Obsessions and surgery

Hello Kieransm mam,

And welcome to the forum. Firstly, let me say I really feel for you. Many here have been through similar experiences and although it's probably not much comfort to you, you are not alone.

CAHM''s at the moment seems to be a breaking point! Personally, I've only ever felt they were good in the diagnosis dept, never much good in the support role. (My son was offered just six weeks support.) In my experience thinks rarely get better to a set time-frame. You have probably seen a number of things in the press recently about the rising level of complaints re CAHM's.

The problem being that when an Adult or child needs support it really needs to be immediate not weeks for an appointment and the the individual is at breaking point. You should lodge a complaint, but don't bog yourself down with it as you energies clearly have to be focused elsewhere.

My solution for my son was to find an independant therapist. Indeed, he saw Autism in my son long before CAMH's. We had to use our sons DLA to fund this, but it proved very worthwhile. He had the support he needed on a regular basis and with a therapist who was their for him and on call if he had a crisis.

Re bum irritation, This is going to sound direct but has he had issues with worms? My son had a constant need to wipe himself when young and made himself very sore, this also caused moisture. His personal hygiene wasn't really great with hand washing and it turned out he had worms. This also made him feel like he was gagging a lot. We used a worm treatment over several consecutive weeks to prevent reinfection and then began to address his soreness with sudocream. Once healed, we applied baby powder after each wash to keep moisture down. This then eased his sensory issues in the area. He still uses powder and baby wipes to this day, to ensure he's thoroughly clean, dry and comfortable. Worth a try if you think it could be an issue.

Re the scratching, I'm not a Dr. but this sounds like a recognized isssue with sensory problems to me. I myself, have the skin scratching issues, one of my sons has oral sensory issues. Often it is not so much that this is OCD based, but that the individual has genuine issues with skin sensitivity. These can manifest as itching or tingling on the skin or can feel as though the skin has tags or irritation. In some journals scratching is described as self-mutilation. Particularly for sensory seekers, however if it's accompanied by discomfort with certain clothing etc it's likely to be more sensory based than self-harming based I believe.

Skin itching can also be affected by diet. Certainly where eczema may be an issue or may flair when certain foods are ingested. My son also has this if he eats too much wheat based products.(He has a limited diet.)

Re the throat. Yorkshirelass has a point, anxiety may well be a factor, however if your son has a tag or tear in the skin on the throat perhaps even by fingernails etc it maybe similar to above with regard to sensory issues.

Has your son been assessed for sensory processing difficulties?

It may be worth a referral from your GP to the ENT dept for an assessment as to what might be causing the problem. If no issues are found and he hasn't been assessed for Sensory processing difficulties then you will need to look at getting a good OT to look at those issues. Treating sensory issues can be just as much about strategies as therapists if sensory processing is an issue.

Re Hospital. Can I say. Take a deep breath. Worrying about things that haven't yet happened is a well worn path I often tread and it can be very tiring. Contact the unit where your son is to be admitted and see if you can talk to a liason at the unit re your sons (And Your) difficulties and anxieties surrounding admisssion. Most units are good at accommodating youngsters with needs.

Hope these suggestions are of some help

Regards

Coogybear

Hello Kieransm mam,

And welcome to the forum. Firstly, let me say I really feel for you. Many here have been through similar experiences and although it's probably not much comfort to you, you are not alone.

CAHM''s at the moment seems to be a breaking point! Personally, I've only ever felt they were good in the diagnosis dept, never much good in the support role. (My son was offered just six weeks support.) In my experience thinks rarely get better to a set time-frame. You have probably seen a number of things in the press recently about the rising level of complaints re CAHM's.

The problem being that when an Adult or child needs support it really needs to be immediate not weeks for an appointment and the the individual is at breaking point. You should lodge a complaint, but don't bog yourself down with it as you energies clearly have to be focused elsewhere.

My solution for my son was to find an independant therapist. Indeed, he saw Autism in my son long before CAMH's. We had to use our sons DLA to fund this, but it proved very worthwhile. He had the support he needed on a regular basis and with a therapist who was their for him and on call if he had a crisis.

Re bum irritation, This is going to sound direct but has he had issues with worms? My son had a constant need to wipe himself when young and made himself very sore, this also caused moisture. His personal hygiene wasn't really great with hand washing and it turned out he had worms. This also made him feel like he was gagging a lot. We used a worm treatment over several consecutive weeks to prevent reinfection and then began to address his soreness with sudocream. Once healed, we applied baby powder after each wash to keep moisture down. This then eased his sensory issues in the area. He still uses powder and baby wipes to this day, to ensure he's thoroughly clean, dry and comfortable. Worth a try if you think it could be an issue.

Re the scratching, I'm not a Dr. but this sounds like a recognized isssue with sensory problems to me. I myself, have the skin scratching issues, one of my sons has oral sensory issues. Often it is not so much that this is OCD based, but that the individual has genuine issues with skin sensitivity. These can manifest as itching or tingling on the skin or can feel as though the skin has tags or irritation. In some journals scratching is described as self-mutilation. Particularly for sensory seekers, however if it's accompanied by discomfort with certain clothing etc it's likely to be more sensory based than self-harming based I believe.

Skin itching can also be affected by diet. Certainly where eczema may be an issue or may flair when certain foods are ingested. My son also has this if he eats too much wheat based products.(He has a limited diet.)

Re the throat. Yorkshirelass has a point, anxiety may well be a factor, however if your son has a tag or tear in the skin on the throat perhaps even by fingernails etc it maybe similar to above with regard to sensory issues.

Has your son been assessed for sensory processing difficulties?

It may be worth a referral from your GP to the ENT dept for an assessment as to what might be causing the problem. If no issues are found and he hasn't been assessed for Sensory processing difficulties then you will need to look at getting a good OT to look at those issues. Treating sensory issues can be just as much about strategies as therapists if sensory processing is an issue.

Re Hospital. Can I say. Take a deep breath. Worrying about things that haven't yet happened is a well worn path I often tread and it can be very tiring. Contact the unit where your son is to be admitted and see if you can talk to a liason at the unit re your sons (And Your) difficulties and anxieties surrounding admisssion. Most units are good at accommodating youngsters with needs.

Hope these suggestions are of some help

Regards

Coogybear