I know you don't think a mood stabilizer would be the best option at this point, but since they're still being discussed, thought I would throw my two cents in. Prior to difficult child 1 starting Trileptal, his psychiatrist (husband and I loved him, totally trusted his advice), told us that out of all the mood stabilizers, Trileptal has some of the least side effects as others have already mentioned here.
difficult child 1 is very sensitive to medications too. He also hates needles (has lots of tattoos now, lol...) and we never would have been able to get him to take a drug where he had to have regular blood draws. I know there is the possibility of flat emotions, spacey feeling, weight gain, but since the side effects can vary from person to person, it might be worthwhile to keep this medication in the back of your mind, just in case your difficult child tries a different antidepressant/anxiety medication combo and it doesn't work out. Just my two cents, for whatever it's worth...
Wish the process of finding the right combo of medications didn't have to be so complicated!
As always, thinking of you, hoping your difficult child finds that perfect combo ASAP!! SFR
