Guest guest Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 2 years ago our son (now 14) was diagnosed with OCD and an anxiety disorder. Doctor put him on 20mg of prozac and we've been pretty good until about two months ago. He is a freshman in HS and worries about everything. He is super afraid of making mistakes, so classes are stressful. We started the wrestling season in December and this put on extra pressure. With his OCD, we do not see rituals. Just intrusive thoughts, guilt, the need for reassurance, and lots of anxiety. Family MD said to double his dosage of Prozac to 40mg. We did this in December for about 3 weeks, but I noticed more anxiety. Doctor sent us to a psych. This doctor talked with our son for about a half hour and diagnosed him with ADD. Said he also has OCD and anxiety to help keep his life in control. We had never noticed the ADD before, but therapist said makes sense to her since maybe he tries so hard to be " perfect " and uses up other chemicals in brain - which result in OCD and anxiety. Psych. prescribed Concerta for the ADD. He didn't think he would need an antidepressant, so told us to half his Prozac to 10mg and use busbar (as needed). After about a week of this, I called psych and told him that son had so much anxiety. Was having intrusive thoughts again. Felt overwelmed and trapped. His suggestion was to stop the Prozac, put him on Abilify, put him on Klonopin and keep him on Concerta. After much thought, my husband and I decided that we didn't want to do this many changes until we got thru the wrestling season. We put him back on 20mg a day of the Prozac, kept him on the Concerta and are using the busbar as needed. He seems to be doing just " okay " . Still seems " worried " . Calls me for reassurance. My question for doctor (and parents) is, have you noticed an increase in anxiety if prozac is increased too high? Would it help to maybe just increase to 30 mg instead of 40mg since we've had success in the past. Or do medications just stop working after awhile. He is growing and going thru puberty. OR - would switching him to Zoloft be a better choice? I've noticed many on this board have used Zoloft. Are my worries about Abilify and Klonopin justified? Thank you for any reassurances you can give. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 My daughter has ADD and OCD but we found out about the ADD a long time ago so she was already on medication for that. When we found out that she had OCD the doctor put her on 10mg Prozac and almost all of her anxiety diminished. She is very small though. 12 years old and weighs 55lbs. I would certainly listen to whatever Dr. Steward tells you, but my concern would be that the Concerta might be causing the anxiety. I have heard a lot of people say that the stimuluant ADD meds seem to trigger anxiety. My daughter isn't taking Prozac now but that is because we found it to be activating. However, when she first stopped taking Prozac her anxiety flooded back in full-force for a little while. It would be nice if you could try just the Prozac without the Concerta especially since you never noticed ADD with him before. I would have thought that if he had ADD the school would have been bugging you to test him way before now. > > Christie - my daughter also has OCD and high levels of anxiety. I finally had to have her put into a treatment facility for about 8 days. They were able to begin medication for the anxiety (resperidone) which has worked wonderfully. My daughter has been nearly anxiety free for about a year. She takes a very low dose and is closely monitored. She also takes Zoloft. What a difference a year has made. I now have my daughter almost back to normal - she began High School this year and is doing great. > > Diane L. Gibson > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 My daughter has ADD and OCD but we found out about the ADD a long time ago so she was already on medication for that. When we found out that she had OCD the doctor put her on 10mg Prozac and almost all of her anxiety diminished. She is very small though. 12 years old and weighs 55lbs. I would certainly listen to whatever Dr. Steward tells you, but my concern would be that the Concerta might be causing the anxiety. I have heard a lot of people say that the stimuluant ADD meds seem to trigger anxiety. My daughter isn't taking Prozac now but that is because we found it to be activating. However, when she first stopped taking Prozac her anxiety flooded back in full-force for a little while. It would be nice if you could try just the Prozac without the Concerta especially since you never noticed ADD with him before. I would have thought that if he had ADD the school would have been bugging you to test him way before now. > > Christie - my daughter also has OCD and high levels of anxiety. I finally had to have her put into a treatment facility for about 8 days. They were able to begin medication for the anxiety (resperidone) which has worked wonderfully. My daughter has been nearly anxiety free for about a year. She takes a very low dose and is closely monitored. She also takes Zoloft. What a difference a year has made. I now have my daughter almost back to normal - she began High School this year and is doing great. > > Diane L. Gibson > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Another thing I thought about since my other response is that my daughter's psych said that OCD symptoms can sometimes be mistaken for ADD symptoms because the child is so anxious that he/she is distracted. The doctor has been working hard to decipher which of my daughters issues are OCD and which are ADHD. Also, has your psych started CBT/ERP? If the doctor has not even mentioned this kind of therapy then you should seek a second opinion. Currently, my daughter is on ADHD meds alone and doing ERP. Her intrusive thoughts have gotten much better for the time-being. Although it does seem to cycle with bad moments > > 2 years ago our son (now 14) was diagnosed with OCD and an anxiety disorder. Doctor put him on 20mg of prozac and we've been pretty good until about two months ago. He is a freshman in HS and worries about everything. He is super afraid of making mistakes, so classes are stressful. We started the wrestling season in December and this put on extra pressure. With his OCD, we do not see rituals. Just intrusive thoughts, guilt, the need for reassurance, and lots of anxiety. Family MD said to double his dosage of Prozac to 40mg. We did this in December for about 3 weeks, but I noticed more anxiety. Doctor sent us to a psych. This doctor talked with our son for about a half hour and diagnosed him with ADD. Said he also has OCD and anxiety to help keep his life in control. We had never noticed the ADD before, but therapist said makes sense to her since maybe he tries so hard to be " perfect " and uses up other chemicals in brain - which result in OCD and anxiety. Psych. prescribed Concerta for the ADD. He didn't think he would need an antidepressant, so