@ If your child has anxiety, are they medicated?

[1confused1]

My daughter (age 12) and I are meeting with her doctor tomorrow to discuss, what I think, is separation anxiety. It has gotten to the point that she has physical symptoms (throwing up, etc.).

She has done therapy, but I think she might need some medication to help with this.

My question is, what type of medication does your child take and do you know if there is a liquid form (she hates pills)?

[bcv513]

So, not my child but I have had anxiety since I was a toddler. I would never leave my mother. I vividly remember going to preschool and the panic that came when my mom left. I had physical symptoms as well. I went to the movies once with my best friend and her mom (who I saw almost every day) and my mom didn’t come. I fainted at the concession stand. My first day of high school I fainted in first period. It was awful.

When I was 15 a new doctor came to my pedi practice. She recognized my anxiety right away and sent me for therapy. I started taking Paxil my sophomore year. Honestly I got my life back. I went to the prom. I even lived away at college. I NEVER could have done that without meds.

[ginap]

My daughter (10) is currently on Sertraline (Zoloft) and Buspirone (Buspar) for anxiety and I don't know if they come in liquid, but her pills are real small. She has been on Prozac in the past as well.

[cjcouple]

I've been pretty vocal about my 15yo son and his anxiety struggles but I'll quickly recap

My son was diagnosed with Selective Mutism at 5yo. Which is an anxiety disorder which rendered him mute and unable to speak in uncomfortable situations. This anxiety also kept him from being unable to use the restroom in K, unable to eat in school until 4th grade, mute with peers until 3rd grade and adilta until last year. He also had some pretty severe separation anxiety in 1st grade.

He did really well learning coping skills but when he was in 7th grade and still unable to speak to his teachers we started meds. He was 12yo and he started on liquid fluoxetine (generic prozac). He absolutely hated the taste so he quickly learned to swallow a pill. It immediately helped with his anxiety. He smiled more, became a lot more independent, his body language improved, he used to hide behind his long hair and hoodies and after 2 weeks on meds, he asked to cut his hair short.

we had to bump his dose up to see a change in speaking but he remained on the meds for 2 years. we just weaned him off this summer and his anxiety remained low and his speech stuck. No regrets

No negative side effect either except a tiny bit of hyper activity at the start of them but that leveled out after the adjusted with in weeks

[gretchenindisguise]

My dx is 12 and has been on anti anxiety meds for the past 19 months or so. Started on prozac and then lexapro for the past 13 months. They are also in therapy.

[raleighnc]

Yes, Lexapro.

I know a couple of SSRIs come in liquid form. I think prozac, maybe Zoloft, maybe celexa?

[rootbeerfloat]

DS (14) is not. He hates taking any kind of medication (pills or liquid, not that we looked into the options). I wanted to try them, but didn't want to force him. He saw a therapist for several years, but stopped during COVID.

[muffin0]

My oldest takes fluoxetine (pill) daily and has hydroxyzine (liquid) for panic attack/super anxious moments.

[zarapipe]

Dd is 11 and has been on fluoxetine (generic prozac) for 3-4 years now? We have had to up there dose once. It has been life changing. A year of therapy did nothing without combining meds. She tried the liquid first and it was horrible from l what she told me. By day 3 she was begging for the pills and taught herself very quick how to take them.

Best of luck. I know it’s a hard and personal choice.

[1confused1]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences, I really appreciate it.

[katfco]

DD (14) takes 3 meds for anxiety, depression and impulse control (because of the autism). While they haven't fixed everything, they've helped an incredible amount.

[wanderlustmom]

Our 16 year old son is not, but if he has another bout of bad anxiety, we will go to the pediatrician to prescribe an SSRi.

It's good to consider meds if they start having physical symptoms of anxiety for sure. Every teen will have a different experience but meds can help so much. Sometimes too if it works for a parent it can work for a kid. For me though, I tried lexapro once and had bad side effects and it's been great for my sister. Also you can have a swab test to see how each of the three SSRIs prescribed for minors metabolize in your body. The swab test is super helpful. Some kids just need meds, some need therapy and meds and some need just therapy.

