" for example. The person is extremely unlikely to act on those thoughts, but there is such an extreme fear for them that they will that they have massive panic attacks and often become housebound.

It is like telling someone "Don't think about a pink hippo". As soon as you try to not think about it, you are thinking about it! The person with the bad thoughts often can't not think about them, so they are in a permanent state of fear."

Oh my god - you're so funny - and so right! Vivid explanation. I too am thinking I'm losing something in the translation when he's trying to explain these things to me.

Als Mom,

I don't want to alarm you but this has to be said;

My Best Friend
At school, I had a best friend, he was witty, though dry, spent hours and hours studying and doing homework and was brilliant. He was also quite OCD.

He always wanted to sit down the back of the room because he was terrified that someone would throw something. He used to ask us constantly if there was anything on his back. He was very religious and basically a model student.

I did my best to corrupt him I'd sit near him at school and say all manner of annoying things to the teachers which would focus their attention on us. My friend never got into trouble but he did laugh a bit. Laughing is good.

When we left school, he went to university and studied even harder. He almost never went out with us - and eventually we stopped calling him thinking, well, he's just going to say "no, I've got too much work to go out this weekend".

After University, he got a job and was an absolute model worker. He worked for about 8 years before he had a breakdown. He'd also been talking about voices since school but we'd basically ignored it - so, obviously, had his family.

When he had his breakdown, the voices found a way to become full fledged schizophrenia. He has never fully recovered and is now no longer in the workforce. He can't get a job because he has chronic fatigue - the stress of the breakdown, coping with the voices etc, means that he's tired all the time.

He told me that we kept him "sane" at school by mucking up around him. That once he got out into the workforce on his own, there was nothing to break the stress/tension.

We, his friends (and his family) are all kicking ourselves now for not recognizing the symptoms earlier. Early intervention could have made a huge difference.

Please - your situation sounds so similar - you need to intervene and force a change in his lifestyle.

There's no point being the best in your class (perfectionist) etc, if you have a breakdown in the first few years of your working life.