Prozac ?

[angieinohio]

Hello ~ this is my first post. I have twin daughters who just turned five last week.

One of my girls has been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder.
Much of the time she is a pleasant, loving and well behaved wee one. However, she does not follow directions well and does not do well with transitions. She is aggressive and bossy with other children and often mean to her sister and me.
These behaviors have caused her problems in school, have affected her ability to make and keep friends and have affected her ability to learn.

We had our first apt. with the psychatrist late last week. She prescribed 5 mg. of Prozac (a generic). It was a tough decision for me deciding if I wanted to put her on an anti-deppresent -- but if it can help her academicaly and socially -- i want to do anything possible.

I tried to find some info online about the use of this drug in very young children -- but didn't find much.

What are your experiences or knowlege.
Feel free to ask questions if you need more info.

~Angie

 

[nvts]

Hi Angie! Welcome to the crowd...it's a great group with a lot of strong shoulders, so pop on often.

How was your daughter developmentally? All milestones hit evenly? Does she have aversions to different sounds, tastes, smells, textures (like itchy tags?), etc.?

The reason I ask is that I tend to consider ODD as more of a symptom with small kids rather than a diagnosis. Don't get me wrong...it IS a diagnosis., but with really little kids, it's usually associated with something else.

Again, welcome - the weekends are pretty quiet around here so people will be dropping in later on!

Beth

 

[jal]

Welcome Angie.

My difficult child son struggles with-a lot of what you describe in your daughter. My son started Prozac @ 6.5 yrs of age, he is now 8.5 (he also takes others see signature at bottom). For him the Prozac was key in opening his academic world and he blossomed. He has a high IQ and no Learning Disability (LD)'s.

ODD is usually not a stand alone diagnosis. As your child been evaluated in school or privately? Does she have an IEP (Individualized Education Program)?

 

[angieinohio]

Thanks ladies.
My daughter was evaluated in preschool. She is in her second year of a developmental preschool. Her twin sister and she were both enrolled as typical peers but she received an IEP for a behavioral disability at the end of the first year. Sensory issues were suspected but have since been ruled out. Hyper activity is also suspected to be an issue.
Although she was a premie (born at 33 weeks) she has had no health issues and has met all the developmental milestones.

Other than the behavior issues --- she displays these behaviors/issues:
Compulsive hair twirling (both hers and other peoples (adults and children)
Extreme interest in television.
will have sudden outburst of energy when watching TV -- for example -- she will yell out Mom... or some other random word or phrase excitedly..... but then go back to watching TV ... like she never said anything. Will also jump up and run around or hop for just a couple of seconds and then resume watching TV.

I just want to do the best for her.

 

[nvts]

Hi Angie! I'd recommend a neuropsychologist evaluation. A good neuropsychologist would do some intensive testing (over the course of several days - you won't get anything figured out with an exhausted child!) and be able to give you a better sense of what may be causing the ODD/ADHD type behaviors. You can ordinarily get them done through a teaching or childrens hospital.

And just a word to you: You are doing the best for her because you're questioning. Questions allow you to become informed on a variety of issues - so you're sounding and acting like a great mom!

Beth

 

[ready2run]

my pediatrition told me that there aren't many studies done on children under 7 with medications like these because the medications are usually given as a last resort when parents feel they have tried every other option to try to get the child to be functional so that's probably why it's hard to find information. we had to put my step-son on medication(risperidone) when he was four because of his aggression and violent behaviour. it is a tough decision to have to make. some questions to ask yourself before going forward are, can you continue caring for the child properly as they are? are they a danger to others or themselves? will they have a chance to succeed in school if you don't take action? is the child happy with the way they are now? do you feel the child is tearing apart your family?
did the doctor do any blood tests or other medical testing before perscribing the medication? we went for mri's and eeg's beforehand to see if there was possibly something more serious going on, although it seems my step-son may have more problems than your daughter so perhaps that's why. i would be weary if the doctor is new to dealing with your daughter and handed out a perscription right away.
if you are unsure but think it might make things better then you could always agree to try her on it short term like for one month or two and see if any progress is made and if you think it is worth medicating her to get those results. the doses they give are based on weight so the amount she would get would be very little. if you change your mind you can always take her back off of it. even with medication in place you will need to work very hard on re-training her the new behaviours you want her to show. if tv seems to be a trigger you may want to keep that to a minimum and use it as a reward for doing well during the day rather than letting her have it whenever she wants. good luck and i hope you find what will work best for your family.

 

[BusynMember]

Hi there. I'd get her evaluated. I like NeuroPsychs the best and my experience has been that school districts aren't very good diagnosticians. I'm thinking that it's possible she could be Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (autistic spectrum disorder) high functioning. If not, the neuropsychologist will test intensively and in every area and will do a good job of showing you her strengths and weaknesses. I wouldn't want my kid on something as strong as Prozac unless I have a crystal clear, indisputable diagnosis...and a good reason, per the doctor, for going with Prozac. I'm an adult and Prozac was not good to me.

Good luck!

 

[SRL]

I agree that you'll want the most thorough private evaluation that you can get. It sounds like a lot of symptoms have been identified but no underlying causes have been rooted out.

Of the many medications that are mentioned here, Prozac is one of the few that has been approved for young children, and it's been around for a long time. Unless the situation is very extreme, I'm not a big fan of medicating younger kids until you have a more complete diagnostic picture because medications can change the outcome of some testing.

You might find some help here:
What Your Explosive Child Is Trying to Tell You: Discovering the Pathway from Symptoms to Solutions by Dr. Douglas Riley