Our daughter had a hard time around 11 and went to therapy because she didn't want to be away from us and had sleep anxiety where she kept worying she wouldn't sleep well, But she got past that and now is doing really well. She also is very active and that helps her mood a lot.

[ellipses84]

No, in a discussion with his pedi at his well child checkup this year he seemed to be improving so we decided not to pursue it. He’s always been anxious but it was really exacerbated by the pandemic so it’s improved a little once life started to go back to normal. He still has extreme anxiety about certain situations but they aren’t frequent. I’d absolutely consider it if it were a daily or weekly issue that was disrupting our lives though.

[jorja]

Not my child, but myself.

I was in therapy as a teenager for anxiety/depression and started Lexapro when I was 19. I wish I had started it years earlier.

I hope you find a good fit.

[Deleted]

My daughter has General Anxiety Disorder and takes generic Lexapro. I take the same, just a higher dose, and it seems to work well for both of us.

[DarcyLongfellow]

Yes. She started therapy for anxiety in 2nd grade, and by 3rd grade she started zoloft. It worked well for a couple of years, then stopped helping her. She's now on Prozac (and in the care of both a pediatric psychiatrist and a psychologist (for therapy), and she's doing amazingly well.

It's hard to decide to medicate your child, but it was the best decision we ever made for her.

I don't know if they come in liquid. Maybe a compounding pharmacy could help? I made her learn to swallow pills to take the zoloft at age 8, but she was very motivated because she really wanted to feel better (and didn't already have an aversion to swallowing pills).

[af1212]

My daughter is 11 with GAD and OCD. She has taken medication since the age of 8. She takes fluoxetine and has taken guanfacine as well but is not currently.

The fluoxetine definitely comes in liquid form.

[mswax]

We stared medicating DS3 earlier this year (age 7). His anxiety was manifesting itself in horrible outbursts where he was hurting me and his brothers, and was at risk for hurting himself as well. It was also preventing him from participating in almost all activities, as he'd have panic attacks before we'd go. He's now on Zoloft, and swallows the (very small) pills with a spoonful of whipped cream...it helps the medicine go down!

[mae0111]

My DD1 (almost 12) is on meds for ADHD and also has strong tendencies toward NLD. She also has anxiety which pops up in rather random situations. Her therapist and NP-psych thought it was severe enough to introduce Guanfacine, which supposedly works wonders, especially for kids on ADHD meds.

DD1 reacted terribly. She is extremely sensitive to most medications, so I wasn't surprised. Because her experience was so bad, she refuses to discuss any other meds.

All that said, guanfacine can be incredibly effective, from what I've heard.

[nicolewi]

No, but I keep wondering if this is in her future and/or whether it might really help right now.

[Cappy]

My daughter (10) is on Zoloft and it has been a game changer as far as the anxiety. Our pediatrician would not prescribe due to age, but our therapist got us connected to a pediatric psych nurse who had extensive experience with titrating meds.

[jg183]

both my kids take meds for anxiety than presents differently (one as worry, one as anger). They both take the pills and they are very small

I've heard great things about practicing pills with the mini m&ms, the liquid meds are gross unfortunately

[woot16]

My 7-year old takes a low dose of Prozac daily for her OCD and anxiety. We began seeing a behavioral therapist right before she turned 4 because we were having a really hard time (her OCD caused her to completely lose it if one thing in her routine went wrong - I’m talking full blown screaming crying - wanting to restart all over again (so in the mornings she’s want to her her pjs back on and start all over). After about a year of therapy and using tools they gave us we realized we needed a little push to help her calm down enough to use the other tools. We plan to taper her off of them but the last 2 years have been insane - covid, moving from Ohio to Florida - away from all friends and family and starting a new school, etc., then my dad passed away and we moved into a new house. Just too many changes so we’ve decided to reevaluate this summer. That said her dose hasn’t had to increase at all and I would 100% do it again.