Anxiety Disorders in Children Support Group
Childhood","This community is for parents and caregivers of children who exhibit signs of anxiety. Anxiety refers to a complex combination of negative emotions that includes fear, apprehension and worry, and is often accompanied by physical sensations such as palpitations, nausea, chest pain and/or shortness of breath."
My 13-year-old daughter recently needed to increase her fluoxetine dose by 10 mg. She takes it for anxiety and has been on it for about 2 years. It had been helping pretty well, but a couple months ago she had started having increased anxiety issues again (corresponding to some teen hormonal changes).
We started going up by 5 mg for a few days, and then added another 5 for the full 10 increase (she would then be on a total of 30 mg). A couple days after she had gone up the full 10 mg increase, she started having worse panic symptoms - nearly full-out panic attacks. I read that fluoxetine can cause panic attacks, so we backed down by 5 mg. That's where she is at now (25 mg). Her anxiety at school and other activities is still high though, not really any better than before the bump up. It doesn't seem like the increase of just 5 mg is making a difference.
My questions: did anyone's kids experience the increased panic on fluoxetine? Should we have given it more time (I know most side effects are temporary).
Also, our NP has talked about Lexapro. I was a little more comfortable with fluoxetine because it's used for more peds patients. Are any of your kids taking Lexapro?
We started going up by 5 mg for a few days, and then added another 5 for the full 10 increase (she would then be on a total of 30 mg). A couple days after she had gone up the full 10 mg increase, she started having worse panic symptoms - nearly full-out panic attacks. I read that fluoxetine can cause panic attacks, so we backed down by 5 mg. That's where she is at now (25 mg). Her anxiety at school and other activities is still high though, not really any better than before the bump up. It doesn't seem like the increase of just 5 mg is making a difference.
My questions: did anyone's kids experience the increased panic on fluoxetine? Should we have given it more time (I know most side effects are temporary).
Also, our NP has talked about Lexapro. I was a little more comfortable with fluoxetine because it's used for more peds patients. Are any of your kids taking Lexapro?
My daughter is on the magnesium glycinate too, and she thinks it helps, along with the Wellbutrin:)
http://m.vitaminshoppe.com/mobile/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=KA-1549
It's hard to know when your kid is having anxiety whether stomach problems are from the meds or from the anxiety itself! Although I would think if she didn't have any stomach problems prior to starting the med, maybe it is the prozac.
When my daughter was taking prozac she also took Buspirone. I think that made the Prozac more effective for the anxiety than it would have been alone. She is now on Lexapro and doing well. But her mood was a little happier on prozac! Not sure if it was masking preteen hormones or if it's just coincidence that she is moodier now. :-)
Hang in there with finding the right med. It is so stressful but it will improve!