Prozac use in children
Common Questions and Answers about Prozac use in children
prozac
Wow! I have to say how nice it is to know you are not a freak and that other people have this horrible problem. I can go back as far as 7 years of age and remember having anxiety, It's so sad to think a child would have to deal with such a thing. I now take Lexapro and feel alot better. Not 100% but I guess as good as it's gonna get for me. I recently noticed alot of anxiety signs in my 9 year old daughter. It's apparently something you can pass on to your children.
I have family member that has been on zanaz and prozac for 3-4 years, has 2 children, I have noticed latley she is slurring her words, driving while medicated with children in car and drinking. Things seem very out of normal and I am very concerned for her welfare aong with the childrens. dr. refuses to give her new RX ....has refered her to phycologist. She has stated she has suffered for years with anxiety attacks, sleeplessness, panic attacks...and also states her mom is on same meds....
He was put on prozac 1 1/2 years ago, starting at 10 mg. It helped a little, so eventually it was increased to 20 mg. In January, it was increased to 30 mg, but it seemed like the anxiety fears were more on the upswing, and the OCD wasn't as much under control.
He also had a lot of health issues going on that same year, and we believe the prozac was tangled up and at least increasing his stomach pain.
I have a 13 yo son diagnosed with general anxiety disorder, mild depression, and OCD. He was put on prozac 1 1/2 years ago, starting at 10 mg. It helped a little, so eventually it was increased to 20 mg. In January, it was increased to 30 mg, but it seemed like the anxiety fears were more on the upswing, and the OCD wasn't as much under control.
He also had a lot of health issues going on that same year, and we believe the prozac was tangled up and at least increasing his stomach pain.
Prozac in children is very very worrying - I know its being used to treat OCD and major depression in kids and is the only AD drug approved for under 18 use in Australia and UK but it has serious long term side effects and its use in children is something many doctors have major problems with (not to mention the major problems many doctors have with children under 10 being diagnosed with major depression).
My son started taking 10 mg of Prozac in mid January for anxiety and it has helped. But about 3-4 weeks into taking the Prozac he started having severe stomach pains. He has had x-rays and blood work which are all normal. Doctors think he was impacted with stool and did an enema followed up with Miralax for a couple of weeks but his stomach pain has continued and he is in pain every day to varying degrees.
t even FDA approved to use for children and trust me there is a reason for that. We are seeing it first hand weaning my son who was just diagnosed with PANDAS off it. I am speaking from experience and again if you suspect your child has PANDAS good chance is they may not have any of the diagnosis that the doctor is using the meds to treat. Pandas children should be treated with antibiotics and Aleve. I have one of the best PANDAS doctors out there.
By the way, our child was diagnosed with depression and anxiety at the age of six. She has been on SSRI's for several years now and is doing great. Prozac does exist in liquid form so it could be "hidden" in her drink but it does take some time before a change can be seen. I just googled "major depression and children" and found thousands of hits - one on the first page said that MDD (major depressive disorder) can develop in preschool children.
I personally do not agree with giving these kinds of meds to children who are so young. Often times, the meds work in opposite ways in young children, sometimes making the issues worse. What other methods have you used to help treat his issues? Obviously therapy...what kind of therapy, and how long did he go to sessions? Have you tried any kind of behavioral modification techniques (if there are behavioral issues)? Is his school involved? What kind of evaluations has he had?
WARNINGS - Ritalin should not be used in children under six years, since safety and efficacy in this age group have not been established. Sufficient data on safety and efficacy of long-term use of Ritalin in children are not yet available. Although a causal relationship has not been established, suppression of growth (ie, weight gain, and/or height) has been reported with the long-term use of stimulants in children. Therefore, patients requiring long-term therapy should be carefully monitored.
It sounds as if your child psychiatrist has experience in this area. By the way, our child was placed on Prozac for a few months at six years of age (severe social anxiey disorder) and it did wonders. Today, she is taking a newer SSRI medication (Celexa) at a low dosage and probably will be taking meds for her entire life but the alternative was not an option. Without this medication, our child had no life.
We were very hopeful to hear about the positive results experienced by others who have also found no relief from traditional treatments but have found great relief from low dosages of SUBOXONE for their depression and BPD. In my daughters case, however, she has experienced constant nausea, fatigue and lightheadedness.
m not sure about the use of prozac for anxiety as at the time I only had depression. I know they say every drug works differently on people so it is really hard to say. I loved the Zoloft when I was on it 5 years ago but when I had to ween myself off I was a mess for about 2 months, but I was also on a high dose (150 mg and the most that should ever be prescribed is 200 mg), that is the only reason why I didn't want to go back on.
you should be very careful of putting a child on antidepressants at this age, as some of these meds have not been tested on children, and have been known to cause suicidal tendencies in kids. i have a 10 yr old adhd/ nld - non verbal learning disorder child who is on prozac 10mg, because he was said to be way too anxious on stimulants, but now off stimulants md still has him on it.......
I began taking Prozac in 2003. I started out on a small dose, but gradually worked up to 40 mg. Once my depression was under control, I was able to go down to 30 mg daily by taking a 20 mg capsule one day, followed by 2 capsules (40 mg) the next.
Because of Prozac's long half-life in the body, it is slowly cleared from your body. This has allowed me to experiment with the dose that work best for me. I have now been taking Prozac for six years and I see no reason to stop taking it.
Hello. I just started Prozac last week, 20 mg. once a day and today will be the 7th day I've been on it. I have actually felt worse since starting it. I have been taking 3-4 xanax a day on top of the prozac, where I was only taking 1-2 a day. I had to get up and leave a meeting today at school in front of the staff because I was having a full blown panic attack! I also have not been wanting to eat and have felt naseous in general! Is this normal?
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