Zoloft/Sertraline pre-teens

[nicolewi]

Please tell me about your experience with this. My 9 year old has a lot of issues with angry outbursts and feeling like she's "not a good person" but does not want to take meds. We're trying to work through this and get her to try them. Doctor is ready to prescribe whenever she is willing to try. 

It's hard b/c she presents perfectly in public and does great in school but has huge outbursts behind the scenes at home.

ETA: has already been in therapy for over a year

[raleighnc]

Not Zoloft, but my DD started on Lexapro around 10 (started ADHD meds before that) and she was exactly like this (basically since she was born). Hold it together during school or out, and then awful explosions the rest of the time. And the negative self esteem because she felt like crap after each one. Lexapro absolutely saved our relationship and starting it early (along with therapy and some coping classes with an OT/SLP) got her on track before middle school. She told me that some of her friends eventually were treated for ADHD and anxiety/depression in late middle school and basically had a horrible school experience and terrible self esteem by the time they started treatment. She said you either struggle early and get treated or you struggle longer and suffer more. She absolutely denied she needed meds for either issue, so I would tell her that we would try it for a couple of months and if there wasn't a difference, we would try something else. We would use a calendar to track meltdowns. I knew it was working when she didn't yell at me for 48 hours straight. There are lots of books and videos that helped her understand the science and that she was just low on neurotransmitters, not broken.

[mommyatty]

My 10 year old is also on Lexapro for depression and anxiety. Honestly, in our house, medication isn’t a kid decision. It’s an adult decision made in the best interest of the child. DS was willing to try it, though, because he wanted to feel better. He didn’t fight us on it.

[devonpow]

DS2 (12) has been on sertraline for about 3 years now for generalized anxiety disorder and it has been life changing. Within just a few weeks of starting I saw a major improvement for him. We have been really luck that he has had no real side effects (maybe some slight weight gain? But hard to tell if it’s due to the meds or just him and being a non sporty pre teen). We started him on 25 mg I think and gradually raised him every few months for a while until we hit 75 mg. At that level we felt like he was really meeting the goals we had set with his therapist. Last year we did another bump up to 100 mg (he had been steady at 75 for maybe a year and a half) due to some increased anxiety due to a specific situation and he’s been doing great at that level since.

Our ultimate goal is to eventually start weaning him down to lower levels and maybe eventually being able to stop all together . Apparently there can be really good results starting meds prior to puberty and almost having their brain re wired with them in some way

[devonpow]

Oh and we didn’t give an option for meds. We told him about his diagnosis and how we needed to help his brain, just like how you take meds when you have a sick body. We did say that we would all have discussions together/with his therapist about how he was feeling on them and make sure he was heard in those discussions though.

[expectantsteelerfan]

We learned that a lot of dd's anger was because she was feeling overwhelmed and anxious, so Zoloft has really helped with that. She definitely still has an initial reaction of not wanting to do more than 1 scheduled thing in a day (being overscheduled, even with stuff she chooses/wants to do) is her main trigger), but we are working on that and having way less meltdowns.

[circa1978]

My DS started Zolft at 12 and we've been happy with it. He still won't take a pill, so we grind it up, and he eats it in applesauce.

[mae0111]

I will say that both of my kids with ADHD exhibit those symptoms - great behavior most other places (like, not with each other, but respectful of adults and peers outside the home) and then things totally fall apart at home.

In our case, it was that they were working so hard to keep things together at school that they just couldn't contain themselves once they got home. DD1 did not have a classic presentation of ADHD AT ALL - she had no issues at school (academically or behaviorally, but struggled a bit socially), so I assumed that we were looking at an anxiety/ODD diagnosis because of her outbursts/meltdowns on a daily basis.

All this to say that it might be worth an evaluation by a mental health professional before deciding on a medication. My kids' pediatrician was more than willing to put her on whatever med I requested, but it took a team of MH professionals to really get it right.

[holly116]

DS1 (12) has been on sertraline for a few years and it has been life-changing for him as well.

[Patsy Baloney]

We started with sertraline and now DD is on the generic of Prozac. We did the genetic testing to find the best match for her, and that’s why we made the switch.

DD is so anxious. So so so anxious. She would flame out over weird stuff, be up all night, just miserable. Sertraline fixed her sleep right away. Prozac was ultimately the better fit and helped for more mood stabilization/ability to engage coping skills learned in therapy.

I believe we started her at 8? She had been in therapy for a long time and it wasn’t clicking totally. She was trying to please her therapist and unable to express the depth of her issues. I am all for medication! It has made a huge positive difference in my kid’s life.

ETA - DD is a classic “girl symptoms” ADHD kid. We were going to go down the road of ADHD medication after the switch to Prozac, but it has helped her so much, we’ve held off on adding another medicine. Finding the right helper med can be tough, but it is worth it!

[Patsy Baloney]

Oh yeah, medicine is not a choice in our house. We live in a state where we can say that and mean it. We take care of our bodies and minds. No slacking, no shirking, no self-victimization.

[sporklemotion]

DD2 (9) has been on Sertraline for a few months for severe anxiety and panic attacks. She wasn’t in therapy until the panic attacks p started, and the medication helped her get to a point where she could try it. She was not functioning (missing school, having horrible meltdowns, unable to be alone without spiraling), and it seems like the medication has slowed the escalation of her panic enough that she can try to use tools to calm herself back down. The jury is out since some of her better state right now is due to lower stress in the summer, but there is no question it has helped move things in the right direction and we are hopeful that things are getting better.

If you can get connected to a psychiatric practice, I would do so. DD2’s PCP prescribed the medication for her but couldn’t/didn’t really oversee adjustments as we got treatment, and we didn’t know what to ask for. As a result, she stayed at a really low dose for a really long time until we had better help who could get her to the therapeutic dose. She sees a psychiatric nurse practitioner now for med management.

