Exam panic attacks

[chargeitup]

I am so so worried. My DD is in year 13. She is taking 150 sertraline for exam anxiety which evolved into general all the time anxiety.

She has adhd and dyslexia only diagnosed in year 11 and I have no doubts it's all connected. Years of confusion and results lower than expected have shattered her confidence.

Sertraline has helped enormously with her day to day existence. When there are no exams she is now great. Happy. Her good self. Bright and such a joy. But she started her mocks yesterday and the panic and extreme anxiety is back. Unable to focus. Vomiting etc.

She has had emdr, cbt and talking therapy. She is on medication for her adhd which has been very helpful.

I also struggle with anxiety and am on sertraline. Again it's great and has helped me function but during high stress like now (her panic and my fears about her impending-levels) I still have massive anxiety issues. Can't sleep. Internally panicked etc. I work hard on focusing on her during her panics and am doing quite well. I sort of slip into mother mode and my anxiety occurs later in bed at night.

My question is, should we be expecting the sertraline to stop all panic? Or are we on the wrong medication ? Changing it up is not something I relish the idea of as she is on the whole balanced now. But she still is not functioning when the exams come around. Approaching exams she is anxious again. Not having as bad panic attacks but still very very anxious. During exams she is able to actually attend the exam which she couldn't before but Not able to really answer all the questions due to brain freeze. Feels very anxious , vomits afterwards.

Should we be expecting an anti anxiety medication to completely stop situational panic attacks. Or is what we have as good as it gets? Should she try something else like citalopram or is the fact that she is miles better day to day when not sitting exams an indication that his is the right medication?

The problem is also that we don't know if a medication is going to stop exam panics until she's actually faced with exams and the next lot will be her actual a-levels so we haven't got the opportunity to trial and error it out over time.

Summary: sertraline has removed anxiety by about 90% day to day with no real negative side effects but only improved exam panic attacks by about 10%. Is this normal or does this mean it's the wrong one?
Thank you

Will school offer a separate room for her, if that would help? Is she allowed extra time?

Hi, the school have been pretty good. She works on computer so does her exams in a separate computer room with others who need the computer. For connectivity/IT reasons it has to be in the IT room. For exams they have to use the school computers not their own laptops for obvious reasons.

She gets rest breaks, extra time, wears sound loops and is generally ok with where she sits. They allowed her to select where in the room and there are not many people in there as it's year 13 so it's limited to other people sitting her subjects who also qualify for computer use.

My advice is to help your daughter to soothe her nervous system. If she is functioning well now generally but the panic is around exams, this means that she could learn what's happening to her nerves at the thought of exams.
The best book on this is called SELF HELP FOR YOUR NERVES by Claire weekes.
Read and follow it to the T. It will help her understand what's happening and how she can heal her nerves at times of stress.

My understanding is that proponal is usually prescribed for immediate relief from panic attacks which you could discuss with your GP.
However, if you want a permanent cure to panic then follow the plan in the book.

You have my sympathy. I have been through a similar situation x

We tried beta blockers but they didn't work for her.

Diazepam did a little. Not much but a bit.

Oh we have done and are doing the lot. Way beyond a book. Regular psychologist therapy. CBT EMDR, talking therapies all the breathing exercises. Learning about the chemicals in the body and their functions. Why we have evolved with these functions. Their purpose. Their advantage. What is happening during dis regulation.

There is no lack of understanding. It all helps but we are still here. If only it was as simple as doing all this and then bingo!!

I also struggle with anxiety as have/has my two older ds. It's hugely genetic. But it has meant we all have a pretty good understanding of the mechanisms.

The two older ones are functioning and so much better but it seems that ultimately the reason is that they moved beyond the stage of needing to sit exams. One said the other day that he'd still panic if he had to sit exams. It's just that the trigger has been removed 😞

@Numberedout
How did your situation play out? Was it your dc?

Is the pressure from herself or does she feel it is from others (teachers / peers / parents )
This isn’t meant to be accusational in any way x

I've found lavender oil on a tissue calming - but before the panic builds !!

The school have been good. The teachers have said she is a hard worker. No need to pressure her at all. The SEN and head of academic are saying the most important thing is her mental health. And that there are many alternative paths if the standard one doesn't happen this year.
She's my 3rd so we are much better having learned before with regards to trying not to pressure her. It's that line between parenting and pushing. We focus on her mental health as much as possible without letting it rule everything

I do think a huge part of it is down to not being diagnosed with ADHD until year 12

She would have been desperately using strategies to achieve and her performance was very spiky and unpredictable. She's also dyslexic and I think years of confusion and not understanding why tests sometimes went well and inexplicably sometimes didn't really destabilised her confidence.

The system is so flawed. It's almost impossible to be neuro diverse and have unpredictable or poor results from ages 5-18 and for it not to mess up your confidence or mental health in some way. It's lukewarm your foundation of understanding how everything works is messed up.