Anxiety & Fears-when they become severe

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Hahha! I get that a lot too.. If I just disciplined stronger I wouldnt have these problems.. <sigh> and yes.. get really mad is my typical response too! LOL

Wanted to chime in on the medication issue a bit.. I think it's great that some here like yourself are supportive and knowledgeable about medications. There is such a stigma that people get a lot of negative feedback when they mention they are considering meds and I think it's important for those at that point to get some support in their decisions.

I know for myself that I have dealt with years of everyone saying I dont need medication, that's it's crazy and I shouldnt seek it/ take it, etc. It's hard to make others see that even though I function well and talk to people, work etc that they just dont understand whats happening on the inside. People in my life generally have no idea bc I keep it to myself and hide it. OCD and anxiety is a difficult lifestyle. There truly are people who will only be able to function in a bubble or on medication. I am one of them.

I agree completely, if an adult believes that medication will help them then they should not be tortured about it. we torture ourselves enough with our own anxiety.....not consciously of course. Like I have said, I dont know what I did before I had my valium. Its a relief just to know that its there in case I have an attack or I have that impending feeling of doom. I dont use it every day but I do need it.

Also, there is still that stigma with mental illness....its even worse when it is your child. There are even people out there who think that our kids with ASD can be "cured" with more discipline, as you say. I even had medical professionals tell me that it was my fault that my son was waking up at three am and starting the house on fire by plugging in the rice steamer and putting clothes inside of it. I seriously considered tying his foot to the end of the bed....no lie! I did not know what to do with him and then I had all these people telling me it was my fault??? I wish I would have known then what I know now. People could have helped me to help my son but instead they just wanted me to take my demon child away and deal with him myself. Had I gotten help my son would not have suffered from drug abuse, his teeth would not be falling out and he would not have hepatitis C.....fortunately he is receiving help now, he is clean, he has a great job, his Hep C is in remission, and his Bi Polar symptoms are being controlled finally by the right medication.

Last edited by liloleme on 21 Jul 2011, 7:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

For some reason Im not able to edit so I hope they both dont show up later LOL. So I will write this for the third time.
Im sorry to steal your thread....Im sorry to hear about you loosing your pet. We lost my sons young cat when we first moved here from a kidney disease we were not aware she had. It will be a year in September and its still very hard. Also I hope that you can get some help for your daughter soon....have you tried talking to a psychologist or an OT. Sometimes talk therapy can really help. Also I just thought of something, is there any type of stimming she does to self soothe? If she chews her nails or anything I just found the perfect necklace chewy for that. If you want it I can give you the link. I bought one for my son that is a circle and one for my daughter that is a heart.
I hope that you can find some help for her soon, even if it is a low dose of meds like a small dose of benzos (valium,ativan, xanax) only when she needs it or some therapy.
As I mentioned in my first post....Its not easy to live with constant fear, its nearly painful.

Found my Edits so I had to delete them LOL....I also forgot to say something about the bear fear. There doesnt need to be bears around for her to fear them. Its why they call it irrational fears, its a component of anxiety. When I was a child I had many irrational fears, like I mentioned, dinosaurs or godzilla stepping on my house. Even though it sound silly to us when it is your fear its horrible, you sweat and your heart pounds and its like it can REALLY happen.

My son sometimes has this, too (Halloween can be especially trying sometimes.) IIRC, he's a bit older than your daughter, and some of these things got better as he got older (did NOT go away, though.) The visual thing - we have success getting books out with fewer pictures when we want to deal with something that's a scary image.

This is one of those double-edged swords for people on the spectrum: they can't "un-see" something upsetting, the image pops up with the same clarity as the original one and (at least my son) has no control over when it's going to be triggered. I completely understand how upsetting that could be.

Somehow, I think you've got to turn the snake into something friendly...what is her special interest? Somehow connecting snakes to that in a positive way, maybe...

Dear Mama2grace

I have been wondering, are you sure that the OCD behaviors are a result of the Zoloft? Usually, if there is any side effects like that, they will show up within a few weeks, not a few months. And Zoloft generally has no long term side effects that last more then a week after discontinuation. Is it possible the problems were the result of something other than medication? I mean, did the problems start with the school year, and go away during summer vacation? Where their any other improvements that might account for the OCD behaviors subsiding?