[jlt19]

DD started Zoloft for anxiety at 12. The panic attacks and tantrums abruptly stopped, but depression followed by suicidal ideations began. She switched to Celexa and it’s been much better for over a year now. So, I’d just be a bit cautious about her reactions for the first few months.

[nicolewi]

Aug 22, 2024 23:43:18 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

DD started Zoloft for anxiety at 12. The panic attacks and tantrums abruptly stopped, but depression followed by suicidal ideations began. She switched to Celexa and it’s been much better for over a year now. So, I’d just be a bit cautious about her reactions for the first few months.

I worry about this as well, and I worry about this with my teen, too.

[gretchenindisguise]

We had the issue with worsening depression and suicidal ideation with prozac, which was alleviated with a switch to zoloft.

Point being: any of them can cause this. Watch your kiddo for signs, but also know that just because one caused it doesn't mean a different one won't, and what caused it for my kid may be the one that works magic for your kid.

Brains, man. They're complicated.

[bbdoll]

Aug 23, 2024 10:17:16 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

We had the issue with worsening depression and suicidal ideation with prozac, which was alleviated with a switch to zoloft.

Point being: any of them can cause this. Watch your kiddo for signs, but also know that just because one caused it doesn't mean a different one won't, and what caused it for my kid may be the one that works magic for your kid.

Brains, man. They're complicated.

My daughter had increased suicidal thoughts and self-harm thoughts on Prozac as well.  We switched her to Lexapro and she's tolerating it much better.

[cjcouple]

My son was on Fluoxetine (Prozac) for a couple years for his selective mutism from ages 12 (nearly 13) to almost 15.

I absolutely had to get him to buy into it. I did this by educating him about how meds work, reassuring him that if he didnt like how he felt on it, we'd work with the Dr and laying out that we were out of options at that point.

He had very few negative side effects. A bit of activation, and after he weaned off, we realized it did make him sleepier in the mornings. Which if I put 2 and 2 together, I'd have adjusted when he took it.

it was a good fit for him.

[keyslover]

Nothing to add, but this was good info.
DD is 16 and is just starting Prozac- ocd mainly, but that’s what is more causing anxiety and depression

[sunshineluv]

We put my 10 year old dd on Prozac a couple of months ago for emetophobia/anxiety and ocd tendencies. It has been life changing for her, and the effects started within a couple of days. She hasn’t had any side effects. I feel like I have the old her back, she enjoys things more, sleeps better, and can handle stressors with appropriate levels of reaction. She did not want to take it. We talked very openly with her about it, but did not give her a choice. I wish we had given it to her six months earlier but we wanted to give therapy more time before we went with meds.

[keyslover]

Aug 27, 2024 15:35:34 GMT -5 sunshineluv said:

We put my 10 year old dd on Prozac a couple of months ago for emetophobia/anxiety and ocd tendencies. It has been life changing for her, and the effects started within a couple of days. She hasn’t had any side effects. I feel like I have the old her back, she enjoys things more, sleeps better, and can handle stressors with appropriate levels of reaction. She did not want to take it. We talked very openly with her about it, but did not give her a choice. I wish we had given it to her six months earlier but we wanted to give therapy more time before we went with meds.

Makes me happy and a bit of guilt- 2 years of therapy and previous suggestion that meds might not be a bad idea.

But same- emetophobia and anxiety, ocd with current thoughts she is going to die. She doesn’t want to die, but feels like she will. So she’s been afraid to do things and is extra anxious and depressed.

Hope it works!

[ProfessorArtNerd]

I started David (9) yesterday on 12.5 mg sertraline. Lucy (16) takes it with great results so I’m hoping it’ll help my skinny little dude as well. He has general anxiety with ocd features. And likely adhd.

[barefootcontessa]

Lexapro was a disaster for my son. It made his outbursts worse. He is one of the few who cannot take SSRIs. He is on a regiment now that works. Lots of trial and error w psychotropic medicines. I think it is better to start working on it before the hormones of puberty. Plus delaying means habits/ways of thinking become more ingrained.

[googled]

My 11 year old is on sertraline and it’s been super helpful. He feels so much better and is much less moody.

[sunshineluv]

Aug 27, 2024 19:26:43 GMT -5 keyslover said:

Aug 27, 2024 15:35:34 GMT -5 sunshineluv said:

We put my 10 year old dd on Prozac a couple of months ago for emetophobia/anxiety and ocd tendencies. It has been life changing for her, and the effects started within a couple of days. She hasn’t had any side effects. I feel like I have the old her back, she enjoys things more, sleeps better, and can handle stressors with appropriate levels of reaction. She did not want to take it. We talked very openly with her about it, but did not give her a choice. I wish we had given it to her six months earlier but we wanted to give therapy more time before we went with meds.

Makes me happy and a bit of guilt- 2 years of therapy and previous suggestion that meds might not be a bad idea.

But same- emetophobia and anxiety, ocd with current thoughts she is going to die. She doesn’t want to die, but feels like she will. So she’s been afraid to do things and is extra anxious and depressed.

Hope it works!

I am so sorry she is going through this, it’s heartbreaking watching our kids suffer. I hope you find the right help for her soon. I have had the guilt too (this had been ongoing for a year) but we are all just doing the best we can. I have gotten a lot of good advice from the Natasha Daniel’s socials. She has podcasts and a Facebook group, the best part for me was finding other moms with kids battling the same things, and seeing their progress and suggestions. I don’t know where I first heard about it, it may have been from here.

ETA: there is also a podcast from Dax Shepard where he recently interviewed an OCD therapist who has OCD, I found it helpful for me to hear her story and how ocd works ,