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Daughter's Anxiety

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megan76677
megan76677

My daughter has always had fairly high social anxiety.  About a month and a half ago she went on Sertaline and it got even worse.  She's a freshman in high school and wont go to school.

I spent a week or so trying to figure out what to do about that and moved her to a much smaller charter school (which she agreeed to, she never did like big schools) but she wouldn't go there either.  I got her doctor and school to give her homebound statis so she can do her work from "home."  (Or in this case, from my job, I'm a teacher working in an elementry school and we found her some space so she wouldn't have to talk to anyone or be in a classroom with a bunch of kids).  They upped that Sertraline dose a week ago.

She's never avoided my school before and I was all ready to go back to work after a week and a half off.  And then, no, she's a shaking, curled up ball this morning.  I don't think it's just avoiding school (no one avoids school by spending 2 hours rocking back and forth on the ground) and she wouldn't come out of grandma's sewing room to eat dinner when we were over there yesterday.  So, I'm not working today either.  Probably not all week either.  Next week?  Who knows.  I've got 25 kids not getting an education and 1 child at home who is clearly pretty miserable.

I'm seeing her primary care doctor today about taking her off the Sertraline.  Her therapist is working on getting the psychiatrist to contact us ASPA (they work for the same company, so she can go talk to their medical desk in person) but who knows when I'll actually hear from them.

I keep her therapist (who she sees twice a week) up to date.  But this is super stressful for both of us at this point.  I'm not married.  My family doesn't live in this city.  We are on our own.  I'm missing loads of work and she's getting worse.

Advice?

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • anxietysite123
    anxietysite123 megan76677

    Posted

    My sister went through this. Suddenly one day couldn't do school. All her schoolwork is done one on one with her teachers after all other students are gone for the day. Never leaves her room. She finds drawing and painting really help her. Maybe try to find a new hobby to motivate her a bit?

    You need to push her to come out of the room and get back into normal routine.. She will get worse and worse if she gets into the habit. Plus I'm sure you cant afford to be taking off so many days.

    Is she into group counseling? Maybe that way she could meet people her own age and learn it isn't so scary and she isn't the only one.. That one did not work for my sister, but then again her therapist told her to try for a few weeks and she only went once and refused to go back.

    • megan76677
      megan76677 anxietysite123

      Posted

      She does love drawing and painting.  She's a pretty good artist, actually.

      I worry about pushing too hard.  At the same time, I also don't want it to become a habit.  I'm not at all sure where the line is.  Taking all these days off is awful sad  But, it's not like I can leave her home alone.

      Before it got this bad, about 2 years ago, she was in an art therapy group for quite a while, but she would only do the art and not the therapy.  She isolated herself from the group.

  • lisalisa67
    lisalisa67 megan76677

    Posted

    The medicine can and does make things worse before it levels out and gets better. Speak with the gp and discuss this. *You might meed to change meds as well. Teens react differently to medications then adults. You will figure this all out so keep that in your head. Just will take a little time,
    • megan76677
      megan76677 lisalisa67

      Posted

      Yes, I've read that about Sertraline.  I wish there was a way to know if the medication would work with enough time.  After a month on 50mg her anxiety only worse (plus she's been bouncing her leg a lot).  She's been on 100 only for 7 days but so far it's made the "worse" even worse.  It was bad enough on the 50.

      I'm definately telling myself we'll figure it out.  It's hard to believe sometimes.

  • borderriever
    borderriever megan76677

    Posted

    Have you any ideas why She is suffering Anxiety, Was she bullied at her old school.

    Sometimes it can be a problem taking patients off mediations to frequently as they will need to withdraw from the old tablet before taking the new medication.

    All I can suggest is discuss your fears regard your Daughter, make a list on what has been happening so you do not miss anything out. The medication She is taking can take upwards 4 or 5 weeks so you may need to give a little bit more leeway before writing it of fully. Be patient

    Always around

    BOB

    • megan76677
      megan76677 borderriever

      Posted

      Patience is really difficult when someone is suffering, but I'm not sure there is any other option.  I get a huge range of opinions on the medication from "get her off it now" to "give it another month" and it's just so ambiguous!

      She wasn't bullied at her old school.  I blame her biological parents.  I started fostering her three years ago and recently adopted her.

    • borderriever
      borderriever megan76677

      Posted

      Megan the problems with Her Biological family I suppose would make here feel very low and no one wants here etc

      The medication she is on at this time needs time to work sometimes upwards 4 to five weeks the problem is if She keeps canging it will take longer to get up on a working dose. Of course if you are not happy with this medication another will be along in a min. you evetually get through the list and if you get a GP who would not go back to a tried drug it can become problematic

      Be patient

      How old was she when you fostered, it may be useful to find out what the situation was .That could be an informative way forward.

       

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