Re: Depression in our teens with DS Mom needs help

[Guest guest]

OMG - it sounds so much like what I went through with my daughter, at

about the same age.  We panickedand thought it might be early Alzheimer's!!!  

After lots of doctors and tests, it was her thyroid.  Despite having her thyroid

checked yearly, it was not working right and caused all of her issues.  She lost

so many of her self-help skills and was wandering (like when she was little) 

and stopped doing things she had always loved to do.  Once we got her on thyroid

medicine, everything came back including her wonderful personality. Her thyroid

levels were high initially and her thyroid was nto working, so they wanted to

wait until the levels came down to do anything.  But 2 weeks later they were

still high and an MRI showed it wasn't working so they figured out that it was

working but not properly.  We were going to remove it but then it started

working again.  She has been on synthroid or levoxyl since and has had no

problems at

all.   

Kathy Everett 678 230-6985 Kathy Everett Consulting www.KathyEverett.com

[Guest guest]

Just a thought--some antibiotics can cause depressive symptoms as a side effect.

You may want to check with the pharmacist. I actually had this happen to me a

couple years ago--it was like overnight I had severe depression, right after

taking a couple doses of an antibiotic (unfortunately, I forget the name of the

antibiotic). I stopped taking it and felt normal again within a couple of days.

Hope that helps.

Good luck,

Cara (mom to Faith - 17 mos with DS)

[Guest guest]

Hi Dana,

When my daughter Ana was about the same age of Aari,  same thing happened. Ana

was lethargic and slept a lot during the day and the whole night.  After many

visits to the doctor and tests, she was diagnosed with pneumonia and was in the

hospital for one week, and later she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.  Ana

takes her medicine (L-Thyroxin) 75 mg a day.  Her levels are ok, but since then

she has gained a lot of weight.  That is of course another issue I am dealing

with now.

I pray you soon find out what is wrong with Aari and with the right medication

she is back to being your happy daughter again!

Bonnie (in Belgium)

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> De: dm <fourinwis@...>

>Para:

>Enviado: Viernes, 27 de enero, 2012 14:46:13

>Asunto: Depression in our teens with DS Mom needs help

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>My daughter Aari is almost 16 with DS. Over the past few months she has become

more shy, more withdrawn and over the last month or so she is sleeping more, not

eating, and now over the past couple of weeks she has stopped talking. At first

the I thought it was all because she was fighting a really bad sinus cold. The

Dr had her on antibiotics Oct, Nov, and Dec. I took her to the ENT a few weeks

ago and here she had a ear infection and the Dr cultured her nose and she is

growing an over an abundance of staph. So now she's on a really strong

antibiotic, eardrops, and she was on a short dose of prednisone. She should

have been bouncing off the walls but instead she became more lethargic and

doesn't seem to have the energy to even dress herself. I'm taking her into see

my doctor today to see if she can help. I'm thinking, from the research I've

done that all is pointing to depression, but not one web site mentions

treatments because treating teens and

mostly adults with DS is difficult. Does anyone on the list have any

experience with this with their child? Any med suggestions that I can share

with the Dr?

>I just want my happy, silly, talkative(motormouth) teen back! Thank you for

your suggestions and help and prayers would be appreciated!

>Dana and Aari

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[Guest guest]

Hi,

I don't have a lot of experience with this but a couple of thoughts.

Prendiisone can cause depression in and of itself.

Make sure you check thyroid as well-- that can lead to lethargy. Has she had

any environmental changes? I would explore those things as well.

The book Mental Wellness in Adults with Down Syndrome " , is helpful reading.

http://www.woodbinehouse.com/Depression.52.0.0.2.htm

M.