prozac

[darky]

has anyone here had their child put on prozac for anxiety or phobias? our daughters consultant has perscribed her 20mg a day. i was ok with that until i picked it up and the pharmisist was very uncomfortable with dispensing it. he double checked with the consultant and the consultant was insistant that was what he intended. she is 7, aparently its an adult dose. the medication is not licensed for children under 12, but obviously consultants rules apply. the phobias are very extreme, with her lashing out, kicking, punching, and doing all she can to escape the phobia. once removed shes calm and seems devistated to have hurt me. some of her triggers are buses and bugs so its pretty hard to avoid and not always that easy to get her away from the situation fast. any advice or experience?

[Malika]

Hi Darky, <'> <'>

 

I feel shock reading your post as for what I know Prozac is prescribe for depression and for example people who have depression because of personality disorder like my ex have adverse reaction to it and it makes them more violent I observed that with my ex who had narssissic personality disorder and was put on Prozac however finding confirming this have come through sometimes after this.

 

I have the feeling that phobias can be dealt with in a different manner but I may be wr now have you started the treatment yet with her and do you find it is working ?

Wonder if some form of "slow and calculated" confrontation with what frightens her would not be a better solution even if it takes months to improve of course in the mean time some medication could be use to help but Prozac... may be somebody in here will know better.

 

Take care. <'>

 

Malika.

[Malika]

Hi darky,

 

just did a quick search and found various links of interest it seems that prozac is one of the best choice for children with panic attack or phobias however there seem to be other alternative and prozac now is raisng concern have a look at the last link as well there is an helpline....

 

http://www.herts.ac.uk/services/counsellin...ing_Phobias.pdf

 

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/default.asp?t=cms&c=medication

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3187244

 

http://www.biopsychiatry.com/antidepressan...idepressant.htm

 

http://adhd-report.com/biopsychiatry/bio_21.html

 

http://www.first-steps.org/downloads/Info_pack.doc

 

Malika.

[Malika]

Sorry too tired forgot this one

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A930151

[Zemanski]

prozac is a very potent drug with known side affects that can heighten as well as alleviate problems. It should be used with caution in adults and very carefully monitored, I would be very,very wary of using it with children.

 

I think I would go to the consultant (or another/GP if a second opinion might help) and discuss your concerns. If you go ahead with the treatment then make sure it is well monitored and do not take any changes in mood/presentation forgranted - keep a record.

 

prozac can help with anxiety, depression, OCDs, etc and many adult ASC people use prozac and similar drugs for these things very effectively; for me I am actually free of severe irritable bowel for the first time in my life - I wasn't given it for that but if that's all it does for me it is the most amazing drug in the world, I've had over 30 years of pain and illness, almost all gone within a week of starting on a prozac derivative.

 

Your daughter obviously has great difficulty functioning in the face of her phobias and this might be exactly what she needs to help her overcome her anxieties but be very careful.

 

<'> <'>

 

Zemanski

[Tez]

My son is older than your daughter, he's 14, but he has been taking Prozac for a year now. I tried everything before I agreed to medication, but when all else failed I felt that I was left with no choice but to try. In his case it has really helped with his phobias and anxiety and he's a much happier child. As Zemanski says, all sorts of other problems that he had, have also cleared now that his anxiety is less. When he was first placed on it, I was given the Consultant's mobile phone number and email address and told to contact her if I had any concerns. She saw him weekly for the first month and less often since.

[darky]

thanks guys. we have tried every behaviour therapy and management techniques. social stories, visual timetables, used an anxiety scale to introduce the phobia gradualy and although i have to say it has helped slightly, we seem to almost get over one and then we get another,we work on the new phobia and the old ones creep back in again. the level of distress and violence is un bearable now and we have been prisoners in our own home and in the summer even in the house with the bugs has been terrible.

 

so after aprox 6 yrs of this behaviour gradualy getting worse with intensity and the violence we have thought about trying meds.

i did a lot of research on the net last night including posting on forums for advice and i really think this may be our option to try at least. im not against any medication at all, im just concerned about side effects and risk to her. the problem i have with researching the meds is there is always loads of bad to read about and the posistives dont get reported on, its crazy! i have been through this forum with a fine tooth comb and this medication has helped a couple of people and turned their lives around. so i have decided to trial her on this med for the next week to see if there is any adverse reaction before she goes back to school. she had one tablet this am and she has been ok so far.

 

so thanks very much, i shall update soon as this may help others too.

[Malika]

Hi Darky <'>

 

I would say if you have tried just about everything else then may be Prozac will be the help your daughter needs you are obviously well aware so you can spot negative signals and get in touch with the consultant.

 

There are positive article about Prozac and negative one but at the end every circumstances are unique the main thing is to be aware and keep an eye on her I hope the treatment will work with her and this will give you and her a better quality life.

 

Take care.

 

Malika.

[Give me a clue]

Hi,

 

My son aged 8 (AS/ADHD) has just been prescribed Prozac, starting on 10mg per day initially. I have been told by the Pyschiatrist that this may increase to 20mg per day if there is no improvement in his behaviour. He is also on Strattera 28mg but we have seen little effect after taking this for 5 months.

 

He has now been taking Prozac for 14 days and we have had no bad side effects so far. I was similarly a bit worried about him taking it but we have tried everything else (gfcf diet/alternative therapies/ chiropractor etc etc.... and his anxiety and difficult behaviour is so bad it is seriously affecting family life.

 

We will see how it goes and if there is a big improvement I will post it on here. Good luck!

 

Michelle

[darky]

thanks give me a clue! its interesting to read about your son too. its terrible when we have to watch them go through the extreme levels of anxiety isnt it? my daughter also has adhd and is treated with concerta for that. concerta has made a huge difference to her, socialy, acedemicaly and calmed her hyperactivity right down. i could say that without concerta she wouldnt have coped in mainstream, and im sure her learning would have been effected even with the most support in a special school, the hyperactivity is so bad.

well so far so good, she has had second tablet, no extra hyperactivity, not effected her appetite or sleep she seems fine! going to take her out tomorrow and although we are not expecting it to work yet, i want to make sure that the anxiety isnt any worse so we are going to take her to the park. good luck with your son too. its so hard to know what to do. but sometimes it seems meds are the only answer to help them try to lead as normal life as possible.

[justamom]

Darky, i know how difficult it is giving a child new medicine that is prescribed for adults.

 

Not quite the same thing but we were in the same situation a few weeks back. My son has arthritis and the rheumatologist prescirbed a very potent medicine for Rheumatoid Arirthrits and we were worried about giving him the medicine. I also researched it on the internet and its used in cancer treament for Leukaemia which frightened me even more.

 

There are bad side effect to this medicine and he has to have blood tests done every 2 weeks to check his bone marrow.... But on the upside it does work wonders for other patients. I have been watching him like a hawk and any slight change in him, feeling ill - i do panic.

 

It was a hard discsion to make but we figured we would give it a go because it would help better his quality of life. Only time will tell if it has helped.. It's a hard call to make i know.

 

Justamom

Edited April 8, 2006 by justamom