panic disorder

[Guest guest]

Hi there. Was hoping for some input about my older dd. My son, 12, is the

one with OCD, but my 20 yr old suffers with panic attacks. Doctor has been

trialing meds for a few months but still no luck. She is away in college

but only an hour away so she frequently comes home. Here's the key points:

- Dd had her first blatant panic attack last spring, began seeing a

psychiatrist in September. He gave her prozac. Seems she doesn't metabolize

it well, as it made her feel strange. She also started developing sleep

problems which persisted after she was off the prozac.

- panic attacks coming fast and furious in the meantime, so he gives her

clonopin/ativan while trialing the SSRIs.

- moved on to a trial of Luvox, increased the dosage until she finally gets

relief from panic. But, she starts feeling sad, whereas she had never been

depressed before (she's probably not clinically depresssed at this point).

She also felt lethargic and unfocused, although she's felt that way in the

past to some degree relating to her anxiety.

- she's been having increasing difficulty with concentration and memory in

particular, even before the med trials. In high school, we thought that

maybe she had inattention ADD but were never certain. Could have been that

underlying anxiety was making her tune out (she becomes extremely

avoidant when it comes to stressors, although she's been fighting that off

in college which has led to her panic attacks).

- doc took her off Luvox a couple of weeks ago. She still feels sad,

lethargic, unfocused. He's thinking of putting her on a stimulant, although

maybe he means Strattera rather than the straight stimulants.

I'm wondering if he's giving up too soon on the SSRIs. Woudn't it make

sense to trial at least one more SSRI in the category that she does

metabolize? Ds and I have done great on zoloft, so I'm thinking that may be

worth a shot.

Also, regarding the feeling of sadness she developed while on the Luvox. Is

it possible that she needs more time for this to fade? Or, could the Luvox

have affected her body chemistry in a way that could make her continue to

feel sad, even though she's not depressed? Her panic attacks were better

from the Luvox when she developed the sadness, so it does seem to be a side

effect.

I haven't met yet with the doctor, but will be going with dd to see him

next week.

Any thoughts, related experiences, etc?

Thanks! Fay