Anxiety taking over life - Medication?

[reluctantbrit]

Hi,

sorry, this is my first post on this board and quite long.

DD is 16 and was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism last September.

We suspected this when she started therapty for anxiety and panic attacks in 2022. Covid brought out a lot in her, self harm, suicidal thoughts, depression and her therapist suggested going for an assessment.

Her main issues are social interaction and especially not understanding non-verbal cues, responses and general unspoken rules.

We just had another anxiety attack as it seems her friends are suddenly dropping her for her behaviour/inability to understand them.

We can work with her through it but unfortunately she reacts with being physically sick and unable to stomach food for 24-48 hours after such an attack.

It now affects 6th form and obviously her general mood and life.

We are now wondering about anti-anxiety medication. Who would be our first point of call for this? GP?

We were referred for the assessment by her initial therapist and never saw a NHS phycologist or paediatrician. The therapy and assessment was done privately. While we were referred to CAHMS by our GP, they didn't offer her anything more than an online group session.

It hurts seeing her so down and throwing up after just a bit of plain toast this morning and knowing she is again not able to have a normal day.

Oh, we do have an appointment for her to continue therapy, her old therapist suggested it and while I am sure she will react well to it, I hope for a plan B/emergency plan as therapy is a long term goal (she originally did 15 months and it helped her and us a great deal).

Yes, speak to the GP. However, be aware some GPs won’t prescribe to under 18s without the medication being initiated by a psychiatrist.

Hi @reluctantbrit@reluctantbrit

God sorry, what happened there! . I'll try again, hello @reluctantbrit I am in a very similar situation with my DD. She too was diagnosed with autism in September last year. She started on fluoxetine in Jan, after several very scary episodes of self harm and meltdowns. She's been off school (year 11!) since then too. The meds were prescribed by a private online psychiatrist. We got nowhere with camhs as they deemed her not sick enough to see a psychiatrist. Apparently your child has to be actively suicidal to qualify, that's how they are rationing care at the moment, which is appalling.
She is responding well, mood is a lot better. She seems more resilient and much less irritable. Her sociability is improved so she will happily sit and chat or watch a movie with us, which was hard for her before. In terms of anxiety, we are seeing a slower response. She has acute social anxiety which I suspect she needs some talking therapy for, so I'm in the process of finding a suitable one.
It sounds like your daughter is suffering very badly and I'd have no doubts about trying an SSRI although it has to be prescribed by a psychiatrist to under 18s. Ours cost £250 and was online. I'd be happy for you to PM me if you want someone the name of the one we used or if you want to chat with someone that has gone through a similar situation. It's extremely hard on the parents as we helplessly watch our kids struggle and I've found it to be a very lonely place. Have you checked out the Parents and carers of anxious kids thread on here? There's some really lovely people on that board. Good luck x

@Theordinary Thanks for your kind words.

We finally managed to find a therapist and DD will start a new round of sessions after Easter. We will see what she thinks and then talk to the GP first.

I know what you mean with Cahms, we were there 2 years ago and the online group session they offered was absolutely pointless, DD was mixed with two older girls whose issues were totally different and they had nothing in common.
We were lucky that our private health insurance I have via work funded a lot of her initial therapy including the ASD assessment but now we paying our own.

Even that doesn’t give you a head start, all teen therapists in our area are full to the brim.