Anxiety meds & teens

I want to preface my comments here by saying that Brandy, you and I are friends here and off board as well. I *know* you are a good mother and I know you are searching for answers right now. You are on a mission to help your DD and I really respect that you aren't willing to settle for her suffering.

With that said, we've talked about this a few times and some of things you've shared about your DDs behavior raise some red flags for me. I'm not saying I'm right. I'm just saying in your shoes right now I would proceed with the utmost of caution. Because hypomania can present in a variety of ways. It can look like anxiety (me, when this first began for me), it can look like ADHD (my DD) and sometimes you don't even realize you have it because you present so fully depressed that it can look like you only have depression (my DS). When this first started for me I looked like a ball of anxiety mixed with heavy depressive episodes. So what happened? My therapist who I saw for two years suggested I had a problem with depression and my GP prescribed anti depressants. SSRI. I felt great for about two weeks. And then what happened is that it threw me into a full blown manic episode.

My GP pulled me off the anti depressants and sent me to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist did a full work up and I signed a release so the two doctors and my therapist could all talk. It was then I was given a bipolar diagnosis and started on mood stabilizing drugs.

My son presented with depression. I took him to a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist refused to diagnose. He did prescribe an antidepressant and within weeks my son turned violent. He hit me. It was then that the doctor prescribed mood stabilizers instead. And his mood evened out.

And I say this as gently as I can but there is no way given my experience that I would allow a GP to prescribe mood altering drugs to my kids. Period. They don't have the education and experience to deal properly with mood disorders. If I were in your shoes I would take her to a psychiatrist for a proper diagnosis and follow up.

I'm not a doctor and I can't give an opinion on what's truly going on with your DD. But I have experienced this from both the patient and the parent level and my opinion is that if hypomania is mistaken for anxiety then going on prozac could be disastrous. And if that's the choice you make, I would want to proceed with an expert in the field of mental health which is a psychiatrist.

And I get that that might be a hard pill to swallow. Certainly it took me some time to come to terms with my own diagnosis. I get that there's a stigma involved. But as your friend, I truly want the best for your DD. And I thought all day about responding here because I really was worried I'd offend you and that's absolutely not my intention. I know 110% you're a good mom and you are trying your best. I stand behind you. And I offer that I am here to talk as you navigate this. But as your friend I needed to say that I absolutely would not trust a GP to prescribe prozac for my child.

No no you misunderstood me. I think we should get help for sure. We just need the right professionals to help us. That's all I wanted. A proper diagnosis and someone who really understands what's going to to track the progress post medicine. That's it.

Ok good because it took a year to get in to see a psychiatrist and my parents were in there with me and I couldn’t talk to the guy at all because I was worried my parents would judge me for being crazy. Trust no one was my motto. Some days I wonder how I survived this long. That was a bad year. They didn’t have meds for kids and no one knew anything about child psych. My GP wouldn’t have given me meds though. I wish there had been something I could have taken. I am truly surprised I survived that year. It was not good.

I completely understand where you are coming from brandy327 but let me share one last piece of advice. Right now she's a minor and you're in control. In two or three short years, you won't have any control over the situation. Right now I'm dealing with a 20 year old who goes back and forth on not wanting to have a diagnosis. And not taking meds. And it's brutal. And there's absolutely *nothing* I can do about it. I made her an appointment for in two weeks and I've got to hope and pray that she will show up. And I'll tell you, I don't have faith that she will. And I tried like crazy to get her inpatient when she was 17 and I couldn't find a facility to take her. After seeing the transformation with my son after an inpatient stay and where he is right now compared to her, I wish so badly things had gone differently.

My 13-year-old dd is on 10mg of Prozac. It was prescribed by a psychiatrist and she has follow-up appointments once a month with a nurse that works in psychiatry at our local children's hospital. My dd has been on it approximately 8 weeks. She also has weekly appointments with a therapist. So far, so good.

If you haven't already, it's very important to tell your dd's therapist. Or, have your daughter tell the therapist. Tell your daughter that the therapist is there to help her not judge her. Sign any necessary papers to allow the gp and the therapist to communicate. 

I also encourage you to see a psychiatrist rather than a GP. I did the GP with my daughter and it was a regretful mistake.

I’m in Canada and our med system works differently so keep that in mind.

In my early 20s I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety. After a series of events it became hard for me to handle on my own so I went to my GP. He agreed to medicate me but only if I sought therapy at the same time. I started with therapy, which was amazing. He put me in Prozac. You have to start extra slowly. The side effects to my brain going on the meds were huge. While my anxiety dissipated and panic attacks were gone I gained pounds upon pounds. I came off slowly and switched to celexa which i stayed on for years. There were still side effects but weight gain was less so I was happier. Intimacy was difficult. I came off 7 years later when Dh and I wanted to have children. I have not had to go back on.

I think if your dd is asking then it’s worth seeking medical help. I had a bad experience with Prozac. I remember calling my boss into my classroom when I was going on and then off because it felt like electricity was pulling through my brain. That was with a gradual on/off.

Continue to seek medical intervention. My therapy that included coping skills was invaluable.

I’ve not read all the replies but my oldest went on Lovan/Prozac at 17. It was an extremely hard decision and my DH and struggled with it but she was so low, we didn’t know what else to do. She was under the care of a child psychiatrist and saw a therapist at the same time.

Turned out to be the best thing we ever did. They try Prozac first because it’s the one that’s been trialed in children under 18.

Someone mentioned an increase in suicide and suicidal ideation which was a huge concern for me (she’d never talked about either). Both the GP and the psychiatrist told me separately that the reason for that is not due to the meds.

It actually happens because kids think they should see a quick response and should feel better straight away. Unfortunately it can take a while for the meds to kick in and it’s during that time that they can become despondent. We always talked but I made sure to talk to her even more about how she was feeling and to let her know that it can take awhile.

It’s been 3 yrs now. She tried to wean off them after a year - under the doctor’s care. Was all but off them and had some difficulty so went back on.

Good luck to you. It’s a hard decision to make and I can empathise with you.

Going to give it to you straight...

My dd had 2 sever reactions to SSRIs. Like full on violent, crazy eyed, attack mode. She also had really bad nightmares.

So we tried non SSRIs which were awesome. She was on 3 for anxiety, ocd, and the third helped with pain and impulse control.

We were warned that when the teen years hit, meds either do great and things go south. Things went south not only mental health wise but they affected her POTs and Dysautonomia.

I witnessed a friends teen loose control when he turned 15 and was taken off all meds. He became suicidal and harmful. He also was seeking other non healthy ways.

Puberty and many of those meds can cause trouble.

Do all teens experience this? No. But its stuff to watch for.

I also tried 2 SSRIs are hated them.

I would actually keep the psych appointment because:

They are better able to watch for warning signs, reactions, ect

They are better are knowing when to up or wean down when trying to take steps off if able

They can do testing counseling can't do

They can add in additional meds if needed for side effects and really know what is safe