told us to half his Prozac to 10mg and use busbar (as needed). After about a week of this, I called psych and told him that son had so much anxiety. Was having intrusive thoughts again. Felt overwelmed and trapped. His suggestion was to stop the Prozac, put him on Abilify, put him on Klonopin and keep him on Concerta. After much thought, my husband and I decided that we didn't want to do this many changes until we got thru the wrestling season. We put him back on 20mg a day of the Prozac, kept him on the Concerta and are using the busbar as needed. He seems to be doing just " okay " . Still seems " worried " . Calls me for reassurance. My question for doctor (and parents) is, have you noticed an increase in anxiety if prozac is increased too high? Would it help to maybe just increase to 30 mg instead of 40mg since we've had success in the past. Or do medications just stop working after awhile. He is growing and going thru puberty. OR - would switching him to Zoloft be a better choice? I've noticed many on this board have used Zoloft. Are my worries about Abilify and Klonopin justified? Thank you for any reassurances you can give. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Another thing I thought about since my other response is that my daughter's psych said that OCD symptoms can sometimes be mistaken for ADD symptoms because the child is so anxious that he/she is distracted. The doctor has been working hard to decipher which of my daughters issues are OCD and which are ADHD. Also, has your psych started CBT/ERP? If the doctor has not even mentioned this kind of therapy then you should seek a second opinion. Currently, my daughter is on ADHD meds alone and doing ERP. Her intrusive thoughts have gotten much better for the time-being. Although it does seem to cycle with bad moments > > 2 years ago our son (now 14) was diagnosed with OCD and an anxiety disorder. Doctor put him on 20mg of prozac and we've been pretty good until about two months ago. He is a freshman in HS and worries about everything. He is super afraid of making mistakes, so classes are stressful. We started the wrestling season in December and this put on extra pressure. With his OCD, we do not see rituals. Just intrusive thoughts, guilt, the need for reassurance, and lots of anxiety. Family MD said to double his dosage of Prozac to 40mg. We did this in December for about 3 weeks, but I noticed more anxiety. Doctor sent us to a psych. This doctor talked with our son for about a half hour and diagnosed him with ADD. Said he also has OCD and anxiety to help keep his life in control. We had never noticed the ADD before, but therapist said makes sense to her since maybe he tries so hard to be " perfect " and uses up other chemicals in brain - which result in OCD and anxiety. Psych. prescribed Concerta for the ADD. He didn't think he would need an antidepressant, so told us to half his Prozac to 10mg and use busbar (as needed). After about a week of this, I called psych and told him that son had so much anxiety. Was having intrusive thoughts again. Felt overwelmed and trapped. His suggestion was to stop the Prozac, put him on Abilify, put him on Klonopin and keep him on Concerta. After much thought, my husband and I decided that we didn't want to do this many changes until we got thru the wrestling season. We put him back on 20mg a day of the Prozac, kept him on the Concerta and are using the busbar as needed. He seems to be doing just " okay " . Still seems " worried " . Calls me for reassurance. My question for doctor (and parents) is, have you noticed an increase in anxiety if prozac is increased too high? Would it help to maybe just increase to 30 mg instead of 40mg since we've had success in the past. Or do medications just stop working after awhile. He is growing and going thru puberty. OR - would switching him to Zoloft be a better choice? I've noticed many on this board have used Zoloft. Are my worries about Abilify and Klonopin justified? Thank you for any reassurances you can give. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Another thing I thought about since my other response is that my daughter's psych said that OCD symptoms can sometimes be mistaken for ADD symptoms because the child is so anxious that he/she is distracted. The doctor has been working hard to decipher which of my daughters issues are OCD and which are ADHD. Also, has your psych started CBT/ERP? If the doctor has not even mentioned this kind of therapy then you should seek a second opinion. Currently, my daughter is on ADHD meds alone and doing ERP. Her intrusive thoughts have gotten much better for the time-being. Although it does seem to cycle with bad moments > > 2 years ago our son (now 14) was diagnosed with OCD and an anxiety disorder. Doctor put him on 20mg of prozac and we've been pretty good until about two months ago. He is a freshman in HS and worries about everything. He is super afraid of making mistakes, so classes are stressful. We started the wrestling season in December and this put on extra pressure. With his OCD, we do not see rituals. Just intrusive thoughts, guilt, the need for reassurance, and lots of anxiety. Family MD said to double his dosage of Prozac to 40mg. We did this in December for about 3 weeks, but I noticed more anxiety. Doctor sent us to a psych. This doctor talked with our son for about a half hour and diagnosed him with ADD. Said he also has OCD and anxiety to help keep his life in control. We had never noticed the ADD before, but therapist said makes sense to her since maybe he tries so hard to be " perfect " and uses up other chemicals in brain - which result in OCD and anxiety. Psych. prescribed Concerta for the ADD. He didn't think he would need an antidepressant, so told us to half his Prozac to 10mg and use busbar (as needed). After about a week of this, I called psych and told him that son had so much anxiety. Was having intrusive thoughts again. Felt overwelmed and trapped. His suggestion was to stop the Prozac, put him on Abilify, put him on Klonopin and keep him on Concerta. After much thought, my husband and I decided that we didn't want to do this many changes until we got thru the wrestling season. We put him back on 20mg a day of the Prozac, kept him on the Concerta and are using the busbar as needed. He seems to be doing just " okay " . Still seems " worried " . Calls me for reassurance. My question for doctor (and parents) is, have you noticed an increase in anxiety if prozac is increased too high? Would it help to maybe just increase to 30 mg instead of 40mg since we've had success in the past. Or do medications just stop working after awhile. He is growing and going thru puberty. OR - would switching him to Zoloft be a better choice? I've noticed many on this board have used Zoloft. Are my worries about Abilify and Klonopin justified? Thank you for any reassurances you can give. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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