Anxiety medication

[claw3]

has anyone's child been prescribed anxiety medication?

OT from feeding clinic did a home visit today and she would like to recommend anxiety medication for ds.

My first reaction was this is not something i would like to consider. However OT wasnt able to tell me anything other than she feels for ds to make progress, he needs his anxiety reduced as much as possible.

So has anyone tried medication, your experiences please?

hi can i ask what dose of sertraline your dd is on? my dd is 11 and is also on sertraline 50mg daily, it has helped her i think, but she is still anxious and she was unable to attend the last 2.5 months of school. we are hopeful that she will be able to go back in september as she is moving to grammar school then, however only time will tell. we also attend camhs where they are trying to give dd CBT, however they are not sure it is working and the next step would be residential to see if that would help her. as u can imagine that is the last resort i hope as i dont think dd or we could cope with that.

HI beverleyjayne, she's on 50mg too but has cut down to 25mg for the holidays. She also got a place in the mainstream autism base in her high school last half term which dealt with a lot of the school issues for her. Without the Sertraline she'd had a period of informal access to the base and had still found crossing the threshold very difficult. With the medication she's doing really well. I honestly don't think she'd have been back in mainstream school even with the meds.

What it has done is allowed her to talk to the psychologist and tackle some of the issues in her head. The tics have reduced dramatically and she's a much happier person. We've not noticed any definite side effects which is lucky.

We're waiting for the outcome of a statutory assessment to see if she gets a permanent place in the base. If she doesn't I guess we'll have to home ed because nothing's going to get her back into full time mainstream.

Al1son, thanks for replying. dd was assessed for AS however they felt she didnt tick enough boxes , she is in my opinion classic AS and it is only in the last few weeks that they are now saying that yes she does put on a mask and that she acted in school when she was there and able to go - i have been telling them that for a year and feel that if they had listened to me back then, dd would not have got to the stage were she is at now and unable to go to school. as i said earlier camhs are now suggesting that she would need to go in to a inpatient camhs unit for full assessments, if she continues to be unable to attend school and i honestly dont feel that this is the right way to go, as she is so anxious. they have said that she would have a full AS assessment while there. i noted that u have mentioned home ed, but i know absolutely nothing about that or if she would even be suitable for that. how long was your dd unable to attend school and did she have any OCD tendencies?
it is just nice to know that there are other children like my dd and that we are not alone

bev

You're far from alone beverelyjayne. Have your read any of Tony Attwood's publications? He's written a lot about AS and girls and it sounds like it could give you a bit of ammunition to get her re-assessed.

DD1 attended very little Jan to March and then stopped altogether until she was allocated the base place in June. She went part time for the last half term.

I think we escaped the inpatient assessment by the skin of our teeth around Easter when they were very worried about her but she would not attend CAMHS appts. They had tried CBT with her in the Spring but it made things a lot worse. They are now seeing her on her terms and allowing her to take the lead about what they discuss. It has been very hard work to get her there and they've had to be very very gentle with her. We are lucky to have had such good clinicians. I couldn't believe how pleased I was when she went in on her own last week.

I know very little about home ed but I just know that she won't cope in MS school so it would be our only option without a statement. I've read a few websites on it and DD1 is very able and motivated but it's a huge responsibility which I don't want to take on.

I hope the move to the grammar school helps your DD. Will they have lots of support in place for her? I can understand your feelings about inpatient assessment. Being admitted would have been very traumatic for my DD.

It feels like were trying to make our children fit the world when the world ought to just work round them for once. It sounds like your DD needs something like an autism base, a quiet refuge with familiar faces and less pressure.

I'd be happy to chat more on email if you want to CAT me.

Have read all your posts and thank you for sharing, it must be difficult for you, as i know i find it difficult to share some things.

I thought i and ds was coping, ds now has a vocal tic too and feel like things are spiraling out of control.

We have the usual visual timetables, sequencing charts etc in place, what else do you use? Feeling pretty useless at the moment.

Claw3, I think you're right to ask for a sensory trained OT. My dd2 scratches herself saying she's got things crawling on her when she's been at school or in a busy noisy place like Tesco. At those times she can't bear to be touched which is difficult to avoid in a school environment.

