fluoxitine (for nearly 9 year old)

[peanutbuttercup]

DS is already on fluoxitine for extreme anxiety issues. Initially it changed all our lives for the better (he was selectively mute, school refusing and had violent tantrums).

However, two years down the track he is slipping back to the old behaviours - he's now terrified of germs, he's struggling massively at school and the tantrums and violence at home are returning. I am guessing he needs to be on a larger dose.

Does anyone have any idea on what an average sized 9 year old should be having. So far he has been on 10 mg.

NB. I don't want to get into a medication debate as we've been down that track a million times and I've beaten myself up about it off and on for years - in my opinion it is essential for him and us.

Thanks heaps for any advice.

Hi, Is this prozac under a different name?

If so my DS has also been on this and we took him off as we found it made him worse, more aggressive. We did up his dose before taking him off but nothing changed.

Likewise when we tried citalopram.

yes it is prozac. have you tried anything else or is it nothing now?

we have only tried proxac, then citalopram but have nothing now. Although I think he is going to need something to try and get some work done with him. ATM he is bound to his house or car.

prozac even

Hi my Ds is on fluoxitine for severe OCD. He started on sertaline at 10 and was on it until 13. At that time his OCD was extremely severe and he was switched to fluoxitine. Intially he was on 20mg but that was increased to 60mg as he had started to deteriorate again. 60mg is the maximum dose even for an adult (Ds is 16 now).

Who is prescibing the fluoxitine? My understanding is that in a child body weight is an important consideration.

Dosage will be based on weight, not his age op.
I would be surprised if they increased it to more than 50mg
Good luck

Thanks for your reply. He is prescribed it by a pediatrician. He's been on this dose now for a few years for extreme anxiety.

The way he is currently with germs however makes me believe there could be OCD there too but he is not diagnosed as having OCD. We are on a waitlist to see a child psychologist but this will be months away. Last time we saw the pediatrician she did say it is likely we will need to increase the dose as he is getting bigger, she didn't do it at that stage though.

Now your son is on 60mg are you seeing improvements in his OCD?

Thanks Badvocsanta - we crossed posts. I think even if it increased to 20mg we'd see a result at this time - but then again as he gets older/bigger I'm sure this will have to increase again.

We only see the pediatrician once every six months so I would have to make a push to see her if I wanted it changed.

Hi op
If he needs a medication review (and it sounds like he may) then you need to push for an appt.
Do you have his secretary's number?
My ds1s paed was fab and although we only saw him every 6 ,in this we could always phone and get an appt if we needed one (I think it's called an open appt?)
Do push for an appt.
It must be very draining for all of you :(

Thanks, yes I think you're right. I can try to push for an appointment. Think it would make life better for us all at this stage. Thanks for your reply.

No problem.
Hope you get an appt sorted soon.
X

peanut I'm totally exhausted tonight but will reply tomorrow.

My daughter also SM and now ASD is on the same medication dose and had the germ thing also. She doesn't like being touched and the girls at school are very into running up to their friends, jumping at them and hugging them. She has had some CBT recently for that and dealing with other anxieties which has seemed to help her a little. Can you ring the paed up and have a chat see what she says?

I think it would be good to contact the paed re increasing the dose.

With my Ds the increase did help initially but he then started to deteriorate again. He was then started on aripriprazole, an updated version of resperidone. Even the small inital dose made him sleepy and emotionally flat, but halving it to a tiny dose eliminated the side effects and seemed to stabilize the OCD. He also has CBT with more emphasis on the B than the C as he also has AS and struggles with expressing his thoughts and feelings.

If you think your Ds is developing OCD I would press to be seen by CAMHS as soon as possible. I don't want to alarm you but in my experience OCD symptoms can balloon very quickly.

We have been referred to CAMHS in the past but they turned us down however we didn't really think about OCD at that stage. Last night I yawned and he freaked out. DS2 had hickups and it was like he was petrified of him - not really rational behaviour.