What happened was she was having a very difficult time at school (our brief period at public school). They put her on a VERY low dose of Zoloft in December (If I remember it was 4 mg per day because it was .2 ml of a 20mg/ml liquid-am I calculating that correctly?). It worked well for a month or two, then she started having the anxiety again only worse. They upped the dosage (I think to 8 mg or .4 ml) and that is when the OCD behaviors started within a week or two. I continued with the 8 mg because they said it should "level out" but the OCD behaviors persisted. I finally took her off the Zoloft in May. Her behaviors persisted until Dec 2010 and then slowly stopped. Some other things that happened were-we changed her diet in May of 2010, she started a private school in Aug 2010. I have read other instances of SSRI's activating Bipoloar type issues and some vague references to OCD activation as well. These behavior were very DISTINCT OCD behaviors. She was tapping her dresser drawers befaore getting things out of them, a lot og hand flapping & wrist flicking, constant counting, and the hair pulling (she still does the hair pulling & wrist flicking sometimes but not nearly as severely as she did before).

My daughter is very sensitive to meds! The Dr did give me a bottle of 2mg of valium in case of emergency but I thought they meant in case she broke her arm or something (she doesn't do well with Drs) so I have never given her one.

Her special interest right now is cooking. I can't see how to put snakes & cooking together.

She has OT 1x/week and sees a counselor 1x/week. She won't really open up to the counselor though.

She does chew as her stim. She used to have chewy necklaces (we have a lot of them) but I think someone made fun of her for it and now she won't chew a necklace. She chews her shirts. They all have gaping holes in the neckline.

Based upon my own research and personal experience, I think that a variety of thing could be going on.

The dose she was on was pretty low, maybe not enough to address her issues during times of stress.

Also, OCD behaviors come and go--they get bad when one is under a lot of stress but may subside when things are peaceful and the person is his or her comfort zone.

Also, mom may be right. SSRIs don't work for everyone.

My son's psychiatrist tried Abilify (generic name Aripiprazole, an atypical antipsychotic [like Risperdone, but less side effects]) on my older son. My younger son, who has OCD, was prescribed Intuniv (a time released drug very similar to Clonidine). I found the Abilify to make my older son a little sleepy and the Intuniv made my other son a little weepy. They are also new drugs and expensive if your insurance is not good. However, they might work for some. The point: there are a whole bunch of different medications available, and there is some trial and error involved in figuring out the correct one and correct dose.

Of course, it is a parent's prerogative not to medicate. That is his or her choice.

She was 45 pounds at the time and now only weighs 51 pounds. She's a small 8 year old. I don't know if that is why the dose was so low?

According to the book, Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychopharmacology Made Simple, by John Preston, Psy.D., ABPP, John H. O'Neal, MD, and Mary C. Talaga, R.Ph., Ph.D., the starting dose for Zoloft for a child is 25 mg./day, and the normal dose is between 25 mg and 200 mg per day, depending upon the child's weight and other factors.

My sons see a child and adult psychiatrist who has hospital privileges, solid credentials, and a large autism practice. I think that child psychiatrists sometimes know more about different psychiatric medications and psychiatric conditions than a family practice doctor or a neurologist. Also, some doctors are very conservative in their approach to medical problems because they fear being sued. Finally, if you keep working with the doctor and tell him that the med is not working, he may increase the dose or change meds.

You might also want a second opinion from another doctor with solid credentials.

This was precribed to her by a reputable Developmental Pediatrician. But I do know that she is very conservative with her dosage. I believe that's why they had me stepping up the dose. We don't see that Dev Ped anymore because our insurance doesn't cover her anymore. Our reg Ped won't even touch any "psych" issues at all. Anything besides ADHD is outside their skill. They wanted to refer us to Ped Psych and I did make the call about a month or two ago and they had a 7 month wait just for an appt. They also stated that they would prescribe meds (most likely) and that if I was anti-meds there was no point in making an appt. That kind of rubbed me the wrong way! I don't like the idea of just trying various meds until one works.

So you're in Austin? I am close to Austin. If you have a good referral could you pm it to me?
Thanks!

My kids go to Paul Herndon, M.D., who does child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry. His phone number is (512) 347-8889.

He only takes about one type of insurance than few people have. We private pay. $ 300 for an intial appointment, then about $ 150 for follow up visits. You basically visit a couple of times shortly after the first visit then once every three months.

I chose to go ahead and private pay in order to avoid being put on a long waiting list to see a psychiatrist who accepts my insurance.

You may be able to get a referall from his office for someone local to you or you may be able to just get on the Internet and start checking qualifications then calling everyone qualified to ask if they have an opening. The doctor might even let you pay half up front and half later if you have to private pay.

Also, I wanted to state that if you take your child to a psychiatrist (a medical doctor), you will be talking about meds, and the first med that you try may not work.

The psychiatrist may refer you to a child psychologist or others for other types of therapy.

It sounds like you have been having some rough times. Good luck!

This doesn't look half bad, actually...

http://www.wikihow.com/Cook-a-Snake

Maybe snake shaped cookies?