I can see how meds could help reduce anxiety but then strategies needs to be put in place to stop all the behaviours coming straight back afterwards. Is this sort of thing likely to be in place when the statement's issued?

I feel like meds are buying us time to sort things out for DD1 not making the issues go away. We've been told a min of 6 months on meds and then they'll start weaning her offf depending on how appropriate school provision is by then.

hi Al1son, i would love to chat via email, think that our dd sound similiar, but not sure what u mean by CAT lol

bev

I've only received not sent these messages. Are you on the asdfriendly forum? I'm Upsy Daisy on that forum if you want to contact me on there. It's easier to do on there and it's a lovely forum for parents whose children are or may be on the ASD spectrum.

Oh and I am donna2512 over there as well.

Upsy Daisy waves back to Donna!

Al1son, i have asked for sensory trained OT input on Statement and i should be receiving draft this month, so it will hopefully be included.

Ds's old school refused to even accept that he was anxious and the help he had in place there was a joke. Despite not being able to eat at lunchtime, soiling himself in school, being sent home with a swollen eye caused by him pulling out his eyelashes, they denied that any of this took place! His IEP targets were things like learning to count to 10

New school's IEP and help is amazing compared to old school, he has a full time 1:1 TA and his targets are dealing with his anxieties, developing his motor skills, social skills and eating.

I believe most of the 'damage' was caused by old school, as ds was punished for the things he found difficult. For example he was sent to Head for misinterpreting touch and given a telling off for being 'untruthful', made to sit at the side of the lunch hall for not eating, left to sit in soiled trousers as he was being 'lazy' etc.

So have the meds for your dd helped with things such as being able to eat etc? What improvements have you seen?

I think now ds is in new school and they are so understanding, things will improve with a bit of time, although i wont rule out meds.

It's hard to tell whether it's the meds or the provision which have helped in school. They are allowed to eat their lunch in the base kitchen rather than the dining hall so eating is much easier anyway.

Without the meds she had a term of a TA taking her to the dining hall and ordering her lunch for her because she couldn't speak or hear in there. After half a term of meds she actually ordered her own lunch on one occasion which was great progress and I personally put that down to the meds.

Outside school she had become totally socially withdrawn. Hid in her bedroom and cried if visitors came, refused to speak on the phone, kept her bedroom curtains shut, etc. Her behaviour is now much more normal. She's even talked about making plans to meet a friend for a bike ride which is a big step forward even if it doesn't actually happen.I can't really put all of these things down to the school provision so my guess is it's the medication. She has begun to open up a bit to the CAMHS psychologist and to feel that she can talk about a few of the things in her "stress bucket" which she was adamant was totally pointless and would never happen a few months ago.

It's impossible to say for sure how much is down to appropriate school provision and how much is the meds but my gut feeling is that the meds are making a big difference.

You have to go with what feels right. I said no to meds for several months before I gave in and I'm aware that there's still scope to regret it in the future.

You know your DS better than any of the professionals and I reckon you'll know when the time's right to give it a go. It's good to hear he's out of that awful school. They sound dreadfully cruel and clearly have no idea about how to support children's emotional and mental well-being. I hope the new school carry on being so helpful. It does make an enormous difference.

I think if I were in your position I'd wait to see how he manages at the new school before making a decision about the meds. TBH there was a delay before the meds started working for DD1 so it probably wouldn't help your DS much at the beginning of term anyway.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a good start at the new school for him.

Thanks Al1son, usually ds is quite relaxed at home. But i think the old school, starting recently at his new school and then school holidays literally one after the other, have really taken their toll on ds's behaviour.

I suppose to the OT visiting, ds must have looked terrible with his vocal tic every few seconds, his eye almost swollen shut, fidgeting and scratching and then insect bites which looked awful. He avoided speaking to her and kept leaving the room. He refused to agree with her a new food which he was willing to have on his plate and he basically asked her to leave! She really did catch him on a bad day!

She wants to speak to CAMHS (with my permission) about medication and i told her i was happy for her to speak to CAMHS, but i would like to give ds at least a term at his new school before considering meds if possible.

It has been really helpful, hearing other peoples experiences. Thanks again.