Vitamin D and pediatric OCD

Case Report: Vitamin D insufficiency in a boy with obsessive-compulsive disorder: Vitamin D and pediatric OCD

“A 7-year-old boy was admitted to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Cukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey, with #OCD symptoms. He had a 1 month history of sudden onset of symptoms including excessive hand washing, fear of touching anything, and holding his hands up in the air.

He could not put on pants by himself. He believed that his underwear was very dirty, and even when his mother helped him to put on his pants, he insisted that she wash her hands first. While he was washing his hands he was afraid to look in the mirror. When he looked in the mirror he claimed that he saw sexual things.

He could not look in any mirrors in his home. He said that he held his hands up even when he was asleep. For 1 month, he had night waking, night fears and night terrors. Sometimes the night waking episodes lasted for 10 min and sometimes much longer. In addition he continued the compulsive rituals in his sleep. The family physician had started him on fluoxetine 10 mg/day for 3 weeks, titrated up to 20 mg/day, but his symptoms did not improve”

Lab examination found Iron and Vitamin D deficiencies, and elevated anti-streptococcal antibody (ASO) titer.

“At 4 weeks of treatment, cleaning compulsive symptoms resolved markedly but inappropriate thoughts remained.”

Reference

1. Vitamin D insufficiency in a boy with obsessive-compulsive disorder: Vitamin D and pediatric OCD, 2016 / Pediatrics International