Guest guest Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Hmmm.... I don't know about it's use in children, but I have had a psychiatrist recommended it in the past, for sleep. It IS quite powerful, and does work well. I once gave our son one drop to try when he was quite young, and he slept soundly. He's very med sensitive, so just a little goes a long way. You might try asking your pharmacist about it, and dosing. It's pretty individual how any of these things work. If you are looking for something to help with sleep, many here use Benedryl for it's sedating effects. I used to use camomile tea, made strong and then diluted with apple juice and found it helped calm. Melatonin is also used for sleep. Is your daughter on any other medication? Are you aware the it is ssri's that are used to treat OCD? This will help bring down the anxiety longterm, so she can do ERP, which is what ultimately will manage the OCD/anxiety. Warmly, Barb > > My 6 year old is very, very anxious now. We may be getting a sedative tomorrow from a new pediatrician...he's pursuing more information before making a decision about what to do for her. Her therapist suggested that we might try valerian root. Anyone use this? From what I read it can take 4 wks to help. > > Misty > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Hmmm.... I don't know about it's use in children, but I have had a psychiatrist recommended it in the past, for sleep. It IS quite powerful, and does work well. I once gave our son one drop to try when he was quite young, and he slept soundly. He's very med sensitive, so just a little goes a long way. You might try asking your pharmacist about it, and dosing. It's pretty individual how any of these things work. If you are looking for something to help with sleep, many here use Benedryl for it's sedating effects. I used to use camomile tea, made strong and then diluted with apple juice and found it helped calm. Melatonin is also used for sleep. Is your daughter on any other medication? Are you aware the it is ssri's that are used to treat OCD? This will help bring down the anxiety longterm, so she can do ERP, which is what ultimately will manage the OCD/anxiety. Warmly, Barb > > My 6 year old is very, very anxious now. We may be getting a sedative tomorrow from a new pediatrician...he's pursuing more information before making a decision about what to do for her. Her therapist suggested that we might try valerian root. Anyone use this? From what I read it can take 4 wks to help. > > Misty > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Hmmm.... I don't know about it's use in children, but I have had a psychiatrist recommended it in the past, for sleep. It IS quite powerful, and does work well. I once gave our son one drop to try when he was quite young, and he slept soundly. He's very med sensitive, so just a little goes a long way. You might try asking your pharmacist about it, and dosing. It's pretty individual how any of these things work. If you are looking for something to help with sleep, many here use Benedryl for it's sedating effects. I used to use camomile tea, made strong and then diluted with apple juice and found it helped calm. Melatonin is also used for sleep. Is your daughter on any other medication? Are you aware the it is ssri's that are used to treat OCD? This will help bring down the anxiety longterm, so she can do ERP, which is what ultimately will manage the OCD/anxiety. Warmly, Barb > > My 6 year old is very, very anxious now. We may be getting a sedative tomorrow from a new pediatrician...he's pursuing more information before making a decision about what to do for her. Her therapist suggested that we might try valerian root. Anyone use this? From what I read it can take 4 wks to help. > > Misty > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 We used benadryl for a few days and her behavior went crazy. She has had very strong behavior reactions to both Claritin and Zyrtec in the past, so I think she’s just sensitive to antihistamines. We considered melatonin, but the new pediatrician said not to use it in autoimmune disease and we suspect this is PANDAS. Tried chamomile tea last night and it took an hour and a half to get to sleep afterwards and she still woke at 3. We are holding off on SSRIs until we see for sure if this is PANDAS. The therapist wants to not start both an SSRI and antibiotic together because we wouldn’t know what worked. She started amoxicillan 36 hrs ago (was on Keflex for 4 days prior to that) and today is really going well. She is much, much better. Don’t know yet if it is a random good day or a result of the antibiotic. The last couple of days were the worst so far. Great tip on mixing the tea with apple juice! We are now being referred to a ped neurologist who has some experience with PANDAS. Misty From: bnesrallah Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2012 8:37 AM To: Subject: Re: Valerian root Hmmm.... I don't know about it's use in children, but I have had a psychiatrist recommended it in the past, for sleep. It IS quite powerful, and does work well. I once gave our son one drop to try when he was quite young, and he slept soundly. He's very med sensitive, so just a little goes a long way. You might try asking your pharmacist about it, and dosing. It's pretty individual how any of these things work. If you are looking for something to help with sleep, many here use Benedryl for it's sedating effects. I used to use camomile tea, made strong and then diluted with apple juice and found it helped calm. Melatonin is also used for sleep. Is your daughter on any other medication? Are you aware the it is ssri's that are used to treat OCD? This will help bring down the anxiety longterm, so she can do ERP, which is what ultimately will manage the OCD/anxiety. Warmly, Barb > > My 6 year old is very, very anxious now. We may be getting a sedative tomorrow from a new pediatrician...he's pursuing more information before making a decision about what to do for her. Her therapist suggested that we might try valerian root. Anyone use this? From what I read it can take 4 wks to help. > > Misty > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Great that you have found someone with experience with PANDAS Misty! I understand that PANDAS kids need special handling re medications, probably antihistamines same then. Makes sense since it is about the immune response. Sorry, I lost track that your daughter has PANDAS, when I was talking ssri/ERP. These can remain on the back burner for later, meds if needed at all, and ERP when ready. Understand with PANDAS ERP is pointless until the antibiotics do their job. Somewhat the same for " typical " OCD, need to wait until medication dials back the anxiety. So glad that she had a better day today!! Such a relief, so hard to see them suffering so much, I know. Antibiotics seem like a miracle answer I'm sure, and hear how they can just stop the OCD in it's tracks, or dial it right back, so yay! hope that IS what is working. Warmly, Barb > > We used benadryl for a few days and her behavior went crazy. She has had very strong behavior reactions to both Claritin and Zyrtec in the past, so I think she’s just sensitive to antihistamines. We considered melatonin, but the new pediatrician said not to use it in autoimmune disease and we suspect this is PANDAS. Tried chamomile tea last night and it took an hour and a half to get to sleep afterwards and she still woke at 3. We are holding off on SSRIs until we see for sure if this is PANDAS. The therapist wants to not start both an SSRI and antibiotic together because we wouldn’t know what worked. She started amoxicillan 36 hrs ago (was on Keflex for 4 days prior to that) and today is really going well. She is much, much better. Don’t know yet if it is a random good day or a result of the antibiotic. The last couple of days were the worst so far. Great tip on mixing the tea with apple juice! We are now being referred to a ped neurologist who has some experience with PANDAS. > > Misty > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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