Autism anxiety and panic

[Orangesandlemons82]

DS is 12 with an Autism diagnosis. He is really struggling with pretty severe anxiety and panic. He is in a mainstream school with adjustments made. I did an econsult last week as his anxiety is so bad at the moment and he is having panic attacks. The GP just sent a message back to try Bach flower remedies. I have asked for a phone call this week with a different GP. What should I be asking for? CBT has not helped as he began to ritualise the techniques which made things worse. In the past he has experienced thoughts about ending his life but is not suicidal at the moment and I don't think would meet the CAMHS criteria . If he did it would be a lengthy wait.
Has anyone managed to get help from their GP?

My DS is 12 with severe anxiety. Had to take him out of mainstream. Luckily he was under CAMHS and so was prescribed Fluoxetine which has been a huge help.

The GP won't prescribe, it needs to be prescribed by a child psychiatrist. I know CAMHS' waiting list is ridiculous but I wonder if you could go via the private route. Hopefully the GP can do the repeat prescription.

@MarthaJonesPhone thanks, it's good to know that fluoxetine really helped. I have looked privately and there are no child psychiatrists working privately in our area at the moment that are taking on new patients. I think our best option is going to be either see one out of area virtually, or travel to London.

I would travel to find one. DS started on 2.5 ml and even after the first dose school said they could see a change.

Its made a big difference to him. Its not a magic wand he still gets anxious but so much better than before.

@MarthaJonesPhone thanks for your perspective and great to hear the improvement with your son. We have been referred to CAMHS but don't hold out much hope so have arranged a private consultation in London.

My autistic DD suffers terribly from this, to the point she can only attend school part time. CAMHS won't see her. She's seen a counsellor privately but it hasn't helped. I'm looking onto DBT therapy as I've heard these can be helpful for autistic people but it's hard to find a practitioner and I'll have to pay for it.

Just in case any one in the future looks at this for advice, we were accepted by CAMHS but they could not say when an appointment would be available. We ended up going privately and DS was also diagnosed with OCD and Panic Disorder. He has been prescribed sertraline and we will gradually increase the dose every 4 weeks.

Hi @Orangesandlemons82 thanks for adding your update to this.
My ASD DD 9 has debilitating anxiety. How did things go with sertraline?
Not sure it’s recommended at such a young age but it’s starting to take over all our lives - just wonder what we should be aiming for help wise.

@lavenderlou I have been looking into DBT too did you ever find this? DD has self-injurious behaviour and powerful mood swings, I think this could help - maybe when anxiety is not so acute.,

apologies I know this is an old thread- just in case. I hope things are going well

@sweetpeaorchestra it definitely made a difference. He is still on sertraline now (100mg), but I'm so glad that we considered it now. I think he needed that really to stabilise things a bit before we could consider trying any therapy. If you can, I would definitely see a Consultant Psychiatrist, although I think it feels unusual to us to have children on psychiatric medication, actually there are a lot of children who need it and for them it is the right decision to trial it.

@Orangesandlemons82 thanks so much. She barely leaves her room now and not been at school this term. I think I will have to find a private psychiatrist, CAMHS is achingly slow and I can’t bear her suffering.
Hope things continue to go well for DS