My heart broke for difficult child last night

StressedM0mma

Active Member
difficult child decided she was so tired that she went upstairs at 9:30 last night. (After staying home from school and sleeping 17 hours.) When we got upstairs to her room she was on her bed snuggling her dog just crying. She said she doesn"t understand why she has to be so tired after sleeping so much, and that she is even more tired when she wakes up. She just hates it and wants it to stop. I just sat there and cried with her. I told her we are trying to figure out what is going on, and that I am so sorry she is going through this. She said she just wishes she wasn't so tired all the time. That she hates it. It broke my heart. I want so much to help her, but I am not sure what to do. I am tempted to call her pediatrician. for an appointment. but I don't want to feel like a Dr. jumper. I just honestly do not know how much more of this she is going to be able to take before she just breaks. So, tose of you that pray, please say a prayer that difficult child daughter can have some peace. She deserves it.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Hi there. I am going to give you my .02. This is based on taking almost every SSRI that existed until Celexa so I took Zoloft too.

A few of the antidepressants at lower doses than your daughter takes (I only took up to 50 mgs. because I am sensitive to medications) made me unable to stay awake as well. The worst offender was Prozac, which is Zoloft's cousin. It isn't supposed to make you tired, but I could not stay awake. I'd fall asleep everywhere, including work. The sleepiness was not due to anything other than the Prozac...when I went off of it, the problem went away. When there is a strange behavior in a kiddo that was not there before, I always look at the medication first. That is in my opinion the most likely reason. I had a bad reaction to Zoloft too, but it wasn't sleepiness. All SSRIS react differently on different people. I think a dose of 125 mg. of Zoloft is quite high for a child.


I hope your doctor addresses this and weans your child off the medication to see if she is less sleepy off the Zoloft or at least on a much lower dose. A medication doesn't help much if it makes a child unable to function, but many medications DO make kids worse. There are side effects that we all wish would not happen. It took me many medications, all giving me bad side effects: amitriptylene, imitriptylene, nortryptalyene, Prozac and Zoloft (and possibly a few more that I forgot) to finally find an anti-depressant that is magic for me (Paroxatene). And I know many people who can't take Paroxatene. It's a work in progress. It took me over ten years to find a medication combo that really helped me. Hang in there...your kiddo is a lot younger than I was when I started the medications-go-round. I need medications or I am suicidal. Your own child may not need medications or may not need him all of her life. Take care and keep us posted :)
 
i'd call her pediatrician. honestly, i wouldnt even think twice about it--i'd make an appointment to rule out any medical causes.

its a very reasonable thing to do.
 

StressedM0mma

Active Member
Midwest, she is weaning off the Zoloft right now. It was a battle to get her psychiatrist to do it though. She is on 100 right now, and is going down to 75 on Tues. On the 19th she is going to start Wellbutrin. Hopefully it will be a good fit for her. I am going to call her pediatrician. in a little while to get her an appointment. with him just to touch base, and let him know what is going on.
 

buddy

New Member
I dont think that is doctor jumping. I tell all my docs that they are a team and I want their input, the more brains coming at a problem from each of their perspectives, the quicker we can come to some answer hopefully. I have releases for all of them to talk (but wouldn't if they didn't play nice, lol) and they do. They forward emails to eachother and to me. I can have casual converstations in the middle of the week with them for that very reason.

I think it is being thorough. IF it is your gut feeling to call then do it. It can always be a combo of things. Unfortunately when you sleep alot your muscles get weak and tired too.... so it is hard to turn around. Does she eat well if she is sleeping that much? Take vitamins? I know you have her checked but things can change so just go for it. She will see you are doing all you can which will also give her emotional support which she is not always able to show you she appreciates it seems.


I still have this fantasy that this kid is going to be on one of those...." misdiagnosed" reality shows... the ones that show the parent was right all along and they just didnt' listen to everything.

take care, trust your gut....hugs, Dee
 

Chaosuncontained

New Member
I know that when *I* am depressed I can lay around A LOT. I don't really sleep well, but I do sleep more than I should. Then when it's time to get up--when I HAVE to--it's so hard, I feel worse than before, more tired. Exhausted. I drag through my day in mud.

I see she is weaning off of Zoloft and trying a different medication. Maybe she just needs a better fit, medication wise. But if I was you I would take her to the pediatrician to get input there.


My heart ached for her after reading your post. Prayers are going up.
 

StressedM0mma

Active Member
I called and got her an appointment. for this afternoon. Her normal pediatrician. is on vacation of course. But, I made one with one of the other docs. I am pretty sure it is the medications, but I want her to see that we are doing everything we can to help her. She wants to go, and that seemed important to me. It showed me that she doesn't like being like this and really does want to get better. Thanks for the hugs and prayers. Both are needed around here right now.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Good that you got the pediatrician. appointment.
What you're looking for is anything else that may be contributing... you already know medications are one factor, but you don't have time to work on that one and then 3 or 6 months later, still have a problem... at least, not if you can help it.

