Ds is unwell anxiety is through the roof, how to help

[JeffFaFa]

Ds almost 7 and has sensory issues, he seems to suffer general anxiety in that he worries about blemishes on his skin, little marks etc not constant but enough ifykwim. Hes now got a cold, his voice is going its very croaky and he is full of gunk in his throat. He is really panicking about it his voice keeps dissapearing and he squeals and jumps around flapping, stamping his feet, punching the sofa etc, when he feels gunk in his throat he's screaming out starts running frantically up and down which makes it wore then lunges at me begging me to help him its horrible and frustrating to watch as hes really distressed but theres nothing wrong that he actually needs to worry about its just a cold. It dosnt help that at other times he wont sit still (cant maybe) so hes getting out of breath and its making it worse, i had to keep him off school the other day as he was up all night panicking about it and was too distressed to get ready, hes off again today for the same reason.

What do i do to help him and any ideas whats causing it?

Wrt the gunk in his throat, would a warm drink help if he drinks them?
Also, try and keep the room he is in warm.
Put honey in the drink if he will drink it, it will help his voice.
Poor boy and poor you!

hot chocolate is all he will drink warm, which probably wont help with being milk, trying to keep things as warm as possible its freezing here still very snowy, he hates being too warm though and his warm is very different to mine. Its been 5 days since it started i think hes coming through the other side at least panicking less today, off school again though. I dont know where all this anxiety comes from hes only 6 he shouldnt be such a worrier :(

:(
Mine was too at that age.
He is 10 this year and much mess anxious.
X

Fingers crossed he improves with age its so difficult isnt it, i feel totally helpless. He totally lost it a little while ago, his voice went again and he was about hyperventlilating, the fear in his face. Things like this infuriate me when i think school see nothing wrong with ds, this isnt a normal reaction to a cold! hes in obvious distress and all his teacher could tell him the other day was 'thats good maybe you will give us some peace and quiet if you cant talk' :(

Oh that's awful :( your poor boy :(
I moved my son from an awful school and home schooled him for 2010. He has been at his current school for over 2 years now :)
I lost my voice and years ago - ds1 would have been quite young - and it really freaked him out. He still refers to it now!
Has your son been assessed by cahms or a developmental paed?
If not I would ask your go to refer him.
Dint expect much of school...I speak from bitter experience here.
My life has been much easier and i have been less angry since I realised that schools can't help my son.
So I help him :)

i didn't see this thread until now, but have been housebound with DD (5.8yrs) who has a virus (i think)

her anxiety has been spiking then dropping slightly since before christmas, she's had tonsillitis and anti-biotics, but has hardly eaten a full meal since the middle of Dec.

she is very sensory-driven and is loathe to eat or drink anything right now as it all tastes wrong, and i think she's worrying herself even more ill as she can't understand where the physical pain of an infection comes from - she's finding every little mark and scratch and pointing it out.

we've been to the GP (again) this week, where they confirmed no URT infection, but she's so out of sorts i haven't been able to send her to school since Tuesday, i tried to give her some ibuprofen as she was complaining of a sore throat and she had a minor panic attack because the taste was so foul!

we're on the waiting list for anxiety management with CAMHS, but have been advised the list is months long...

i'm so sorry to see another DC is going through the same sort of issues, OP, you must be exhausted, but in a strange way, i'm comforted that it's not just me.

i hope you understand what i mean, and hope your DS is on the up for you and him

Bless him, that was a horrible thing for a teacher to say.
I sometimes wonder why some of these people go through all that time at uni if they dont even like children

I agree with badvoc in that you need to be proactive and not expect the school to know what they are looking for.

Bypass them and get your ds assessed yourself. Then if the school continue to not see his difficulties, look for another school or HE him.

Many schools just cba with children who need extra care and different strategies.

Good luck

My Ds was ill over Christmas and we had a very difficult week then. Our GP prescribed sudafed liquid as he hates mucous too. You can get it over the counter maybe that would help?

Meant to say my Dd3 doesnt cope well with being ill, she basically shuts down and isnt able to do anything.

She constantly clears her throat and coughs very hard making her throat sore which makes her refuse to eat or drink. Nightmare

Thank you for all the replies, i went to my gp with a list of concerns in september and she asked school to refer ds to i think CAHMS, at the beginning of this month school still hadnt done anything so my gp is making the referal just need to wait now.
damemargot - i know exactly what you mean i often read this forum and see similar dc's to ds1 and its good to know your not alone.

Ineedmore - ds is a throat clearer anyway even when hes not ill he does it all the time he always says he has a sore throat but its more like a 'stim' he does it all year round, now his throat is croaky its much worse, longer hacking noises over and over and when it wont clear he cries, jumps, punches things and gets so frustrated.

If he is anxious about the symptoms a social story may help: discussing the cause of the illness, how he might feel and what symptoms he may have, that this is normal, what he can do to help himself feel better (fluids, paracetamol, rest etc, even see doctor for advice) and that the illness will go away on it's own and he will feel normal again - within a certain timescale, if you are feeling brave. I get twitchy about timescales as my DS would hit the roof if he was not fully recovered by the time I said, but yours may be more understanding