13 year old horrific anxiety symptoms, don't know what to do

[Oodie8662]

My son has suffered from anxiety for all of his life but it's just getting worse and worse. He's awaiting an adhd diagnosis , so has been seen by cahms and has also been seen by the charity Mind over the years for counselling sessions
He deals with it well and as he's got older can rationalise well, but the physical side effects of his anxiety are debilitating and I don't know how we can help him.
He occasionally has panic attacks but deals with those well, he also has extreme health anxiety which again we deal with by talking , and he tries so hard to push through everything and get on with life.
For the past 2 years he's started with a vertigo sensation which I am confident is caused by anxiety. He says it feels like the room is swaying , moving , and it's bad when he lays down in bed.
It's so bad at the moment he doesn't want to leave the house (school holidays) as when we go out in the car or go anywhere it comes on much worse. Particularly in places such as restaurants, theatres, cinemas and when he's in school like in the hall. He has a anxiety spray which does nothing but does have a slight placebo affect .
He desperately needs some kind of medication but I know they don't prescribe at this age.
He is very strong mentally at the moment and seems to cope but this is very waring for him. If this carries on 24/7 for another 5 years until he's 18 and can be medicated I dread to think what mental state he will be in. He has never mentioned self harm or thoughts of not wanting to be hear but I wouldn't be surprised if that comes next. He tells me it's ruining his life and affects his every waking moment. Surely there must be some way of helping him

You will need to see a consultant pedatrician but I'd suggest medication.

They can be prescribed at under 18, camhs prescribed my son at 10, it gave him his life back and he no longer takes them now as he's managed to put strategies in place.

Camhs can subscribe. I'd phone and ask them or ask GP for urgent referral.

People under 18 can be medicated.

My teen was medicated by a psychiatrist.
I don't know if medication is appropriate for your child but it's not 100% ruled out under 18.

Also it could be sensory issues that are affecting him. Ask for an OT referral. It could be noise/ number of people. Would ear defenders help?

I had extreme anxiety when I was in my teens BUT, I was also diagnosed with an inner ear problem in my late teens which I'd had for a long time without even realising it was a thing, so don't necessarily assume your son's vertigo symptoms are just caused by anxiety. Mine had likely been caused by an ear infection which had damaged my inner ear and confused the signals between it and my brain. Your mention of the swaying feeling, particularly in bed, rang lots of bells. Mine used to be particularly bad when it was dark or my eyes were closed.

Anyway, my symptoms were totally fixed with a course of vestibular physiotherapy but I had to be sent to a balance clinic by my GP to get a diagnosis. GPs aren't very clued up about inner ear issues although they're very common, but I was lucky to be referred to a fantastic ENT who specialised in balance issues. Whereabouts in the country are you based OP?

I've got him another gp appointment for tomorrow night. I want to push for medication. An a gp not even prescribe him propenalol?
I also want to get his ears checked to rule out anything else

OP, getting his ears looked at by the GP won't tell you anything - inner ear issues aren't 'visible' and can only be diagnosed with specialist testing at a balance clinic. Push for a referral to an ENT who specialises in dizziness issues.

Inner ear issues are common but debilitating, and by the nature of the symptoms they can trigger anxiety or make existing anxiety issues much worse. Sensations of swaying are absolutely typical of inner ear problems. I used to get the swaying sensation so much I'd feel almost constantly seasick, it was horrible.

Also anxiety itself doesn't cause dizziness/swaying - unless it's the lightheaded feeling you get when you're hyperventilating as a result of a full-blown panic attack.

Inner ear issues DO cause anxiety though, because the swaying sensations they create are so unsettling. I cannot overemphasise how common it is!

Private therapy. CBT to start as opposed to just counselling. Has he had any psychotherapy?

My daughter suffers from severe anxiety - he can at his age be given anti depressants but only by child psychiatrist.

Please also google POTs - it’s a physical reason why some kids have anxiety and is to do with their autonomic nervous system not working properly and yes symptoms could include vertigo.

please also infant reflexes not going dominant.

my daughters severe anxiety (she has all the above) after 5 years we have concluded she has both adhd and masking autism - the two are not a good combo as one likes rules and routines but the other part is too disorganised to achieve these.

my daughter at 13 was on anti depressants, propanol and melatonin (for sleep) and a helped her to function and pass her GCSEs with good grades.