Ask about getting soem detailed blood work.
For things like:
- thyroid
- iron
- blood sugar

I'm sure there's a list of others but I can't think of them right now.

Yes you want to rule these out - and anything else the pediatrician. can think of too.
 
maybe i have yours mixed up with someone else, but didnt the exhaustion/tiredness predate the zoloft? i thought that was part of why you went to a psychiatrist to begin with....maybe i'm confused.

it might be a blessing in disguise to have a sub pediatrician--maybe a fresh pair of eyes will help the situation.

good luck today!!!!! thinking of you :smile:
 
to add to IC's list:
Vitamin D

Vitamin B's

FULL thyroid panel, not just a tsh/t3,4--ask that antibodies be included too.

sed rate.

c-reactive protein
 

somerset

Member
First, I want to say that my daughter is almost exactly like yours. She's 14 and failing all of her classes her first semester of high school due to poor attendance. She's got a history of sleep problems and being exhausted prior to being depressed, and the neurologist (who she sees for migraines) suggested a sleep study earlier this year, but difficult child refused and I relented. Now I'm going to press the issue again. I know you're considering it too, and I think you should. It's so hard to get doctors to really check for physical causes. They just want to blame everything on the depression. But how can we be confident that it's only the depression unless they thoroughly rule other things out? And how do we know they're not depressed because they're exhausted and feel horrible? I wish I knew Dr. House. He'd figure it out!

I wonder why the psychiatrist is making her wean off the Zoloft before she starts the new medications. That, in my opinion, guarantees her depression will worsen and she may have withdrawal symptoms. My psychiatrist has me gradually reduce the dose of the old medications while gradually increasing the dose of the new. That way I'm always covered. I'm on Wellbutrin now and it's activating - it gives me more energy. It sounds like she could really use that right now. Maybe the doctor could get her on it sooner?
 

StressedM0mma

Active Member
Confuzzled, she has been on the Zoloft for 6 months. The reason we went to the psychiatrist was because we were having issues with her sleeping all the time and having anger outbursts. She got so rageful one night we took her to the E.R. They saw her said she needed to see the psychiatrist. She was complaining about being really tired then. It has just gotten worse since then. So, we will see. The blood work is going to be bad. Really bad. She has a horrible fear of needles. I am not sure they will be able to do it without restraining her. Seriously. But, the psychiatrist told her it will happen at her 12/19 appointment. So, if the pediatrician. doesn't want it done, the psychiatrist will have it done regardless.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Which means... all the more reason to get it done FIRST...
Can pediatrician. coordinate with psychiatrist to make sure all the tests psychiatrist would want, have been done?

This way, psychiatrist has RESULTS before the appointment....
 

StressedM0mma

Active Member
Went to pediatrician., and it went so well. Our normal Dr. is on vacation, so we saw someone else. She is AWESOME!! difficult child and I both loved her. She took difficult child very seriously. It is the first time it hasn't been dismissed. She ordered bloodwork, but said she would wait until the psychiatrist appointment. So, we will wait. She said that she is almost positive that it will all come back normal. She checked her over completely, and really listened. I almost cried when we were there. No one else seemed to think it was a problem that difficult child needed to sleep 16-18 hours and would still be tired. And, one of the most important things is difficult child finally felt validated. That meant so much to her. That someone looked at her outside of the depression and saw that this is a real issue. difficult child asked when we were leaving if we could switch to her for her pediatrician. all the time. I told her I thought it was a great idea, and I would call to see if she was taking new patients .
So thanks to everyone who sent positive thoughts our way. We may not have gotten complete answers, but it is a great first step. And, to the person that said maybe some "fresh eyes" would be good, you were so right. It was the exact thing we needed. Someone without preconceived notions.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
I am so glad that the doctor visit went well. It is awesome that she listened to you and to difficult child. I know how awful it feels wehn they won't.

If difficult child feels comfortable with this doctor, it may be a good idea to make this difficult child's reg doctor from now on. Having a doctor who will LISTEN is super important.

Be SURE they check her thyroid.

(((((hugs to both of you)))))
 

buddy

New Member
So wonderful that you connected with this person. I use our peditrician to filter everyone else because we love him too. It helps to have them becasue they often see the big picture. (If they are good that is) I think it is awesome to switch. Especially cool difficult child asked for it. I am happy for her.

The mono thing, Q got taht last year right when we were starting the new behavior plan, yeah we are so lucky! But they said, really... it usually is like a cold for kids, but for some...it can go on and on and if she has had it for a while now, she may only faintly test positive. So many things can be going on..... and probably one thing is affecting another. HUGs to you both... tell her auntie Dee prayed for her!
 

StressedM0mma

Active Member
Thyroid mono and badic counts are on the lab slip the pediatrician wrote. So we will see what the psychiatrist wants in combination with that.
 
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