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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Feel slightly annoyed with the GP for suggesting sertraline to my teen

248 replies

Mumofone200 · 11/01/2022 20:06

My 18 year old son says he has been suffering with anxiety. Heart palpitations and worry about his future mainly during lockdown and up to now. He has attempted to start 3 college courses at different colleges but has dropped out after a short period of time. He now spends a lot of time at the gym working out; sometimes with friends and time on his Ps5; he’s not that active as in Going out. We had a heart to heart and i suggested that he maybe talk to the GP which he did tonight. I feel slightly annoyed with the GP offering sertraline and not encouraging him to change his routine etc as a starting point. I know doctors prescribe medication to heal but isn’t 18 just too young to start medication for something that could be improved by therapy or a change of lifestyle. He is currently not engaged In Education employment or training and this is also a worry. I’ve e tried sitting him down to job hunt and have even applied for jobs on his behalf but nothing is changing. I really think he is. It stimulates hence the mental health decline. I’m really worried. Any suggestions

OP posts:
Ceramide · 12/01/2022 08:16

YABU

longtompot · 12/01/2022 08:18

When my yd was out on medication for depression and anxiety her dr explained how it worked. With depression, your brain starts to set up new negative pathways and the previous positive ones close down. Taking the medication helps new positive pathways to open and help stop the anxiety and depression. Alongside therapy it can really help. So in the kindest way, you are being unreasonable to be annoyed your adult son has been put on this. I wish my ds was when he went to the gp. He was just offered counselling which didn't help and he is still depressed.

unluckyinlife · 12/01/2022 08:20

Hes an adult and may have been more honest with a GP about how it affects his life. Maybe you should ask him how he feels about taking it. Although they warn for the first 3 weeks of your medication your body is adjusting to the medication so may make feelings of depression or suicidal ideation worse. So just keep an eye out in case.

My mum was the same as you despite having MH issues and having medication. I struggled desperately until a doctor said it was medication or inpatients unit.

I was first on Citrolopram which helped. I stayed on this for a few years and then was weaned off.

After my first child I experienced PND and went back on medication, I genuinely couldn't function, couldn't continue my studies and was signed off sick due to the crippling effect of depression. The medication made it easier for me to get back on my feet and again they weaned me off when better.

I suffer with anxiety and depression and now have been unmedicated for around 3 years. Medication put me in the right heads pace to work out my coping methods.

I just wanted to tell you medication isn't for life and you can get back on your own two feet.

My husband and I have agreed that if I appear to be struggling for a prolonged period of time we have a conversation about maybe talking to the doctor about medication and set a time frame to review before making the decision to take it. e.g. 2 weeks/4weeks. x

gunnersgold · 12/01/2022 08:22

Blimey ! I've been battling all services to get my teen some medication for depression / anxiety and anorexia .. literally begging and fighting ! Never known it offered so easily!

CHIRIBAYA · 12/01/2022 08:36

YANBU. Do people on here really think that GP's have the time (or even in some cases the inclination) to talk with their patients about what is going on in their lives? And I'm sorry but no, not all GPs are aware of the different ways of managing anxiety, they are not psychotherapists. A huge amount of anxiety presentations are environmentally driven and while medication has its place in some situations it should never be the first port of call. There are so many effective interventions and approaches that address anxiety without the need for meds. If you can find a therapist who is skilled in working with anxiety, the benefits can be realised in a relatively short period of time. You are not only right to be concerned but have that right to be concerned, we never stop caring for our children no matter what their age. I wish you both all the best.

PlantBasedPlatypus · 12/01/2022 08:38

I don’t actually see anyone saying medication should be the last resort - just a lot of us saying (and the ones sharing the links and guidelines) that it is now not suggested as a first line treatment.

PlantBasedPlatypus · 12/01/2022 08:40

And whoever said diet cannot help diabetes - I don’t know what planet you’ve been living under a rock on but that’s exactly what lifestyle changes can do for people with diabetes - including low carb reversing it in some cases.

PlantBasedPlatypus · 12/01/2022 08:46

OP do look into how protein powders can impact mood and anxiety - some of them are good and some of them are so good. There’s a lot of information available on it.

I hope he and you feel better soon, and yes do make sure you look after your own mental health too.

pointythings · 12/01/2022 09:23

I think you are BU - my 18yo DD was prescribed Sertraline in August and it has transformed her life. Yes, it has side effects and it takes some time to adapt, but instead of sitting in a dark room all day thinking about suicide, she's at university, spending time with friends, having a good time, loving her course and doing well academically. She has some physical health issues that she's addressing, but once she has dealt with those she will be starting the process of engaging with therapy. Which she would categorically not have been able to do without the medication.

lborgia · 12/01/2022 09:27

@PlantBasedPlatypus - well I might be living under a rock, but you obviously have problems with reading.

