Anxiety disorder - medication question

daralex

Clinging onto my sanity
I haven't been here for a while as 15 yr old difficult child was actually doing well for a while. Well hush my mouth and call me stupid! The last few months have been agony!!!! She is now diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and possibly Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). She is afraid to socialize to the point that she just doesn't anymore. She is being homeschooled (we pulled her out a few months ago again as she assaulted the school security guard and was going to be sent to a school that looked awful). She absolutely refuses to see a therapist (she's 6 ft tall and weighs more than me - I'm just not going there!!).

So - her general doctor is going to see her Monday to prescribe medications (we have been avoiding the "M" word for years), but I think it's finally time - her behavior is off the wall!! (Sneaking on the computer late at night, lied about where she was and got very drunk, called me to come get her from a "friend's" house at 4am, screamed at me for an hour using words I didn't even know existed - and I'm not fresh off the turnip truck!!, etc). And she has isolated herself and does not seem to experience any form of pleasure at all. In a nutshell - she is miserable.

So I KNOW that we aren't doctors - but I am just trying to find out if anyone has had a bad/good experience on a particular drug? I would like to do research before we get there Monday, but have no idea where to start. I have heard such bad things about so many medications and am overwhelmed by what is out there. Any suggestions/advice??

-Dara (UGHGHGHGH!!!!!!!!)
 

smallworld

Moderator
The SSRIs Prozac, Zoloft and Luvox as well as the tricyclic Anafranil are all FDA-approved to treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in children (they also treat generalized anxiety disorders). However, these medications can make children with bipolar-like mood disorders worse so if there's any chance that's what's going on, you do need to be cautious.

Why wouldn't you bring her to a child psychiatrist for medication management? General doctors aren't skilled enough to treat psychiatric disorders.
 

daralex

Clinging onto my sanity
She absolutely refuses to see a therapist of any kind. It's a long story, but her last therapist betrayed her trust about 4 years ago and now she will not go see anyone. I have tried for years to get her to someone, and it always ends up with a very large arguement (to say the least). She wants the medications but she doesn't want to talk to anyone which is why we haven't tried the medications up till this point. I have always been against it - but her anxiety is getting much worse the older she gets and I figured it couldn't hurt to at leats try something out at this point? I keep thinking things will get better - but they're getting worse. I'm really afraid at this point that she will either hurt herself or try to run away. I guess I'm hoping if she sees the medications work that she may be more willing to see someone. I know it's like putting the cart before the horse, but I just don't know what else to do at this point. (No bi-polar issues with her)
 

klmno

Active Member
I'd try explaining to her that a psychiatrist is a doctor. Most of them don't do therapy and she wouldn't be going for counseling, only medication management.
 

daralex

Clinging onto my sanity
I was under the impression that she would have to "see" them for a while before medications are prescribed? No?
 

klmno

Active Member
The psychiatrist will need to hear about symptoms and maybe some family history re. anxiety, mental health issues, etc, in order to give a diagnosis and prescribe medications. If you walk in there and say "she has anxiety, can you prescribe XYZ" and he/she does it, then it's a quack. Now, how many appts the psychiatrist takes before rx'ing medications depends on several things. Still, appts are normally only about 15 mins, except the first one might be longer. The psychiatrist might even prescribe something to try the first appointment. Keep in mind that some anti-anxiety medications are addictive.
 

daralex

Clinging onto my sanity
Thank you for the info. I'm very nervous about putting her on anything - but I'm really feeling like she needs something. Hopefully the p-doctor can go over her old reports. She was seen by a psychiatrist for 1 appointment through her old school in order to classify her as emotionally disturbed for SpEd - maybe that will help in finding the right medication for her? Who knows - maybe it's me that needs the medications to deal with her?! Thanks again!
 

Andy

Active Member
Also keep in mind that some medications take a few weeks to really start working. I would think that a psychiatrist would have more options for you and have worked more with the variety of medications.

My difficult child has deep anxiety (nothing else diagnosed). He sees a psychologist for counselling and the psychiatrist for medications. If the psychiatrist can gain her trust, he/she may be able to refer her to someone he/she works closely with and trusts.

Was her previous therapist a male or female? I am a strong believer that girls should see female therapists and boys should see male therapists because no matter how much we as adults know that either will work, the kids are more comfortable around their same gender doctors.

I am also one that hates the "m" word. However, difficult child was off for 3 months and after another panic attack that followed a migrane, begged to be put back on. The hard part it sounds like is to convince her that the medications alone will not work, she does have to put some effort into this if she wants it to work.
 

jbrain

Member
Was her previous therapist a male or female? I am a strong believer that girls should see female therapists and boys should see male therapists because no matter how much we as adults know that either will work, the kids are more comfortable around their same gender doctors.

Just have to disagree here--both my dtrs did much better with male therapists--not sure if the female therapists they had were just incompetent or if the girls just related better with the males. Their dad died when they were young, maybe that played into it too.

Jane
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
My difficult child K has a female and she struggled at first because she did not trust psychiatrist's.
She had a male she did not like at all. He was very militant.

Our psychiatrist is super cool but firm. She actually has a huge chart with all of the medications and shows her which medication she is thinking about RX'ing and tells her about it. Askes K how she feels etc.

With our Anti-Anxiety medication we use Ativan for K. We only give it to her when her anxiety is bad. We give her a low dose if we feel she needs it, if K feels she needs it we double the dose.
If she is flipping out and out of control then it is double. it all depends on the level. Because of the addicting qualities we use this one sparingly.

We use her therapist to help with her general anxiety.

It takes a while to gain the trust, but it is worth it.

For me Topamax helps. I use Valium PRN when it is bad. I actually chew them to get them to work faster which is nasty! This was psychiatrist's suggestion.

Both K and my first apt's with our psychiatrist's were 2hours. Now they vary depending on if our medications are working and if we are having issues. 15 minutes to and hour. We both love our psychiatrist's and they are very lenient with their time.
Good luck I think it is vary important to help her so it doesn't get worse for her.
 
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