Anxiety

[rosyred45]

I usually don't complain about things that I think are use less for other people to hear about......You summed me up pretty good. Get outta my head

[Anna]

Jenna was diagnosed with ADHD and 98% social anxiety. According to the doctor, Jenna's anxiety really presents itself when she's with a large group of peers. He said and we noticed that when she's with a large group she'll start fiddling with her clothes, either eating the strings, untying and retying them, chewing on the tops of her shirts, fiddling with her earrings, putting her fingers in her mouth, or looking totally overwhelmed and lost. She gets this unusual fear and worries about what everyone thinks of her. She'll get SUPER sensitive and will burst into tears if the other kids don't play with her, and she HAS to be in control, yet she will try to just be in the background so as not to draw attention to herself. Oh...and she HAS to tattle...and she HAS to tell you the ENTIRE event that took place...Heaven forbid you try to interrupt her or tell her it doesn't matter, and to just go play... She'll go ON and ON and ON and ON until she gets EVERY WORD of what she wanted to say out... *sigh* She's on Strattera 25 mg right now - getting ready to move up to 36 mg next month (she's borderline for weight). The doctor said that this medication is supposed to help with anxiety...but I haven't really noticed it doing much for it...

Anna

[mom2tj]

Anna.... Oh my Good you just discribed my DS I never put 2 and 2 together..... my son used to bite his clothes and burst out and any time it was a BIG issue in kinder and 1st grade I never associated it with anxiety......

He is the KING of tattles its a pain..... the biting and crying gote alot better since Concerta but I had never put them both together I thought it was just growing up!

[DANIEL]

Hi Daniel here.
i dont know if my anziety is similar to the others,but here goes.
I constantly worry about everything, and i mean everything. from my health to the health of my kids and wife. every time they leave the house they are dead in my mind. they have been in a car crash to hijacked to just about anything, i worry about bills and people comming to my house or calling me on the phone. it is hard to over come, and recently i started having full blown panic attacks ( once again i thought i was dying) i get dizzy my chest hurts it becomes hard to breathe and i feel like i am going to pass out. i went to the emergancy room the thrid or fourth time it happened thinking that i was having a heart attack. i wasent and the doctors seemed like i was wasteing their time. in the end i got prescribed a drug call lamactil, i think thats how you spell it. anyway after a week after i started takeing it my panic attacks were gone. i still worry constantly but not as bad and no panic attacks.

[ohmama]

Daniel,
Lamictal is a mood stabilizer. Did you have any side effects from this like sedation? Or are you taking anything with it? I ask because I am researching the anticonvulsants/mood stabilizers for my boy and have not yet met anyone who uses this. Was it necessary to do a slow build up before you noticed any benefits? And, if you don't mind all the questions just one more, is it necessary to get blood levels checked while taking this?

Thank you in advance and welcome to the forums.

[DANIEL]

there was no build up on this medication i started on a small dose i believe 25 mg and a week or so after i started taking it the panic attacks stopped. i do not have to get my blood levels checked, i hope i am not supposed to. i can tell you that there is really only one side effect for this drug that i am aware of and that is you run a chance of developing a rash that could be life threatning, so when you take it you have to keep an eye out for rashes, also if your child has seizures this medication can cause an increase in frequency, which i find odd because it is actually to be taken to stop the occurance of seizures. the documentation i read said that children are not prescribed this drug because it has not been tested on them. you might want to look into that. i can say that i have had no side effects from it nore noticed any change in mood, appetite, or temper. but i started taking an increased dose of effexor at the same time i took this drug and i didnt sleep for three days. but i think that was the effexor. other than that i have nothing but good news about this drug.

[rosyred45]

Glad your getting things under control Daniel.

I only really get anxious when there i sa new situation that I am totally unfamiliar with or when I think about going out in a boat. I have a huge fear of water and snakes, so that's the only time I have panic attacks.

So no more boats for me, at least until I feel I'm ready to concouer the fear, and DEFINATELY NO SNAKES

[AnneM]

Daniel WELCOME and I am so pleased you have found something to help you with your anxiety/panic... Anxiety has always been my own personal bug-bear ... As the old saying goes If I haven't got something to worry about I will find something .... and I do ... constantly ... ! For me a tiny dose of amitrypiline (10mg a day) has really helped to bash those anxieties on the head ...

However, I don't and never have suffered from depression .. just anxiety. Is that the same for you?

It sounds like you are getting your own anxieties under control with Lamictal ... and OhMama gives some great advice on this ...

GOOD LUCK and WELCOME ABOARD!!

[HooDunnit]

Hi Daniel and welcome to the forums. My brother gets panic attacks. He also has agarophobia and sometimes insomnia. I am trying to get him to seek treatment.
Barry

[lisle]

Hi,
I have considered lamictal for my son and not tried it yet.
My understanding is that for what you'd be using it for, Oh Mama, you have to move up in dose VERY slowly to avoid rash complications, which are rarer than previously thought but could be dangerous (not all rashes are but the strep one is). Anyone getting a rash should stop the drug though. It takes a while before effective because of the buildup being slow. I know several adults who take it and really like it. My son's dr. said it is a good "add on" but not so effective alone. My own dr. finds it effective alone in his bp patients. It is better for depression than for mania, one of the few that is effective for depression. It works for both though. My friend who takes it also uses Seroquel.
lisle
Hope this helps

[ohmama]

Lisle,
The new psych we saw yesterday said he felt this was too much of a risk to prescribe for a child because the rash could be fatal. No second chances here. That's too much to risk for me. I don't know if he was being overly cautious but it was a scare that convinced me not to try this one. We are back on the Depakote, lower dose and watching the blood test results closely.

[CalebsMom]

Hello I'm new here

I can relate to the don't tell my son we are going til its time to go....lol

In school he's ALWAYS telling the other kids what they need to be doing BUT doens't seem to do it himself. Or he'll tell the teacher what they should be doing and so on. She even heard him giving the dialouge she gave to other kids and she's like yeah thats right now we just need to figure out how to get him to worry about himself not others

[AnneM]

Hi Calebsmom and a BIG Welcome to you!! ....

I have to admit I did smile about your son telling everyone else what they should be doing but forgetting to get himself organised!! ... That is really kind of cute ;D but I can imagine it might get both you and his teacher pretty irate at times!!

Welcome aboard Calebsmom ... I look forward to seeing you around the board. If you are anything like me when I first came here (way back when! ;D) you will find a huge amount of things you can relate to! ...