What I SAID was Type 1 diabetes. Save your bloody rudeness for when you've read the post properly.

gunnersgold · 12/01/2022 10:21

@pointythings this is heart warming to read . My dd has just started and is your dd before! 🙏🙏🙏

scooterbear · 12/01/2022 10:49

To give another perspective my teen daughter is incredibly depressed. The gp has prescribed talking therapy a d lifestyle changes. She is too low to even contemplate those things. I believe she needed medication to get her to the point of those things being an option or useful fo her. The GP refuses to prescribe them so we are getting nowhere.

catfunk · 12/01/2022 11:10

Sorry op but I dont think it's the GPs job to get your son out of bed on a morning and get him into a daily routine.
All meds can have side effects but my DP took sertraline as a young man and he says he wouldn't be here without it.

PlantBasedPlatypus · 12/01/2022 12:31

[quote lborgia]@PlantBasedPlatypus - well I might be living under a rock, but you obviously have problems with reading.

What I SAID was Type 1 diabetes. Save your bloody rudeness for when you've read the post properly.[/quote]
Hmm diet changes are advised for type 1 diabetes…

gunnersgold · 12/01/2022 13:07

@scooterbear it's mad isn't it . I've been through 3 years of trying to get dd help ! We pay for private weekly cbt because there is none available on the nhs and we had to get a private assesment for depression. 🙄

MorningStarling · 12/01/2022 13:13

YABU. Drugs like Sertraline aren't there to solve the problem, they are there to give someone the breathing space/functionality to solve the problem.

I find it bizarre when parents adopt the position the OP has taken. Why encourage him to go to the doctor unless you're willing to take the doctor's advice? If you think you know better than the doctor then it's a waste of everyone's time, just go with what you've decided.

The idea that the son needs to make lifestyle changes is probably fair enough, but the medication is there to help him do that. If he could make lifestyle changes by himself then he'd already be doing it.

This all smacks of the OP not treating mental illness as a real illness, something that's not as valid as physical illness. It's a very common misconception but frustrating nevertheless, and harmful to those who feel they can't get appropriate treatment because of this.

Onlyrainbows · 12/01/2022 14:04

I don't think anybody is suggesting depression/anxiety (or MH in general) isn't a real condition/sickness but just like with many others sometimes it can be managed in other ways. I'm severely anemic, and the first port of call was to change my diet, then it was iron pills, and finally an iron infusion. But you know what's causing my anemia (at least partially) my love for distance running -which ultimately is a lifestyle.

Emerald5hamrock · 12/01/2022 14:08

It can be a lifesaver by eliminating the anxiety his life will move forward in other areas.

HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend · 12/01/2022 14:10

What does you son think?

Emerald5hamrock · 12/01/2022 14:23

@gunnersgold A one off private consultation with either a psychiatrist or paediatric consultant will help with prescriptions, my GP wouldn't prescribe medication for DS it had to be as above, gp continued prescription once psychiatrist okay'd it.

If they're 18 they've every right to it.

gunnersgold · 12/01/2022 14:25

@Emerald5hamrock thanks . We have done all that but we are lucky we can afford it . We are about £4k in to getting dd better !

IDontKnow00 · 12/01/2022 15:04

OP, you're coming across as thinking anti depressants are some risky unsafe last resort medication, and I honestly think this is stigma talking. Would you be this panicky about him taking medication for anything else if he needed to, blood pressure, blood sugar etc?

He sounds like he needs help with his anxiety, medication is a proven way to help with this. He can absolutely use medication and therapies combined as a way of learning to do it. It doesn't mean he'll be on it for life. He just needs to be wary that in the first few weeks it can make things worse before they get better and to get in contact with the GP if it gets very bad in any way.

Stroopwaffle5000 · 12/01/2022 16:17

I went on anti depressants at 18 and they saved my life! In a lot of circumstances, talking therapies and such won't even work until the individual is in a better frame of mind. I had to postpone CBT once whilst my medication was sorted out, as my therapist rightly said that it was just going in one ear and out of the other. And what skills and information I did retain, I had no motivation to put into place. Depression is serious and can have a lot of symptoms that prevent talking therapies from working. Medication can enable you to go out and exercise, spend time with friends, eat healthy etc - all things that naturally help lessen depressive episodes.

The male suicide rate is scary and I wouldn't want to risk it happening to my son just because I didn't want him to take medication. Would you prevent him from using an inhaler for asthma? Or insulin for diabetes? This stigma around medication has to stop!!! Plus he's 18, he's an adult!

Stroopwaffle5000 · 12/01/2022 16:19

PS I have been on Sertraline and its one of the more common drugs prescribed due to its low side effects.

OhWhyNot · 12/01/2022 16:35

YANBU

He should have been offered talking therapy too. You don’t know what was spoken about but the is now a reliance on such medication. It’s the long term use that many professionals in mh are questioning (as people are not learning how to deal with low level depression/anxiety as horrible as it is it’s a normal part of life for most of us)